Capriotti’s is the national sub shop built around one operational difference that no other major chain replicates at scale. Every Capriotti’s location roasts whole turkeys in-house for twelve hours overnight, then hand-pulls the meat for the next day of sandwich service. That single choice anchors the brand’s catering program. The Bobbie, the signature sub that pairs slow-roasted hand-pulled turkey with handmade stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mayo on an Italian roll, is the Thanksgiving feast rendered as a sub and served year-round. It is the sandwich that AOL.com once crowned the Greatest Sandwich in America, and it is the format that defines what Capriotti’s catering does that the rest of the sub category does not.
For offices, the catering program packages that hero format three ways. You can drop a party tray of cold sub assortments on the conference room table for a team lunch. You can order individual boxed lunches for a board meeting, a hybrid all-hands, or a recruiting fair. Or for a larger event, you can build a 54-inch cheesesteak party tray or a Capastrami pastrami tray as the centerpiece. Founded in 1976 in Wilmington, Delaware, by Lois and Alan Margolet, named after their grandfather Philip Capriotti, the brand sits in a sub-shop category that includes Jersey Mike’s, Firehouse Subs, Jimmy John’s, and Subway. The slow-roasted-turkey wedge and The Bobbie are what set Capriotti’s apart from the rest.
Origin Story
The brand started in 1976 in Wilmington, Delaware, when brother and sister Alan and Lois Margolet decided that the sub-shop category needed a deli built around real turkey instead of pressed deli meat. Their first location, a small shop on Union Street in Wilmington, started slow-roasting whole turkeys overnight and hand-pulling the meat the next morning for the day of sandwich service. The shop was named after their grandfather, Philip Capriotti, who loved to cook traditional Italian food. Lines formed around the block within weeks.
The Bobbie, named for the Margolets’ aunt, joined the menu shortly after opening. The format combined the brand’s slow-roasted hand-pulled turkey with handmade stuffing, whole-berry cranberry sauce, and mayonnaise on an Italian sub roll. The pitch was simple: the holiday-feast plate, packaged as a sub, available every day of the year, not just in November. In 2009, AOL.com’s CityBest poll named The Bobbie the Greatest Sandwich in America, a designation that has anchored the brand’s national identity ever since.
The second store opened in New Castle, Delaware in 1988. Franchising began in 1991. The brand pushed out from Delaware through the Mid-Atlantic, then to Las Vegas, where the corporate headquarters eventually relocated, and from there across the Mountain West, Southwest, Southeast, Midwest, and Northeast. Capriotti’s operates a national footprint of locations across the United States. The slow-roasted-turkey operation that started in the first shop on Union Street is the same one that runs in every Capriotti’s location overnight.
What Makes Capriotti’s a Good Fit for Office Catering
Three things set Capriotti’s apart for an office catering order. The first is the slow-roasted turkey itself. Every location starts with whole turkeys, roasts them in-house overnight for twelve hours, and hand-pulls the meat the next morning. The texture and flavor difference against pressed, pre-sliced deli turkey is the brand’s structural advantage. Attendees who have eaten Capriotti’s once typically know the difference at the first bite of a cold turkey sub.
The second is The Bobbie as a catering format. No other national sub chain commits to a year-round Thanksgiving-style sandwich, and no other catering option in the deli category lands quite like it. The combination of pulled turkey, handmade stuffing, cranberry, and mayo on an Italian roll is the conversation piece of any catering drop. Office attendees photograph it. Sales teams use it as a hospitality moment for client lunches. People-ops leaders surface it as the catering pick for fall-themed team events. For a brand that wants its catering moment to register rather than disappear into the buffet, The Bobbie does the work.
The third is the catering format mix. Capriotti’s catering covers party trays of cold subs in build-your-own and curated assortments, individual boxed lunches sized at an 8-inch small sub with chips and a cookie, 54-inch cheesesteak and Capastrami party trays for larger events, meatball bars with marinara and provolone, and shareable salads as a dietary option. The same caterer covers a small team lunch and a 100-person all-hands without needing a second vendor on the order. For an office that wants a single point of contact across a range of event sizes, the format matrix scales cleanly.
Menu Highlights
- The Bobbie. The signature cold sub and the brand’s defining wedge. Slow-roasted hand-pulled turkey, handmade stuffing, whole-berry cranberry sauce, and mayonnaise on an Italian roll. Available year-round. The format that anchors the brand’s catering identity and the centerpiece of most Capriotti’s catering platters.
- Cold Subs. The full cold sub category covers The Bobbie, Cole Turkey (turkey with coleslaw and Russian dressing), Slaw Be Jo (American Wagyu roast beef with coleslaw and Russian), the Italian (Genoa salami, capicola, prosciuttini, provolone, onions, lettuce, tomato), Homemade Turkey, Homemade Roast Beef, Tuna, and vegetarian variations (Veggie Turkey, Veggie Cole Turkey). All cold subs are built on the same Italian roll and sized at sub or small-sub heights.
- Hot Subs. The Hot Bobbie is the grilled version of The Bobbie. The Capastrami is hot pastrami, melted Swiss, crisp coleslaw, and Russian dressing. The brand’s hot subs also cover meatball, sausage and peppers, and a chicken parmigiana option, depending on location.
- Cheesesteaks. Made with grilled steak, melted American or provolone cheese, and a build of grilled onions, peppers, and mushrooms. The cheesesteak format expands to 54-inch party trays for catering and shorter sub sizes for individual orders.
- Salads. Shareable salads built around the same hand-pulled turkey, roast beef, and Italian sub ingredients, paired with greens and a dressing. The salad category serves as the dietary-friendly alternative for attendees skipping the bread.
- Sides & Snacks. Catering orders typically include chip varieties, fresh coleslaw, fresh pickles, and pickle spears as add-on sides. The brand’s homemade coleslaw shows up across multiple subs (Cole Turkey, Slaw Be Jo, Capastrami) and as a standalone side.
- Cookies & Desserts. Boxed lunches include a cookie. Catering orders can add cookie trays, brownies, and other sweet finishes per location.
- Beverages. Catering orders can add bottled water, soft drinks, iced tea, and seasonal beverages depending on location. Beverage availability varies by store but most catering-enabled locations cover the standard cold-beverage lineup as an add-on.
Catering Formats Available
Capriotti’s catering organizes around four formats, each with a different best-fit office use case. Specific package sizes, tray dimensions, and 54-inch availability vary by location.
| Format | Typical Coverage | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Cold Sub Party Tray | Catering tray of full cold subs cut into shareable pieces; curated assortments featuring The Bobbie, the Italian, Cole Turkey, and Homemade Turkey, or build-your-own combinations from the cold sub menu | Team lunches, client lunches, board meetings, summer kickoffs, casual all-hands |
| Individual Boxed Lunch | 8-inch small sub of attendee’s choice with chips or coleslaw and a cookie, individually packaged for distribution | Hybrid teams, conferences, off-site retreats, training sessions, recruiting fairs, allergen-complex audiences |
| 54-Inch Cheesesteak or Capastrami Tray | Single 54-inch grilled steak cheesesteak or hot pastrami sub tray; serves a large group as one shareable centerpiece | All-hands meetings, large team lunches, sports-themed events, summer kickoffs, milestone celebrations |
| Meatball Bar & Shareable Salads | Catering meatball bar with marinara, sliced provolone, Romano, and rolls for build-your-own meatball subs; shareable salads as dietary-friendly add-ons | Hot-food cravings on a cold day, family-style lunches, dietary-friendly pairings, mixed-format events |
What makes the format mix work at office scale: the cold sub party tray and the boxed lunch are the workhorse drops; they hold a serving window of three to four hours at room temperature and require no onsite staff. The 54-inch tray is the centerpiece format for larger events that want a single visual focal point rather than a multi-tray spread. The meatball bar adds the hot-food option for an office that wants a winter-leaning or family-style format. Across all four, the slow-roasted turkey is available as either the centerpiece (The Bobbie, Cole Turkey, Homemade Turkey) or as one option in a build-your-own assortment, which is the choice most offices make for mixed-preference teams.
The Bobbie and the Slow-Roasted Turkey Wedge
The Bobbie is the format that most office managers ask about first, and it is the format that distinguishes Capriotti’s catering from any other sub chain on the market. Here is what is in it, what makes it work, and how to think about it as a catering anchor.
The build. The Bobbie is a cold sub built on an Italian sub roll. The sandwich starts with hand-pulled slow-roasted turkey, layered onto the roll in a generous portion. Capriotti’s tops the turkey with handmade stuffing, then whole-berry cranberry sauce, then mayonnaise. The result is a Thanksgiving-feast format compressed into a sub, with the texture contrast between warm-roasted pulled meat, cool cranberry, soft stuffing, and creamy mayo holding the build together.
The slow-roasted turkey itself. The operational anchor of the entire menu. Capriotti’s locations roast whole turkeys in-house for approximately twelve hours overnight, then hand-pull the meat the following morning. Most national sub chains use pre-sliced deli turkey from a food-service distributor. The difference between hand-pulled and pre-sliced is the brand’s structural moat. The texture is moister, the slice is thicker and more uneven, and the flavor reads as roasted rather than processed. For an office attendee who has eaten The Bobbie before, the brand recognition is built in at the bite.
Year-round availability. The Bobbie has been on the menu from the brand’s founding in 1976. The brand does not market it as a seasonal sub. For an office catering moment, this matters because a Thanksgiving-themed catering drop in May or August lands as a memorable choice rather than an off-season one. The format works for autumn team events, holiday party catering, year-end celebrations, and any moment where a comfort-food angle reads as the right tone.
The catering scale-up. The Bobbie scales cleanly across all four catering formats. On a cold sub party tray, it sits alongside the Italian, the Cole Turkey, and the Homemade Turkey as one of four featured subs in the curated assortment. As a boxed lunch, an 8-inch Bobbie with chips and a cookie covers the per-attendee individual format. The 54-inch tray format does not feature The Bobbie (those trays focus on hot cheesesteak and Capastrami), but a party-tray assortment built entirely from cold subs can lean Bobbie-heavy for an office that wants to make the signature the moment.
Dietary considerations. The Bobbie contains turkey, wheat (sub roll, stuffing), eggs (mayo, stuffing), and dairy (mayo). For gluten-free attendees, Capriotti’s offers gluten-free sub rolls at most locations. For vegetarian attendees, the Veggie Turkey is the catering-friendly substitute, built on the same Italian roll with a turkey-style meat alternative and the same vegetable garnish stack. Confirm allergen and dietary handling with the specific catering location when ordering.
Hot Subs, Cheesesteaks, and Capastrami
The hot side of Capriotti’s catering covers three lanes worth calling out for office orders. Here is how each one fits.
The Hot Bobbie. The grilled version of the signature. Same hand-pulled turkey, same stuffing, cranberry, and mayo build, but the sandwich runs across the grill before serving. The hot format pairs better with winter and fall office events, holiday party catering, and any moment where attendees want a warm centerpiece rather than a cold tray.
The Capastrami. Hot pastrami, melted Swiss cheese, crisp coleslaw, and tangy Russian dressing. The format reads as a Reuben without the rye and the sauerkraut, with the coleslaw replacing the kraut for a brighter crunch. The Capastrami catering tray scales to 54 inches as a single shareable centerpiece for larger team events. The combination of meat, melted cheese, crunchy slaw, and a tangy dressing covers more catering-moment use cases than most cold sub formats.
The Cheesesteak. Grilled steak, melted American or provolone, and a build of grilled onions, peppers, and mushrooms. The cheesesteak format is the office-event centerpiece for any meal that wants a sports-themed, summer-kickoff, or all-hands moment. The 54-inch cheesesteak party tray is the brand’s most-photographed catering centerpiece. For an office of 25 to 40 attendees, a single 54-inch tray plus a cold sub party tray covers the room.
Who It’s Ideal For
Capriotti’s catering is a good fit when:
- You want a sub-shop catering moment that stands out from the Jersey Mike’s, Firehouse, Subway, or Jimmy John’s default
- The event is lunch-anchored (board meeting, team lunch, client lunch, training session, recruiting fair, all-hands)
- You’re catering an autumn or holiday moment and want the Thanksgiving-feast angle to register as the centerpiece
- Your team responds well to a sub category with a signature beyond the standard cold-cut Italian (the Bobbie is the conversation piece)
- You need a flexible mix of cold sub party trays, individual boxed lunches, and large 54-inch shareable formats from one caterer
- The audience is mixed and a build-your-own cold sub assortment covers vegetarian, classic Italian, roast beef, and signature turkey preferences in one tray
- You want a hot-food centerpiece (54-inch cheesesteak or Capastrami) for a larger summer kickoff or sports-themed event
Consider a different option when:
- Your office is outside the Capriotti’s catering footprint and no location is within delivery radius
- You need a fully plant-based catering moment beyond the Veggie Turkey substitute
- The team is wellness-forward and a deli-anchored catering drop reads as off-tone for the room
- The event is breakfast and a sub catering moment would land as the wrong meal
- You’re feeding a small two-to-four-person meeting where a party tray would overshoot the headcount
- You need a hot full-meal entree (carved roast, hot pasta, hot fish) rather than a sub-anchored catering format
- The audience has a strict no-pork constraint and the Italian sub or Capastrami coverage would limit the menu mix
How to Order Capriotti’s Catering
Capriotti’s catering runs through the brand’s catering portal at catering.capriottis.com, with most individual locations also taking phone-in catering orders directly with the store. The sequence:
- Go to the Capriotti’s catering portal. The catering link is in the main navigation on capriottis.com. The catering flow uses a different cart and lead-time logic than the standard in-store ordering app, and the menu surfaces catering-only formats like the 54-inch party tray and the meatball bar.
- Enter your delivery address or pickup ZIP. The portal routes you to the catering-enabled Capriotti’s nearest your office. Format availability (cold sub party tray, boxed lunch, 54-inch tray, meatball bar) and exact tray sizes can differ between locations.
- Pick your date and time window. Standard lead time for cold sub party trays and boxed lunches is typically twenty-four to forty-eight hours from order placement. The 54-inch cheesesteak and Capastrami tray formats often need three to five business days. For large events with custom assortments, plan on a week of lead time.
- Choose your format. Pick from the cold sub party tray (priced per tray with curated or build-your-own assortment), individual boxed lunches (priced per box with sub choice, side choice, and a cookie), the 54-inch cheesesteak or Capastrami tray (priced per tray), or the meatball bar (quoted per event or per tray).
- Customize the assortment. For the cold sub party tray, choose between a curated featured-subs assortment (The Bobbie, the Italian, Cole Turkey, Homemade Turkey) or design a build-your-own combination from the full cold sub menu. For boxed lunches, attendees can pick from the full sub list. For the 54-inch tray, choose between cheesesteak or Capastrami.
- Add sides and beverages. Chips, coleslaw, pickles, cookie trays, and bottled beverages can supplement any format. Disposable plates, napkins, serving utensils, and individual sub wrappers are typically included with catering orders.
- Add logistics and check out. For delivery orders, add building access notes, floor or suite number, and a contact phone number. Most locations accept credit cards through the portal. For recurring corporate orders or large multi-tray bookings, some locations route through a corporate catering team; ask the location directly.
What’s included: Capriotti’s catering orders typically arrive with disposable plates, napkins, and serving utensils. The cold sub party tray arrives pre-cut on a tray ready to serve. Boxed lunches arrive individually packaged and labeled. The 54-inch tray arrives wrapped and ready to slice; some locations include a serving knife. Meatball bar orders arrive with the meatballs, marinara, provolone, Romano, and rolls separated for self-assembly onsite.
For a streamlined experience across many caterers, order through Zerocater. Capriotti’s on Zerocater shows the catering menu alongside hundreds of other vetted caterers in one place, which is useful when you’re rotating sub-shop options across the lunch schedule, building a multi-vendor catering program, or consolidating an ongoing meal program onto one invoice.
Delivery, Pickup & Lead Times
| Detail | What to Know |
|---|---|
| Lead Time (Cold Sub Party Tray) | 24 to 48 hours minimum for standard tray sizes; longer for large multi-tray bookings |
| Lead Time (Boxed Lunches) | 24 hours typical; some locations accept same-day for small box counts |
| Lead Time (54-Inch Tray) | 3 to 5 business days; longer for peak event windows and milestone bookings |
| Lead Time (Meatball Bar) | 3 to 5 business days; longer for large team events and custom assortments |
| Delivery Fee | Modest fee, scales with distance and order size; varies by location |
| Pickup | Available at most catering-enabled Capriotti’s locations; party trays travel cleanly in standard delivery packaging |
| Delivery Hours | Varies by location; most stores cover lunch through early afternoon for catering orders, with some locations extending into evening windows |
| Cancellation Window | Most locations require 24 to 48 hours notice to cancel a cold sub party tray or boxed lunch order without a fee; 54-inch tray and meatball bar bookings have longer cancellation windows |
| Setup | Drop-off only for standard catering; some locations offer staffed-buffet service for larger events on request |
| Temperature Format | Cold subs and party trays hold best at room temperature for three to four hours; hot subs and 54-inch cheesesteak or Capastrami trays arrive hot and hold best for one to two hours |
| Format on Arrival | Party tray: pre-cut subs on a serving tray. Boxed lunch: individually wrapped sub with chips or coleslaw and a cookie. 54-inch tray: full-length sub wrapped and ready to slice. Meatball bar: meatballs, marinara, provolone, Romano, and rolls separated for self-assembly |
Note on franchise variability: Capriotti’s is a franchise system. Catering package sizes, 54-inch tray availability, meatball bar availability, vegetarian and gluten-free options, and exact lead times can differ between two locations across the same metro. For recurring corporate orders, identify a catering-enabled location near your office that you’ve had a clean experience with and stick with that store. For a take on how franchise variability shapes lunch catering planning in general, the office manager’s guide to ordering catering covers the operational pattern.
Pros and Cons of Capriotti’s Catering
What Works Well
- Slow-roasted hand-pulled turkey is a structural moat. The brand’s defining wedge. Whole turkeys roasted in-house for twelve hours overnight and hand-pulled the next morning, rather than pre-sliced deli turkey from a distributor. The texture and flavor difference is the brand recognition that lands at the bite.
- The Bobbie is the conversation piece. A year-round Thanksgiving-feast sub that no other national sub chain offers. The format anchors the catering moment as a thoughtful choice rather than a default sub drop.
- Catering format mix scales cleanly. Cold sub party trays, individual boxed lunches, 54-inch cheesesteak or Capastrami trays, and meatball bars cover small team lunches through 100-attendee all-hands without needing a second vendor.
- Build-your-own assortment fits mixed-preference teams. A single party tray can pair The Bobbie, the Italian, Cole Turkey, Homemade Roast Beef, and a vegetarian option in one tray, which covers more dietary and taste preferences than a single-format catering drop.
- The 54-inch tray is a centerpiece moment. The format reads as the visual focal point of a larger event. For all-hands meetings and summer kickoffs, the 54-inch cheesesteak or Capastrami tray is one of the most-photographed catering centerpieces in the sub category.
- Boxed lunch is allergen-and-dietary friendly. Individual packaging with attendee-selected sub choice makes the boxed format clean for hybrid teams, conferences, and audiences with mixed dietary needs.
- Brand cue reads as Italian-deli-rooted, not generic sub. The Italian heritage cue, the founder story, the homemade coleslaw and stuffing, and the year-round Bobbie format make the brand feel more deli-rooted than the cheap-and-fast end of the sub category.
- Pricing sits in the mid-tier of the sub category. The mid-tier per-attendee positioning makes Capriotti’s a clean fit for both standard team-lunch budgets and elevated client-lunch moments.
What Falls Short
- US footprint is uneven. Capriotti’s is densest in the Mid-Atlantic, Mountain West, and Southwest, with growing coverage in the Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast. Offices outside the franchise footprint will not have a local store within delivery radius.
- Vegan coverage is limited. The Veggie Turkey and Veggie Cole Turkey are turkey-style alternatives but the broader menu is meat-anchored. For a fully plant-based catering moment, a vegan-specialist caterer covers the dietary side more cleanly.
- 54-inch tray lead time is longer. Three to five business days is reasonable for an event booking but longer than the 24-to-48-hour standard for cold sub party trays and boxed lunches. Plan accordingly for milestone events and larger kickoffs.
- Hot subs hold best in a one-to-two-hour window. The 54-inch cheesesteak and the Hot Bobbie arrive hot and peak in the first ninety minutes of service. For a longer event, plan for the hot subs to come off the buffet sooner than the cold subs.
- Sub-only catering can fatigue weekly recurring programs. A sub-anchored catering drop is engaging once or twice a month. Programs ordering weekly will want to rotate Capriotti’s with hot-meal, salad-anchored, or international-cuisine catering options to keep the lineup varied.
- Quality varies by franchise. Two Capriotti’s locations in the same metro can deliver materially different turkey-roasting consistency and assembly quality. Identify a clean-experience location and stick with it.
- 54-inch tray needs serving space. The full-length tray is impressive but requires roughly five feet of clean counter or table space. Confirm the office buffet layout supports the format before booking.
- Heat-level customization is limited. Capriotti’s subs run mild by default. For attendees who want a heat-forward catering moment, the menu does not expand into the spicy lane without per-sub add-ons.
Capriotti’s vs. Other Sub & Sandwich Catering
The office sub catering category has more contenders than most office managers realize. Here is how Capriotti’s stacks up against the three most-compared peers for office orders.
| Feature | Capriotti’s | Jersey Mike’s | Firehouse Subs | Jimmy John’s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Italian-heritage deli with slow-roasted turkey | Italian sub-shop with sliced-to-order meats | Steamed-meat hot sub specialist | Freaky-fast cold sub chain |
| Turkey Format | Hand-pulled, in-house slow-roasted overnight (12 hours) | Sliced-to-order deli turkey (Boar’s Head, Land O Frost, varies by store) | Steamed deli turkey, sliced before service | Sliced deli turkey, prepared in advance |
| Signature Catering Sub | The Bobbie (year-round Thanksgiving feast) | The Original Italian #13, served Mike’s Way | Hook & Ladder (smoked turkey, ham, Monterey Jack) | The J.J. Gargantuan (multi-meat hero) |
| Hot Sub Catering | Hot Bobbie, Capastrami, 54-inch cheesesteak tray | Limited hot subs; mostly cold sub focus | Steamed hot subs are the brand default | Cold subs only; no hot catering |
| Boxed Lunch Format | 8-inch small sub + chips or coleslaw + cookie | Individual sub + chips + cookie or pickle | Individual sub + chips + cookie | Individual sub + chips + pickle (no cookie) |
| 54-Inch Party Tray | Yes (cheesesteak or Capastrami) | No (party platters and box lunches) | No (catering platters, hot subs by the dozen) | Yes (Giant Box Lunch tray and 16-inch Gargantuan options) |
| Best Office Fit | Signature-anchored catering moment for board meetings, client lunches, all-hands, autumn or holiday events | Italian-leaning cold sub catering for team lunches and recruiting fairs | Hot sub catering for winter office lunches and family-style team meals | Same-day lunch catering when speed beats brand differentiation |
Jersey Mike’s is the closest peer in the Italian-heritage sub category. The brand’s catering covers party platters and individual box lunches with sliced-to-order Boar’s Head deli meats. Use Jersey Mike’s when an office wants the Italian-leaning Mike’s Way cold sub format. Capriotti’s wins when the slow-roasted turkey and The Bobbie are the catering centerpiece.
Firehouse Subs is the hot-sub specialist. The brand’s catering centers on steamed hot subs as the default, which is the opposite operational anchor from Capriotti’s cold-sub-anchored category. Use Firehouse for winter office lunches and family-style hot-sub catering. Use Capriotti’s when the cold sub party tray and The Bobbie are the catering format.
Jimmy John’s is the speed-anchored sub chain. The brand’s catering covers Giant Box Lunch trays and individual cold subs delivered fast. Use Jimmy John’s when same-day lead time is the requirement and brand differentiation is not the goal. Capriotti’s wins when the slow-roasted turkey and the signature Bobbie are the catering brief.
Capriotti’s and Zerocater
Capriotti’s is part of Zerocater’s network of hundreds of vetted catering partners. Zerocater pairs teams with the right caterer for each event, handles delivery logistics, and provides ongoing support. Mix Capriotti’s with complementary caterers for variety across the week or across an all-day event.
Offices rotate sub-anchored cold tray lunches with hot-meal, salad-anchored, and international-cuisine catering formats to keep weekly lineups balanced. For the broader catering landscape, the office manager’s guide to ordering catering covers the full format mix; the board meeting catering guide covers the executive-lunch end; and the tech company catering guide covers the all-day, kickoff-heavy event landscape where the 54-inch party tray formats land best.
Planning an event and not sure which menu fits? CaterAi builds custom menus based on your headcount, budget, dietary needs, and date. Chat with CaterAi to adjust items, add onsite staff or decor, and check out in minutes. For recurring meal programs, our corporate catering solution handles vendor rotation and delivery without requiring you to re-order each week.
Comparing Vendor Spotlight peers in the sub-and-sandwich lane? Read our deep dives on Jersey Mike’s catering, Paris Baguette catering, Playa Bowls catering, and Duck Donuts catering. For brand-guide comparisons across the broader sub, sandwich, and deli landscape, see Subway, Firehouse Subs, Jason’s Deli, McAlister’s Deli, Potbelly, Panera, Honey Baked Ham, and Einstein Bros. Bagels. For Brand Alternatives comparisons, read Firehouse Subs Alternatives and McAlister’s Deli Alternatives.
For the broader event-format and occasion-planning context, the holiday party catering planning, company picnic and outdoor catering, board meeting catering, and tech company catering guides cover the moments where a Bobbie-anchored party tray, a 54-inch cheesesteak centerpiece, or a meatball bar fits and where it does not. For the dietary planning angle, the mixed-dietary catering, gluten-free office catering, and vegan office catering guides round out the picture. For boxed-lunch and party-tray format planning, the boxed lunch vs. buffet, boxed lunches for hybrid teams, boxed lunch catering for conferences, allergy-safe boxed lunches, and best boxed lunch catering companies guides cover the planning patterns.
For office catering in Capriotti’s primary Zerocater catering city (Denver) and other Mountain West and Mid-Atlantic metros, browse the city listicles for Denver, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, NYC, LA, Seattle, and Dallas. Cost guides for San Francisco, NYC, Chicago, LA, and Boston cover the broader market context. For Italian-leaning catering, browse the Italian catering directory.
For sub-and-deli partners across Zerocater’s network, see New York Deli News and Zep’s Epiq Sandwiches in Denver, Erik’s DeliCafe in San Jose and Togo’s Sandwiches in Alameda for the Bay Area, Miss Subi in Belmont, The Don’s Deli in Mountain View, Sunrise Deli in San Francisco, Mickey’s Deli in Hermosa Beach, Firenze Italian Street Food and Fratello’s Sandwiches in the Chicago area, Tivoli Sandwiches in Boston, Celine’s Delicatessen and Italian by Ripe in Seattle, Bentodeli in Austin, Lucas Italian Catering in Dallas, Sub Culture in Jersey City, and Queens Bagels Delicatessen in NYC for sub and deli partners that round out a multi-vendor lunch lineup.
Menus, pricing, package sizes, tray dimensions, signature sub availability, and hot sub formats vary by location and change over time. For the current Capriotti’s catering menu and a live quote in your area, check Capriotti’s on Zerocater.
Plan Your Office Catering with CaterAi
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Capriotti’s catering priced?
Capriotti’s catering is priced by format. The cold sub party tray is priced per tray, with curated and build-your-own assortment options scaling from smaller team-lunch sizes through 30-plus-attendee party trays. Boxed lunches are priced per box, built around an 8-inch small sub with chips or coleslaw and a cookie. The 54-inch cheesesteak and Capastrami trays are priced per tray. The meatball bar is quoted per event based on headcount and assortment. Sides, cookie trays, and beverages price per unit. Pricing sits in the mid-tier of the national sub category and varies by location, so check the catering portal for your nearest Capriotti’s for a live quote.
What is the minimum order for Capriotti’s catering?
Most Capriotti’s locations set a modest minimum for catering orders rather than a high floor. The boxed lunch format typically starts at a small group count; the cold sub party tray starts at a single-tray size; the 54-inch tray and meatball bar have headcount or tray-count minimums tied to the format. For recurring corporate orders and larger event bookings, the minimum is typically tied to event size rather than a flat order floor. The catering portal will surface the minimum at checkout for your address.
How far in advance should I order Capriotti’s catering?
Standard cold sub party tray and boxed lunch orders need twenty-four to forty-eight hours of notice; some locations accept same-day orders for smaller box counts. For 54-inch cheesesteak or Capastrami trays and meatball bar bookings, plan on three to five business days of lead time, longer for peak corporate event windows. For larger all-hands events of 75 or more attendees with custom assortments, order a week ahead so the location can stock enough turkey, bread, and sub-build inventory. The catering portal shows the earliest available delivery slot for your specific address.
Is The Bobbie available for catering year-round?
Yes. The Bobbie has been on the Capriotti’s menu from the brand’s founding in 1976 and is available every day of the year, not seasonally. The catering versions of The Bobbie appear on cold sub party trays as one of the featured signature subs, as an option in build-your-own assortments, as a boxed lunch single sub, and as the Hot Bobbie variation served grilled. For an autumn-themed or holiday catering moment, The Bobbie is the standard centerpiece. For other seasons, it functions equally well as the conversation-piece sub on any standard team lunch tray.
Does Capriotti’s offer dietary accommodations like gluten-free or vegetarian?
Yes. Most Capriotti’s locations offer gluten-free sub rolls for cold sub, Bobbie, and hot sub orders, which makes gluten-free attendees a clean fit for the boxed lunch and party tray formats. The Veggie Turkey and Veggie Cole Turkey are vegetarian alternatives built on the same Italian roll with a turkey-style meat substitute and the same vegetable garnish stack. Shareable salads work as a lower-bread alternative for dietary-friendly attendees. Confirm exact gluten-free availability, allergen handling, and vegan options with your specific catering location at order time, since franchise variability applies.
How does Capriotti’s catering compare to Jersey Mike’s, Firehouse Subs, or Jimmy John’s?
Capriotti’s is the Italian-heritage deli with slow-roasted hand-pulled turkey and The Bobbie as the year-round Thanksgiving signature. Jersey Mike’s is the closest peer in the Italian sub category, with sliced-to-order deli meats and the Mike’s Way cold-sub format. Firehouse Subs is the hot-sub specialist, with steamed hot subs as the default rather than cold subs. Jimmy John’s is the speed-anchored sub chain, with same-day cold sub catering as the play. Capriotti’s wins when the slow-roasted turkey, The Bobbie, and the 54-inch cheesesteak or Capastrami tray are the brief.
What types of office events is Capriotti’s catering best for?
Capriotti’s catering fits board meetings, executive lunches, client lunches, team lunches, all-hands meetings, recruiting fairs, off-site retreats, summer kickoffs, autumn or holiday-themed events, hybrid all-hands meetings (boxed lunch format), milestone celebrations (54-inch tray centerpiece), training sessions and conferences (boxed lunch format), and sports-themed events (54-inch cheesesteak tray). It is less suited to small two-to-four-person meetings, breakfast events, weekly recurring programs where sub fatigue would set in, fully plant-based catering moments, and dietary-restricted events with strict no-pork or strict-vegan constraints.
What makes Capriotti’s a good fit for office catering?
Capriotti’s is one of the few national sub chains that built its catering program around an operational difference (the in-house slow-roasted hand-pulled turkey) rather than just a menu lineup. The format anchors the brand’s national identity, makes The Bobbie a conversation piece rather than a generic deli sub, and scales cleanly across cold sub party trays, individual boxed lunches, 54-inch hot sub trays, and meatball bars. The Italian-heritage brand cue, the homemade coleslaw and stuffing, and the year-round Bobbie format make the brand feel more deli-rooted and thoughtful than the cheap-and-fast end of the sub category. Across formats, the slow-roasted turkey arrives as the centerpiece and the catering moment registers rather than disappearing into the buffet.
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