My husband and I hired Corky's Catering for our winter wedding at Garfield Park Conservatory after…read morereading many positive reviews about the company. We couldn't have been happier with our decision! We dealt with Kristina Hickey who was extremely professional throughout the entire process, answered all of our questions, took notes of what was important to us, and removed any stress associated with planning a wedding. What was really a nice touch is that she had bottles of Korbel champagne, my mother-in-law's favorite, after we briefly mentioned that was her preferred brand. It was those thoughtful touches that made the day extra special! We did a food tasting ahead of time and were blown away by the options and how delicious the food was. My guests are still raving about the food and how Kristina and her team handled everything so nicely; and not just with the food, but the overall set up of the venue. Everyone on her team showed up on time, looked wonderful in their white and black attire and were courteous with guests throughout the evening. When you hire the right people for your wedding, the stress level completely disappears. Throughout the few months leading up to my wedding, my friends and family often commented on how calm I seemed, and that's because I hired the right team. Words can't really express how deeply grateful we are to Corky's for all the work they did to ensure our special day was phenomenal!

Ordered form them back in December last year - delivery ran very late, typical excuses - traffic,…read moreweather etc. Order from them 10 months later - same thing - driver was one hour late. Wrote an email with complain - no response.

Applauze Catering gets a standing ovation! Chef Dave was very easy to work with and he and his team…read moremade our wedding day dinner one of many great memories from that evening. They were incredibly accommodating and catered (see what I did there?) to our needs. The address listed for the business is an assisted/independent living community where David Marino is the Executive Chef. Don't feel you've been mislead or that this is a shady deal if you try to go there and find this instead of a stand alone banquet hall. The best way to reach them is by calling or emailing if you need something delivered to you. Their delivery, setup, and service fees aren't bad, either. We had our reception at the Park Ridge VFW and Applauze came on time and prepared with chafing dishes, Sterno fuel, plates, napkins, and flatware. It wasn't elegant, but it was all included in the total cost and a few steps up from the cheap plastic utensils that I was thinking they'd have. They set up the buffet line, manned it for 3 hours, and took it apart when they were done. We estimated we'd have 120 guests (and we nearly did), so we ordered Spinach Salad (2), House Salad (2), Garlic Bread (2 Full), Chicken Vesuvio (2 Full), Italian Beef with Hot Peppers (2 Full), Italian Beef with Sweet Peppers (2 Full), Vegetable Lasagna (3 Full), Lyonnaise Potatoes (3 Full), Vegetable Medley (3 Full), Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms (2 Full) and a Crudités Tray (1 Large). The Full servings say they can feed 20-30 and Half servings are intended for 10-15, but be advised that the portions are huge! We had a lot of food left over and could have easily gotten away with half the salad, half the Italian Beef, and at least 1 less Full order of the Vegetable Lasagna. I figured better safe than sorry and it gave us the opportunity to send guests home with flavorful party favors. We gave some to the VFW employees and took some ourselves. Some of the food went to waste and I am really bummed about that. But what can you do? Start to finish, Applauze took care of us. We were emailed in a timely manner when we had questions or updates and they let us add or subtract from our order up to 5 days before the big event. We mentioned some guests had dietary restrictions and Chef Dave said we should let him know so he could adjust the recipes if needed. I thought the whole exchange, particularly the customer service aspect, was likely the breeziest part of all the wedding planning. The only issue we ran into, and we take equal parts responsibility for this since I don't think we went into specifics about the dietary restrictions (most just couldn't eat pork), was that we had 2 guests with seafood allergies (the menu does list some items with tuna, salmon and/or shrimp, which we avoided) and hadn't been informed that the Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms had crab or imitation crab (fish) and we honestly didn't question it since it was listed under Pasta & Vegetables. The older menu that I believe is still currently on their website doesn't even list this item and the newer menu doesn't say what it's stuffed with. I guess we assumed it would be cheese and something other than seafood since it didn't specify. Oops! My maid of honor mentioned something about crab while eating it and I made my husband hunt down someone who could answer what was in them. We were told it was crab and we quickly alerted those with allergies. Luckily, our friends have learned to let be anything that's questionable, so they had skipped this altogether. Crisis averted, and hopefully they'll disclose this ingredient in future menus or when taking orders. As I said, I think the older menu is what's currently on the website and it has a coupon for 10% off for new customers. I think the newer menu offers 15% off and it has a few more items on it, like the mushrooms. You'll need to contact Chef Dave by email to receive the correct version and can ask him if any of these discount are applicable at this time. We used the 15% off coupon and it saved us a good chunk of money. Each meal provided by Applauze was well under $15 per person (including delivery, setup, service, tax, and tip). We could have easily gotten away with $10 per plate if we'd known how much excess there'd be. And the best part of it all was that we didn't have to sacrifice quality for quantity! Everything was a hit! People raved about the Italian Beef and the Vegetable Medley was tender. We were told by multiple people that the food was fantastic and we've received compliments months later saying how it was some of the best wedding food they've ever had. I would not hesitate to recommend them for your feast!

Applauze Catering was recommended to me by a family member and it was amazing. The setup of service…read morewas very easy to work with and that's always a plus when planning any sort of event. Highly recommended!

My non profit organization's holiday party was catered by Chef Celena just this weekend and the…read morefood was very enjoyable! There was TONS of food - and amongst my favorite dishes were the eggplant parmigiana and the meat lasagna (and I'm not even a big fan of lasanga in general). Lots of other healthy options were provided as well, and desserts!

Celena, thank you again for the wonderful dinner you orchestrated and prepared last night. You…read morelived up to your reputation of being a talented chef who serves delicious, fresh and festive meals. I very much look forward to getting the opportunity to work with you in the future.

I used Wolfgang Puck for my wedding at Promontory Point. The process with the catering manager was…read morefrustrating. Although our first meeting and tasting went well and they were open to helping create a menu that represented the Tuscan theme we were going for the catering manager seemed like this was her first event. The tables she ordered for the venue did not fit and she did not find out until 1 week before the wedding. The top tier of my cake was thrown away, even though specific instructions were provided. The service at the actual wedding was good and like other poster I did have someone dedicated to me to bring food and drinks which was very nice. However, when you spend over $10,000 to feed 80 people that seems like the least they could do. After filling out the survey with Wolfgang they did send me a $100 gift certificate for the restaurant but that hardly covers the top tier of my cake that I will never get back. In addition, they sent me another email recently because I had not used my certificate to see if they could deliver some food instead and when I asked for a similar Tuscan menu for a New Years Eve dinner I was told they would get back to me with a menu on 12/21 and then I never heard anything back. Bottom line - the food was really amazing and people still talk to me about it. The entire process left a lot to be desired.

We recently had our wedding event at the MCA with Wolfgang Puck as the caterer, so I wanted to…read moreupdate my previous review. While I am still disappointed at the multiple contacts during the process, the execution the day of the event was top notch. Several people have emailed us since the wedding saying that it was the best food that they've ever had at a wedding. The service was also very professional - competent staff, prompt service, and considerate while speeches were made. I particularly liked that they arranged to have one person dedicated to me (the bride) during the evening to bring appetizers and beverages so that I didn't have to worry about finding the bar and could chat with guests. They were flexible to incorporate some personalized aspects into the catering such as New Zealand wines since my husband is from there and a signature cocktail (Strawberry Basil mojito) which was absolutely fantastic. I would use them again, however I do wish that there was more guidance through the process in terms of a timeline or list of activities that we needed to accomplish in order to pull off the event. There were sometimes surprises in terms of payments suddenly being due in two days (while in the original contract, it was not top of mind and an earlier reminder would have been helpful).

"That was the best food I have ever had at a wedding, hands down" - multiple guests at and after…read moreour wedding. We booked The Rookery and worked with Jewell right off the bat. We booked our venue almost 2 years in advance, so we were not in a rush whatsoever, and we always felt calm and at ease with Jewell. Our first tasting was amazing, and then soon after, the President, Greg, took over our contract and we had a second tasting because, in his words "we can do a better chicken dish." He was absolutely right! Everything we tasted, at both tastings, was literally impeccable. Greg and his staff know food. Jewell really went above and beyond throughout the whole process and Maria is such a pleasant and kind human. On the day of the wedding, everything was incredible. There were a few extremely minor misunderstandings that were frustrating for a moment but nothing huge or that made our event any less spectacular. The service staff was so incredibly fun, kind, and really elevated our wedding with their kindness and thoughtfulness. I would highly recommend working with Jewell, Greg and Maria if you have the chance!

I have worked with Jewell many times since 2015, this was my first time using "Jewell To Go…read moreCatering" and the service and quality is just as high level. Most recently used for a cold serve lunch of 3 proteins, salad and starch for 20ppl - everything was great. The sauces did not have much punch to them, they were super mild, but I thought this was ideal for a business lunch where everyone had to be comfortable in a long meeting following eating without getting to brush their teeth, etc.

If you want JOY and if you want EASE, hire Marz! I hired Marz for my son's bar mitzvah. He and his…read moreteam were so fabulous that years later I sought out Marz for an adult birthday party. Marz knows what he is doing with every aspect of a party - he is fabulous at working with you to develop the party timeline, and he is a master at creating the energy and environment you want. He is also a pro with logistics. He creates joy for different age groups at the same party and creates a great environment for a purely adult party He has incredible expertise and depth of knowledge regarding music and people. He plans ahead but also reads the room and adjusts the music accordingly. At both parties, Marz had people having a blast on the dance floor. At my adult party, people had a great time dancing and one woman said she and her husband had such a great time dancing that they "felt young again." (They are a very fun couple in their 50s). Marz is also compassionate and kind. He understands and cares about people. I felt cared for and taken care of. Marz is a joy creater. If you want JOY and if you want EASE, he is the person to emcee/DJ your party!

DJ Marz and the rest of Charizma are out of this world amazing at what they do!!! Our wedding was…read morelast Saturday and our guests haven't stopped raving about them. I just got this text this morning: "We really did have the best time! We don't normally dance the entire night at weddings, but your DJ was fantastic tbh and we were just having so much fun. The hype but also his mixes were top notch. There was never really a moment when I was like, "oh this song is boring so I'm gonna sit out." Just bangers the whole night lol." Need I say more? Hire this expert crew - I promise you won't regret it for a second!

We used Dolly's jerk chicken catering several times throughout the year and each time their food…read morewas delivered hot and fresh and was a big hit amongst our guests. I highly recommend this caterer!

Yes, they catered my event. It was excellent. Everyone was posting about the food. Every item I…read morepurchased and I purchased was excellent. I recommend everybody to Put A Fork In It and you all did that Yeah, WE PUT A FORK IN IT