Would you hire a caterer with no reviews?

badbnagdway

In the continuing quest to find a good full service caterer I met with a very nice older woman who owns her own business. She has been catering for 25+ years. I got the name of the business because I was in charge of contacting restaurants and caterers for a charity event. Her business didn't donate food to the event this year but had in the past and I remember she was very polite and just had conflicts this year.

Her base of operations was in a not great part of town, but hey, low overhead. In person she was very helpful and knowledgeable. She is putting together a detailed quote based on a menu I liked very much. 

Here's the rub - I cannot find a single review online for this company. They are on the preferred caterer list of many venues, they are mentioned here and there, but there are zero reviews written by people who have used them. It is totally bizarre. This is an older woman who runs it, but they have a decent looking website and she responds quickly to email, so it's not a technology issue. 

I am concerned that she is deleting bad reviews or something. I want to try her food now because I'm nervous. What would you do? 

atlastmrsg

Ask the venue(s) for a reference.

Try the food.

I used one of the largest caterers in the city where my wedding was held, and they only had two online reviews on one site I looked at.  

vulpiepop

Some places just don't get reviews because people don't think to review them. My caterer only had a few reviews but they had done many many weddings.

If they are on the preferred vendors list for your venue, they probably catered to another wedding at the same venue before. Ask them for a reference and definitely try the food. The food was what we based our decision on.

jacques27

I very rarely write reviews (at least formally on a review site) and when I do, it's more likely going to be about an extremely horrible experience to serve as a warning.  And that's probably true of most people - people are more likely to speak up about their horrible experiences than their positive ones - so I wouldn't take this as evidence of anything potentially bad about her.

I agree with PP - do what people did before the internet and review sites and ask for a reference either from her or one of the places where she's a preferred caterer and see if she will schedule a tasting with you.

badbnagdway

Ok, this is making me feel better. Also making me feel better is that I found other caterers in the area that have very few reviews. I guess I was thinking of caterers kind of like restaurants, but you guys are right, people don't seem to review caterers as much. We will definitely do some further investigating. 

charcoalandblush

Ditto PP, ask for a reference. A couple that they've recently catered a wedding for. Preferably similar in size/menu to yours.

lyndausvi

I eat out a lot. I travel a lot.  I have never once written an online review.  I LOVED my catered and I never reviewed them either.   

So no, it would not bother me.   

I also take online reviews with a grain of salt.  Anything over a year old needs to discarded as far as I'm concern.   People are more likely to write a bad review then a good one.  There are trolls who write bad reviews just because.  Some people stretch the truth or  flat out wrong information to make their negative review seem more credible.    And places like Yelp bully businesses into advertising in order to have more good reviews.  

They can be useful, but again take them with a grain of salt.   In the islands we had people give us 1-star because it rained.  RAINED.  Like the resort had control over the weather.

levioosa

lyndausvi said:

I eat out a lot. I travel a lot.  I have never once written an online review.  I LOVED my catered and I never reviewed them either.   

So no, it would not bother me.   

I also take online reviews with a grain of salt.  Anything over a year old needs to discarded as far as I'm concern.   People are more likely to write a bad review then a good one.  There are trolls who write bad reviews just because.  Some people stretch the truth or  flat out wrong information to make their negative review seem more credible.    And places like Yelp bully businesses into advertising in order to have more good reviews.  

They can be useful, but again take them with a grain of salt.   In the islands we had people give us 1-star because it rained.  RAINED.  Like the resort had control over the weather.

I love reading prima donna reviews. They're so ridiculous.  I feel bad for the staff who has to deal with them though. 

wrigleyville

I feel the same way about a lot of 1-star hotel reviews I see.

"OMG. We had to pay for parking!!! Nobody told us!!!"

1) It's on the hotel's website.

2) It's displayed in front of the hotel parking garage.

3) It's Chicago.

"OMG. There was a speck of dust in a corner of the room nowhere near the bed."

1) Because your house is so perfect?

2) Because housekeeping totally has time to use Q-tips in every corner when flipping rooms.

"OMG. The pool was closed!!!"

1) The pool is on the roof.

2) It's October.

3) In Chicago.

ohannabelle

wrigleyville said:

I feel the same way about a lot of 1-star hotel reviews I see.

"OMG. We had to pay for parking!!! Nobody told us!!!"

1) It's on the hotel's website.

2) It's displayed in front of the hotel parking garage.

3) It's Chicago.

"OMG. There was a speck of dust in a corner of the room nowhere near the bed."

1) Because your house is so perfect?

2) Because housekeeping totally has time to use Q-tips in every corner when flipping rooms.

"OMG. The pool was closed!!!"

1) The pool is on the roof.

2) It's October.

3) In Chicago.

This kills me, too. I stayed at a great old hotel once, and was reading the reviews. Someone marked them down because the horrible elevator was sooooo slow. It took foreeeeever.

It was an antique elevator. Like, one of the first hotel elevators ever installed on the west coast. Perfectly restored, beautiful. Like a little jewel box. 

The same reviewer complained that she found a dead cockroach. Outside. On the sidewalk. 

Hello. Welcome to SanDiego, where there might be bugs outside. 

WTF is wrong with people?

levioosa

 

ohannabelle said:

wrigleyville said:

I feel the same way about a lot of 1-star hotel reviews I see.

"OMG. We had to pay for parking!!! Nobody told us!!!"

1) It's on the hotel's website.

2) It's displayed in front of the hotel parking garage.

3) It's Chicago.

"OMG. There was a speck of dust in a corner of the room nowhere near the bed."

1) Because your house is so perfect?

2) Because housekeeping totally has time to use Q-tips in every corner when flipping rooms.

"OMG. The pool was closed!!!"

1) The pool is on the roof.

2) It's October.

3) In Chicago.

This kills me, too. I stayed at a great old hotel once, and was reading the reviews. Someone marked them down because the horrible elevator was sooooo slow. It took foreeeeever.

It was an antique elevator. Like, one of the first hotel elevators ever installed on the west coast. Perfectly restored, beautiful. Like a little jewel box. 

The same reviewer complained that she found a dead cockroach. Outside. On the sidewalk. 

Hello. Welcome to SanDiego, where there might be bugs outside. 

WTF is wrong with people?

I love the ones that expect a Holiday Inn type hotel to be like the Ritz.

"Did not provide turn down service." 

Or people who proclaim themselves to be "foodies" and then review chain type restaurants (which I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be reviewing if you were an actual "foodie").

"There wasn't even a sommelier on staff.  I mean, COME ON, PEOPLE." 

People are crazy. 

I read reviews like, "I know it's not fancy, I just want to know if this hotel is clean and safe." 

Cookie Pusher

levioosa said:

 

ohannabelle said:

wrigleyville said:

I feel the same way about a lot of 1-star hotel reviews I see.

"OMG. We had to pay for parking!!! Nobody told us!!!"

1) It's on the hotel's website.

2) It's displayed in front of the hotel parking garage.

3) It's Chicago.

"OMG. There was a speck of dust in a corner of the room nowhere near the bed."

1) Because your house is so perfect?

2) Because housekeeping totally has time to use Q-tips in every corner when flipping rooms.

"OMG. The pool was closed!!!"

1) The pool is on the roof.

2) It's October.

3) In Chicago.

This kills me, too. I stayed at a great old hotel once, and was reading the reviews. Someone marked them down because the horrible elevator was sooooo slow. It took foreeeeever.

It was an antique elevator. Like, one of the first hotel elevators ever installed on the west coast. Perfectly restored, beautiful. Like a little jewel box. 

The same reviewer complained that she found a dead cockroach. Outside. On the sidewalk. 

Hello. Welcome to SanDiego, where there might be bugs outside. 

WTF is wrong with people?

I love the ones that expect a Holiday Inn type hotel to be like the Ritz.

"Did not provide turn down service." 

Or people who proclaim themselves to be "foodies" and then review chain type restaurants (which I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be reviewing if you were an actual "foodie").

"There wasn't even a sommelier on staff.  I mean, COME ON, PEOPLE." 

People are crazy. 

I read reviews like, "I know it's not fancy, I just want to know if this hotel is clean and safe." 

To the bolded, I'm a foodie but I've reviewed several chain restaurants before. Sometimes, you just end up going places because that's where the group wants to go. Or you end up in a food tundra. Or you're on the highway and pull over at the first recognizable place because you're about to pass out from hunger. I'm a foodie, but I'm not a food snob. I'll give any place a shot, and I review them accordingly. Like, I'd never write a review about TGIFridays using the same criteria as a high end gastropub.

levioosa

Cookie Pusher said:

levioosa said:

 

ohannabelle said:

wrigleyville said:

I feel the same way about a lot of 1-star hotel reviews I see.

"OMG. We had to pay for parking!!! Nobody told us!!!"

1) It's on the hotel's website.

2) It's displayed in front of the hotel parking garage.

3) It's Chicago.

"OMG. There was a speck of dust in a corner of the room nowhere near the bed."

1) Because your house is so perfect?

2) Because housekeeping totally has time to use Q-tips in every corner when flipping rooms.

"OMG. The pool was closed!!!"

1) The pool is on the roof.

2) It's October.

3) In Chicago.

This kills me, too. I stayed at a great old hotel once, and was reading the reviews. Someone marked them down because the horrible elevator was sooooo slow. It took foreeeeever.

It was an antique elevator. Like, one of the first hotel elevators ever installed on the west coast. Perfectly restored, beautiful. Like a little jewel box. 

The same reviewer complained that she found a dead cockroach. Outside. On the sidewalk. 

Hello. Welcome to SanDiego, where there might be bugs outside. 

WTF is wrong with people?

I love the ones that expect a Holiday Inn type hotel to be like the Ritz.

"Did not provide turn down service." 

Or people who proclaim themselves to be "foodies" and then review chain type restaurants (which I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be reviewing if you were an actual "foodie").

"There wasn't even a sommelier on staff.  I mean, COME ON, PEOPLE." 

People are crazy. 

I read reviews like, "I know it's not fancy, I just want to know if this hotel is clean and safe." 

To the bolded, I'm a foodie but I've reviewed several chain restaurants before. Sometimes, you just end up going places because that's where the group wants to go. Or you end up in a food tundra. Or you're on the highway and pull over at the first recognizable place because you're about to pass out from hunger. I'm a foodie, but I'm not a food snob. I'll give any place a shot, and I review them accordingly. Like, I'd never write a review about TGIFridays using the same criteria as a high end gastropub.

Sorry. My bad to generalize.  I guess my experience has been with self proclaimed food snobs who always expect their meal to be a five star experience. 

allispain

There was a bride that had reviewed the florist I ended up choosing - her review was all about how the roses were one shade darker than she had expected them to be and how this messed up EVERYTHING and made her wedding horrible. Sigh. The review was on one of the sites where the vendors can respond, and the florist did so a very professional way - I was impressed by how she handled little miss freakout - it gave me a good first impression of her.