Any Catering Rants or Raves?

[sillysurfer]

We are getting married in May in Marin and are looking for a caterer.

Any recs or horror stories?

Thanks!

[Edie]

I had Sushi Ran cater a large gathering. They set up a sushi bar and did an amazing job.
Bartenders Unlimited is a reliable company that brings in a full oak bar with bartenders, glassware, etc. Very professional. They have several options (top shelf liquors, champagnes, etc.)
Both are Marin based.

Link: http://bunrab.com/yummychow/yummytitl...

[nja]

There have been a couple of recent threads on this subject. Here's a link to one, and I think there is a link within it to another recent thread.

Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[theSauce]

Do not use Culinary Excellence located in Concord. They were absolutely unprofessional and overpriced. They assured me and my now wife that they were going to take care of all aspects of the food service. Of course that was untrue. We paid for 150 guests and only 120 showed, yet we still ran out of food. The servers looked tired and spilled champagne on my wife’s wedding dress. Found out they did another event that lasted until 3AM the day before. Called the owner to complained about the service and he hung up on me. Finally we threaten to sue and the owner agreed to pay for the cleaning fee; sent him a bill and have not heard back from him. That was over a year ago. Plus, we did not get our anniversary cake topper.

[katya]

I am potentially interested in using Culinary Excellence for my wedding. Based on your and Ruth's reports, I'm definitely reconsidering. Any word on a change in management there or anything positive since your atrocious experience?

[zunzie]

I used them for an event (I'm a planner at a large university) and I found the food blah and the service so-so.

[Peony]

We got married in Marin a few years ago and had a very good experience with Insalata's in San Anselmo. The food was great and didn't seem to suffer from being served to 100 people at the same time (i.e. tasted like great restaurant food, not banquet food). You can try stuff out at their restaurant (they'll do a tasting).

http://www.insalatas.com/

Good luck with the wedding!

[MSK]

I've used Comforts a ton of times and never been disappointed. They offer many different style and are quite professional and dependable.

http://comfortscafe.com

I also went to a function where Rising Sun Catering supplied the food. The menu was so interesting and delicious and was presented in such an attractive manor, i took their card. The host said they were a pleasure to work with and mid range $$.

http://www.risingsuncatering.com/

I am not a fan of Mangia Nosh.

[Pinkster]

I've heard good things about Rising Sun also.

I'm on the Peninsula and we used Continental Caterers for a large event in Dec and they were wonderful. Super professional, great serving staff, nice food, all round thumbs up. They're based in Menlo Park but am pretty sure they cover Marin since they're quite a large company.

[bkaufman]

The Buckeye caters-simply the best!!. My daughter's wedding was catered by Sage in San Rafael - also outstanding

[Benny Choi]

My wife and I recently got married in San Francisco. We used Fork & Spoon Productions for the catered food, servers, bartending, flowers, decorations, and all furniture rentals. They did an absolutely outstanding job with everything. Guests were exclaiming during the meal and still today weeks later about how great the food was and the table service.

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Fork & Spoon Productions
2161 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94107

[lacerise]

Hugh Groman Catering in Berkeley is wonderful.

[zunzie]

I 've used Hugh for both small things (dropped off platters) and large affairs, and his food is spectacular and his service superb. He's wonderful to work with!