common -- Denny's or Luby's
industrial -- Olive Garden or Ruby Tuesday
fancy -- Le Cirque or Alinea
Down here I've attended catered affairs featuring the first two catagories, especially the common. All the food at common parties or receptions is soft, luke warm and spicy. There are always refried beans. Occasionally they add a bit of cheese or pieces of tacos. Next are pickled vegetables. The meat is brown, shredded, and served in a spicy brown or red sauce. Think beef barbecue without the smoke. It may contain beef, pork, or smaller 4-legged animal flesh. It's actually pretty tasty and made to be tossed into warm corn tortillas. Then there are the veggies. A mainstay are really hot chilies in a white sauce. They look quite a bit like a green bean casserole but without the fried onion topping. They don't taste like green been casserole. Hot, hot, hot. At "industrial" buffets the stacks of warm tortillas come to the table in plastic or styrofoam covered bowls. At common buffets they're delivered in foil or paper wrapped stacks. At the latter affairs they are used as sandwich bread, blotting devices, or as a utensil for the other hand.
Industrial catering is quite a bit more formal. Food is served by waiters (1-3 per table). First comes a warm cream soup and rolls. Next a main course, usually too long after its been prepared. My last main course was a piece of grilled salmon on a bed of grilled jullienned vegetables, and a bit of potatoes on a mild cheese sauce. Other main dishes are often pork medallions in a white sauce. Salads are rare. The dessert plate may be a slice of flan and a piece of cake. Or it may be various fruits with a glaze or sugar sauce. Two details always catch my eye at most functions. They almost always count the spoons and collect them shortly after dinner. And at the fancier affairs, there is a large metal plate at each place setting. All other plates are placed atop this platter, from soup to dessert. Oh yes, another detail in soup service. Lower-industrial: the soup is delivered in the bowl. Upper-industrial: the soup bowls are delivered empty or are there when you sit down. Then the glove-clad waiter brings the soup in a large tureen and ladles a portion in each guest's bowl. This can get messy if there's been too much tequila served beforehand.
I haven't yet experienced "fancy". For that, I'd probably have to travel to Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey or one of the coastal resorts.
