What's the difference between a family meal and a family pack?

A family meal is priced and portioned per person and can typically be mixed across different dishes, while a family pack or family bundle is usually a fixed combo sold at one flat price for a set headcount with less room to customize. Mai Thai's [Family Meal Pickup](/atlanta-family-meal) uses the per-person model: each of the five dishes is priced individually from $21 to $26 per person, and a group can combine different dishes to reach the 3-person minimum instead of being locked into one preset bundle for everyone.

Is a family meal the same as a meal kit?

No, a family meal arrives fully cooked and ready to reheat, while a meal kit arrives with raw or partially prepped ingredients you still have to cook yourself. Mai Thai's family meals are finished dishes - Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken, Grilled Pesto Salmon, and similar entrees - ready to eat after pickup, with no chopping, marinating, or stovetop cooking required, which is the key distinction from any subscription meal kit box.

Does catering mean the same thing as ordering a family meal?

No, catering is built for larger groups and events and is quoted against a specific headcount, date, and menu, while a family meal is a fixed per-person product you order directly online without a quote. Mai Thai's [Office Catering](/atlanta-catering) - the Atlanta Fajita Bar from $16.99 per person and Atlanta Brack's grain bowl bar from $17.99 per person - is typically for 10 or more guests and arranged through the [quote form](/quote), phone, or email, whereas [Family Meal Pickup](/atlanta-family-meal) has a 3-person minimum and checks out instantly online.

How far ahead do I need to order a family meal from Mai Thai?

Family Meal Pickup orders need to be placed at least one day ahead, with pickup happening the next day in a time window you select at checkout. The entire process runs through Toast online ordering with no phone call or quote required - you choose your dishes, hit the 3-person minimum through any mix of the five options, pay securely online, and pick a pickup slot for the following day.

July 16, 2026

What Does "Family Meal" Actually Mean? A Quick Glossary

If you've searched "family meal near me" and landed on results for a grocery store hot bar, a meal kit subscription, and a steakhouse's to-go menu all in the same page, you're not imagining things - the term gets stretched to cover a lot of different products. "Family meal," "family pack," "family-style dining," "meal kit," and "catering" all involve feeding a group, but they differ in who cooks, how much prep is left for you, and how the price is structured. This glossary breaks down each term plainly, using Mai Thai's own Family Meal Pickup as a concrete example of what the category looks like in practice.

Family Meal

A family meal is a fully cooked, ready-to-eat meal portioned per person and picked up (or delivered) already finished, requiring no cooking beyond reheating. It's distinct from a meal kit because nothing is raw or par-prepped - you're not chopping, marinating, or cooking anything yourself. Mai Thai's Family Meal Pickup is a working example: five rotating entrees - American Hearty Beef Stew with a dinner roll at $21 per person, Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken with brown rice and special sauce at $21, Grilled Pesto Salmon with pasta and brussels sprouts at $25, Lemon Herb Grilled Steak with brown rice and special sauce at $26, and Tenderloin Roast Beef with mashed potatoes and green beans at $26 - each one already includes an appetizer (falafel or cauliflower falafel), a mixed green salad with ranch or blue cheese, a starch or veggie side, and a Mixed Fruit Cup for dessert. You order online through Toast with no phone call or quote needed, place the order at least a day ahead, and pick up the next day in a time window you choose. There's a 3-person minimum per pack, but you can mix and match across all five dishes to hit that minimum, which is different from a fixed set-menu family pack.

Family Pack / Family Bundle

A family pack or family bundle is a pre-set bundle of food sized for a set headcount, usually sold as one flat price for the whole bundle rather than priced per person. Grocery deli counters and some fast-casual chains use this model heavily - think "feeds 4" or "feeds 6" combos where the entree, sides, and quantity are fixed by the retailer, and you either take the bundle as-is or don't buy it. The tradeoff is less customization: you generally can't swap out one protein for another or add an extra portion of just the side. Mai Thai's structure is closer to a per-person model than a fixed bundle - because each of the five dishes on the family meal menu is priced individually per person, a group of five people can order three chicken plates and two steak plates in the same pack instead of being locked into one bundle for everyone.

A communal family-style platter served at the center of a wood dining table with empty plates and serving spoons around it

Family-Style Dining

Family-style dining means food is brought to the table on shared platters and guests serve themselves, rather than each person receiving an individually plated dish. This term describes a service style, not a takeout product - it's how the food is presented and eaten, most often used for sit-down restaurant meals or in-home dinners where everyone reaches for the same bowl of rice or platter of meat. It's a useful contrast point for family meal pickup: a family meal from Mai Thai already arrives with your food divided into individual containers, so there's no platter to pass around, but nothing stops you from plating it family-style once you're home if that's how your household prefers to eat. For a closer side-by-side of these two ideas, see family-style dining vs family meal pickup.

Meal Kit

A meal kit is a box of raw or partially prepped ingredients delivered with a recipe card, requiring the customer to do the actual cooking. This is the term most likely to get confused with "family meal" because both often arrive at your door or get picked up in a bag, but the amount of work left for you is completely different - a meal kit assumes you have 30 to 60 minutes and a stove available, while a family meal assumes you don't. If your evening plan is to walk in the door and reheat rather than chop and saute, you're looking for a family meal, not a meal kit; our post on family meal prep vs ordering ready-made goes deeper into that tradeoff.

Catering

Catering means food prepared and delivered or set up for a larger group, typically quoted against a specific headcount, date, and menu rather than sold as a fixed per-order product. It's built for volume and logistics - buffet setups, chafing dishes, serving utensils - and it's usually arranged in advance through a direct conversation rather than an instant online checkout. Mai Thai's Office Catering is the clearest example: the Atlanta Fajita Bar starts at $16.99 per person and Atlanta Brack's grain bowl bar starts at $17.99 per person, both typically built for 10 or more guests and quoted directly against your headcount, date, and menu choices through phone, email, or the quote form.

Why the Terminology Mix-Up Happens

Restaurants and grocers borrow "family meal" as marketing shorthand for almost any large-format food purchase, which is exactly why the term shows up attached to fixed bundles, meal kits, and even catering trays. Our post on what restaurants have family meals in Atlanta surveys how differently local businesses apply the label. The practical fix is to check three things before you order: is the food already cooked, is the price per person or a flat bundle, and is there a minimum headcount or order-ahead window. Those three answers sort almost any listing into one of the categories above, regardless of what word the seller used on the menu.

A corporate catering buffet spread with grain bowl and fajita bar components set up on a marble counter for an office lunch

Ready to Order a Family Meal in Atlanta?

If what you actually want matches the family meal definition above - fully cooked, priced per person, ready to reheat tonight or tomorrow - Mai Thai's Family Meal Pickup is ordered entirely online through Toast: pick your dishes across the five options, hit the 3-person minimum with any mix, pay securely online, and choose your pickup window for the next day. If your group is 10 or more and you need a buffet-style setup with a quote built around your date and headcount instead, that's Office Catering territory - reach out through the quote form or call (470) 485-2899. You can browse the full lineup of both products on our menus page before deciding which one fits your event.