First, be forewarned by the multiple FAKE reviews on here, giving the company five stars. If you look at the reviewers, it is their only review or if they have multiple reviews, they rated Chef By Request in multiple cities. I purchased 4 weeks (through an offer from Gilt) and this is what has occurred in the past 15 days: Bags were often tossed around (and in one instance seemingly thrown at the door, since the bag was on its side and the mat was pushed/scrunched up against the door, so food was flipped over in their containers. Two of the times, the delivery was dropped at the wrong location The so called food exclusion/allergy/replacement list is a joke. 5 times I had meals that contained ingredients that they verified was on the list. I've had to call their customer service line approximately 8 times regarding problems with food and/or delivery. They're so called 24 hr service is a lie, since 1/2 the time I received the answering service who could not confirm the hours a representative of Chef By Request would actually answer the phone. The responses received by Kimmie and Logan were static, unsympathetic, almost outsourced call center script responses: -"That's unusual. But mistakes happen. We will share that feedback with the kitchen." -"That's odd. Yes, you do have [that food item] on list of foods. But mistakes happen. We will share that with the kitchen." -"That's unusual. The drivers take photos of their drop offs and none of your private property (e.g. door mat, etc.) should be disturbed. We will share this feedback with the courier company." -"That's unusual. You have clear instructions on where the bags are supposed to be delivered. But mistakes happen. We will share this feedback with the courier company." The above list of problems (aside from the food exclusions) can be considered an annoyance and inconvenience--completely unacceptable, of course, considering what you are paying for IS convenience. However, the kicker occurred in today's meal delivery. The "lunch" salad contained multiple bits of foreign material--plastic bits!!! When I contacted (by phone) the company the response from Kimmie was: -"That's unusual. Perhaps the ice packs were too heavy on the container." My response: -"No. The salad dressing container and the plastic container for the salad is completely intact and have not been damaged. The foreign pieces of plastic is from something else and was contained in the salad." Needless to say, the same scripted response given previously was provided in this instance: -"We will share this feed with the kitchen" And there was absolutely no reaction at all, regarding the incident being reported to the LA County health department. It is appalling how the representatives seem to not care about their clients and not care about their product. Therefore, I agree with Bri J and A W.---this company is not worth even the 1 star rating. I would gladly accept any recommendations for a new meal delivery company, because obviously I did not do my research on this company and am needing a replacement service. I will post additional new developments as they occur. But in the meantime, I have an appointment with my dentist on Monday to deal with my cracked tooth. Update, January 2013 -Finally managed to pull the photos from the phone and posted some photos -Dental repair cost $100 (and that's only because I have an awesome inexpensive Dentist. Anywhere else it would have been closer to $300 for the repair). -Amazingly, I did managed to get a refund, which if you read from other people is impossible. But my refund probably was because I had American Express fighting on my behalf. Update, May 2013 My review was Chefs By Request, but it seems like they changed the named of their company...probably because of all the customer service issues, but calling it a Loss Arts seems rather apropros read more

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Solid food - lunches very repetitive, but dinners more diverse than other delivery places I have tried and snacks are really good - never just like a cut orange like i got at once place and felt very ripped off. They deliver it nightly in a cooler bag, no 3 day delivery at once, very classy. The price is way too high, but look for deals and specials which makes this totally worth it - loved not having to think about cooking or buying food - also 1200 cals sounds so small but they are professionals and it does not feel as small as it sounds, and you can totally substitute in another snack if you are dragging. read more

I had to give one start in order to write my review. Horrible costumer service. Food is disgusting. I found a big piece of paper inside my salad today. Thank god it wasn't plastic like the other review . I will try to post picture. Allergies for them is a waste of time. I ask for no pork. Guess what? I got pork sirloin for dinner. They only say is never happen before bla bla bla. My bag were delivery twice to wrong address. Once I found on my neighbor 2 floors up. It was so many issues. I never complain as much in my life. read more

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I would give "0" stars if I could. SHORT STORY: They negligently served me food that I'm knowingly allergic to and refuse to offer a refund. Their customer service is non-existent. LONG STORY: I signed up for a month's worth of the service online. The web form had a question that asked about any food allergies. I made it clear about the food allergy that I have. After I submitted the form, I was contacted by an employee to confirm my order and set a time to get the key to my building. During this conversation, the employee also confirmed my food allergy. My 4th day of service, I had an allergic reaction to the food they served me. I called the company to let them know what happened and get a guarantee that it wouldn't happen again. They were extremely unapologetic and in a very blasé way said that mistakes happen, and they would be unwilling to guarantee that it wouldn't happen again. These terms are unacceptable for me - I'm not willing to risk an allergic reaction because the company doesn't care about my health. I asked to discontinue service and get a full refund. They refused. He said that because I signed up online, they weren't able to go over the food allergy non-guarantee with me. This is frankly a load of crap. I trusted that my food would not contain the allergen because food allergies were actually a part of the sign-up process on their own questionnaire, and I also confirmed with a person via the telephone before service started. The guy that I spoke to did NOT make it clear that food customizations based on food allergies were not guaranteed. The company also said that they generally recommend that people only sign up for a week's worth of service to start with, not a full month. I would have been given this instruction apparently, too, had I called them to sign up rather than signing up online. Again, I say, why give me the option to do this online, if it's the wrong way to do it? Also, the website actually seems to be actively encouraging people to sign up for longer periods of time - you get a free week of service if you sign up for a whole month at once, but only if it's your first time using the service. They're basically inferring that it's my fault that this happened because I signed up "wrong". Stupid. If they don't want people to sign up online, they shouldn't give that option. And if they're not going to treat food allergies with the respect they deserve, they should make that abundantly clear as well. Above is the main issue. Other issues include: - The website said service would start two days after signing up. I repeatedly tried to contact the company after my initial registration and didn't hear back from them for 3 days. Service finally started 2 days later. - I gave the courier service a key to my apartment building so they could leave the food outside my door. There was no food there this morning. Not until I received a call from the courier service later in the morning. They were downstairs without a key. I have no idea what happened to my key. I would HIGHLY discourage anyone from using this service. UPDATE 6/14/12: Since they refused to give me my money back and continued sending me food, I decided to give the program one more try. I thought maybe it was just a fluke and the odds of them giving me food I'm allergic to again were pretty small. Well, it happened again yesterday. They are completely negligent. I called the company to stop service; they didn't even apologize for this happening AGAIN. I've contacted my credit card company to dispute the charges because I cannot continue with the service; they cannot be trusted. read more

Loved the food - excited to recieve daily meals and enjoyed each bite - great way to eat right and not worry about what to cook next or count calories!! YUM! read more

Chefs by request but don't bother requesting a refund, you're screwed. CBR is rude and unapologetic if you are dissatisfied with their food so you better like the overpriced slop they're serving up. From their terms of use "Chef by Request will issue no refunds for payments already made to Chef by Request for its products and services." further "If you are dissatisfied with any portion of our services, or with these terms and conditions, your sole and exclusive remedy is the discontinuation of your use of Chef by Request's services." So you can discontinue the service but you can't get your money back, even the unused portion. What a scam. read more

I started with Chef by Request because of a challenge at my Crossfit Gym. This was about 2 months ago. At first, it was different getting used to not choosing my menus, but once I got going, I found that it was way more enjoyable to just be surprised each day. After about two weeks of sticking with the Paleo program, I started to notice a huge gain in my energy levels, and my work outs started to really show the results. I have managed over the past two months to trim off those last few pounds, (15 to be exact) that were plaguing my belly. If you are serious about getting into the best shape, and have been curious about the Paleo Diet and how it can help, give them a try! read more

Chef By Request has been delivering food to my front door since they opened their Pasadena branch about a year ago. Already well established in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco, I want everyone to know what a great service this is to the LA area. I don't like to go grocery shopping and I don't enjoy cooking so this service is just what I need since going out to eat all the time can become very expensive. With Chef By Request they have solved my dilemma and I couldn't be happier. Every night a delivery is made for the next day's meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack and dessert. Whether you are trying to lose weight or enjoy healthy food everything is fresh and extremely delicious. Saving me lots of time and looking forward to each meal is a win-win situation for me. I highly recommend this great service. read more

Chef By Request is a great service for many reasons. The food is well prepared, well balanced and delicious. I love how easy the meals are-they are delivered to my door and all I have to do is heat them up. I especially appreciate the generous dinners-meat and fish are flavorful and tender and all of the sauces really compliment the meals. In fact the sauces and salad dressings are so unique and tasty they may be my favorite part. I'm never left hungry, I feel like I'm saving money by not buying unnecessary groceries and I'm absolutely saving time! Chef By Request is as good as it gets. read more

Chef by request is THE BEST! After I had my second baby I looked into hiring a chef-both to make my life easier (no grocery shopping with a two year old and a newborn, no time spent preparing meals) and to encourage weight loss. I'm a chef myself so i thought I'd have no problem findng someone through my contacts but everyone I called was cost prohibitive. Then I did some online research and found Chef By Request-by FAR the most affordable option out there. I gave it a try for a week and was totally hooked. I told myself I sign up for the month and then go back to my normal routine. Cut to 5 months later and my husband and I are still on the program. It is so fantastic. Like I said, I'm a chef so I have a pretty discerning palate and the food is truly great. I'm on the Paleo program and have been absolutely impressed with the creativity and execution of virtually every meal. AND I've lost close to twenty pounds. I started with a 3 meal/day delivery and now I just do 2/day (lunch and dinner) and honestly I have no intention of discontinuing the service. I feel great eating all this healthy food and I never have to search around in my refrigerator for something to eat-delicious meals are just in there waiting for me to heat them up. Plus I have so much more time with my kids. No meal prep, no dishes!!! I can't recommend Chef By Request enough. read more