From start to finish, Papa Lee's exceeded our expectations. For our backyard wedding, we wanted traditional BBQ & spent months searching for a caterer. The full-service caterers had no clue what "good BBQ" meant (although they all insisted they did, which meant countless tastings of dry chicken); and all of the local BBQ joints only provided the most basic service..."call within 2 weeks", they said. No way for a wedding. Walter and Mary Lynn at Papa Lee's were absolutely perfect. From the minute we met them and tried their delicious food, we knew we finally had the right caterer. They covered every detail and were always organized, and reliable. We had many comments and suggestions (including a slightly different appetizer.....mini-pulled pork bites, yum) and all were taken into account. As for the event, we were blown away. They had so many people helping them. The buffet line looked amazing (Mary Lynn added some beautiful touches to compliment our wedding theme, including flowers and heart-shaped butter pats). The service at the buffet line was spectacular; several people were always there to assist and details like extra BBQ sauce were well thought-out. Our menu consisted of: - Mini-pulled pork appetizers (served open-face) - BBQ Lil' Smokies appetizers - Tri-tip w/ BBQ sauce - Smoked chicken w/ BBQ sauce - Broccoli-raisin salad - Mac and potato salads - Southern style corn - Cornbread muffins Our guests raved about the food, there was plenty to go around (we still have leftovers!), and they provided on-site cooking. EXACTLY what we were looking for. They were fabulous on clean-up and were never in our way during our very chaotic wedding day set-up. I would not hesitate to recommend Papa Lee's to any one. Walter and Mary Lynn make a fabulous team...excellent customer service and delicious food. We are so happy with our decision to go with Papa Lee's....our wedding would not have been the same without them. Thank you!!! read more

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I wish Walter and Mary Lynn could be a permanent part of my family- and I'm not kidding! Papa Lee's BBQ is the ultimate BEST! I chose them as the caterer for my wedding mostly based on the great reviews they get, but also because they gave me great service from the very first price quote. Papa Lee's worked with my budget and served a delicious spread for our wedding. We got tons of compliments on the food, but also on the service! Due to a snafu, our wedding party was forced to eat after the rest of the guests, but Papa Lee's held aside some food for us to be sure we got fed! I seriously cannot explain how great they were. I love Papa Lee's. Love them! Call them for your event. I am sure you won't regret it. :) read more

Papa Lee's Southern BBQ Catering - Walter is a truly great chef. And a great man too! - Caterers Near Me

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So I work at Heritage Ford in Modesto and I sold a F 150 to Walter Lewis the owner of Papa Lee's bbq. Him and his wife are the Nicest people in the world. so they brought us bbq ribs, chicken, potatoe salad and corn bread, with this apricot jalepeno honey for the corn bread, and let me tell you they we're the best ribs I ever had. They were juicy and fell of the bone, I'm the the type of person that likes my food with a lot of flavor, and these were a 10/10 forsure. The patatoe salad complimented the ribs, and the chicken was so good to. I highly recommend Papalees BBq for any catering event. Good job Papalee's read more

As an Elite member of YELP, I find it my responsibility to review Papa Lee's. A very good friend of mine (and now part of my family) recently got married and had Papa Lee's cater the event. This was the BEST BBQ catering I have ever had. The staff was SO pleasant, the food was outstanding and their attention to detail was awesome! Beef and chicken dishes were extremely juicy, which was so surprising for buffet style food. They just kept cooking and cooking while everyone ate and the food just kept coming out and ready-to-serve. Becky did a great job picking Papa Lee's to cater her wedding. The wedding as well as the bride was absolutely stunning and Papa Lee's added to the event. If you are looking for outstanding BBQ or a caterer, look no further. read more

Delicious! I recruited Papa Lee for a very important event: my dad's 70th birthday! And I could not be more pleased with the results. Here were some of the Papa Lee experience details: *Food quality and flavor: Outstanding. Walter (aka Papa Lee) boasted over the phone that his ribs were fall of the bone good. I've heard that before and been a bit disappointed with the results. But Walter's ribs were tender, juicy, and truly fall off the bone delicious. But he had some other outstanding items that came with my order. You could taste the smoked goodness in his misquite bbq chicken. Really yummy. And he also cooked two different kinds of sausage; a beef sausage that had a slightly tangy sweet sauce, and good ol' fashioned hot links that had quite a nice kick. To top it off, he threw in some sweet cornbread muffins that we all enjoyed *Service was excellent! The first time I called Walter, I caught him driving while he was on the freeway. He sounded a bit rushed (of course, he was driving), but once we got to talking, he was extremely polite and friendly. And when he found out that it was for my dad's 70th birthday, you could sense that he really really cared and wanted to make the food really nice. And he definitely did! *Detail oriented: Walter and Mama Lee (Walter's wife) came a few minutes early to the house to get everything set up. They included everything: sternos to keep the food piping hot, utensils to serve the food, and good plastic silverware utensils for everyone. They even nicely labeled each food item. My Chinese mom spent part of her youth living in Mississippi. Turns out Walter is also from Mississippi, and they shared a pretty nice conversation about their experiences with Southern food. Bottom line: Papa Lee will be my catering secret weapon. But I suspect that he won't be a secret for very long. He and Mama lee put a lot of love into the food; you can taste it. And they prepped everything with wonderful service. All of the guests said the food was delicious. I feel that too many people give 5 stars here on Yelp...but Papa Lee's deserves every bit of the 5 stars that they get here on Yelp. PS - Not so sure what one of the reviewers meant when she stated that there wasn't enough food. We were stuffed, and there were tons leftover for several of our guests to bring food home. read more

I love Walter's cooking. He brings the southern style cooking catering right to your home. You must try his signature hot links. It's fire. Walter can cater for small and large parties. I would recommend him to any party or tailgate party! read more

Papa Lee's did an amazing job with catering my son's birthday. Everything seemed to be going wrong at the birthday party and Papa Lee just wanted to make sure that we were taken care of. The ribs were delicious and fell off the bone, the chicken was juicy and tender, the macaroni & cheese was to die for, and the potato salad was AMAZING. I got compliment after compliment as I walked around the party saying "the food was absolutely delicious" The service was wonderful. Extremely professional and very friendly. I will get Papa Lee's for every occasion. Thanks Papa Lee!!! read more

To begin, Papa Lee's food is absolutely delicious. Maybe the best bbq I've ever had. Ever. The ribs are so tender and juicy. The chicken is super tasty. All of the sides? Exactly what I want. We have booked them for two parties: a bachelor party my husband planned for 15 and our baby's 1st bday party (camping themed, hence the bbq) for 50. There is always more than enough food to go around, plenty to be packed up and taken home by guests, and still leftovers for us. Another plus is they come with everything needed: plates, forks, napkins, to go containers. Everything. As a new mom, the less I have to worry about the better. They're super helpful, communicative, and professional. Walter (the owner) is a joy to work with. He's super friendly and accommodating to special requests, needs, and even food allergies. He's even open to making things that aren't on the menu. If I could, I'd give 10 stars! I only wish we had more big parties so we could book them all the time and I could get my real southern bbq fix. read more

Papa Lee's was such a pleasure to work with. I coordinated the catering for a company BBQ with about 75 people and I could not have asked for a nicer group of people to work with. Owners, Walter and Mary were such a pleasure - they made a couple of trips out to the facility beforehand to check it out for us and to coordinate things. They even arrived at the location on the day of before us! Everything was organized and not a thing was missing - it was fantastic and made my job on the day of so much easier. The food was great - get the artichoke dip (it's delicious) - and all homemade. You will not be disappointed with this company - they are fantastic and I would quickly recommend them to anyone. read more

Top notch! I had reached out to Papa Lee's to cater my companies volunteer event at a local elementary school. From the beginning Walter was very helpful when we were putting together the menu for the event. Even when I had to make a couple changes he showed great patience to make sure my needs were met. On the day of the event the food showed up right on time. Not only that, but all of that delicious bbq was still nice and hot and tasted home made! Definitely the best bbq food I've had around here. Thanks again for all your help Walter! read more

Perfect event thanks to Papa Lee's! The food was delicious and Walter's customer service was awesome. He called me a few days before our event to check in and confirm the final details. The day of the event, he arrived earlier than expected (which worked out great!) and had everything set up quickly and efficiently. Our guest loved the food. Thank you!!!! read more

Papa Lee's made my company's party a giant success!!! 1. Walter (the owner) was very responsive to all my calls and emails when we were scheduling the party and picking out the menu 2. Walter even went to the event site (construction job site) ahead of time to make sure he knows where his team will be setting up and what tables and tools to bring 3. The food was fabulous! Everyone was RAVING about the chicken, ribs, potato salad, etc! 4. Walter and his team cleaned up when the party was over Bottom line - I can definitely recommend Papa Lee's Southern BBQ if you are looking for a cater for your next party. I will be using Papa Lee's again :D Thank you Walter! read more

This 5 star rating would be a 10 if I could!! Papa Lee's was hired to cater my company's picnic in June, 2016. Papa Lee (Walter) was very professional, quick to respond, answered ALL questions quickly, earlier than expected to our event, and most importantly......the BBQ was FABULOUS! Walter is very customer focused - during the negotiation process and during the BBQ. If you are considering hiring Papa Lee's.....have no worries and look no further - HIRE HIM! read more

Awesome food and great customer service ,Walter is always open to meet customers needs. Lot of options available halal meat . read more

O. M. G. Perfectly tender and juicy! Whether it's the chicken ribs or links, super delicious! Oh and the sauce!! Be sure to get the sweet buttermilk cornbread too! Walter aka PapaLee is the best! read more

Papa Lee's food is fabulous! We ordered a mixed menu of tri-tip, chicken, sides and salads for a family gathering of 30 people. My favorites were the chicken (perfectly seasoned and juicy with sauce on the side) and the broccoli salad (so yummy). Walter, the owner, was very professional and thorough in all the stages of our event and made himself available for any help we needed. Set up, serving and clean up was smooth and easy. I highly recommend Papa Lee's Catering! read more

Let me start by saying all the food is good, but the ribs are where it's at. (Also, I wrote a dissertation in college on BBQ.) These ribs are the epitome of "fall off the bone" tenderness with a sauce that is somewhere between the sweet and savory Kansas City style and the tangy, spicy Memphis sauce (if you are not some kind of Memphis dry rib purist). I'm sure Papa Lee would never tell, but I would bet that it is smoked wet, as the sauce flavor permeates the meat. It is so tender that if you pick up an average sized rib by the bone, the weight of the meat will literally cause it to fall apart. Tongs are definitely recommended as these are cooked to perfection, and there's plenty of extra sauce for moppin in the tray. My company has ordered their catered buffet two years in a row now for the summer picnic and I've stuffed myself both times. The ribs are not too sweet for adults, but also not too spicy for kids. Really they are the perfect combination of flavor and tenderness. If you have a party or event, I highly recommend Papa Lee's Catering. read more

Look no further for great tasting, mouth-watering, fall off the bone BBQ in the Bay Area because Papa Lee is the BEST! He catered a party of 50 today and all of our guests couldn't stop talking about the food! Not only does he prepare the food fresh, but he also does all of the clean-up afterwards. What a refreshing way to host a party! Everything on his menu is delicious...ribs, fried chicken, rib eye, hot links, corn bread, potato salad, pecan pie...you have to try it all! Papa Lee himself is so pleasant to work with too. Give him a try because you will not be disappointed! read more

Our Company used Papa Lee's to cater a picnic, and the food was great, but the service was better. They were all so helpful and friendly and made sure that they knew what we wanted (i.e. when to serve everything, what to serve first, etc.). We had burgers, corn, chips, dip, crudite, the works. Everything was nicely presented and the whole group was very happy with the outcome. I definitely recommend Papa Lee's! read more

Papa Lee's BBQ had excellent food! I had a strange arrangement where I needed to pick up the food instead of full catering. EVERYTHING was arranged as if they were catering: plates, silverware, sauces, etc. The food was amazing! I am partial to spicy foods, so the hot links were my favorite. But they were all a huge hit. Even the salads were surprisingly good. (I typically don't think of good salad when ordering BBQ.) The quantities were amazing, for the price. Several folks went away with some extra to save a bit of $$ on their next meals. read more

This review is about 6 months past due. I recently gave birth to my second child and wanted to purchase party trays for her 1 month birthday party instead of cooking all the food myself. After reading all the great reviews about this business, I decided to contact them through email. I was a little hesitant to place the order because it was a little expensive. I asked for a quote for 20-30 people with just pork ribs, bbq chicken and some side dishes and the cost was about $1,000. I told them that I only wanted to spend around $500 only and he gave me another quote for just the pork ribs and bbq chicken. I still think it was too expensive because when they showed up with the food, it looked like each person can only have 2 pieces of meat. Also, they were 10 minutes late even though they told me that they were ahead of schedule and asked if it was okay to come a little earlier. Overall, the service was good, the food was good, but the price was really expensive for the amount of food we got. read more

Walter was a breeze to work with. He showed up to our event early with ample amounts of the best bbq you can buy. Everyone at our party raved. We will for sure book with him again. read more

Papa Lee's did an awesome job catering my sons birthday party. We ordered the chicken, links, and potato salad. The food was absolutely delicious. Chicken fell off the bone and the bbq sauce is one of a kind. They personalized the meal by creating a happy birthday card for my 2yr old. One simple word to describe Papa Lee's... "caring". Tried thier brisket and its awesome as well. read more

Papa Lee's BBQ is, hands down, the best BBQ in the Bay Area. Forget the rest of the BBQ pretenders, Papa Lee's food, service, attention to detail is always right on the money. What I wouldn't give for some brisket & a cold beer right about now. read more

Walter and all of Papa Lee's staff are absolutely amazing! My wife and I recently had Walter cater our wedding and he was outstanding! Every aspect of his service and his food was perfect. He worked with us constantly as our needs/wants evolved during the course of planning. We booked for a group of 100 for a cocktail hour and then for the reception and the food was to die for! Every single one of our guests raved about the food! It was great because it was all you care to eat so we didn't need to worry about any of our guests going hungry, and he also provided to go cartons so our guests could enjoy the food later. The meat was succulent and flavorful and the sauce so great! The real star was the macaroni and cheese, there was absolutely none left at the end of the night! We did have a few vegetarians and some gluten free guests and they too raved about the grilled seasonal vegetables and the salad! We cannot thank Walter and Papa Lee's enough for making our reception a huge success! Thank you! read more

This was the second time I had eaten Papa Lee's bbq, and it just gets better. Ribs were tender and delicious, and the potato salad is better than any deli. Yummy! read more