Policies

2025-2026 

Plan Your Event

Welcome to PSU Eats Catering! Our mission is to provide you with exceptional quality, exceptional service and a creative cutting-edge culinary experience. Our professional staff is available to assist in planning your special event Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm. Please contact our catering coordinator at 503-725-3671 for customized service and menus.

Late Order Fee – Changes

We understand events arise unexpectedly and we will do our best to accommodate your needs, if an event needs to be booked with less than 15 days’ notice a late fee of 25% will incur, no changes within 15 days of your event.

Guest Counts

We kindly request a confirmed number of guests be specified 15 days prior to the event. This number is considered the guaranteed guest count.

Event Staff

We will ensure your event is fully setup 15- 30 Minutes before guest arrival time, and we will return to pick up no later than 2 hours from event setup time unless an earlier pick up was requested.

Staff is available to support your event if you prefer to have someone on-site at all times or if your event requires constant replenishment. Event staffing is billed with a four-hour minimum, at $37.00 per hour, each additional hour will be billed at the same hourly rate. Please ask our team for more details.

Event Timeline

Prices are based on a two-hour meal period for meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner service). Additional service time may be subject to additional fees. Event start or end times that deviate more than thirty minutes from contracted times may be charged additional fees. In order to provide the freshest food, we must limit buffet service to two-hours.

Cancellation

Please note that all cancellations must be made at least 15 days prior to the contracted event date at no charge. If a cancellation is requested less than 15 business days prior to your event there will be a 25% service charge to accommodate service and product expenses. Cancellations within 7 days of your event will be billed fully regardless of products ordered (unless due to force majeure). Changes and cancellations must be submitted by the requestor or event contact via email, no exceptions.

*Please note that Oregon labor laws have specific guidelines for scheduling of staff. In order to guarantee the success of our business while providing our people with predictable income cancellation of event staff within 15 days of the event will be billed.

One Buffet Theme Per Event

To ensure a successful catering event we limit our service to one theme buffet per event.

Exclusivity-Buy Out

PSU EATS by Chartwells is proud to be the exclusive provider of all food and beverage services for the Portland State University CESU Locations, Requests made without the 15 days notice will not be exempt by the use of a food waiver or classified as “Chartwells not being able to provide services”, in this case the use of a buyout fee established at Chartwells discretion and proper waiver documentation must submitted to CESU as soon as possible.    

Hours Of Operations 

8am to 8pm, Monday through Friday.  If your event falls outside of these parameters, please contact us.

Catertrax Submission (For Internal PSU Catering Orders) 

All school related catering requests must be made via psucaters.catertrax.com We will not commence service without a proper submission of a catering request through Catertrax  (15) full calendar days prior to the event. At the time of the submission a primary contact must be submitted with all the contact details and correct index code. 

Catering Request must include:

•Name of Requestor and name of the group attending
•Event contact information
•Date(s)
•Location of the event
•Purpose of the event
 

Order Name

For internal PSU events, the policy requires that the business purpose be included for all events paid for by Portland State University. The business purpose of the event must be explicitly stated in the event title or noted under the special instruction field.

Linen

Tablecloths are supplied for all food and beverages service tables at events. If you require additional linen please add at time of ordering.

Billing & Payment

A form of payment (department code or credit card) is required when an order is placed. Credit cards will be billed at the completion of your event and confirmation of charge sent to you at that time.

External events may require 50% Deposit at the time of Booking and remaining balance billed at the completion of your event. Large-scale events require full payment 15 days prior to the event.

Special Diets

Special diets are accommodated upon request, we kindly request that your needs be submitted as soon as possible.

In-House Meeting Room and Equipment

Please reserve all non-food related equipment by contacting University Conference and Event Services at 503-725-2663 or conferences@pdx.edu. This will include room reservation, room set up and configuration, audio/visual and other general information. For needs outside of the PSU scope, please work with our catering team to secure all external rental needs. Please note PSU Eats Catering does not provide catering tables or event equipment. 

Delivery Fee  (Charges are based on Total of Invoice without Gratuity or Administrative fee)

Any orders outside Smith Memorial Student Union must be subject to a delivery fee, please see the delivery rates for your specific building location. Delivery fees are based on the total invoiced amount. Your order must meet the minimum requirement of $350 to qualify for delivery. 

Minimum Requirements

All orders of $350 or less will be Pick Up ONLY and will require the use of disposable serving items. 

Gratuity And Administrative Charge  (Charges are based on total of invoice without delivery fee)

-PSU Faculty and Staff

All the prices in this catering guide are discounted for PSU Faculty and Staff Only (All PSU Faculty and Staff functions are exempt from any administrative charge), gratuity is optional for internal groups. 

-External Catering 

All external groups are subject to a 5% Administrative fee and a base 10% Gratuity Fee (If a higher gratuity charge is desired, please let us at the time of placing an order).