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About this vendor
Setting the standard for innovative cuisine with impeccable service and inimitable style, Premier Catering & Events creates events that are once in a lifetime experiences. From concept to completion, our award winning culinary team, event designers, mixologists and logistical experts can transform your vision into a spectacular event.
Details
Cuisine
- American
- BBQ
- Cajun
- Eastern European
- French
- Fusion
Dietary Options
- Dairy Free
- Gluten Free
- Halal
- Nut Free
- Organic
- Sugar Free
Food & Catering
- Buffet
- Catering Clean Up
- Catering Delivery & Setup
- Chef Stations
- Family Style
- Menu Tastings
Reviews
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4
out of 5.014 reviews
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wedding was perfect. thank you!
We had such an incredible experience with Premier Catering. From the moment we reached out to Mark he gave us amazing options within our budget and even helped us decide what is w...
orth spending on and what is not. He felt like he was on our side and not just trying to get the most out of us like all the other caterers we spoke to.
Premier took care of everything on our wedding day. I was so stressed about everything else, it was so nice to know that food and drinks were not one of them. Everything was first class and amazing. We still get compliments about the food at our wedding to this day!
From the groom. This company is a "bait and switch" caterer. Foley, their Director of Catering & Operations, will send a first response to get your date / desires, act like he'll w...
ork with you on anything. He'll send a first catering plan, but well show you weak and dismissive attitude when you request ideas and negotiations. Attached is an image of his horribly unprofessional response, rife with grammatical errors, it's obvious he does not read the emails completely, and he has a salty tone. I responded to this email with a simple request if, "he wanted to do our wedding, let's not waste each other's time?" He responded to my fiancée, did not take accountability, asked her to change the menu and let him know... Who wants to work with a company that is so dismissive in the SECOND email? EMAIL & RESPONSE. We have a reasonable budget in mind, but we are trying to be creative and economical with our event. As an aside, I’m an architect doing a commercial kitchen for another caterer as we speak. They will not be doing our wedding, we are out of their territory, but the owner was kind enough to give me some ideas on how to work with you.
1. They mentioned first, be upfront and give the caterer your “not to exceed” budget.
2. Decide on plated or buffet. Foley: The menu is lasted as buffet
3. Limiting the proteins for the breakfast event. Pick one and work it into a couple of items for variety. Sausage or bacon pieces, also a breakfast casserole. Foley: Your dccision on the favorable protien?
4. Inexpensive bulk items. Oatmeal & French toast pieces, with fixings, are nice/controlled cost, bulk items.
5. Work with the caterer on BYOB. What mixers and other items can you be responsible for? Foley: Presently, you are brinig all of the beverages
6. Limit your pastries to items that do not need icing decoration. Foley: The is no icing on the menu from Premier
7. Talk to the caterer about throw away plates and cutlery. I was told there are really nice bamboo plate options. Do you need 2x forks, a butter knife, steak knife, spoons, etc? This will reduce the transport & cleanup costs. Do guests put plates and stuff in a receptacle? Foley: BAmboo plates are at least for times to cost of a china plate. If you wwant your guests to be isued only (1) fork, we can do this
8. Work out the place settings and linens. What are the bride and groom providing? Make the table centerpieces easy to place by staff. Foley: The list of linen is on the Linen Requirementss section
9. Limit the fruit options to control cost; anything with lots of manual labor needs to be evaluated. Foley: You will be providing the bar fruit.
10. Avoid fresh squeezed orange juice. There are some good bottled juice alternatives out there. Foley: We are not offering any juices.
11. Creative ideas from you.
Thank you for working with us. We look forward to scheduling our visit to Premier and ironing out the details. -Rus Foley: Available date to meet in our office Tuesday, December 10th - 11:00 AM - 3:30 PM, Wednesday, December 11th - 12::00 PM - 4:00 PM, Thusday, December 12th - 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM ?
Catering made my night so stressful, it's honestly hard to see my wedding night as a happy event. They completely ruined our schedule, making us have a first dance in a side room w...
hile people were being served dinner. They mixed up how many chairs were at each table and what entrees went to each table, even after taking time out of our dinner to try to clear things up with them. They forgot about our photographer so he had to track down a meal from them. The food was under seasoned and cold. The last 2 tables (there were 46 people total at the event) were served so late, the first 2 tables had long finished their meals. Coffee ran out far before everyone could have some and staff was snippy to my mother when she asked if there could be more brought out. They didn't even serve our wedding cake!
After all this, Mark asked me for $240 more the day after the wedding as if we had underpaid. I sent him proof that we paid the amount on the contract and he went radio silent.
Premier catered my wedding and did a FANTASTIC job! From the seafood tower to the fresh bread and olive oil to the surf and turf entree, they thought of every detail and made it so...
easy for me and my fiance. They answered any of our questions within an 30 minutes and we really couldn't have done it without Robert and the team. Everyone is still raving about the food almost a year later! They even helped with linens and cutlery.
We were originally pleased by the food during our first tasting, but once they got our deposit, the problems started happening and this outweighed any positives we experienced. Thi...
s vendor completely sabotaged our event, breached our contract, and left us utterly disappointed. I have never worked with any company as horrible as Premier.
Premier servers could not answer questions about appetizers or entrees being served to guests, entrees were not prepared as promised despite Premier providing the options we chose (including known allergy concerns that were served to guests anyways and pasta primavera served with gray slimy peppers recycled from other entrees), Premier did not provide contractually promised items (curtains for bar, candles for tables, beer served in glasses, etc.), Premier arrived late and threw off our timeline by having dinner extend 45 minutes over schedule, and they took liberty in making changes that didn’t follow our agreement. This meant we were paying for other services booked during a time we couldn’t use them.
This vendor claims to have a reputation that they can make anything happen for your event and that’s simply not true. The first red flag should have been that they claim to have been in business for 50 years but have limited reviews from only a few years, suggesting they’ve rebranded, or somehow try to silence truthful reviews.
We experienced attempts from Mark to force multiple options on us despite making specific requests, misogynistic remarks towards our planner and my wife, and eventually leading to 20 different proposals for them to actually get things correct on paper. This included having me drive to Premier 2 days before the event to help them do their job correctly just to have them ignore nearly everything we agreed on. At the event, the results felt so foreign that it was as if we received someone else’s order. They are unprofessional, unresponsive, extremely stressful to work with and the costs are outlandish for their poor service.
Finally, we eventually got through to them about botched services on our June 2023 event and they’ve offered a 50% refund as of 7/31/23. Thereafter, there was radio silence until we heard from Robert 1 month later just to be threatened that they’d withhold the check because we followed up too many times. As of May 2024, we have yet to see our promised refund - to the point where we needed to get an attorney involved. Mark, Tim, Robert and Celena all played a role in creating this experience, and it’s truly not worth your trouble to have Premier catering at your event. Despite any retaliation or dispute on this review from this vendor, this is intended to provide an honest and truthful summary of our experience. It’s too risky to even consider them for your event, so I’d encourage you to look elsewhere.
I had the pleasure of working with Premier Catering for a recent event, and I must say, they truly exceeded all my expectations. From the moment I contacted them to the very end of...
the event, their service was nothing short of exceptional.
First and foremost, Premier Catering's attention to detail when it came to presentation was absolutely remarkable. They went above and beyond to create a beautiful and elegant setup that left all my guests in awe. The creativity they displayed in arranging the tables and decorations was simply outstanding, and it set the perfect atmosphere for the occasion.
Throughout the event, their team was not only kind but also incredibly professional. They treated my guests with the utmost respect and courtesy, making everyone feel right at home. It was evident that they genuinely cared about the guests' experience, and their friendly demeanor added an extra layer of warmth to the event.
One of the standout moments of the evening was the bar service. The bartender provided by Premier Catering was fantastic. Not only did they work efficiently, but they also crafted beautiful and delicious drinks that left everyone impressed. Moreover, I was impressed with how Premier Catering handled everything from setup to cleanup. They arranged the tables and decorations exactly as I had envisioned, ensuring that every detail was perfect. And when the event came to a close, they cleaned up quickly and efficiently, leaving the venue in impeccable condition.
Throughout the planning process, Celina was my primary point of contact, and I can't speak highly enough of her. She was incredibly kind, professional, and attentive to my needs and preferences. Celina made sure to communicate with me every step of the way, ensuring that she had a clear understanding of what I wanted. Her dedication to making the event a success was truly appreciated, and it made me feel confident that I was in good hands.
In conclusion, Premier Catering's exceptional service, from their beautiful presentation to their professionalism and attention to detail, made my event a resounding success. I can't thank them enough for their hard work and dedication. If you're looking for a catering service that goes above and beyond, I wholeheartedly recommend Premier Catering. And a special shoutout to Celina for her outstanding support and making my family feel right at home. Thank you, Premier Catering!
10/10 recommend premier catering to all future bride and grooms going forward. Robert was so easy to work with and provided great ideas to ensure we had exactly what we wanted on o...
ur wedding day. The food was amazing and all of our guests couldn’t stop raving about it!!
We went with Premier as they were the top recommended/preferred catering company from our venue. I have pros and cons, but ultimately we were left unsatisfied with our experience. ...
The main pro and may be all you need to consider the company is the food was delicious without a doubt. The service staff besides our bartender were really great, kind, and helpful. It was also very nice that they were extremely familiar with our venue so it felt like we were in good hands there.
My cons are not show stoppers, but it was enough to be concerned with why so many things were going wrong one after another. We purchased many services that were advertised and offered through the company which we ended up not getting. Our bartender didn’t use any of our purchased alcohol to create our signature cocktails and told guests we didn’t have it when we did. There were little things like us having to point out that there’s no signage out for the buffet showing what the food is. We did feel like the communication wasn’t the best. It did feel like it got better as we got closer to the wedding, but maybe that’s not the case since so many things failed.
There’s honestly a lot more detail I could provide, but I wanted to simply give main points not to complain but to give an honest review.
Premier Catering made our wedding unforgettable. The food was absolutely delicious. We are foodies and food was the most important aspect to us for our wedding. Our guests all rave...
d about it and repeatedly asked who our caterer was. We had a chicken dish, a beef dish and a vegetarian dish which we got unprompted positive comments about. A big plus for Premier is their amazing props room (WAREHOUSE!) We were able to get chargers, an arch, wine barrels, votives and lots of other decor items from them. They brought them, set them up and packed them at the end of the night. This was a cost as well as time savings for us since we didn't have to buy and transport these items. On top of that, Robert was very accommodating and responsive throughout the planning, even offering suggestions and alternatives for decor, food, layout, timeline and logistics. It felt like having a planner and helped us a lot. The day of, everyone from premier worked hard to ensure we and our guests had a great time, making sure we always had a full plate and drink, tackling any issues that came up (string lights not staying up, guest belt breaking...). Our venue had a hard out of 11pm so we only had 1 hour to break down and clean and they worked on silently packing as the night progressed and were out in a timely manner. They are true professionals and wonderful people and we recommend them for your wedding.
Robert, Mark, and their teams are amazing! They catered my wedding and guests could not stop raving about the food and service - highly recommend!
PCE went above and beyond for our special day. Erika was so professional - no small detail gets past her. Everything was perfectly executed from beginning to end! I also got a TON ...
of compliments on the quality of the food at our wedding. No kidding - everyone loved it. They exceeded my expectations.
Premier Catering is so much more than a catering company. Erika's creativity, expertise, and advice helped to make the event far more beautiful than I ever hoped or imagined!!! Eri...
ka always went above and beyond for us. I sincerely and wholeheartedly mean it when I say that this day wouldn't have happened without Erika and her team. I'm going to recommend PCE to everyone I know.
I honestly had no idea how I was going to pull off a wedding...until I met Erika. I knew the instant we went to Premier for the food tasting that she was the one that I wanted by m...
y side at my wedding. Not only was she ridiculously knowledgable about the industry, but she knew how to get stuff done. I knew that nothing would slip between the cracks! On top of that, the food at our wedding was AMAZING! We received so many compliments about how tasty it was and our family and friends can be a tough crowd. The other benefit of using Premier is that they have a show room of props and decor to help you decorate your space.. super helpful when you have a wedding in a location that is more of a blank slate. It definitely helped us save some money. I would highly recommend working with Premier and Erika!
Contact
5680 S Archer Ave
Suite 200, Chicago, IL
Premier Catering & Events