Oktoberfest Catering in Pittsburgh: How to Feed a Crowd Like a Biergarten (Without Cooking a Thing)
Here's something we've learned in 45+ years of catering around Pittsburgh: nobody in this town celebrates Oktoberfest the way Munich does. We celebrate it better, or at least, more like us 🍺
Walk into any Oktoberfest party from Oakdale to Leechburg and you'll find bratwurst and sauerkraut sitting right next to a pan of haluski. Pierogies sharing a buffet line with schnitzel. And somewhere near the dessert table, inevitably, Lady Locks…because this is Pittsburgh, and no celebration here escapes cookie table culture, not even a German one.
Pittsburgh's German heritage and its Polish and Eastern European roots grew up on the same streets, and our Oktoberfest menu is built the way this city actually eats.
What's on the Menu
Our Oktoberfest catering menu starts at $19.95 per person, and it works like a biergarten buffet: you pick two entrées and three sides, and we handle everything else (condiments, rolls, and butter included).
On the entrée side, the classics are all here. Bratwurst, knockwurst, bockwurst, or kielbasa, each with sauerkraut. Roasted pork with your choice of sauerkraut or apple chutney. Chicken schnitzel, fried crisp. Pierogies two ways: sauerkraut, or potato and cheese. And if you want to go full Bavarian beer hall, wiener schnitzel and bangers & mash are there for a couple dollars more per person.
Then come the sides, which (let's be blunt) are where an Oktoberfest spread is won or lost. German potato salad, the warm, vinegary kind. Braised red cabbage. Spaetzle. Potato pancakes with applesauce or sour cream. Butternut squash for the fall of it all. And yes, haluski, because a Pittsburgh Oktoberfest without buttered cabbage and noodles is just an incomplete thought.
Dessert is $2.50 a person and worth every penny of it: apple crisp, apple strudel, cookies, brownies, or those Lady Locks. Add a jug of apple cider and you've got the kind of spread that makes people linger at a party long after they meant to leave.
It Doesn't Have to Be an "Oktoberfest Party"
Some of our favorite Oktoberfest orders every fall aren't Oktoberfest parties at all. They're Steelers watch parties where somebody got tired of ordering the same wings. Fire hall fundraisers. Office lunches in October when a tray of brats and pierogies outdraws every sandwich platter ever made. Backyard birthdays, church festivals, brewery events where the beer is spoken for and the food needs to keep up.
The menu just fits the season. When the air turns crisp and the leaves start going gold along the rivers, people want warm, hearty, familiar food, and this is exactly that.
The Case for Not Cooking
We'll be honest: you could cook all of this yourself. Pittsburghers are capable people. But bratwurst for forty means standing over a grill while your party happens behind you, and homemade spaetzle for a crowd is a decision you make exactly once in your life.
Catering flips that math. We cook everything from scratch…the same way we have since the beginning, because "Just. Good. Food." isn't a slogan we came up, it’s actually how we do things. You pick it up from our Oakdale or Leechburg kitchens, or we deliver it to your venue, hot and ready to serve. You spend the party where you belong: in it.
*One honest note for smaller gatherings: the menu is priced for groups of about 30 or more. Under 30 guests, it's an extra $2.00 per person. Still cheaper than your time, your grocery run, and your Sunday spent scrubbing a roasting pan.
Fall Dates Go Fast, Here's the Practical Advice
Oktoberfest season in Pittsburgh is short and crowded. Between the big festival weekends, tailgates, weddings, and every organization in the tri-state area deciding October is the month to gather, fall Saturdays book up earlier every year. If you have a date in mind - especially a weekend - call before you've finalized anything else. The menu is flexible. The calendar is not.
Take a look at the full Oktoberfest Catering Menu, then give us a call at our Oakdale kitchen (412-258-5944) or in Leechburg (724-845-6247). We'll help you size the order, sort out delivery or pickup, and get you back to the fun part of hosting, which was never the cooking 💁♀️
Cooked Goose Catering has served homemade, scratch-made food across the Greater Pittsburgh area for more than 45 years, from backyard parties to corporate events for hundreds. Prost.