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SLC caterer reviews

fallonjayefallonjaye
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in Utah
My fiance and I are getting married at FT. Douglas in December. I am actively looking for caterers on their approved list, they have A TON they approve. My struggle is I dont want to go around tasting all the caterers foods to decide. So, has anyone heard or used an extremely good OR bad caterer? So, I know who to check out, OR stay away from, OR both?Thanks!FutureMilitaryWife,Fallonjaye
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Re: SLC caterer reviews

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    MrsOpieMrsOpie member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    There are a bunch of great caterers but they all vary on quality and price.  Also, some caterers offer pull service with linens, plates, glasses, silverware while others charge for these things.  Make sure you ask what is included.Culinary CraftsCuisine UnlimitedBrown Brothers Catering
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    RMGatesRMGates
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I'm getting married there, too, and I'm using Le Croissant.  We're doing a pasta action station- two kinds of noodles, marinara or alfredo sauce, and a choice of chicken, shrimp or veggies, prepared fresh in front of our guests (mmm...sauteed garlic!) and served with fresh baked rolls, caprese salad, and italian sodas.  I've been to a couple of weddings that have used them, and they're not bad.  They make everything fresh, which was a big deal to me.  They're also willing to accomodate the fact that there will be a lot of vegetarians there (including me).  You'd be surprised at the number of caterers that don't know what to do with a meat-free menu!  The lady I met with was really nice, and so far she's been easy to work with when I've needed to ask more questions or add linen services to my order. The prices were very reasonable, too, which is obviously an important factor. I also looked into Culinary Crafts, and I was not impressed.  They were good to work with for all the prelimiary stuff through - they sent me menus and answered my questions- but I felt like I was getting the run-around.  I swear I spoke to 4 different people, which made it hard for any of them to keep things straight. To cap it all off, when I set up an actual appointment, drove 30 minutes into Salt Lake (I live in Davis County), I got stood up!  I called the following Monday to address it, and they told me that the next Saturday was fully booked and I'd have to wait two weeks to get in for another appointment.  I was shocked - it wasn't my fault I got stood up!  I've heard great things about them, though, so maybe I just had some bad luck.  I don't know.  Good luck!
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    sobrokebridesobrokebride member
    First Comment

    Culinary Crafts took weeks and weeks to get my proposed wedding menu together.  Despite advising that our budget would provide for a very nice event, CC finally came back with a menu that cost MORE than 133% of our budget, which did NOT include beverages, cake, chef fee, maître d' fee, dessert – and of course not tip or tax.  I expressed my dissatisfaction with being pushed into spending much more than originally discussed (P.S. - they'd already drafted an invoice to send me.)  I received the following response, verbatim. 

     

    Thanks for you time on the phone yesterday.  I spent sometime this morning discussing your proposal with my director of catering and I wanted to get back with you.

     

    We are sorry for the miscommunication on our part with your budget and your expectations.  As your menu sits, we don't have margin to decrease the price point, and switching to a buffet style we would still come in above your budget.  We are the best caterer in Utah and thus are prices reflect that, and we do pay our staff well so we can provide the best service to our clients.

     

    In the end, we may not be the best fit for this event due to budget constraints.  A possible recommendation would be The Main Event, and if you would like to discuss other options feel free to give us a call.

     

    Thanks for considering Culinary Crafts.

     

    ------

    Holly Fowler

    Assistant Wedding Planner

    Culinary Crafts

    801-225-6575 - Office

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    curlyqueuescurlyqueues
    First Comment
    edited September 2012
    DO NOT GO WITH UTAH CELEBRATIONS!!!  VERY VERY Disappointed - they are cheap and you get what you pay for. the food was delicious but read my email to them below- They basically responded that it wasn't their fault... NOT the way you treat customers. (also in the last few weeks leading up to the wedding the "event manger" never contacted us although they assured us that they copied my many emails into the instructions for the evening. I (the bride) personally went last and did not get a single leaf of lettuce. Not only that but our guests missed the sunset in the backyard after the ceremony!!!! UGG heartbroken. 

    My Email
    Dear Emma Jo, 
    I am writing to you today to express some deep concerns with the catering that was provided for our wedding yesterday. 
    The food was delicious (many people commented on the quality and freshness) and the servers were professional, however;

    1) the appetizers were not set up correctly, they were supposed to be distributed on 2 tables on the back patio where the cocktail hour was being held. 
    2) The green olives that we were charged an extra 0.70 for were left in a bag on the floor and not served, bread was not served as specified on the quote (that would not have been a problem, except that the crackers ran out). 
    3) The line for the appetizers ended up being 25 minutes long for some of the guests and when they got to the table the appetizers had run out. 
    4) the 1LB potatoes that I specified multiple times and even offered to help source were just regular baking potatoes and they were not split. This is very disappointing to me as the potatoes were intended to be the star attraction. 
    5) There was insufficient amounts of salad and appetizers as BOTH ran out before all the guests were served. We did not have extra guests. 

    My main concern was for my guests comfort and I am afraid that objective was not achieved on these points. 
    Please let me know how you can address these concerns. 

    "steven" responded - i had never dealt with him, even once. 

    Carol,
    We are sorry to hear that you weren't entirely happy with your event.  Whenever a situation like this occurs we like to see where we can improve and where there might just be a misunderstanding.  We sat down with the people on your event to review what had happened.   According to out servers that were on your party the salad, crackers, and cheese did not run out.  Generally these items never run out as we are able to bring more than needed because what is not served can stay refrigerated and be returned to our facility.  I am not sure what brought you to the conclusion that we ran out of either, however our servers were very confident that it didn't run out.  Perhaps you may have seen these items run low while being in the process of being refilled.  Please keep in mind that you were feeding a lot of guests all at once and it canbe a challenge to keep up with 100+ hands grabbing at the food.  I asked our servers if the lines seemed long, particularly the cheese display.  She had mentioned that this was not the case.  I also asked if they forgot the green olives, which she had mentioned that they were served from the beginning and bagged up at the end for you to take home.  I hope that I am not frustrating you, but this is just the feedback that I got back from our servers.  I know another concern was that there should have been two cheese plates.   I did review your emails and our party order and did not see any notes or requests other than you mentioning that there would be two appetizer tables.  I apologize for not catching on that you had wanted two displays, and I apologize that potentially you may have requested it more clearly in another conversation,  and that we didn't perform on this request.  Generally we do charge extra for someone to have two cheese displays as they do have quite a bit of expense in them with just the specialty cheeses alone.  Usually we do have a premium as well for parties under 150 for our cheese display, which I believe you were not charged for.   
    I do apologize for the potatoes not being 1# potatoes.  We did order the potatoes in from our vendor and were sent a smaller size, which was realized too late.  I know this was what you were looking forward to, but despite our desperate attempts to get them at a local grocer we came up empty and did our best to find the biggest potatoes possible.   This was something out of our control given what happened.  In our professional experience though, I strongly believe the 1# potatoes would have been too large for many of your guests and would have just been cut in half anyways.  I am not saying this to say that we were right, because I do accept accountability for not performing on this request, but I do believe that it was honestly for the better even though you wanted the novelty of larger potatoes.  There were plenty of leftover potatoes, so I am lead to believe that someone who may have wanted more was able to grab two, and someone who wanted less was satisfied without having to take a large potato that they would have not been able to finish and had to throw away.  
    Thank you for your feedback.  I hope we were able to clarify these things to you, but please clarify if we were indeed wrong about these items or if there was any other issues. 
    thanks
    Steven Swallow
    801-616-7047 

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