About this vendor
Catering Connection is a full-service boutique catering and event company that specializes in tasteful elegant cuisine using locally grown produce. Gourmet catering for Fundraisers, Weddings, Corporate Events, Holiday Parties, Company Picnics, and Private Gatherings. Serving Santa Barbara, Ventura, Ojai, and Santa Ynez region.
Details
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Cuisine
- American
- BBQ
- Cajun
- Eastern European
- French
- Fusion
Dietary Options
- Dairy Free
- Gluten Free
- Nut Free
- Sugar Free
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
Food & Catering
- Buffet
- Catering Clean Up
- Catering Delivery & Setup
- Family Style
- Passed Appetizers
- Seated Meal
Awards and Affiliations
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
5
out of 5.022 reviews
- Top reviews
- Newest first
- Oldest first
- Highest rated
- Lowest rated
Sort by
Casey was an incredible person to work with for our wedding. She was so helpful during our food tasting and we felt so supported. It was also such a fun experience and we knew that if we could feel the energy in our tasting, that our guests would feel it at the wedding. Our guests keep telling us the food was so good and they haven’t eaten so much in their lives. Casey’s staff was so professional and worked as a team with our other vendors to create a seamless experience. I can’t say enough good things. I would 100% recommend.
Working with Catering Connections was a great experience. They were super receptive to all of our changes and requests and worked with us to get the exact menu that we wanted.
They were really responsive and also great with helping us ensure that we had the correct rentals for the space as well! So many of our guests told us that they LOVED the food -- especially the cod and the churros, they were the biggest hits of the night!!
We know how weddings can go, so we don't think it's a huge deal, but here are a few things that happened that resulted in a four star. Thankfully, none of the guests had any complications, but I'm not sure that the dietary restrictions were too carefully considered - the bride specifically called out a dietary restriction that she noticed when the first course came out, but obviously we aren't able to validate all of the meals. We were also told by guests that the meals took quite a long time to come out between the first and second course and lastly that the bartenders provided by the catering company didn't stir any of the drinks. All small, and overall a stellar experience but just a few things that we took into consideration for our review.
They were absolutely amazing! Casey and her team took care of everything and helped make our day perfect! She made sure we ate (Both apps and dinner), drinks were full and guests were all happy. They were the absolute best and I would 1000% use them again. They helped with planning every little detail along the way!
We really loved working with Casey at Catering Connection for our recent wedding in Santa Barbara!
Highlights:
-Casey was awesome! She was responsive, friendly, reliable, and proactive - she was easy to work with and made sure to bring us food throughout the night to make sure we got to try it all
-Catering Connection did a great job incorporating our feedback and iterating on our menu between our tasting and wedding day - in fact, the food was delicious and tasted even better than at our tasting
-Catering Connection presents food sooo beautifully, especially our cheese/cracker/hummus spread which was absolutely gorgeous!
-Food quality is definitely above average for wedding food and we got lots of compliments on it!
This is minor, but we would have loved a quick heads-up that if things are running late, the buffet was going to be cleared as quickly as possible - we got some feedback from guests that (full) food trays were being cleared behind the last person going through the line.
All in all though, it was a wonderful night with wonderful food!
Thank you Casey and team!
Can't imagine a better catering experience than we had with Catering Connection for our wedding in Santa Barbara. Throughout the 1+ year, Casey was amazing to work with in the planning stages of the menu and coordination of the rentals. We had a really nice and fun tasting months prior to the big day. By the time our wedding day arrived, we didn't have to worry about a thing. The entire staff including bartending were phenomenal, always looking after us and all guests. The guests really enjoyed the food with many mentioning the short rib after the wedding; ). They really are a great team and we highly recommend them!
Philippe and his team were absolutely amazing! Besides the food (build your own taco bar) being delicious and incredible, everything from the drink service to the set up to clean up was done so smoothly and without a hitch. Catering Connection worked with the rental place and the venue to make set up that much easier. The entire team was attentive and detail-oriented, making sure everyone had a great time. I had guests coming up to me, saying how much they loved the tacos and dessert. I truly thank them from the bottom of my heart for helping to make my day so special!
Phi and his team at Catering Connection created the most spectacular menu for our October wedding in Santa Barbara!
First, the watermelon welcome refreshment was the perfect way to kick off the warm October evening -- super delicious and refreshing.
For apps, we offered 4 different ones to our guests during our cocktail how...which was perfect! Phi's team has a HUGE variety of what they offer -- and everything we sampled was so so good!!
Lastly, for the food...we decided to have a buffet because we wanted our guests up and mingling as much as possible...and this really helped make that happen. Again, the food -- there is so much to choose from. It is impossible to go wrong. People say "wedding food" never is that great -- but let me tell you...this was amazing!!!
One thing worth mentioning: We didn't use Phi's bar services because we had a connection elsewhere. However, based on their service throughout the night...I have to imagine their bartending services would be stellar.
Thanks for a great evening Phi and team!!!
I wish we could have another Wedding and use these fantastic vendors.
From the moment of our first tasting, we were sold. Our tasting was conducted by Phillipe in a small, but charming dining room.
We were the only ones there.
We tasted exactly what we had chosen.
We did not have to share the time with other couples. We had Phillipe's undivided attention.
Phillipe was always available to answer questions or give suggestions..
The Wedding Day went so smoothly.
Everyone commented highly on the food.
The Salmon was a hit !
Top notch in every way!
Ursula oversaw our day with wonderful professionalism.
The team at Catering Connection was absolutely amazing. Philippe worked with us on everything from budget to smaller details. He was so helpful in organizing the entire event. I did not have an event coordinator and so having him and Zohe help with executing my special day made everything go off without a hitch! And the FOOD! We wanted a specific style of service and Philippe went out of his way to make it happen, ordering from different rental companies to negotiating with the venue. My guests RAVED about the style, setup, and flavor of the food. We wanted particular apps for the cocktail hour and they went above and beyond with our bacon bar! Thank you to the team at Catering Connection for making my wedding dreams come true!
Philippe was amazing to work with. Our food was absolutely delicious and our guests are still raving about it. I would absolutely recommend going with Catering Connection for anyone's big day!
One of the best decisions we made while planning our wedding was choosing Catering Connection as our caterer. We had the pleasure of working closely with Philippe there. From the first time we met Philippe, he immediately made us feel comfortable and made us feel our menu and catering details would be a collaborative experience.
Philippe was extremely knowledgeable about what is popular and in season, what set-up works well with our venue and was open to a few special requests we had. The tasting they supplied was so impressive and professional. I could tell just by the service we received prior to even tasting the food that Catering Connection would be a great choice. But then, when we tasted the food, there were no questions asked. Everything was delicious, cooked perfectly and the presentation was beautiful!
My husband wasn’t able to make our first tasting so Philippe kindly offered to do a tasting just for him. We live in Berkeley but chose to get married in Santa Barbara because of the history we have there. It was a little nerve-racking at first planning an out of town wedding but with Philippe (in addition to the other amazing vendors we worked with), I had no worries.
The food at the wedding was just as I remember it from the tasting…which can be very rare (coming from a corporate event planner). Our wedding was in April and even up to last week, I received a note about how great the wedding was and how GOOD THE FOOD WAS!! In addition to the food, the service was top notch. Service was a huge hot button for me and the Catering Connection team blew me away. They made my husband and I feel like VIPs and I witnessed them take good care of our guests all night long. Philippe also worked with my mom to surprise us with a family recipe for our late night snack which was so special!
I can’t say enough about how much I enjoyed working with Catering Connection and Philippe. They made such a huge impact on how successful and enjoyable our wedding was. Thank you endlessly, Philippe!
We had an amazing expereince using Catering Connection to cater our April wedding in Santa Barbara. Catering Connection handled everything for us: food, beverages, service, bartending, and coordination of rentals. When creating the menu for your event, you have the option to chose from their extensive selection of menu options, or to customize your menu with pretty much anything you might want. We had a few specifc requests (like Churros for dessert) and they were able to accomodate them no problem. And the food is delicious! We worked with Philippe and he was a pleasure to work with, very responsive to all of our questions and requests and was sensitive to our budget and helped us come up with a menu and plan that worked perfectly for us. We were so impressed by the team that helped us on our wedding day, each of them were professional and friendly and made sure that we didn't have to worry about a thing. They took care of all the rentals, the food and beverage service, set up and clean up. Not only was the food delicious but they take great care in the display of the food and beverage stations as well. We were blown away by the way everything turned out, and we would recomend them to anyone looking for catering services in the Santa Barbara area
From the minute we met with Philippe we knew we had the right catering company. The customer service prior and at the wedding were outstanding. He and his staff were attentive not only to my groom and myself but specifically our head table which included our parents. Also the food was outstanding as we had BBQ Tri Tip, Chicken and sides. He customized it to just what we wanted.
Philippe is very in tune with details and helped coordinate the party rentals as well. Overall an outstanding experience and we would highly recommend using them
Catering connection far exceeded my expectations as to what a wedding caterer could offer- their service, attention to detail and food quality was second to none. So many guests commented that this was by far the best food they have ever had at a wedding. I had the pleasure of working with Phillipe who was a dream from start to finish. His extensive experience in the food- catering world offered a wealth of knowledge about all things food and entertaining. He helped me come up with a fun an creative menu and worked with me every step of the way to create the wedding of my dreams. I plan to use catering connection for any event, big or small, in the future. It felt like I was planning a party with a friend, who also happened to be an expert in this field. The servers and bartenders they provided were incredibly professional, attentive and polite.
I couldn't be any happier with the service and results I received after hiring Catering Connection to cater our wedding. I contacted a number of caterers after we decided to get married at a vineyard in Los Olivos. The response I received from Philippe stood out right away. Phi not only paid attention to my budget but also to my special requests regarding different types of food we wanted to incorporate in our menu. None of the other caterers in the area seemed to pay attention to my requests and didn't include costs in their bids that I knew we'd incur.
We scheduled a tasting with Catering Connection and it was fantastic. My fiance (now husband!) is an accomplished cook, and he was blown away as well. We hired them on the spot to provide pre-ceremony drinks, happy hour apps (passed and plated) and bar service, and reception buffet catering and bar service.
Communication over the next 10 months was easy, consistent, and fast. Phi addressed all of my questions and concerns with endless patience and solutions. He already had a strong relationship with our rentals vendor and worked very well with our coordinator - a bride's dream!
If I could give them 10 stars I would. The staff was incredible the day of the wedding. Every single staff person we and our guests encountered was friendly, warm, and welcoming. They provided anything we asked for - special plates of food were waiting for us at the reception and a server had a plate of appetizers for us at happy hour so we could sneak a few bites in between the ceremony and reception. Servers quickly provided plates of food for my parents who were visiting with guests when their table was called up to the buffet.
Our guests raved about the food and are still talking about it. The pricing stayed very close to the initial proposal and we didn't have any nasty surprises pop up later. I have worked countless events with a number of different catering companies for work, and I've never seen the quality of food and service we received with Catering Connection before. I highly recommend hiring them for your special event!
Catering Connection provided excellent service, from our first meeting, through several bid revisions, and ended with the most magical day. The food was fantastic (tri-tip, chicken, salmon, mac n cheese) and the staff was very attentive. The event manager, Philippe, put us at such ease before the big day, and managed every detail with care and precision on our wedding day.
CC took care of our every need, was super easy to work with, and exceeded our expectations. We had so many compliments from guests about how great the food was, and how much of it there was! All the servers were professional and pleasant.
Best wedding food ever! Philippe was AMAZING to work with, he let me be a little crazy and neurotic and stuck with me through the whole thing. He helped us with stuff that probably isn't even in his job description since we didn't have a planner. The food was amazing and everyone commented how great it was. His staff was amazing! The male server even brought my new husband and I a couple trays of appetizers during cocktail hour while we were out shooting photos, mind you he walked through muddy knee high grass to get to us.. without being asked to. They were all fabulous.
I could not begin to say enough about Philippe and the Catering Connection team. From begging to end, Philippe was a pure joy to work with. The food was amazing, our rentals were perfect, and he really acted as a coordinator on the day of the wedding. Philippe and his team goes above and beyond to make your event beautiful. We had so many compliments on how the food was so good, how the wedding was so beautiful and how it seemed to flow so smoothly. This is in credit to the work that Philippe and his team put in. He took us through the process of picking the food for our event and the rentals and even arrived early that day to coordinate the set up of the rentals. They were by far our favorite vendor and I would recommend them for a wedding or any big event to anyone and everyone.
We feel fortunate to have found Ursula and the Catering Connection team! From our first meeting, Ursula gave us a sense of confidence in what lay ahead in planning our wedding. Not only did Catering Connection provide outstanding food options, Ursula was an instrumental part in planning the entire reception and dinner event (from selection of tables and chairs to forks and napkins). That part of working with Catering Connection felt like they were going the extra mile. But, ultimately, it starts and ends with the food and that part was a huge hit! Fortunately, the food that we sampled at the tasting turned out to be just as tasty on the day of our wedding! We even found ourselves craving some of the appetizers in between dances and Catering Connection's staff was so responsive and attentive that they brought some to our table when they heard us raving about our favorite appetizers. We received so many compliments on the food AND service that day. Ultimately, we truly believe that we would not have had the same amazing, stress free event, without Ursula and her team with us every step of the way!
Phi and his team were great throughout the whole wedding planning process. They were very communicative and open for suggestions/discussion all the time. The food was excellent and the service was superb!
The service was amazing! We got so many compliments on food. They really worked with us to get us exactly the menu we wanted while still working within our budget. I couldn't have been happier!
Contact
512 Laguna Street, Santa Barbara, CA | Santa Barbara, Ventura, Ojai, Santa Ynez
Catering Connection Inc.
Catering Connection Inc.'s photos