Chicago has opinions about Italian beef, and most of them are correct. Buona has been settling the argument since 1981, when the Buonavolanto family set up shop after learning the hours-long process from the founding families behind the city's very first beef stands. They haven't changed it since — no fillers, slow-roasted beef that yields an all-natural gravy, and a seasoning blend they still won't tell anyone about. Hot, sweet or naked, dipped or baptized: three catering packages are now live on CaterCow from their Chicago kitchen, covering sandwich packs, boxed lunches and a full Italian buffet. We're thrilled to welcome them to the platform.
The Italian Buffet is the widest door in, with classic trays, pasta and salads on one order form. The 10-Person Signature Buona Beef arrives as slow-roasted beef in a vacuum-sealed bag alongside hot gravy, bread, sweet peppers, giardiniera and a warming kit — give it 20 minutes to come up to temperature and it is the closest thing to a beef stand a conference room will ever get. Around it sit Italian Sausage & Peppers in natural gravy or marinara, handmade meatballs in house-made marinara, Chicken Parmesan and Lemon Chicken trays, Tuscan Pomodoro Grilled Chicken, and pasta trays of signature rigatoni marinara, ricotta cheese ravioli and fettuccine alfredo. The Sandwich Platters line goes the other direction — pre-made packs of ten wrapped 4.5-inch sandwiches, from Buona Beef to Italian Sausage, Meatball Marinara, Chicken Parmesan, Caprese, Chicago-Style Hot Dogs and a Vegan Beefless pack, each with chips, giardiniera and sweet peppers on the side. And Boxed Lunches handles the days when nobody wants to stand over a tray.
What makes it work for office catering specifically:
Individually boxed lunches at $14.95. The Boxed Lunches package starts at a 5-person minimum and lands one sealed box per person: a regular size sandwich with chips or potato salad, plus a chocolate chunk cookie or an apple. The Premium Salad Box and the Protein Bowl Box are $15.95, and the Protein Bowl Box is tagged both vegan and gluten-free.
Signature Buona Beef by the tray. $89 feeds 10 and $165 feeds 20, with bread, sweet peppers, giardiniera and the warming kit included. Budget 20 minutes on site for the beef to come up to temperature in the hot gravy — it is the only real setup in the entire lineup, and it is worth it.
Sandwich packs of 10, from $69. Italian Sausage, Meatball Marinara, Caprese and Chicago-Style Hot Dog packs are $69 for ten wrapped sandwiches with chips; Buona Beef is $79; the Pick Two pack, cheeseburgers, hamburgers, grilled or crispy chicken and the Vegan Beefless pack are $89. That works out to $6.90 to $8.90 a head with no serving line at all.
Pasta and salads from $32. A 10-person tray of signature rigatoni marinara, ricotta cheese ravioli or fettuccine alfredo is $49, or $89 for 20 people. Seven salads start at $32 for 10 — Old Neighborhood House, Classic Caesar, Nonna's Potato Salad, Buona's Original Chopped Chicken, Spicy Chicken Ranch, Honey Mustard Chicken and Mediterranean Chicken.
12 vegetarian items, 4 vegan and 9 gluten-free. Out of 53 items on the catering menu, that is real coverage rather than a token side dish. The Tray of Vegan Beef is $89 and means the plant-based half of the team eats the same thing as everyone else, and the Sausage & Peppers with marinara, Tuscan Pomodoro Grilled Chicken, Nonna's Potato Salad and Mediterranean Chicken Salad are all tagged gluten-free.
🌟 $50 Off Buona Catering — Code: 50OFFBUONA
To welcome Buona to the platform, we're taking $50 off any catering order of $100 or more. Enter code 50OFFBUONA at checkout — one use per customer.
Why order Buona catering through CaterCow?
Four reasons that hold up after the discount:
One invoice across multiple restaurants. If your team rotates between Buona, sushi and tacos in the same week, you get one consolidated bill instead of chasing receipts across vendors.
On-time delivery guarantee. If the order runs late, our team handles the make-good — not your office manager calling during the lunch rush.
Headcount flexibility and dietary tagging. Add or remove orders up to lead time, and every individual item arrives labeled with name and dietary callouts, so the gluten-free person on your team doesn't have to interrogate the buffet.
Rewards. Every CaterCow order earns you CaterCoins you can use on future orders or redeem for Amazon gift cards.
Buona delivers to offices from its Chicago kitchen.
Buona Catering FAQs
How do I redeem the 50OFFBUONA coupon code? Enter 50OFFBUONA at checkout on the Buona catering page. It takes $50 off orders of $100 or more, one use per customer, and there is no expiry date to watch.
What's the minimum order? Every package starts at a 5-person minimum. A round of boxed lunches at $14.95 per person clears the $100 coupon minimum with a team of seven.
How far in advance should I order? We recommend placing catering orders at least 24 hours ahead, and further out for larger groups or the hot trays that need a warming kit on site.
Are there vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options? Yes — 12 items are tagged vegetarian, 4 vegan and 9 gluten-free, including the Vegan Beefless Sandwich Pack and the Protein Bowl Box, which is both vegan and gluten-free.
Whether it's ten people or a hundred, Buona brings Chicago's original Italian beef to the office — slow-roasted the same way since 1981, wrapped in a box or laid out on a tray, with one invoice at the end of it.
Welcome to the farm, Buona 🌟