If you’ve ever been part of planning a company holiday party, you know the drill. Everyone waits until late October to actually pick a venue, and by then half the good spots in Scottsdale are already gone through New Year’s. That’s part of why private aircraft hangars have gotten so popular for holiday events lately. They’re still available when you start early, and once people see what a hangar can do for a party, it’s hard to go back to a hotel ballroom.

Scottsdale Private Event Venues, or SPEV as most planners call them, has made a name for itself turning private hangars into spaces for corporate parties, product launches, and big milestone celebrations. Walk into one of these hangars and it doesn’t feel like a conference room with a dropped ceiling and bad lighting. There’s actual room to build a stage, bring in real lighting design, and set up food in a way that feels like part of the entertainment instead of something tucked in the corner. Employees remember the year the party happened somewhere different. Nobody remembers the year it happened in yet another beige ballroom.

That extra space is exactly why food trucks work so well in a hangar. There’s enough square footage and the right kind of power access to run a full chef station, which a lot of banquet halls can’t pull off without a bunch of extra rental fees tacked on. Aioli Gourmet Burgers is one of the trucks we get requested most for holiday events like this. They build each burger to order with scratch-made sauces, including a white truffle aioli people talk about long after the party’s over, so guests get a live cooking experience instead of digging through a chafing dish. If you want something with a bit more theater, Oak Wood Fire Pizza brings an actual wood-fired oven right into the hangar and turns out fresh, hand-tossed pies in under two minutes. People end up filming it on their phones, which honestly says a lot about how different it feels from a standard buffet line.

Here’s the part most companies don’t think about until it’s too late: timing. Hangar venues across Scottsdale, Mesa, and Chandler fill up fast for December, and so do the food trucks that can actually handle a big corporate crowd. If you start looking in September or early October, you’ve still got your pick of dates and your pick of trucks. Wait until after Thanksgiving and you’re choosing from whatever’s left, which usually isn’t much.

This is where Food Trucks PHX comes in. Instead of booking the venue and the caterer separately and crossing your fingers that the logistics line up, we handle all of it together, permitting, truck placement, power and water hookups, the whole layout. Whether you’ve got 75 people or 300, we figure out which truck, or combination of trucks, fits the space and the crowd, then we’re there from the first walkthrough all the way to the last plate served.

So if there’s even a chance your company is doing a hangar party this December, don’t wait on it. Start the conversation now. The companies that book early are the ones whose team is still talking about the party at next year’s kickoff meeting.

Frequently Asked Questions

How far in advance should I book a hangar venue for a December holiday party in Scottsdale?

Most hangar venues in Scottsdale, including those SPEV manages, recommend booking by early October for December dates. Popular Friday and Saturday dates in December often sell out by mid-October.

Can food trucks cater inside a private hangar?

Yes. Hangars typically have the open floor space and power access to support food truck catering, chef action stations, and even mobile wood-fired pizza ovens, which many traditional indoor venues can’t accommodate without extra rentals.

How many guests can a food truck serve at a hangar event?

It depends on the truck and the menu, but most food trucks in the Food Trucks PHX network comfortably serve 75 to 300 guests per truck. For bigger events, pairing two or more trucks helps keep the lines moving.

What food truck options work best for a corporate holiday party?

Gourmet burger stations from Aioli Burger and wood-fired pizza from Oak Wood Fire Pizza are two of the most requested options for Scottsdale corporate holiday events, since both give guests a live cooking experience that doubles as entertainment.

Who handles logistics when booking a food truck for a hangar venue?

Food Trucks PHX coordinates permitting, truck placement, and setup logistics directly with the venue, so companies aren’t stuck managing the food truck and the venue as two separate headaches.