I have an opportunity to cater a basic pork sandwich, beans, slaw lunch for 350 people. How many servers would someone recommend to serve them in app. 30-45 min.
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I'd do cafeteria style and have three people on the line serving it up. Not sure you can pay people enough to justify a simple lunch seating. If you have some friends that are willing to do it cheap I'd still go with three at a prep table and as many running as possible. I'm guessing you quoted less than $10 a head for this. You can't really build in full table service for less than $15 a head.
It's not about how fast you can serve them, but rather how fast they'll move through a line. people are bovine in nature, and frequently need to be prodded to keep moving.
I would suggest 3 lines, each with 2 servers. First server gets a plate and loads with beans, slaw, and a sandwich roll. Hands off to server #2 who then adds meat and passes plate back to customer. Repeat, quickly.
Server #2 may not seem to have a lot to do, but s/he's the one thanking the customer and interacting some, so their workload is more than it appears. Having #1 and #2 at arms length from each other will also help to keep things moving as it will discourage people from planting themselves in front of someone and just standing there.
I would suggest 3 lines, each with 2 servers. First server gets a plate and loads with beans, slaw, and a sandwich roll. Hands off to server #2 who then adds meat and passes plate back to customer. Repeat, quickly.
Server #2 may not seem to have a lot to do, but s/he's the one thanking the customer and interacting some, so their workload is more than it appears. Having #1 and #2 at arms length from each other will also help to keep things moving as it will discourage people from planting themselves in front of someone and just standing there.