We just had Gator's cater our wedding at San Pedro Valley Park in Pacifica and the food was a hit!! We had pulled pork, brisket, chicken, hot links, Mac n cheese, baked beans, coleslaw, corn salad and the veggie jambalaya and I heard guests raving about all of them. LaRone and his family were so nice and easy to communicate and work with. I'd highly recommend them for your next event! read more

So I had to take on the task of calling vendors for our company picnic. After calling vendor after vendor I got a call back from Gator. The owner was very friendly and took care of all my needs and then more. So after constant contact with Gator bbq the day off the picnic finally came. Since the park we ended using for our work function was remodeled and a few signs where taken away we were a little concerned they couldn't find us. But the driver/cook came running down to find our location. Even though he was still early he wanted to make sure we got it for our time. One he pulled up with his truck he unloaded. Then he began to set up everything and explain what we had. Then he went on to tell us that he didn't know if we wanted spicy or mild sauce so he did a mixture and that was the bomb. It went well with the pulled pork and chicken. I wish I tried all the different foods but I was too busy running around. After the food was all gone I asked everyone how the food was and they raved about it. I highly recommend them for party functions! read more

See all

My HR found this place on Yelp and decided to order it for our company lunch. We got the 2 meat combo and got the brisket and pulled pork, smothered cabbage and coleslaw. The plus, it's pretty cheap (I think it's like $12.95/person) BUT we thought the portions were tiny, so if you plan to feed big stomach, plan to order more servings! The brisket was on the dry side and didn't have much flavor..same with the pulled pork. They didn't drench the meat with bbq sauce and they did give us some bbq sauce although they were not labeled so sme of us didn't discover it until later..so the meat didn't feel like real bbq meat. The smothered cabbage (had bacon bits in it!) was the crowd favorite BUT it was really oily and didn't look appetizing bc the cabbage was kinda mushy and overcooked, but tasted good. Overall, the food was just ok, not sure if we just didn't pick the right items or what but it wasn't a home run. read more

This review could have been MUCH worse and it could have been MUCH better! I will say it just like this, it would have been worse if not for this brisket. Holy Crap that brisket was awesome. I got put in charge of a company lunch, so I sent a message to Gators based on the YELP reviews. I did receive a prompt response and Todd was very accommodating. The pricing was great and that along with the reviews here this is why I chose to use Gator's. The meal was 3 meats, (Brisket, Chicken and Pulled Pork), Slaw, beans & Jambalaya. Also there was a veggie meal (Portobello and Jambalaya) for the vegetarian in the group. The big problem was I gave them a time this meeting started, I even buffered it by 15 minutes. I did get a call from Todd about 5-10 mins before the due time telling me his driver was running a bit backed up and told me he would be about 20 minutes late. All together, his driver was 25 mins late from my requested delivery time. However they did this order for 25 in less than a day. So after getting ribbing by my team because of the late meal, we were served. 3 people that sat right near me were doing nothing but raving about the flavor, the taste of the brisket. I wanted to make sure everybody else got their food before I served myself but I was very pleased Very very pleased. I loved the pulled pork, very good, better than most. I wasnt a big fan of the chicken, but I did have a few comments from staffers saying it was delicious. The beans were good and the slaw was also good. Bottom line, the Brisket was awesome. Smokey, tasty good, Smooth like butter by how tender it was. Anybody that claimed the brisket was not good on previous reviews is an idiot. I would say 18 of the 22 people asked me about the food or complimented me after our meeting. WOW. The Good: 1. BRISKET Heaven. 2. Veggie meals available. 3. Compliments from wide range of people 4. Quick turn around. 5. Pricing was great. 6. Very accommodating, service great customer service overall. 7. Good food overall. The Bad: 1. Cornbread not delivered. 2. Chicken not on bones. (Some others loved it) 3. Delivery was late. Will I refer others: Yes, done. Will I use again: Yes read more

i am STOKED that he has a catering company. was totally bummed when gator's neo closed. my gf used gator's to cater bbq for her kid's 1st bday. everything was deeelish! my babies LOVEd the sweet potatoes grits. hello, does life get any better than that? i am hoping to use gator's for my kid's party in two weeks as well. read more

I had a great experience with Steve. He was very quick to respond to my questions, was very flexible in creating the right menu for my event and even accepted changes up to the night before! Even though service is very important, the food is what you're really paying for and it was AMAZING! We ordered the coconut marinated ribs, chicken, tri-tip, chicken garlic sausages and grilled veggies and everything was amazing!!! I highly recommend them and everyone at my party was asking who we hired! I will use them again for future events. my only complaint.. we ordered WAY too much food and have been eating bbq for breakfast, lunch and dinner since the party... :) read more

We hired Gator's to cater my sister's wedding this past weekend in Santa Rosa. The food was delicious -- tender bbq'ed chicken, super tastey sweet potato grits and a smoked pig that our guests couldn't stop talking about. Todd, the owner, was very accommodating for our needs and was on-hand the day-of the event. He and his team of servers was very professional, friendly and went above and beyond their duties. It took a while to connect with Todd about the contract (both my sister and I are highly organized and type A people though), but we were really pleased with everything that happened at wedding and would definitely recommend his catering to friends. Thank you, Todd! read more

I would like to review Gator's food, but alas, like several other reviews here, they did not bother to show up to our BBQ last night. We have e-mail confirmation they received the order (after weeks of it being next to impossible to reach anyone), they just didn't show. We ordered Armadillo Willy's instead to feed our backyard full of guests. I would like to add, we LOVED Gator's when it was downtown in San Mateo. Gator- If you read these, please get some people who know what they are doing to handle your business, your name is being drug through the mud. So sad. I hope they get it together soon, but right now, I would tell everyone to stay away from this business unless you can make food for all of your guests with no notice. read more

NO SHOW... Unacceptable especially after we confirmed with them 2-days prior to our party. Terrible customer service leading up to party. We had to contact them 4 times before we got a response from them. Thank goodness for armadillo willies pulling threw and our guest for being patience that dinner was served 2-hours late. read more

Todd catered my wedding. The contract process was quick and easy. He delivered the food right on time. And it was DELICOUS. read more

Update: ed says it was the best bbq chicken he has EVER eaten....moist, smoky...so good. Mac n cheese: tasted good but, cheddar separated so it was grainy. Xx read more

The meat was stringy. Over salted. Sauce was watery. Service was bad which made the food taste even worse. Gave them a second chance too. The disappointment had been consistent. Shame. Read the reviews. They have a long history of poor customer service and lack of professionalism. Believe me that it is true. read more

Delicious BBQ, stellar, personal service, and reasonable price! So happy we chose them for our wedding - we planned for 75, but 120 showed up, oh no - but they brought some extra to fill the void. The salmon - tasty and juicy - not an easy task to cook for that many, but they killed it ! Smoked chicken - the best chicken I have ever had Smoked brisket - the best I have had east of Austin Jambalaya - their secret recipe from scratch was amazing read more

Gator's came to cater our office lunch. The pulled pork & brisket were both awesome. Mac and cheese was also excellent. If you like to indulge in the art of slow cooked fatty meats put Gator's on your list. If I ever need to cater an event I will absolutely consider them. It is substantially better than Armadillo Willy's. read more

Thank you to Todd and his team for helping make our office luncheon a success. I definitely made the right decision when I chose Gator's Back Porch to cater our office luncheon. Not only was the food exceptional, so was the service. Everyone loved the food and had a great time. I will definitely will be recommending Gator's Back Porch to co-workers, friends and family. Thank you, Shawna read more

This guy is a jerk. I bought a Living Social $200 voucher for $400 worth of food that he offered. I called him several times to let him know that I wanted him to cater on July 6th and I need two servers. He said no problem and gave me the rate for the servers. He asked me to email my food order, number of servers, Living Social voucher number, date and time of event using his website. This provided me no proof of mailing. Little did I realize how important that was. He never contacted me. And, are you ready for this...he never showed up. I had 45 people in my backyard waiting for dinner. I called him after his servers were an hour late. He answers and I ask what are you doing? You were supposed to have the servers at my house an hour ago. Sounding drunk, he said he was getting in his boat. He was incoherent. I called the number on his website several times - no answer. An hour later he calls sounding quite business like saying "I thought your party was next week". Then, it went to "Who are you?" He flat lied about knowing anything about my order and told me to call Kinders. He asked if I had a contract. What contract? He never mentioned one. Living Social investigated and returned my money. My guests wanted the name of his company so they would be certain never to do business with him. I certainly won't and I warn you to get whatever you want from him in writing. And, that may not even assure delivery. This guy has no business sense, honor, or integrity - untrustworthy. read more

At my family reunion, I pleasantly surprised to have a small piece texas so far from home, if ever you need catering and you want real BBQ, there is no other choice, next time I'm in that neck of the woods I'm definitely going for seconds read more

Completely MIA. After reserving a date/time for our event with Todd, I've reached out a couple of times to confirm and place our final order. I've received no responses to emails or phone calls. Frankly, I'm not even sure I would trust him to show up after being so hard to get a hold of, as well as after reading some of the other reviews on here. We'll be using another company... read more

Gator's catered a party for us on Sunday night. Everything was delicious. We had chicken, ribs, pulled pork popper and BBQ meatballs, fruit and macaroni and cheese. The meatballs were a surprise. They looked dry but were very flavorful. The children really liked them. The pulled pork poppers were another surprise. I was prepared for something very spicy but they were mild and addictive. In fact, this is the one thing I would recommend everyone order! The chicken and ribs were fantastic. The macaroni and cheese was really creamy. A lot of wonderful fresh fruit with mango in it! Oh and cornbread comes with it too! They were easy to work with. They were responsive. They were on time. The order was correct. There was plenty of food. The catering menu has some wonderful choices and now that I've had a few things I'm looking forward to trying other items on the menu for our next party! read more

Best BBQ in California! LaRon and his wife catered my boyfriend's 50th birthday. EVERYONE loved it!!!! I appreciated their timely drop off and set up of the food, along with their professional and fun demeanor. Amazing hot links, ribs and potato salad! So thankful he made the links extra smokey and spicy, just the way I requested. I can't wait to go back to San Mateo so I can have more...yummy. read more

Just had some of the bbq at an engagement party. DELICIOUS! Everything was cooked perfectly. The garlic bbq sauce goes well with everything. Order the sweet potatoe grits... THE BEST THING YOU'VE NEVER HAD! Its too bad they only cater and don't have a restaurant. read more

Todd has catered for us two consecutive years, 150-200 people. The food was great. Tri-tip that can be cut with a plastic knife. Pulled pork, salad, beans, everything tasted great. He was on time and service oriented. We will use Gator again next year. read more

I tried Gators on a lark when I saw a Living Social deal. I was organizing a birthday party for my daughter and hadn't figured out the food situation when I saw the deal and jumped on it. It was fantastic! I had never ordered catering before so I was a bit nervous but it all came to together perfectly. We had TONS of food and everyone loved it! We ordered BBQ chicken (good), ribs (really good), brisket (delicious) and pulled pork (AH-MAZING). We ordered a variety of sides and the mac n cheese was the biggest hit. Corn bread yummy and moist. Anyway... such an fantastic food option for parties or even meetings. Everyone loved loved loved it all! Thanks Todd!!! read more

I have to admit I was hesitant to order from Gator's given some of the negative reviews but I had the opposite experience and really enjoyed the food. I ordered the ribs and the brisket which were both really delicious. I was serving a large crowd and there was plenty of food. The bbq sauce was also really good. I picked up the food near their kitchens since I was in the area and they were there waiting for me. I also didn't have a problem reaching Todd. He called me back after I left a message and sent me an email with the contract for my food. He was also responsive when I called back to ask a question. Overall, I was happy with the food and the service so I'm planning on ordering food from them again. read more

Ordered a luncheon for Kaiser, pulled pork was delicious, everyone had seconds and even thirds, everyone was happy with the food, great easy going service, we will be ordering again :) read more

I too bought the Living Social deal and it was difficult to reach Todd. I had to work through Living Social to get Todd to get in touch. Though I had my doubts, I decided to try it. The food was good and plentiful; Todd was very flexible about including stuff for the kids and making come changes to the original order. The delivery was later than I expected. The driver was in touch but was still late enough that my guests were pretty hungry. read more

Steve catered our picnic-in-the-park for 20 adults and 10 children. He arrived 15 minutes early and delivered as promised. Our friends were impressed and a few made inquiries for their own future events. We enjoyed the smoked meat items, tasty side dishes, and the authentic New Orleans flare. read more

No show! I initially tried to call to redeem my Living Social deal but the mailbox was full (always not a good sign). Tracked down an email and requested a delivery for Wed, 8/21, 6p. Todd called me within the hour and confirmed the order. 8/21 6pm came and no sign of the food. Called and spoke to Todd and he didn't have my order and couldn't deliver the food bc they had another "big" catering order. He kept asking me if I placed the order, I kept on saying yes. I knew I should've called the day prior to confirm, but again, not a good sign that a customer even has to do that to make sure they got your order. It took so much effort to get 8 of my friends together for one night, so not going to bother to try and reschedule. Just going to get my $ back from LS. I swear, sometimes those deals hurt the company more than benefit it if they can't handle the mass influx of business. Very sad. read more

Never hire them! I purchased a Living Social voucher ($200 gets you $400 off your order). My total order amount was $1400 btw. This Todd guy was impossible to get a hold of. His voice mail was constantly full and after several email attempts, I finally cc'd Living Social Customer Service. This got me a response from Todd. The whole process of booking was unprofessional and I felt like I had to constantly nag before getting a response. FINALLY, I had a signed contract and date set for Gator to cater my company picnic. Flash forward to day of the picnic - I decided to call Todd 15 min passed the scheduled delivery time and still no food. He would not pick up the phone so I called continuously until he did. When I asked his ETA, his response was "$%&#, I forgot about you. What did you order again?" REALLY?! You forgot about our $1400 order!? His second response was "well it's not gonna be there any time soon". This guy is a jerk and totally unprofessional. I told him I expect a full refund and now I had to send one of my VP's to the nearest grocery store for food! AWFUL! read more

My company placed an order with Gator's Back Porch for a retirement event we were having and everything in the initial placement of the order and promises of food and service sounded good. On the day of the event (Oct. 4th), the food arrived over an hour late after the delivery men went to the wrong address. This was bad, but could have been forgiven. Once the delivery arrived - in a a very old beat up truck with delivery men that looked incredibly unprofessional wearing sweat pants - they simply dumped it on the cold food on the table and took off without saying anything. I think they were here for approximately 4 minutes. The food was incredibly low quality. The guys that work for the company even noted how unappetizing it looked and they are usually not picky. On the day of the event, I also noticed that my credit card had been charged for the full amount of the charge and not just for the deposit as it had stated in the agreement without any notification that this was going to occur. After the event, I called Todd and explained to him how disappointed both the food and the service had been. Todd told me that he would be giving us a substantial discount on the services and it should appear on my credit card statement shortly. Since the 4th, I have called and emailed Todd 4 times regarding the discount and credit. The first time he told me to expect it the next day. The second time he told me his accountant was processing the credit that day and he didn't respond to my email or my last voicemail. Overall,Gator's Back Porch was terrible to work with and provides terrible service and food. I would highly recommend going with a different company for your catering needs. read more

Yep, another Living Social sucker... I have tried to get in touch with the company also and missed our preferred date for a company event as a result. Even Living Social tried to call their line while I was on the phone filing a complaint..... the mailbox was full. Are they really still in business? It's a shame that they don't just come out and advise that they are having issues. read more

I recently experienced Gator's BP BBQ during this year's Super Bowl. We catered in, rather than doing the grilling ourselves and couldn't have been happier with the results. We were blown away with the quality of BBQ. The pulled pork was out of this world and the sides were to die for. It was like no other BBQ I've ever had. The southern accents were tasteful, but not over the top, as you can get with certain "southern" barbecue places. You could also tell that they took their time smoking the meat as both the pulled pork and the ribs were very tender. It was an A+ experience and we're definitely going to use them to cater next year's Super Bowl. read more

This review could not be any worse. I was shocked when Gator's did not even show up for my event. I was familiar with Gator's Neo Soul and had read good reviews about their food, so I was excited to have them cater my party. I This is the first time I have used a caterer for a personal event because I wanted time to spend with the guests, wow what a mistake. I never left the kitchen. I waited to write this review because I wanted to give Todd the benefit of the doubt and a chance to explain why they did not show up. The day of the event I called prior to their arrival to see what time they would be there. I was having a surprise party and the timing was important. About a half hour later I called again to see if they were on their way and had to leave another message. I called the main number on the website and Todd's cell phone, which I tired a half hour later. It would have been nice to know they weren't going to come at all since I had to figure out what to find my guests. We had friends and family help by barbecuing and throwing salads together. I tried to contact Todd after the event for an explanation by email and voicemail and still have not heard back from him. A couple days after the party when I had not heard from them I drove by the address on the website since it's close to my office. I was surprised that they were not at that location, but I knew someone else in the building and they had never seen a BBQ place there. I am organizing another barbeque and would never consider giving them another chance. Who doesn't have the courtesy to return a call or email. read more