Mangal Catering: Turning the BBQ Into an Event
TL;DR
Mangal catering keeps everything people love about the Israeli BBQ — the fire, the smoke, the meat straight off the coals — and removes what nobody loves: buying, prepping, cooking and cleaning it yourself. Instead of disposable trays and a host stuck at the grill, a crew arrives with premium cuts, runs a live grill buffet in front of your guests, and clears out. RBBQ does this on-site anywhere in Tel Aviv and Gush Dan from a flat ₪6,700 minimum (up to about 23 guests), then ₪290 per guest all-inclusive — meat from named certified butchers, cooking, and cleanup included.
What is mangal catering, exactly?
Mangal is the Israeli word for the grill and, by extension, the whole ritual around it — coals, skewers, salads, the crowd that gathers wherever the smoke goes. It's the default Israeli celebration: Yom Ha'atzmaut, a Friday afternoon, a birthday in the park. Mangal catering is that same ritual, run for you by a professional crew instead of by whoever drew the short straw.
The difference isn't the food being fancier for its own sake. It's that someone else buys the meat, lights the fire an hour before anyone arrives, cooks to order through the whole event, and takes the mess away at the end. What your guests experience is unchanged — grilled meat coming off live coals in front of them — but the host gets to be a guest at their own mangal for once.
How is a catered mangal different from a family BBQ?
A family mangal runs on volunteers and disposable everything. It's wonderful and it's also chaos: someone's overcooking the kebab while someone else runs out for more coal, the salads were made at 2pm and have been sitting in the sun, and the person who owns the grill hasn't eaten a hot piece of meat all day. It scales badly — twenty people is manageable, forty is a war.
A catered mangal fixes the parts that break at scale. The meat is portioned and prepped in advance, the fire is managed by people who do it every weekend, and the grill keeps producing hot food from the first guest to the last. The table below lays out where the two diverge.
| Family mangal | Catered mangal (RBBQ) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who cooks | The host, all night | A professional crew — the host is a guest |
| The meat | Whatever was on sale, bought that morning | Premium cuts from a named certified butcher |
| At scale (40+) | Cold food, long waits, stress | Continuous hot food off the live grill |
| Cleanup | Your problem, the next morning | Included — the crew clears out |
What kind of meat lands on a premium mangal?
The classic mangal spread — kebab, chicken thighs, merguez, a bit of steak — done with real cuts instead of supermarket trays. On an RBBQ mangal that means thick entrecote and picanha sliced off the coals, beef and chicken skewers, coils of house merguez, grilled vegetables, fresh pita, tahini and chopped Israeli salad made the same day. It reads as a mangal, not a restaurant plating exercise — just built from a better shopping list.
Where the meat comes from is the part we name out loud. Around north Tel Aviv we work with Bat HaKatzav in Ramat Aviv, a certified-kosher boutique counter with over fifty years of family butchering behind it; in Ramat Gan there's Meshek Lagziel, a sixty-year-old family business. When an event needs a stricter standard, we source from Atliz Lemhadrin in Kfar Shalem, which carries multiple Badatz certifications — Machpud, Beit Yosef and the Eda HaChareidis — with a supervisor on the premises. The butcher and its certification go on your quote in writing; never assume kosher, always verify the source.
Where can a catered mangal happen?
Anywhere with open air and a little room for the grill. Because everything is cooked at your address, the format suits the places a real mangal already happens — a rooftop, a garden, a moshav yard, a building's shared courtyard, an office terrace for a team lunch. What we need is modest: an outdoor or well-ventilated spot for the fire and about ninety minutes of setup before guests arrive.
RBBQ runs on-site mangal catering across Tel Aviv and the wider Gush Dan — Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Herzliya, Ra'anana, Kfar Saba, Petach Tikva and up the coast toward Netanya. Because the drive happens before anything is cooked, a rooftop in Petach Tikva gets the same ninety-seconds-off-the-fire entrecote as a garden in north Tel Aviv. Send the address on WhatsApp and we confirm the setup on the spot.
What does mangal catering cost?
Flat and public: a ₪6,700 minimum covers events up to about 23 guests, and above that it's ₪290 per guest — premium cuts, sides, salads, soft drinks, full setup, live-fire cooking by the crew, and cleanup, all inside one number. No separate line items for staff, coal or equipment; the price you're quoted is the price you pay.
The smallest on-site mangal we run is 20 guests. For a more intimate gathering there's a private fire chef format from ₪1,900 — same fire, same cuts, scaled to one table. Build your event in the calculator on our homepage for a live number, then send it on WhatsApp; the fixed quote that comes back names the butcher and the certification, and a 50% deposit holds the date. If you want the reasoning behind on-site cooking, our guide on how live-grill events actually work walks through the crew and timeline.
Frequently asked
What is mangal catering?
It's the Israeli mangal — the grill and everything around it — run for you by a professional crew instead of by the host. A team arrives with premium cuts, lights the fire before guests come, cooks to order over live coals throughout the event as a grill buffet, and handles cleanup. The experience stays a mangal; the work stops being yours.
How is a catered mangal different from just having a BBQ?
A family BBQ runs on volunteers, disposable trays and whatever meat was on sale, and the host cooks all night. A catered mangal uses premium cuts from a named certified butcher, a crew that manages the fire so hot food keeps coming even at 40+ guests, and includes setup and cleanup — so the host actually gets to enjoy the event.
How much does mangal catering cost in Tel Aviv?
At RBBQ: a flat ₪6,700 minimum up to about 23 guests, then ₪290 per guest all-inclusive — meat, sides, drinks, setup, live cooking and cleanup in one number, with no separate charges for staff or equipment. For fewer than 20 guests, a private fire chef format starts at ₪1,900.
Is a catered mangal kosher?
The meat is sourced from certified butchers named on your quote — for example Bat HaKatzav in Ramat Aviv or, for a stricter standard, Atliz Lemhadrin in Kfar Shalem (Badatz Machpud, Beit Yosef, Eda HaChareidis). Full mehadrin with an on-site mashgiach can be arranged on request. Always verify the certification on the quote rather than assuming it.
Where can I have a catered mangal?
Anywhere outdoors or well-ventilated with room for the grill and about 90 minutes of setup time — rooftops, gardens, moshav yards, shared courtyards and office terraces all work. RBBQ cooks on-site across Tel Aviv and Gush Dan, out to Herzliya, Kfar Saba, Petach Tikva and toward Netanya.