Phil's Catering

et and we high recommend them!

shortages have been a challenge for many industries. However, they were able to accommodate our requests and executed the dinner buffet service for our wedding well. They had many delicious options available to accommodate our guests' numerous dietary restrictions. We felt at peace the weeks leading up to the wedding. The passed appetizers were delicious! We had 120 guests and sadly the resounding feedback we got about our buffet was that there was not enough food. Still, the staff was very professional and cheerful throughout our event and it felt well worth the price point. I would recommend Phil's Catering for wedding events in Santa Barbara and it might be worth it to add about 10 guests to the count in order to ensure there is enough food.

before dinner even finished. I know they did apologize for cleaning up early especially since a new staff member kept clearing after we asked them to stop. Guests just felt like the event was over because of this. Also, many guests told me they got up to use the bathroom during dinner and when they got back their food was gone. They also couldn't go back for seconds because as soon as they thought everyone was served they closed the buffet area. I paid for 110 people and maybe 80 attended so you would think some could go back for seconds. I wanted all of the food served so I wouldn't have to take any home. Also the bartender didn't stay and serve the whole night, by 9:00 or 9:30 they just left mixed drinks and beer on the table which isn't smart because there were a ton of children running around and mixed drinks look like juice and I wouldn't want to be blamed if one of them happened to drink one. Over all I would recommend the food but not the service. If you can just get food dropped off I would highly recommend that because their food was amazing, I had chicken fettuccine alfredo and it was a very memorable meal.

eeks later!

dding Coordinators) had worked with this caterer and man were we impressed. This particular wedding was a plated dinner as well which is hard to do, and do well. Their communication throughout the whole planning process was great also! As another vendor, we would love to work with them again!!!

a good $500 difference, and we ended up paying it because I just didn’t even want to deal with the hassle right before our wedding. He didn’t take any responsibility and would not budge or meet me even in the middle. Not to mention, the staff are seriously so unprofessional. I had a formal wedding & the way the staff acted was so embarrassing. Listen to the bad reviews on here.

late so no preceremony drinks were set up like intended. 2. The staff showed complete disrespect to our wedding planner and denied her when she asked for assistance 3. Disorganized serving of our family style dinner where some guests did not receive a complete entree. 4. They served moldy bread that we had to pull from everyone's table. When we addressed this with them, they knew it was because the bread was stored in bags that were sitting in a hot room, yet they still served them at our wedding. 5. Our steak was served completely raw and sitting in blood 6. We ordered Chicken Marsala but they forgot the Marsala sauce at the kitchen so they served dry and bland chicken, which is not what we paid for. 7. The staff was drinking alcohol from our bar, eating our desserts, and giving back massages to each other by our firepits in the reception area. The night went so horribly that our planner pulled her future brides from using this catering company and will no longer work with them. Our venue also will not be allowing them to be a vendor on their property. And the catering coordinator ended up quitting after the staff performed so horribly. We requested and received a partial refund for such poor service, but it does not take away from the horrible memories they provided on our wedding day. If you want good food and good service, look elsewhere.

ses to work with us. When I asked why he wasn’t being flexible, he made me feel like the pandemic is something I can control and should have known about. We were holding onto hope that June 2021 would be fine in California with the mass vaccine distribution, but I found out 2 months before that my venue doesn’t think we can have the amount of people we were hoping for. Even though it’s still up in the air, we made the painstaking decision to move it to next year and not risk it. I immediately contacted Gary, and all of my other vendors, to let them know and try to find a new date that would line up with everyone. Every single one of my other vendors showed empathy and compassion and moved our contract and corresponding deposits to our new date without question. Gary said I should have told him sooner as other brides with later dates already had moved theirs. I just don’t think this is how COVID couples should be treated when their date has to be pushed back.

nable. We chose them because my best friend used Phil's to cater her own wedding a couple years ago. Since she had such a great experience with them, and we knew the food was good, it was an easy decision. We also had them make two vegan dishes for our DJ and wedding planner, and we got two thumbs up.

eet and attentive; they brought appetizers and water up a huge hill to our wedding party who were doing pictures and plates with special requests were delivered to me and my groom which allowed us to enjoy everything before the excitement of guests began. Shelly really did make our day so much brighter! This is one of few catering companies our venue allows and we can see why. They were so professional and kind, and left everything spotless! Chris was a joy to work with in the planning process and was helpful when we added vegetarian plates last minute, which we know must be a pain. Overall, we cannot say enough good things about Phil's food and staff! THANK YOU!!!

as good as our tasting. Everyone was so pleasant and helpful during the wedding from Setup to Clean Up. If any of the guests had a complaint, we are unaware and only heard good things! Leading up to the event though, 4 stars. We had some small misunderstandings along the way (were are probably partially to blame) but they came through in the end. We only mention this because if you need someone to help guide you with advice or to really hold you hand the whole way for planning the food/rentals/bar side of things, that is the only shortcoming of Phil’s. Just be careful to be precise and very descriptive in exactly what you want to be safe, and review every detail closely. Like we said, everything went great day of, but don’t rely on them to fill in any gray areas or point out any possible mistakes. We would recommend Phil’s for catering, and would use them again in the future if we have another event on the Central Coast.

with and were so helpful. We also used Phil's for our tables and linen rentals, which made that part of the wedding planning and clean up process even easier! We will definitely be using Phil's again in the future and will be recommending them to everyone!

our wedding, making all of our requested changes and answering my million questions. Highly recommend to use for your wedding!

e crostini, and bleu cheese stuffed mushrooms. For dinner we had grilled chicken with a lemon basil cream sauce, roasted red potatoes with a rosmary butter sauce, grilled seasoned vegetables, fresh cut fruit platter, asian pear salad with pear vinaigrette dressing, and focaccia bread with herb garlic butter. Everything tasted great! My favorite was the chicken. They give you one huge breast for yourself and it had so much flavor and was very moist. I was very impressed with the quality you get for a great value. The service was great! The servers continued to bring waters and appetizers for the bridal party and bride and groom while we were taking photos. Then, when we were sitting down for dinner, they continued to assist the bride and groom and made sure we were comfortable and satisfied. I was very impressed and everyone could not stop talking about how much they all loved the food! I highly recommend them as your caterer and rentals!

ampagne! They were extremely helpful and very affordable! Our head count was 115 people and it cost us around $2,000.00. If you look around it's a good deal!

with appetizers, which they set aside for us while we were taking pics (sadly, we have no idea what happened to the plate after the reception :-( We would HIGHLY recommend Phil's!!

ad many types of food choices to work with. I sometimes felt as though my questions were an inconvenience for them but they did always help me with what I needed.

e of appetizers first thing when we arrived at cocktail hour, and brought us full plates of food as soon as dinner began. I think we are among the few brides and grooms who actually got to eat all of the food at their own wedding! And the food sure was delicious! We personally couldn't get over the mashed potatoes, and the guests are still raving about the food. Set up and clean up went off without a hitch, and the entire staff checked in with us periodically to make sure we were happy, but not in an intrusive way. I especially have to give a big thanks to Becca, who provided us with her dog kennel from her car when it became clear our beagle couldn't handle the party. And we loved Cathy's homemade bride and groom appetizer plate. It's those kinds of attention to detail that made our day perfect. Gary was responsive and easy to work with throughout, and the entire staff handled a great deal of things professionally and exceptionally. We will gladly recommend Phil's to anyone in the future!

ls), a stationary table with fruit, veggies, and cheese, and for dinner; New York steak with a mushroom wine sauce, roasted new potatoes, and sauteed carrots, grilled halibut (in a picatta caper sauce) with a parmesan risotto, and sauteed carrots, or vegetarian stuffed shells. We could not keep up with all of the food compliments from our guests. The staff was so kind, and so nice to work with. Every single one of them came up to my Husband and I and complimented us, thanked us for having them be a part of our wedding, or wished us the best. Phil's Catering was an absolute pleasure to work with, and we would highly recommend them!