katie
Wedding: 6/25/11
I had a fantastic experience with Custom Caterers. Nicole was SO helpful, flexible, friendly, and overall fantastic to work with. I changed my menu so many times, but she never was anything less than professional. We even had all of the flatware, silverware, glasses, etc. included in our costs.
We had many people tell us how great the food was, which made us so happy! The servers were friendly and very professional.
My only semi-complaint is that the bartender was a little heavy-handed with the alcohol. By the time our ceremony started (30 minutes behind schedule) we were out of vodka!! Guests who got mixed drinks were all pretty drunk by the end of the night, but they had a great time!
Overall, the value was outstanding! Shopping around for a caterer was fairly depressing given the high costs, but when we found Custom Caterers, we were hooked!
I'd recommend them to anybody who is looking for great food at a great price.
Monica & Jojo
Wedding: 10/2/10
I really wish I could give a higher rating, as Richard is a really cool guy to work with and his food is delicious. Unfortunately they fell short in a few important areas. Overall the guests thought the food was really good. The problems were mainly due to lack of cooks and experienced servers. I had a wedding of 310 guests, which is what we agreed to. He recommended having 3 chefs and 15 servers (2 for each table), but it wasn't enough. The chefs had a very hard time keeping up and half of my guests didn't receive their food until 1 hr after the first table was served their main course. I also found out that some of the servers were either not informed about how to take orders or they were just very confused. I had place cards that showed which meals each guest should have, making it very easy for them. Some servers collected the place cards and sent it to the kitchen, which is correct. Other servers took orders again from each guest. A few tables said they were served the main course twice, while other tables waited...and waited.
Tips for working with them:
- Only china and flatware are included in their quote. Make sure you account for water goblets, champagne flutes, and water if it's not included with your venue or rentals.
- Make sure you have enough servers and chefs.
- Give very specific instructions if you have a tight timeline and a sit down dinner
- They respond faster to calls than emails.
Some positive comments:
- They have very competitive pricing.
- Yummy food
- I would definitely recommend them for parties of 100 people or less for sit down meals.
- Pretty flexible and try their best to accommodate to last minute changes and on-site issues.
Amy P
Wedding: 7/24/10
Custom Caterers provided the most wonderful food for our wedding! We were so happy to have found them, and our guests all commented on how great the food was. Thank you Chef Richard and Nicole for helping to make our day so special!!
Celine and Felix
Wedding: 9/25/09
I'm glad I decided on the menu Richard presented me with because I remembered my cousin and their wives, and my some of my friends aren't particular with Filipino cuisine. They loved the meal and that's what makes me happy.
The company doesn't include china, silverware, and glassware though so if you decide to book them they charge you a separate bill for this. Richard's flexible about payment for the dinnerware if you ask nicely :).
They can do either buffet or sit down reception. We had a buffet for our reception and I'm glad Richard assigned servers at the buffet station otherwise the guests would just go nilly willy getting food and not leave anything for the other guests. There were also servers going around filling up water goblets.
The company includes a coffee and tea bar with your menu but Richard has this fabulous drink station that you could ask for. Unfortunately we forgot to taste the drinks but our guests had their share and I noticed they filled them up probably 3 or 4 times over.
Typical menu includes 1 salad dish, 3 hors d'eouvres (passed), 2 entrees, 2 sides, coffee and tea bar, fruit display.
Make sure to book early with the company too and provide them with a program for the reception so that they can plan along with your DJ/emcee. Oh, they don't charge a cake cutting fee when I booked them but ask if they still don't. I booked them in 2008 for my wedding last September 25, 2009.
Shamaya
Wedding: 7/25/09
Richard and Staff are remarkable!! He is very professional, understanding and delightful!
From the first time that I did the food tasting for our wedding I knew that we had to book him. The beef was so tender, and the mashed potatoes flavor was more than I could imagine. The salad and it's dressing were to die for. I could call Richard with a question each day and he always responded with pleasure.
At the wedding everything looked so elegantly displayed on the plates, and we got nothing but rave reviews about the chicken in the empanada's. Everyone kept telling us that the skewers were off the hook and the meat just melted in their mouths. Our wedding will be the talk for a longgg time and we can thank the catering services for this as well!!
Thanks Richard and staff for helping make Rick & Maya's Summer Love more than special!! Rick and I will be forever thankful for you and your patience, and understanding and Awesomeee Food!
Lauren
Wedding: 6/22/09
Thanks Richard for helping us create a fairytale wedding! The food was soooooo good!! All of our guests loved you and you truly made my night special! Now if you could just send us food already made on a weekly basis, that would be awesome!! Haha! BEST CATERER IN TOWN!! I wish I knew the recipe to the cream sauce it was delicious!
Details, Details, Details
Wedding: 5/2/09
I would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER... did I say, NEVER, recommend this company to anyone who cares to have an amazing event. Let me begin by saying that I chose this company because my friend workED for this caterer. She said he was an amazing chef, so I trusted her. Now for the review:
First, the owner promised that he never double books events. He delivered some equipment the night before, and he didn't even bother to let me know he would not be attending our event.
Second, the food was NOT what we tasted at the tasting. At the tasting, his work was scrumptious. At the wedding, I could have ordered KFC and Boston Market and I would have been less mortified by the quality of food! The chicken and beef were dry and tasteless.
Third, the owner, Richard, sent young immature boys to serve. One of them was wearing a woman's dress shirt! If that hasn't already turned you off, get this: he cooked the food hours before the wedding and didn't bring any tables or warmers. So the food was put on the floor in the garage!!!! How disgusting is this company??
I honestly can go on and on about this company, but it is just making me upset because we are going through a sort of battle with getting at least a partial refund for this atrocious service that this company provided. So here is the final word:
STAY AWAY!!!!
Ana
Wedding: 4/4/09
Richard and Custom Caterers catered my wedding back in April. He and his wonderful staff did an AWESOME, AWESOME Job. His Food and presentation was top notch. We looked around for several months and went on several tasting. When we came across custom caterers. It was a perfect match. Richard your Tri Tip with that pomegranante sauce is to die for. Thank you for making our special day unforgettable. I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, reccommend this company.