Food For Thought Catering

ering spaces ignored that. Everything was delicious. The servers were also so friendly and helpful! In terms of cost, we found them comparable to other caterers we got quotes from based on our or initial guest count. The food was excellent quilts with great service.

ess and even allowed us to push our date due to COVID without any difficulty. Coldplay ended up having a concert at Soldier Field the very same night so we were worried about getting our guests to Adler on time for our event. The Adler team was extremely communicative and transparent with us on how to best handle the situation and helped to ease our stress as well as ensure that our guests arrived safely and on time. The tasting experience was also great. The presentation of the food was exactly the same as the tasting which we appreciated. Our ONLY issue was that on the day of the event, the food seemed to run out quickly at each table and some of our guests did not get to try each dish that we selected as it was a family style dinner. Our recommendation would be to refill dishes or provide more of each dish if possible! On the day of, everything was exactly what we hoped for. We simply showed up and were absolutely blown away at how beautifully the venue was set up. Everything went off without a hitch thanks to Annie and her team! We appreciate everything that they did for us to make our event truly the best night of our lives!

NG to work with on the day of and several staff members helped throughout the planning process and answered all of our questions. Thank you for making it a wonderful experience for us!!

from a wedding caterer. Our guests could not stop raving about that. And the staff that were on hand to serve our guests were top notch and so accommodating of us as a couple. You can't go wrong working with this team.

ving for days about the food and setup. You ladies really have you job down to a science and whatever you’re being paid, I’m sure it’s not enough. We received tons of compliments from the guests which is a reflection of your efforts from the beginning planning stages to the end result. We believe this review is well deserved. We highly recommend FFT Please share this email with FFT managers/owners! You were absolutely top notch, and know your job and the service provided was superb!

yond for us.

at their test kitchen. They were prompt in communications. They ensured that all of the food options met our guests' needs. They did a wonderful job managing our venue space. Their servers made the meal feel elegant, rather than catered. But above all else, Meaghan personally made sure that me and my wife felt taken care of, including helping us with other troublesome vendors. I would highly recommend FFT to anyone booking a wedding in Chicago. 5 star experience.

had tons of guests tell us how great the food and service was. We highly recommend FFT!!

fect night. Multiple people commented on how good the short rib was too!

we were wowed by everything and everyone at FFT. They were able to accommodate every single allergy and dietary restriction ensuring everyone had a fabulous meal..Our guests can't stop raving about how amazing our food and cocktails were and how incredibly attentive and kind the staff were on our big day. We are so grateful!

nn and the team put together an ideal tasting menu that blew us away. We went with a stations style menu for our reception and the food was excellent - multiple guests raved about how good the food was, including the desserts. In the days leading up to our event Kacilynn was incredibly helpful with making last-minute changes to our menu. At our reception, Kacilynn informed the bartenders and catering staff about our favorite drinks and food so that plates were set out for us without having to ask. We would highly recommend FFT to anyone for their wedding reception - or any other events that you may have.

sional and everything was served smoothly! We truly appreciated Lorena's attention to detail, flexibility...serving 3 children's meals during cocktail hour...serving the groom his own requested meal..., and support in making the many selections to create a most memorable evening!

eam were so seamless and the staff were absolutely wonderful during the day of our wedding. They are true professionals that made planning easy, accommodating, and fun. And on top of that, great food and drinks!

w. This caterer is VERY expensive, so keep that in mind. If you have a lot of money and don't care about the details and can operate on auto-pilot, then this vendor will be great for you. But if you're stretching outside your budget, then this will be a painful vendor to deal with. Or if you're a detail oriented person (like I am), it will also be very painful. I can't say other vendors are any different because obviously I've only gotten married once, but I will say that I felt like wedding planning was a nightmare. THE GOOD: 1) The food was excellent. I was hesitant doing a buffet because we had a pretty classy wedding, but once we went to the tasting and actually tried the food, we realized the high quality of the vendor. It was definitely the best buffet food I've ever had, and ended up being even better than a plated meal because you could have more options 2) The tasting - this was the 1st time we got to meet Annie in person and get out from behind emails, and it was SO much fun. We had a blast with all of the wonderful food and alcohol. 3) At the end of the day, the wedding turned out FANTASTIC. There were no major hiccups, and the venue was everything we've dreamed of. We felt supported by the staff on the night of. THE BAD: 1) Quoting process - this process was extremely painful. Things in the quote weren't explained well, the costs weren't broken out enough. I had a super complex spreadsheet and asked *literally* over 1000 questions in order to piece together everything we wanted. By the time we signed the contract with Food for Thought, I had invested about 40 hours into dissecting, analyzing the quote and asking questions. It was honestly too expensive for us, but after investing so much time I didn't have the time/energy to start researching other venues, so we felt stuck with FFT. 2) No negotiation / Inflexibility with costs - there were many times when we wanted to upgrade something but were dissuaded because of their pricing structure. 3) got the luxury bar (open/unlimited) and we heard they were out of some beer and other things. Also they only had cranberry juice for mixers....pretty weird when you're paying for the nicest bar package at a top-tier caterer 4) very expensive, and it feels like there is a lot of nickel and diming. You REALLY have to ask a ton of questions to understand what you want and what you're getting. Ex: wine we wanted was $80/bottle (in bulk direct from distributor) vs. $25 at a restaurant/grocery store 5) Painful communication & hidden costs - There were many changes in the quote that I only caught because I'm extremely detail oriented, otherwise it would slip past you. At our tasting we didn't like one of the dishes, so we asked for a poke bowl instead of a sandwich. She said "sure no problem!" Later on we realized our quote went up by ~$10/person, and when we asked why she said because of the poke bowl and something else. We would have appreciated her mentioning the price increase before agreeing to a substitution. 6) Assumed we understand how catering companies work 7) "Personal server" in quote, but nowhere to be found on wedding day There is a lot more, but apparently I can't type anymore.

res on our team of vendors and are so appreciative that she worked with us for all the months she did during the pandemic (and date changes) for our multi-event wedding on Saturday, September 4 at the Geraghty. Anna is a true asset and leader to Food For Thought, a steadfast professional and was a constant voice of calmness and support during the challenging time of pausing, postponing and finally moving forward with the planning experience. She was SO responsive, creative, kind and is overall a wonderful representative of Food For Thought. She went out of her way to make us feel special and to make me feel like a client and not a vendor (since I too come from this industry)! She embraced our ideas to have a non-typical wedding / indian wedding menu and embraced the two of us as a couple, our love of food and the cultures we were bringing together. It was also obvious to me that other vendors love working and collaborating with her, she is a true team player and simply wants the best for the client. The actual day we were floating above our bodies and trying to soak in every moment, but we also observed the FFT moving seamlessly in the background to execute all the details that we planned together for the baraat snacks, post hindu ceremony lunch and then cocktail hour/dinner stations/dessert table. She made sure that a plate/s were made for us and specialty cocktails were ready, so we didn't miss out on enjoying the menu that we had planned together. The wedding we had was is something our guests are still talking about (and the FOOD and the uniqueness for a "wedding" is something they highlight in our conversations)!

st wedding that the food and service was amazing. This company was prepared and served the food in a way I have never seen before.. all at once. A group of servers would attend a table at once so no guest was sitting there waiting for a meal. I had the honor to work with Elyssa. She knows her stuff! Her personality was amazing. She helped piece together little details and truly took what I had envisioned and brought it to life. Highly recommended FFT!

nned everything, they knew the venue inside and out (Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago), and the food and service were absolutely amazing--we are still receiving compliments about it weeks later! So glad we trusted FFT & Lorena with our big day, and thank you so much for taking the time and care to do it right. I would recommend working with FFT to any friends or family who had a wedding or other event!

ndle my furniture rentals for me so I didn't have to go through another vendor. The food was amazing and I could not think of a better caterer/team. They were so flexible during the setup/takedown process (our venue was a room in the Lincoln Park Conservatory, so we had to get creative with how we used the furniture/space). We didn't actually know what any of the furniture setup would look like going into it, but Anna and her team did a PERFECT job to make it all look absolutely gorgeous. Without them, our wedding would have completely lame :D

nd the whole wedding turned out better than we ever expected. Our guests had an unforgettable night!

g about both the presentation and the delicious taste of the appetizers, salad, freshly baked bread, main courses… The quality of the food was top-notch. And everything looked so beautiful! The service at our wedding reception was unmatched at any events I have attended or hosted. Our family and friends were treated like royalty. When our wedding venue changed from a traditional setting to our backyard, FFT was there to jump in and come out to our home to see the layout, help with floor plans, make a plan for how their chef, bartender, and servers could create a create a classy upscale outdoor summer wedding exactly as we had envisioned. Amanda helped us create our ideal menus complete with modifications for different allergies in our families. The tasting of many food choices was amazing. And as a bride with celiac disease, FFT created a completely gluten-free menu (prepared in a GF kitchen) to be certain I could eat everything at my wedding safely! Every interaction with FFT staff contributed to not only a joyful wedding day but a smooth and enjoyable wedding planning and preparation process. We would recommend FFT 100% for anyone planning an event. And we cannot wait to have them come out to our home for more events in the future! Our experience truly was more than we ever could have hoped for. We are so grateful for Amanda and her team and their expertise, the amazing food and service, and the kindness of everyone at FFT!

experince. Thank You Elyssa & Food for thought for making our event so special!

he was so quick with email replies and updated proposals, it made our planning less painful! They are so amazing, I would honestly recommend them to everyone needing a caterer. Lorena also connected with our other vendors about timelines to be sure everything ran smoothly.

ch was so appreciated!

n from downtown Chicago. Linda and FFT also offered us a 2nd tasting due to our new wedding date being more than a year from our original tasting. Linda was always so quick to respond to my many questions, so thorough and friendly in her communication- she was a pleasure to work with! Now on to the food - it was AMAZING! We heard rave reviews from our guests, and I saw SO many empty plates at the reception :) I would highly recommend FFT for the catering for your wedding, and any other special events!!

OVID). Kacey was so attentive to my husband and I, we never had to get up from our seats :) We received so many compliments about the food which of course made us so happy! From our incredible personalized tasting experience, to setting up the buffet and place settings beautifully and providing amazing bartenders (we LOVED Gwendolyn), to creatively setting up our late night pizza in a tuk tuk, they were so amazing to work with and we would recommend them to everyone getting married in Chicago!!