Inexpensive wedding catering?

[clintonhillbilly]

Hi there chowhounds. My partner and I are getting married at a site in Malibu and we're looking to feed about 120 people something yummy for $40/pp, inclusive of tax & staffing. Any suggestions? We are open to all types of cuisine and we are providing our own alochol.

[clintonhillbilly]

Thank you for all the suggestions. We love Greek food and through an internet search stumbled upon Cafe Graikos in Northridge. We went there for dinner and it was delicious, and the catering prices are among the cheapest I've seen. Hopefully it will be the one -- we're going to go again for dinner & sample some more things. If you go, definitely try the falafel and the karydi. I'd never had karydi before - it's dip w/ tahini, walnuts, pepper paste, and pomegranate syrup and it is delicious!

-----
Cafe Graikos
19346 Rinaldi St, Northridge, CA 91326

[clintonhillbilly]

Thank you for all of the suggestions. We ended up going with Cacao Mexicatessen (in Eagle Rock) and we were super-happy with their food and their service. We had tilapia ceviche, grilled pineapple ceviche, quesadillas with Oaxacan cheese, fish tacos, carne asada tacos, flor de jamaica tacos, tofu mole tacos, chile rellenos, cucumber gazpacho, aguas frescas and hot chocolate. All sustainable seafood & Niman Ranch meat, tacos made to order on handmade tortillas. It came out to less than $40/pp!

-----
Mexicatessen
830 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754

[Phurstluv]

I have a very good friend that caters on the Westside and she will work with you. Her food is totally chow - worthy and delicious - we spend holidays with her family & the food is always awesome.

Email me offline & I will give you her #s.

[whatsfordinner]

Monrose does a lot of catering in Malibu. I've used them and found the food to be delicious, the prices very reasonable and the staff lovely.

[JBC]

You didn't state any preference for or against any type of cuisine; therefore, excluding the far too common Mexican options, one of the best value for money options could be referred to as Alexander the Great Cuisine = Greek, Lebanese, Turkish, Persian, Armenian (*), ect., or from the Aegean to the Caspian Seas.

I'll stick with Restaurants as you can sample their food quite easily. Here are some within reasonable (?) driving distance to Malibu that cater and should be able to meet your budget:

Alcazar - Middle Eastern - Encino - caters up to 150, the most expensive of the 5 ?
http://www.al-cazar.com/about_us.html

Delphi - Greek - Westwood
http://www.delphirestaurant.com/catering.html

Gaby's - Mediterranean - WLA or MDR - The cheapest ?
http://www.gabysmediterranean.com/def/menus/Mediterranean-Menu.htm

Shamshiri Grill - Persian - Westwood
http://www.shamshiri.com/catering/Catering-form-submission.php

They don't say anywhere that they do any catering, but I listed them anyway as they might have been my first choice:

Sako's - Mediterranean - Encino
http://www.sakosmediterraneancuisine.com

(*) Yes I did look up his Empire and yes he didn't control or get to Armenia; also, chose to exclude Afghanistan & Pakistan as their cuisine being closer to Indian than to Greek. Am I wrong ?