5 Foods You Probably Wouldn’t Serve at a Party

Parties are a time for celebrating—a wedding, a baby, a birthday—and for mingling and having fun with friends and relatives. If you want your guests interacting and having fun, you want to make sure you serve menu items appropriate for the party atmosphere. Some foods just don’t belong at a party unless your guests are octopus and have eight arms! Of course, many things are obvious as to what you wouldn’t serve…cow’s tongue, liver, pickled pig’s feet. Let’s be realistic, though. There are things you might serve at one party that you wouldn’t at another. For general parties, it’s best to avoid even some simple items.

Here are 5 foods you probably wouldn’t want to serve at a party:

- While we all love spaghetti and it’s a great crowd pleaser, it’s probably not the best thing to offer guests at a birthday party or baby shower. Who wants to walk around with a plate trying to balance everything while twirling pasta and splattering red sauce all over the place? Besides, if you miss your mouth, you’re liable to make a mess either on you or your hostess’s carpet. It’s best to leave the spaghetti dinner for sit down meals for the family.

- Unless you’re throwing a backyard barbeque-themed party for a birthday boy/girl or a mother-to-be, it’s not a good idea to serve messy barbeque at a party. If you serve ribs, people will have to eat them with their hands, then they’ll need a lot of napkins or wet-naps to clean up. Also, what do you do with the bones? Pulled pork, brisket, and barbequed chicken all have the same problems. While we love these type of foods for the Fourth of July or a big football game, they’re just not conducive to a party setting where people are mingling and/or playing party games.

- The same as above goes for Sloppy Joes. They’re great for dinner with the kids, but they’re called “sloppy” for reason. The meat and juices can fall out of the bun, making it a mess not only for your guests to try and eat (and carry on a conversation), but for the hostess, as well, if you start finding greasy chunks of ground beef in your carpet or furniture.

- Anything that requires cracking, peeling, or shelling. This would include most shellfish. It’s fun to boil up a batch of peel-and-eat shrimp or steam a Maine lobster. However, your guests don’t want to “fight” their food while they’re at a party. You can serve these seafood delights in other formats if you’d like. Just don’t expect party goers to peel, shuck, crack, or shell anything. It’s a mess and who wants to wear a restaurant bib at a party?

- Anything on a skewer. Okay, now this might contradict some of those awesome appetizer recipes you may have come up with. However, meat or vegetables on a stick can cause a problem for your guest. First, they have to hold it. Secondly, they have to gnaw the item off of the skewer, oftentimes with the appetizer sticking to it. Finally, what do they do with the skewer when they’re done? Do they carry it around? Search high and low for a garbage can? Stash it in your favorite banana tree plant? No, no, and please…no. If you can avoid anything on a stick, all the better.




Criss White writes about babies, pregnancy, and party topics, like how to plan a baby shower menu. For more articles, visit Criss’s website for baby shower ideas and other party planning tips.