Graduation Party Catering: Hibachi at Home in RI & MA

A hibachi chef at a graduation party solves the problem every graduation party has: people arriving across a four-hour window, three generations in the same backyard, and a host who wants to talk to their kid instead of standing over a grill.

From $800 for up to 20 guests — about $40 a head — with chicken, steak, and shrimp for every person. Drop-off catering from $500 if you'd rather have food out all afternoon than a show at a set time.

Book early — everyone graduates the same two weekends

This is the practical warning, so it goes first.

Rhode Island graduations cluster hard in late May and June, and so do the parties. Those Saturdays are the tightest dates in our calendar alongside summer weddings.

Four to six weeks out is sensible. If your date is a Saturday in June, earlier. We schedule four hours apart per chef so nobody is rushing between parties, which means each chef takes a small number of events per day — availability disappears faster than people expect.

If your date is close, ask anyway. Cancellations happen and weeknight parties are far more open than Saturdays.

Open house or set dinner?

Graduation parties split into two shapes, and they want different things from a caterer.

The open house. People drift in and out from noon to six. Cousins arrive, eat, leave; the neighbors show up at four. Live hibachi is awkward here, because the show has a start and an end and half your guests will miss it. Drop-off catering fits better — food is out, people help themselves, and you're not tied to a schedule. From $500.

The set dinner. Everyone arrives around the same time and sits down together. This is where live hibachi earns its money — the cooking becomes the event, and the graduate gets an evening people actually remember rather than another tray of sandwiches.

Some people do both: drop-off through the afternoon for the open-house crowd, then a hibachi station in the evening for family. Tell us what your day looks like and we'll tell you honestly which makes sense.

Feeding three generations

A graduation party is one of the few events where you're feeding grandparents, parents, and a pack of eighteen-year-olds at the same time. That's a harder catering problem than a wedding.

Every guest gets chicken, steak, and shrimp — all three, no upgrade charge — plus fried rice, noodles, vegetables, salad, and edamame. No picking one protein and hoping it's the one your nephew eats.

Dietary restrictions across a large family group are routine for us. Gluten-free across the whole menu including the noodles. Vegan cooked separately with tofu. Shellfish allergies handled by cook order — seafood last, shellfish absolutely last. Send us the count when you book.

And teenagers eat considerably more than the headcount suggests. Tell us the age mix and we'll quantity accordingly. We over-prep every event and have never run short.

The show matters more than you'd think

A graduation party is a lot of people standing in a yard making conversation. Live cooking gives the whole thing a center of gravity — something to gather around, something to react to, something for the relatives who don't know each other to talk about.

It's also the difference between a party the graduate tolerates and one they actually enjoyed. Nobody remembers the chicken. People remember the chef who cooked it three feet away.

Every event includes a chef and a dedicated attendant who plates, serves, and cleans up — so the chef never stops cooking and you're not doing dishes at nine o'clock.

Where we set up

A flat, stable spot with about eight feet of clear working space — driveway, patio, deck, or lawn — with clearance from low branches and awnings.

June weather in Rhode Island is not reliable. We bring a tent for our cooking station so the chefs work through rain, and electric griddles with our own battery power if things need to move indoors. Most mobile hibachi runs on propane and cannot go inside safely, because burning propane in an enclosed space produces carbon monoxide. Guest seating and coverage is yours to arrange.

What it costs

• Up to 20 guests — $800 (about $40 per guest)

• Up to 40 guests — $1,600 (about $40 per guest)

• Up to 60 guests — $2,400 (about $40 per guest)

• Between tiers — $50 per additional guest

• Drop-off catering — from $500, no chef on site

Flat quote. No service charge added afterward, no automatic gratuity, no travel fee applied after you've booked. For parties under 20 guests there's no deposit — you pay your chef on the day once the grill is set up.

Book your date

Text or call with your date, town, and guest count, and tell us whether it's an open house or a sit-down. We'll send a flat quote, usually same day.

Call or text 401-402-9616.

Timing guidance is in how far in advance should I book a hibachi chef, and dietary handling is covered in hibachi catering with allergies.

SIFU Hibachi & Sushi Catering — kitchens in Cranston and Providence, RI.