Chowhound Gourmet

Chowhound was awesome to work with for our wedding, especially Lucretia and John!!

Chowhound Gourmet absolutely delivered on an all vegetarian wedding! We loved the California Harvest meal, the Mac and cheese and definitely the small dessert bites! Chowhound was affordable and professional and we had a really nice tasting experience with the owner.

We were very disappointed in the food. At the food tasting the food was absolutely delicious and we were so excited to serve this at our daughter’s wedding however when the day arrived the food, except for a couple of items, was nowhere as good as what we had sampled. Great food was one of the most important things to me and this was not great, it was okay. I was missing a platter that I supplied and contacted them about this and my thoughts regarding the food but did not receive any response. I was charged for a few rental items that I did not need but since they were minimal cost I let it go. I paid for each server but when needed them to pour champagne for toast they charged excites and when I asked if one could stay later was told it would be extra charge when in previous email I was told that usually 2 servers stay late. I guess that once they have your money and your event is over they don’t care. EXTREMELY disappointed.

Chowhound did a great job at my daughter’s wedding! The food was great! Serving 300 guests for a plated dinner was no easy feat but Chef John and his crew did it! I would highly recommend!

Chowhound was great to work with for wedding from start to finish. Their food is amazing and the staff did a fantastic job during the cocktail hour and reception. We cannot recommend them enough!

The entire chowhound team is absolutely terrific! They are passionate about what they do and it shows. Our guests haven’t stopped talking about how wonderful all the food was. Chef John worked with us for over 9 months, responding to emails reliably and making sure everything was exactly how we wanted for our wedding day - menu, rentals, order of events, everything! He even made a traditional German dish for one of our entrees using my mother in law’s recipe as a guide and it was a hit! Lucretia was an amazing coordinator for the big day. She responded to all my questions with great attention to detail. The staff that was present the day of our wedding were exceptional! They were very well organized, so kind and caring about each guest! We highly recommend chowhound!!

Chowhound catered our April 2023 wedding. The food was delicious and the staff was amazing. We were blown away with the whole staff but especially the lead, Meghan. She was on top of everything and constantly checking in with us. She went above and beyond helping with our late night snack, desserts, and anything that she possibly could. Multiple guests commented on how delicious the food and appetizers were. The beef tenderloin bruschetta appetizer was amazing and the chicken and sirloin were a hit as well. We would 100 percent recommend chowhound gourmet!

I gave them a 4 but I do completely recommend John and the team. Our planning process was a little rocky in the communication department and sometimes it seemed like main details weren't getting recorded conversation to conversation BUT day-of I was amazed! Everything was exactly as we'd planned and the food was really good! Not just catering good but actually good like you'd order off a menu at a restaurant. Hot, flavorful and well presented. John and the team kept a close eye on everything and seamlessly integrated Indian food from a local restaurant into our buffet. Choose them! They're great! But make sure you are staying organized and on top of everything yourself to support the process.

John at Chowhound was awesome to deal with - he was attentive, and made sure the menu was something that we wanted, not some menu we just chose a few options for. He was able to make almost the entire meal gluten-free, and a portion dairy free. He also tried out some new dishes that we asked that we tried when we were originally looking at vendors, and nailed them. It allowed us to make the day about what we wanted to have, not just typical wedding fare. His staff at our reception were absolutely spot on - they were prompt, attentive, and polite. They were all truly special and we appreciated everything they did.

Chowhound catered our wedding and it was the best decision we made for our night. The staff was incredible and worked seamlessly to make everything perfect and we got so many compliments from our guests and how friendly and professional all of the servers were. But, the highlight was the FOOOD! I don't know how John and his staff do it. Our venue did not have an onsite kitchen, so we were nervous about the quality of dinner being compromised - somehow it was even better than on our private tasting day. Every single guest plate was plated beautifully and tasted perfect, which we know because I think every single guest told us how amazing their dinner was. We highly recommend the tomato bisque for any occasion, truly was the highlight of our dinner and by far the best bisque/soup we have ever had. Thank you to the entire Chowhound Team!

John and his team are amazing and incredibly easy to work with! The service team the day of was outstanding. Megan was our lead server, she was so attentive and made sure my husband and I had everything we needed/wanted. The guests loved the food and the service! I would recommend Chowhound over and over again!

Wow. Let me just say working with Chowhound was amazing for my wedding! I personally have to say their staff was amazing on our wedding day. They catered to our needs, checked up on us, and they also got us our appetizer and dinner plates during the reception. John and Lucretia were amazing to work with. Everyone thought our food was amazing! Definitely would recommend to anyone for any event.

Chef John was great to work with! We really enjoyed the food at our wedding and our guests did too! We had family style - and loved the selection they had. The staff was my favorite! They were so nice and went above and beyond during the night. Highly recommend Chowhound Gourmet. You won't be disappointed!

Chef John created many delicious offerings on his catering menu, and his team executed the service impeccably. We wanted something different than the standard chicken, beef or fish entree options and he had many unique yummy options to choose from. Our guests continue to rave about the veggie enchiladas, au gratin potato casserole, and shrimp and grit shooters. Have to also mention that the meatballs were EXCEPTIONAL. So juicy and flavorful. Everyone on his staff was great to work with. Would rate 6/5 if I could.

The entire Chowhound Gourmet team was absolutely incredible at our wedding at the Packard Proving Grounds this past weekend. The food was incredible, and I’m hearing people rave about it every day. The entire serving staff was quick, efficient and so so friendly. While setting out the plates and silverware, the person was also wiping down every piece to make sure everything was clean and presentable. They started by setting up a stunning cheese board as well. I cannot recommend John and his team enough! Thank you guys so much for making our meal unforgettable!

John and his crew are AWESOME! we had an amazing tasting and we’re so excited for the wedding day. In my family “it’s all about the food” so this was very important for us. The food was so good on our wedding day! the appetizers during cocktail were delicious and so was the dinner we had Salmon and Prime Rib carving station for our two main dishes. they were amazing and everything is homemade and so fresh. The service was top tier and the head waitress was so nice in making sure my husband and I were able to have everything and made us our plates. They are easy to work with and very organized. I would 10/10 recommend!

We recently used Chowhound for our wedding at The Oakley and they did a fantastic job! We booked them about 18 months ago and it was so easy to work with them! They had great variety in the menu they offered and the guests loved it all! They also did a wonderful job creating meals for several of my guests that were gluten free. We cannot say enough positive things about choosing Chowhound!

5 stars does not do John and the Chowhound team justice ! They were unbelievable. It started with the initial conversations with John last year and the tasting where we decided to go with one of his packages but John was so excited to allow us our own personal flair and touches. We chose several of his amazing appetizers but also offered one of our own items (bacon wrapped dates, stuffed with chevre) and OMG they were all a hit. For the main meal we again asked for some custom options that all fell within John's original package along with an amazing Risotto station and I cannot tell you the number of compliments we received. We also added a late night snack (POUTINE for my Canadian roots) and the team executed this flawlessly. Lastly, the 'day of' service team and team leader were exceptional, they consistently checked in to make sure we were happy, and operated at a level I have not experienced before. I can't recommend John and Chowhound more if you are looking for a fantastic caterer ! Thanks so much for all your hard work, it helped make our event a huge success !

We had 4 appetizers, prime rib, chicken, tortellini, potatoes and ratatouille for our wedding and everything was perfect. My guests couldn't stop talking about the food! It was all perfect. John was wonderful to work with and made things easy. I will absolutely recommend and use him for other events.

John and Chowhound Gourmet was recommended to us through our wedding planner, Tricia Finn. After we did a tasting a year in advance of the wedding date, we committed to them right then and there. I was anxious by the lack of communication, but I’ve realized that it’s just how it goes with wedding vendors. They’re so busy (a good sign) that they can only focus on each event as it comes up. Point is, don’t get worried if you experience this with Chowhound Gourmet, they aren’t leaving you in the dust. Don’t expect to give your final menu and guest count until close to the wedding. Even so, John will answer ANY question you have whenever you have it. He’s great getting back to you and wants you to be as comfortable as possible! He is very inviting and does whatever he can to make your day right! If you want something changed or the menu doesn’t have it, ask! I’m obsessed with pasta, but we didn’t have that as a menu item so he specially made a bolognese dish just for me! When I asked, he replied, “Of course! Anything for the bride.” I have to share that because it just shows his customer service. Now, all of that said, we had some back and forth about the invoices and payments. The prices have gone up from those on the printed menu, a check must be mailed in a certain amount of time or a cashiers check is required (we had confusion because the guest count was still changing but the mailed check was needed before the final guest count was), and most notably, the server charges are paid *separately*. You are expected to bring the server’s fees in separate envelopes at the time of service! That communication must have slipped under the cracks because my fiancé nor I were aware and it caused a mess. We were each asked about it and kindly, we weren’t bugged about it afterwards on the night of the wedding, but it was still inconvenient and put on some stress. We got many compliments on the food at our wedding. I expected to hear more feedback, but sometimes nothing is better than something. We got the NY Strip Loin and Mushroom Risotto for dinner both of which come with a complimentary salad. Ours, the bride and groom’s, was cold when we got the plates which concerned us because we were served first, but everyone else we asked said the temperature was perfect. The food was served timely, tasted yummy, and the staff was great! There was a cucumber allergy and it was taken care of seamlessly. One or two of the servers even stayed through the entire wedding, which was wonderful to have. We also rented some linens through the caterer. The linens were more expensive than other options, but they had the specific color we wanted. Chowhound Gourmet actually require that you use all of their dinnerware for the food though. Having learned the little nuances and known how to make the process smoother, I would hire Chowhound Gourmet again.

We hired John and his team for our May 2022 wedding, they knocked it out of the park! The salmon was a crowd favorite and they were very efficent and professional during the event. They are very responsive and reasonably priced - we couldn't be happier with our experience!

Working with John and the Chowhound Gourmet team for our wedding was such a fantastic experience. The menu for our reception was really important to us, as well as serving our tables "family style," and John is so flexible that I was able to design the entire menu (BBQ and all the fixin's!) from scratch. John added his input and recommendations for how to best prepare and serve, and his team executed the day of and the food was simply outstanding. Our tasting event upon booking was also a special experience, and I felt that John took the time to understand our vision and make small tweaks to the food to really send it over the top. We've had so many compliments from our guests on how delicious our meal was, which is the absolute best. Finally, during wedding week, we had a bit of a snafu with securing a tent for the catering team to use for their food prep onsite at the venue, and John stepped in and took it upon himself to resolve the issue and bring in his own tent for the team. This was a huge relief to me the week of, and I am very grateful for John's willingness to step in and make it a non-issue for me to manage. Thank you John and the Chowhound Gourmet team!

John & team have catering down to a science! John’s team is fantastic from our initial conversation to our tasting down to our wedding dinner, Absolutely amazing. Every one of our guests is still talking about how great our food was, which is a big win for me, a huge food lover .. let’s be honest wedding food can be a bust, but not with Chowhound! 10/10 recommend John and his team. I found them to also be the most affordable, accommodating and have the best communication compared to over catering companies. We also did our linens & China through Chowhound.

YUM! That about sums it up! :) John and his team did such a great job catering out wedding! We got SOOOO many compliments on how delicious the food was. The menu options were unique and innovative (no plain/boring wedding food!) and they were executed so well! The team and service was top notch from start to finish. If you want food so delicious that your guests continue to talk about it after the wedding, hire chowhound!

I cannot say enough about how amazing John is!!! We had ALOT of struggles due to venue changes and then Covid and then replanning the wedding multiple times. John was very supportive and flexible and a dream to work with. And that’s honestly an understatement. Not only is John amazing to work with but the food…. I cannot tell you how happy alllllll of our guests were!! Mark and I knew how amazing it would be from our tasting but our guests were ecstatic. The Mac & Cheese and Prime Rib were the BIGGEST hit! I drool thinking about it still after the fact. If you book Chowhound, know that you are getting the absolute best food and the best caterer you could ever work with!

John was incredible. He crafted a menu for our wedding that was very close to us and we heard nothing but great things on the food. He was our 3rd and final vendor we were looking at for catering and once we met John and tried his food, we knew that it HAD to be him. I would use John for any event.

I can not fave enough about how amazing our wedding food was. We did the buffet with Prime rib and guests raved about it! the Mac & cheese is a personal fav along with the airline chicken! Everyone was very impressed and all the servers were so nice and worked quickly! I highly recommend you book them! John is fantastic as well!

Chowhound Gourmet was the caterer for our wedding and we were very happy with them! Chef John was friendly, the servers were incredibly accommodating (one of them put a plate together for a guest who had a sleeping baby on her lap), and everything was delicious! They were extremely reasonable with us when we had to postpone and even though we went nearly two years between the tasting and the big day, the food was just as good as we remembered! Only downside is that they could sometimes be a little tricky to get in touch with but I always heard back eventually - just not as quickly as I did from other vendors. It was also the busy season for weddings when much of our final communication was taking place so I understood. In the end, everything came together and everyone was super complimentary of the food! I also appreciated that John included everything in the main price and did not nickel and dime extra "service fees" like many of the other caterers we priced out - even though his prices might look a little higher than others on the surface, I found that they were completely fair and reasonable once you accounted for the way other places padded their quotes.

John was incredible! Everyone at our wedding raved about the food, the servers had amazing customer service and everyone was so flexible. John was booked when I asked if I could reschedule my wedding due to COVID and he worked around to figure out something to work for us. He is so kind and an amazing chef!

Chowhound and John the owner were great. John always responded to my emails promptly and was so helpful and understanding when we had to postpone our wedding due to covid. The food was awesome and many of our guests have raves about it. The chicken we ordered was so tender and I loved his steak bruschetta appetizer; we actually added the steak bruschetta appetizer just a few weeks before our wedding after we tried it at my husband’s cousins wedding.

John is INSANE. Food was our #1 non-negotiable splurge, and we didn't even end up "splurging". After receiving an estimate, we agreed to go to a tasting thinking that there's no way we'd get the quality of food we wanted in that price range. But HOLY CRAP were we wrong. We really don't know how he made so much food, all of it tasting like it came from a high-end restaurant, hot, and appeasing to every palate in the place. John, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Chowhound did a wonderful job with our wedding! We still have guests messaging us to say the Parmesan Crusted Salmon was the best food they have ever had. John was easy to work with and the servers were very professional. Highly recommend!! Best decision we made during wedding planning.

Chowhound's menu has lots to choose from and was the perfect fit for our american/middle eastern cuisine we were looking for. They were very affordable and everything was great. We had asked for butler buffet thinking our guests would prefer it. They ended up serving buffet but no one seemed to mind. Otherwise, we received rave reviews from our guests!

Chowhound made our wedding reception so special! The food was INCREDIBLE and Chef John was so accommodating to all our COVID-19 changes. We can't get over how great the food was! We highly recommend Chowhound!

Chef John and his team did an amazing job leading up to our wedding and on the big day! I had to change my wedding plans around due to covid and ended up booking with Chowhound one month before. John was absolutely amazing!! He responded so quickly and worked with us to get everything together. On top of the excellent service, the food is absolutely to die for!! I would 10/10 recommend.

Chef John and team made our wedding dreams come true! Our first caterer cancelled and when we found Chowhound, John was reassuring and very accommodating including keeping our original menu. Truly above and beyond service. Our wedding guests raved about the food and we are still talking about the salad dressing. We look forward to working with John again in the future and recommending Chowhound whenever we get the chance!

The food at Chowhounds is the most flavorful and delicious catering I have ever had! Every dish is exploding with flavor and my family and friends still cannot stop talking about it. I was extremely satisfied with the service, quality, and pricing of the catering, and this was an easy choice in our wedding planning process. John and his team went above and beyond for all of our events. We faced several obstacles because of Covid, but he was always several steps ahead of me and even called me on his vacation at one point when our original wedding venue went bankrupt. Because of these obstacles, we ended up using Chowhound three times: once for our June ceremony, once for our wedding shower, and once our larger reception in November. John is very professional and always takes his client's needs into account when suggesting menus for the event. He is clearly passionate about what he does and he treated us like family. I have been recommending his business to everyone I meet looking for show-stopping catering!

All I can say is wow! John and his team did incredible serving our guests for cocktail hour and dinner during our wedding! John is super responsive to emails and doesn’t hesitate to change things up when needed! We got married at a new venue where the catering team didn’t have much to work with and they executed absolutely flawlessly. The food came out so fast to us and all of our guests and it tasted so fresh and was still nice and hot! I cannot even tell you how many compliments we go on the food it was all incredible!! I feel like John and his team helped make our reception run smooth and we along with our guests were VERY impressed! I highly recommend chowhound! I know I will definitely be booking them for any future events I may have!

We are so lucky we found Chowhound Gourmet for our wedding!! Catering a large gathering is no easy task and John absolutely nailed it!! He was able to create a temporary kitchen in our garage and serve 130 plated meals effortlessly. He took care of coordinating with our bar staff for ice and water service, provided all place settings, and his wait staff was amazing! All of this was on top of the most incredible food! It definitely wasn’t your typical “wedding food”. We received so many compliments on how perfectly everything was cooked and the plating was it’s own work of art! We are so happy to have found Chowhound Gourmet and highly recommend them!!

This food was absolutely incredible!! The presentation is phenomenal and it is honestly the best wedding food I have ever had. Guests are given a huge portion and all of the food tastes wonderful and not like your typical “wedding food.” John was amazing to work with during the entire COVID pandemic and worked with us with rescheduling the entire time. We did our apps, dinner, and late night snack with their team and it was great! Thank you John and staff!

We are so happy that we chose Chowhound Gourmet to cater our wedding. From our initial contact, through our tasting and ending with the big day, their staff was professional, kind and excited to support us as we planned our wedding. Our guests RAVED about how delicious the food tasted and they made the process so seemless. Thank you for all of your excellent service!

Can’t not recommend John and his team enough! They were incredible to work with and everything went seamlessly on our wedding day. We received so many compliments on the food - it was delicious! Highly recommend - BOOK THEM!

John and the team at Chowhounds were fantastic! We received a ton of compliments about the buffet at our wedding - the food was so good, there was no “one thing” that topped everyone’s list- I think we heard “that was my favorite” about everything we featured. (Still, if you’re thinking about the Prime Rib with Horseradish sauce- do it! They make an incredible prime rib!) Also, John’s expertise was invaluable in making sure the reception went off without a hitch - I think I would have forgotten all about table linens if he hadn’t been on the ball! Highly recommend for quality of food, service, and ease with which he helped us organize everything! : )

Chowhound gourmet delivered delicious food at a great value. I couldn't be more happy that we hired John to cater our wedding. I was hesitant to do a buffet, but it fit our venue the best. I normally associate buffet food to being overly salty, cold, and not very inventive. That was the opposite of what we had! Our food was very flavorful, hot, and inventive for all diets. The staff was very attentive to clearing plates and checking in with us as well. I could not recommend them enough, all our guests were complimenting on how great our food was!

Chowhound was so great to work with. I knew I wanted an all vegan meal and they worked with me to create my own menu. We had a tasting and were immediately sold. The food was so amazing and we got tons of compliments from our guests as well (even the omnivores!). It was so easy to work with them and they were so flexible to make sure everything was how we imagined. :)

Seriously cannot express how terrific John and the staff are! Pre-wedding coordination was easy and well organized. We had a 220 count wedding at a venue with no kitchen - and a plated meal at that! Chowhound's service, presentation and quality of food was more than 5 stars. A heartfelt thanks from the bottom of my heart!