The best production caterers in Los Angeles for crafty and hot meals (2026)
Craft services and hot meals for film, TV, commercials, music videos and photo shoots. The companies here feed crews on stages and locations around Los Angeles. Read each card for what they cover and the size of shoot they suit.
Updated October 27, 2026. 12 listings, checked October 26, 2026.
Feed the crew late and the production pays for it. Enter call time to see when lunch has to hit the table and when a second meal comes due.
First meal by12:00 PM
Second meal by6:30 PM
6:00 AMCrew callThe meal clock starts here.
12:00 PMFirst meal must startSix hours after call. Plan for food to be hot and set before this. Call +6 hr
12:30 PMBack to workAfter a 30 minute meal. Call +6 hr 30 min
6:30 PMSecond meal dueSix hours after the first meal ends, if the day runs that long. Call +12 hr 30 min
The six hour rule shows up in most union contracts, but the details vary: some count from general crew call and some from each person's own call, and breakfast rules can move the clock. Check your own agreement or ask the production office before you lock the catering order.
Production and crafty caterers in Los Angeles
1
Marbled LA
Best for: shoots that need crafty plus a hot meal
This guide is published by MEDZ, which owns Marbled LA.
Area: Glendale
Production and set catering
Crafty
Hot meals
Plans crafty and hot meals around the call sheet, from breakfast at a 6am call to a hot lunch that lands on the meal break.
Film, TV, commercial and photo crews get fed on stages and locations around Los Angeles. Marbled LA can run crafty for the day, deliver hot meals, or both, and its quotes break out breakfast, lunch and crafty per person with delivery and equipment on separate lines.
Ratings as of October 2026, copied from Marbled LA's Google and Yelp profiles. The links show every review.
From Marbled LA's Google reviews
“We hired Marbled LA for a 27-day (consecutive!) film shoot and they provided excellent meals that were individually packaged for our crew of 40 people each day.”
Best for: early call breakfasts and labeled boxed lunches
Area: Los Angeles
Office catering
Boxed lunches
Hot meal catering
Executive catering
Production catering
Delivers to soundstages, backlots, locations and production offices across LA County, with breakfast from as early as 5 AM and boxed lunches labeled by name.
A Burbank caterer serving Greater Los Angeles since 2007 that plans production meals around early calls and far-flung locations, and has donated over 300,000 meals to the LA Regional Food Bank.
Production food runs on call times, not the clock. A 6am call means breakfast is ready when the first department walks in. On union shows the meal break generally comes due about six hours after call, so the hot meal has to land on time even when the day shifts. Ask any caterer how they handle a late meal break and when they need the next day's count.
Crafty is the all-day spread: coffee, snacks, fruit, drinks and small bites between meals. Hot meals are the scheduled breakfast, lunch, and second meal on long days. Some companies do one, some do both. On smaller shoots and commercials, a drop-off crafty setup plus a delivered hot meal often does the job of a full catering truck for less.
Lots, practicals and the desert
A stage on a Burbank or Culver City lot is the easy case once the caterer is on the drive-on list. There is a fixed spot, power and water. Practical locations take more planning. Permit conditions often limit where trucks can park on residential streets, a Hollywood Hills canyon road may have nowhere to turn a box truck, and a summer day near Lancaster or Palmdale needs shade and far more ice than anyone expects.
Give the caterer the set address, basecamp or crew parking, the load-in contact, and what is already on site.
Get quotes your line producer can compare
Ask each caterer to quote breakfast, lunch and crafty per person, with delivery and equipment as separate lines. That shows where the money goes when the count jumps from 30 to 80 for a big day, and it lines up against a per-person, per-day budget.
Food that holds up over a long day
Crews work long, physical days. Look for proteins that stay good in a chafer, salads still fresh at second meal, and real vegetarian and vegan mains rather than extra sides. Send the crew's dietary list with the request, and a separate count if background eats at a different time.
What it costs in Los Angeles
Crew food is budgeted per person, per meal, and LA runs above national averages. Here is what caterers here and crew budgeting guides typically show for delivered meals and crafty.
Crew meals in LA, per person
What
Typical range
Delivered breakfast at call
$18 to $28 per person
Delivered hot lunch
$18 to $35 per person
Second meal on long days
$22 to $35 per person
Craft services
$12 to $25 per person per day
Delivery to a stage is usually the simplest and least expensive. Practical locations, canyon and desert sets and very early calls can add delivery or labor charges, and a staffed truck costs more than a drop-off. Sales tax applies to hot food and to a required service charge.
On its own menu, Marbled LA prices crew breakfast at $22 per person and lunch at $24, $48 or $70 per person depending on the menu, then adds delivery from $150 per drop, $2.50 per person for disposables and 15 percent service.
Tips
Get breakfast, lunch and crafty as separate per-person lines. When the count jumps on a big day, the line producer sees exactly what moved.
On a multi-day shoot, ask whether a fixed delivery window and a standing daily order bring the delivery charge down.
These are typical Los Angeles market ranges drawn from public price lists and cost guides, not quotes. Every caterer prices its own menus, so ask each one for a written quote.
What is the difference between crafty and catering on set?
Catering usually means the scheduled hot meals. Crafty, short for craft services, is the table of snacks, drinks and coffee that stays open all day. Some companies on this list do both.
Do we need a catering truck for a small shoot?
Often not. For a small crew and a short day, a delivered hot meal plus a drop-off crafty table usually covers it and costs less than a staffed truck. Large crews at remote locations are where a truck pays for itself.
How does a caterer get onto a studio lot?
Through the production. Lots generally admit vehicles only from a drive-on list, so send the caterer's company name and vehicle details to whoever handles your gate passes, and tell the caterer which gate and which stage to look for.
How late can a production change the meal count?
Each caterer sets its own cutoff, often when the call sheet goes out the night before. A late bump is usually easier for crafty and breakfast than for a hot lunch.
