How long does a hibachi party take?

Setup (45-60 min)

The chef arrives 45 minutes to 1 hour before serve time. They set up the portable teppanyaki griddle, propane, ingredients, plates, utensils, and sauces. Appetizers and drinks happen during this window — your guests mingle, you take photos, nobody is bored.

Cooking + fire show (60-90 min)

For 10-20 guests, cooking and the fire show run about 60 minutes. For 25-40 guests, 90 minutes. The fire show happens at the midpoint — a natural pause for cake, toasts, or just the group photo of the night.

Cleanup (15-20 min)

After the last plate, the chef bags out every scrap of trash, wipes the griddle, loads out the equipment, and leaves. Your kitchen stays untouched; the chef cleans everything they brought.

What the overall timeline looks like

If you tell guests 7 pm, the chef arrives at 6 pm, cooking starts around 7:15 pm, fire show hits around 8 pm, cleanup done by 9 pm. The hangout afterward (dessert, drinks, music, hot tub) is on your schedule.

How to compress the timeline

For a corporate dinner that needs to end on time, we can run the full event in 90 minutes door-to-door with a tighter cook. For a kids party, we can push the fire show earlier so bedtime isn't a problem.

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