We had our annual event on October 8th at the Edmonds Waterfront Center with Shooby Doo catering as…read morethe food vendor. The Waterfront Center has them as an exclusive contract so we had no choice but to use this caterer. We signed up with them back in 2020 believing that we would have an in-person event in 2021 but the Delta virus made us have to do a virtual event. Shooby-doo refused to refund our significant down-payment, so we were stuck with them for a future opportunity. Which we utilized them, as I said, on October 8th 2022. The tasting that we did those years ago was absolutely wonderful. The food was quite delicious. And that team worked with us to make sure that we would have a really good selection of food items to meet all pallets, allergies, and so forth. Thus, the food is quite expensive. The major issue that we had with this company is that we are a non-profit organization and have to abide by state guidelines in regard to serving alcohol. It was almost impossible to work with Scooby-Doo on this issue because they had really bad information that they kept telling us was accurate. It was not good. It took weeks on end to finally get them to deal with the state directly and understand that we were correct and we would not do anything that would potentially jeopardize our nonprofit status. In the end it was resolved well but the frustration that we were put through is still something that has a scab on the wound. One expects for someone who is providing a service that particularly has to meet state guidelines would know what they are doing and what they are talking about. And not asking us to work in a gray area. And that's what we were told over and over again. "Just work in the gray area", but like I said it was finally resolved. One other minor thing that was aggravating but we dealt with quickly was them wanting us to get more alcohol than we needed. We got what we knew we needed and still had a few bottles left over. And the only other minor aggravation was they didn't know their full contract the evening of when everything was said and done. They thought we were supposed to be out of the building at 10:00 p.m. but we were actually scheduled to be out by midnight. Again it got resolved but it was something else to add to a more stressful moment in time. Now on to the good stuff: The night of the event was extraordinary. Their employees had everything set up in advance as it was supposed to be and the venue looked amazing. They were so friendly, accommodating, and easy to work with. They literally catered to our every need asking questions along the way to make sure that we were satisfied before our guests even arrived. The staff members were amazing. The food was out of the ballpark extraordinary. People absolutely loved the food. We had a double-sided buffet in order to make things would go smooth and quickly. I'm glad we opted for that rather than having them serve the dishes. It worked well. I'm absolutely sure that we would never use Shooby Doo again for our agency events, because of the massive issues we had with them in the beginning. However, I do think they would be good for things that are not related to being a non-profit: Like weddings, birthdays, small corporation celebrations, and such. If you're considering Shooby Doo to cater your nonprofit organization, be careful, be warned, and make sure you check everything, especially the legality around alcohol service. Also, know and monitor the contract so that you know exactly what's in it. While the service was excellent the night of, and the food was extraordinary, the price tag on this event was far more than we anticipated. We recognize that food costs are up and inflation is a nightmare but this is a very expensive catering service. Scooby-Doo gets a five star on the food quality and the evening of service. They get a one star on the knowledge on working with nonprofits, or at least with our non-profit. They get a negative 5 for not allowing us to get our down-payment back when the Delta virus came and shut everything down for everyone. I feel they should have offered it back with perhaps a small penalty but they did not so we were forced to have to use them a couple years later. I thought that was absolutely ridiculous. I told them that I would give an honest review. And this review is that.

We recently hosted an event at the Waterfront Center in Edmonds, an exquisite venue. Unfortunately,…read moreour experience with Shooby Doo catering left much to be desired. Despite hearing positive feedback about them, we were disappointed with both the service and the pricing. While the food itself was satisfactory, the service fell short of our expectations. The staff, particularly the head staff member, displayed below-average professionalism and a snarky attitude. Additionally, the setup did not align with what was agreed upon and promised beforehand. Despite planning for 90 guests, the seating arrangements only accommodated 64, causing inconvenience and dissatisfaction among attendees. During the event, the catering staff were conspicuously absent, leaving us to pick up the slack and handle tasks that should have been their responsibility. Adding to our frustration was the unexpected 23% additional fee, which the catering company failed to justify adequately. When questioned about this fee, we were met with vague explanations about covering costs, which left us feeling misled because they also leave room for minimum of 16% tip that must be paid BEFORE experiencing their service. You do the math. Overall, while the venue itself was stunning, the experience with Shooby Doo catering staff left a lot to be desired. The combination of subpar service, unexplained fees, and high pricing makes it difficult to recommend their services to others. You still have to use them if you have an event at the Waterfront. Don't get the chocolate cookies, or the deviled eggs on toast. If you go for the fruit plate, this cost us $1,710 plus tax. ($19 a person). The empanadas were yummy, the beef sliders were finished, and people complimented the salmon in puff pastry.

We couldn't have been happier with the catering for my 50th birthday celebration! The BBQ chicken…read morewas delicious, and the baked potato salad, baked beans, and cornbread were the perfect accompaniments. The beautiful charcuterie board was also a huge hit with our guests. The staff was wonderful and incredibly easy to work with throughout the entire process. They arrived on time, and everything was beautifully presented and thoughtfully prepared. Their delicious food and excellent service helped make my milestone birthday feel especially memorable. Our family and friends truly enjoyed the entire meal, and I would highly recommend them for any special event!

For the last four years, I've been hoping for a chance to have Ambrosia cater one of our family…read morecelebrations. When we started planning our son's baptism, I actually scheduled the reception around their availability because I knew it would be worth the wait. From the beginning, Ronda was so kind, genuine, and wonderful to work with. She made us feel like she truly cared about making our family's day special. Our reception was at Courter Country Farm, and even the venue had nothing but wonderful things to say about Ambrosia. After experiencing it ourselves, I completely understand why. The food was incredible. Every single thing was exactly what we had envisioned, and guests kept coming up to tell us how amazing everything tasted. The prime rib was hands down the best I've ever had. That's saying something because I make prime rib every Christmas and consider myself pretty picky (especially my husband)! Somehow Ronda managed to make it even better, and her horseradish sauce had the perfect spicy kick that we absolutely loved. What stood out most, though, wasn't just the food, it was how much heart went into everything. You could tell this wasn't just another catering job. It felt like she genuinely wanted our family and friends to have a beautiful experience, and she delivered exactly that. Our son's baptism is a day we'll remember for the rest of our lives, and Ambrosia played a huge part in making it so memorable. We felt incredibly blessed to celebrate with so many people we love while serving food that everyone is still talking about. If you're fortunate enough to find an opening on Ambrosia's calendar, don't hesitate. I completely understand why they're booked so far in advance, and after waiting four years myself, I can honestly say they exceeded every expectation. I'll be sharing photos soon, but I couldn't wait to write this review. Thank you, Ronda, for helping make one of the most meaningful days in our family's life even more special.

Absolutely amazing food and service. We had them cater our wedding and had compliments all day on…read morenot only the food but also the service and positive helpful and kind attitudes of the staff. They went above and beyond for us and our guests and we could not recommend them enough!

I highly recommend Cousins Kitchen and Catering! We ordered the drop off option with assorted BBQ…read moremeats and sides. It was phenomenal! The meat was so tender and flavorful. They are very easy to work with and drop off went so smooth. All guests at our event were pleased.

I cannot recommend Pecado Bueno highly enough. They have catered our annual company Christmas party…read morefor the past several years, and they consistently exceed expectations. Their food is outstanding, their service is exceptional, and their professionalism gives me complete confidence that every detail will be handled flawlessly. Coordinating an event for more than 500 employees comes with significant pressure, but Pecado Bueno's reliability, communication, and execution make the catering aspect completely worry-free. Their partnership has been invaluable to the success of our events, and I genuinely look forward to working with them year after year.

One of the best catering experiences I've had! Pecado Bueno…read morearrived right on time, set up quickly, and their team was incredibly prepared, efficient, and kind. The food was delicious, and everything went off without a hitch, we were so impressed! They even took care of all the little details, including clear labels for each dish so our guests knew exactly what was in them. I highly recommend Pecado Bueno for any event!

Top rate run from beginning to end! They could not have been easier to work with and went above…read moreand beyond to deliver an absolutely delicious meal for our event! I have tasted a ton of BBQ in my life and honestly will have never had better brisket! Everything as promised, would use them again and will be passing the word out as to this excellent find. Thanks again for everything!

Tried their BBQ for the first time today. They were at the Taste Of Port Orchard. First, I'll say…read morethis is the best BBQ I've had anywhere. I had the 1/2 beef brisket sandwich and it was the real deal. The pitmaster said he'd had it in the smoker for 18 hours. You could taste every delicious hour. Chopped brisket with a nice smoky flavor served on a small bun. They had squeeze bottles of their housemade BBQ sauce. I chose the Tasty Texas (I think that's the name) which a lady said was their spiciest. It wasn't spicy at all to me but it was thick, rich, and oh so good. Secondly, I'm very frustrated with them because I can't walk into a restaurant to eat more of their Q. I have to wait for special events and look to see if they'll be there. Just so happens I tried the brisket sandwich of another well-known BBQ guy yesterday at another local festival. I was very disappointed because it didn't taste like real BBQ. I'm a home smoker and I know how to make great BBQ brisket and pork ribs. So trust me when I say again that All Fired Up is the real deal. Be sure to check them out if they're at a booth someplace. Next time out I'm trying their baby back ribs. If you're planning a catered event and want top quality BBQ definitely give them a call.

Davi with FOODZ catering was possibly one of the best catering experiences I have had to date. I…read moream a corporate event planner and even with the scope of event, dates and budget changing multiple times, she kept customer service top of mind! The offerings and overall themed experience she and the FOODZ staff (Chef Shawn, Max, Jason, Helen and More) produced was simply spectacular! All of the stuff were positive, upbeat, and very friendly! Their team work was impressive to watch unfold. My colleagues were so impressed, we have already rebooked them for another event! If you have a theme or idea for an event (large or small), FOODZ can help you achieve event excellence! I would never go to another caterer in the Seattle area.

I just got off the phone with my cousin who attended my wedding 2 weeks ago and the first thing she…read moreabsolutely had to tell me was that the food at my wedding was amazing. I'm not certain how most people feel about weddings but my husband and I were strong believers that the food HAD to be great. Having been to many weddings ourselves, we recall the overall quality of the food and service being a hot topic days, weeks, even months after people's weddings. Wanting the gossip to be good, we were so relieved that Foodz came through for us. And I knew they would because all of our interactions leading up to the wedding were wonderful. Here's how things came to be... Our venue had a list of "preferred vendors". Technically speaking this actually means "vendors you must use or you can't get married here." And though I'm sure there are ways (ahem, money) to get around that - we were thrilled that our venue had a long, long list of vendors for us to choose from. That says a lot about the venue because they have great working relationships with many catering companies and hey, at the very least having that list to work with made the hunt for a company a lot easier. The list already included a number of caterers we were interested in, too. Including Foodz! Upon just looking at websites and online menus and pricing alone, Foodz was a top contender. But it's fair to be picky and to do your research. Aside from ticking the right boxes (affordable, good menu, etc) Foodz did something else that won us over. In our initial outreach to 4 or 5 companies Foodz was THE ONLY COMPANY that allowed us a tasting before we put down a deposit and they were THE ONLY COMPANY to ask us about ourselves and our 'vision' before the wedding. This was incredible because other conversations with their competitors were rude and quite frankly, presumptive. In one conversation with another company the very first question the caterers posed was: "Here's our pricing, can you afford us?" Umm, wow. What a huge turn off. In another conversation with yet a different company we were told, "You can get a tasting with us once you put down 15% of the total cost of the catering quote." For those of you not good at math, that's over a $2200 for a wedding with 150 guests. And I understand wanting to lock down payment but what if we didn't like the food? We'd be out literally thousands of dollars. This just really irked me and made me question the quality of the food if they had to secure orders by forcing people to pay up. Then we heard back from Foodz and the email was cheery and polite. We were invited for a tasting -FREE, though we'd have gladly paid an appropriate amount. During this time we met with the owner and most importantly, the head chef. We had over an hour to enjoy lunch they made for us, to talk about themes, styles of food we like, and to customize our menu. Now you can't really just order anything you want, but they were extremely flexible with us regarding making small swaps for this salad or that one or this ingredient or that, etc. It was remarkable - A 180 from the other caterers we'd talked to. Another thing? In our first conversation we were asked, "So tell us about yourselves. How did you meet? What are your wedding colors, what are your favorite foods?" Again - a massively different and more genuine approach. I was so impressed with these interactions. Our search was over! Not to mention that our quote for catering for a 180 person wedding was easily 5% less than a few other companies and in some cases more like 20% less. They were a great deal all around. Payment came in the form of three installments over the course of about 4 months. It was super reasonable and easy to pay this way. We paid a deposit, then another payment, and then a final payment. Each payment came out to be about 1/3 of the bill each time. The day of the wedding I had a coordinator helping with logistics. I felt so spoiled because as an event planner myself, I have never sat back and allowed for my own party to be executed without my own hands. But on this day I got to sit back and watch the details unfold. Everything Foodz did was flawless! I got feedback that the staff was polite, easy to work with, quick to serve food and easy to set up/break down with. Other vendors remarked how professional they were and all the behind-the-scenes stuff got an A+ report relayed back to me. And then dinner itself was INCREDIBLE; the portions were huge! People were able to totally gorge themselves and go nuts. We did family-style for the guests and everyone was served expediently. More than just my cousin, many people have commented that they loved the food. PHEW! Lastly, I just wanted to make a note that the Foodz staff found a quick moment to congratulate us, say hi, and get some face time with us before the wedding ended. It was great because we were constantly being whisked in separate directions and they found time to wish us well. LOVED THEM!

May 21st Catering was the best. Gabriel's helpfulness and expertise throughout the whole wedding…read moreprocess was so invaluable and positive. The food for the reception and dinner was perfect for our diverse group. Everyone commented on how wonderful the whole evening was. Everything from the bar to the servers and cleanup came off in a perfectly timed and professional manner. They brought our wedding to the next level! We highly recommend May 21 for any of your catering needs. You will love working with them.

Essence of the Thymes just catered my daughter's wedding of 100 guests for a very specific theme…read moreshe had in mind. They knocked it out of the park! Servers were amazing, communication was clear and consistent and most importantly, the food was excellent. I cannot thank Gina and her team enough for making my daughter's day memorable and exactly what she wanted. I'd give you more than 5 stars if I could! Brides, don't hesitate.

We used Essence of the Thymes to cater our company holiday party. The attention to detail, the food…read moreand the communication were amazing. Shout out to the main point of contact for us - Celeste. She made everything so easy to coordinate.