Whoa Nelly Catering

We had Little Nelly (branch of Whoa Nelly!) catering for our wedding. As soon as I heard from our wedding planner that they do simpler, organic, home-​style menus I was sold. This was a perfect match! We went out for a tasting and the food was incredible. We super excited and booked them for our big day. Our guests loved the food, the taste of it and the presentation were impeccable. Also they got our alcohol for us and recommended what quantities we need for the number of guests we had. Thank you so much, Little Nelly :)

We are still recovering from the daughter’s wedding last night. Our guests raved about the food. Best food they had ever had at a party! Everything from the appetizers to the salad to the salmon and seasonal vegetables and the short ribs and smashed potatoes was fabulous! The desserts were to die for! At the end they provided street tacos as a late night snack just before people left. What a wonderful evening! Kudos to Stephanie and Beth and their very professional crew!

I can’t gush enough about Whoa Nelly — from their courteous and helpful staff (in the office and at our event) to their amazing food, we feel so absolutely lucky to have had them be a part of our wedding team. We were on a limited budget, but food was extremely important to us. We tasted at a lot of companies and it seemed as though good (no, great!) food would be out of reach with the realities of what we had to spend. Until we reached out to Whoa Nelly, that is!
For folks like us, Whoa Nelly offers a smaller, seasonal service called Little Nelly. I can’t stress enough that NOTHING about this service felt low budget! From the incredible servers and bartenders (yes, many of our guests complimented us on our staff!!), to their consistent professionalism, to the HOT, restaurant-​quality food served, everything was perfect. Even if we had not had a limited budget, Little Nelly would have been my TOP choice.
We did passed appetizers and a family style dinner, followed by a dessert buffet for 125 guests. From what I understand, limiting the menu to a specific set of seasonal dishes and ingredients is what allows Little Nelly to offer such a competitive price point for what is absolutely another level of catered fare. And we had plenty to choose from on that «limited» menu: our tasting was one of the most fun and wonderful experiences I had during the planning process. So good that I ended up going twice!
The food at the wedding tasted exactly the same as it did during our tasting. You can tell that these folks come from a culinary background. Having to rent the equipment necessary to make such good food was an additional cost, but it was well worth it. Our guests were extremely happy and complimentary, many of whom mentioned that it was some of the best wedding food they had ever been served.
Their customer service is also excellent — they accommodated several special dietary needs, gave us lists to help figure out what rentals would be needed, provided excellent advice and coordinated seamlessly with our other vendors. Thank you Little Nelly and the Whoa Nelly team — you lifted our little DIY wedding to another level!

Whoa Nelly Catering is so amazing. They just get «it.» They are hip, chic and their food is just delicious. They made my beautiful and equally delicious wedding cake — salted caramel frosting, dulce de lech cake which was featured on
. I love hiring them for all kinds of events — from showers, to birthday parties, to weddings — they are incredible. Also, make sure to do a tasting in their kitchen — it’s soooo fun!!!

Read about them through an article that was on «Throwing Dinner Parties».
So I inquired about a «birthday Dinner Party for 10 – 15 people.» Initially sent a message providing the date and number of people. Immediately received a «default» response asking me to fill out a form. Filled out the form with all the questions and specs only to be told a couple of days later that «At this time we are not taking on parties of that size».
That response could have been disclosed right away when I sent my initial inquiry and saved me the trouble of providing detailed answers to their questionnaire, which by the way, was very wedding-​centric.
So that should be a clue that they prefer to do weddings vs. other types of parties.

Whoa Nelly catered our friends wedding few weeks ago. Food was wonderful, presentation amazing and service was spot on. If you in a market for caterer, give them a call.

When planning my wedding, I was told many times by my parents and others that no one cares about the food at weddings. It wasn’t expected to be great because it never is, but my husband were convinced that ours would have good food. Little Nelly catered our wedding in January 2015 and did an excellent job.
The food was as good the day of the event for 120 people as it was at the tasting when they were cooking for only 5. I was warned by friends that the food at the event is always dry because of the pre-​cooking, large number of orders, etc., but all of guests commented on how delicious the food was and how much there was to go around.
Their cake and desserts were also a hit. Again, most of my friends skip wedding cakes – as do I – because fondant does nothing, but my husband and I were happy to find a cake that would be worth having. Do get the cream cheese frosting!
Lastly, the staff was excellent. Everything went so smoothly the day of the event, I didn’t have a thing to do. Corinna was the day-​of coordinator and Lizzy helped us with the planning. They responded to my emails promptly from the start and were very organized.

I was recently at a wedding reception which Whoa Nelly catered. It was the BEST food I’ve ever had at any catered event, ever. Delicious, from the appetizers, to the main dinner courses, to the desert table. The servers were splendid. ALL PERFECT! If I’m ever in the need for catering services, I know who to call!

Hands down one of the best catering companies in Los Angeles. We’ve worked with Whoa Nelly several times over the years and each time it gets better! Stephanie and Beth are dreams to work with leading up to the wedding and on site. Love how they can accommodate vegan and kosher guests with a special menu. Fabulous food, kick-​ass service, and professional staff, what else can you ask for?

We were sold on booking little nelly for our wedding as soon as we went to a tasting. Not only is the food delectable, but they’ve really solved for the ever-​daunting task of booking a wedding caterer by bundling up their pricing and simplifying the process for their clients. I initially worked with Lizzy, who is super sweet, and once we got closer to the wedding, I worked very closely with Naomi, the catering manager, who is an absolute gem! She was so laid-​back and had such a positive attitude, even while dealing with my non-​stop emails and millions of questions. Everyone still can’t stop raving about the food — even our photographer asked who our caterer was, because it was one of the best vendor meals he had! Everyone on the little nelly team worked so hard, from the chef staff to the service team to the bartenders — they were all top notch. To top it off, we went home with a huge bag of leftovers that we happily dug into the next day with family. We will absolutely book little nelly again for our next event!

I’ll cut to the chase and say that we can’t recommend Whoa Nelly highly enough to anyone hosting a catered event. We knew from the first meeting with Beth and Stephanie that they were awesome and their food was amazing. It’s been a year since our wedding, and we still have people telling us they are craving something they ate that day.
We were referred to Beth and Stephanie by a friend who shared kitchen space with them (years ago, before they opened their own kitchen) and talked about how professional they are and how great their food tasted. We met with them in their kitchen and Stephanie prepared a delicious tasting menu. As we ate, we got to know Beth and Stephanie more, and just really dug them and their groove.
Throughout the months leading up to the wedding, Beth and Stephanie helped us refine our menu, made suggestions to fit our style and budget, and worked with our vendors to make sure they had everything they needed that day — not easy, considering that they needed to construct an entire kitchen at our wedding venue.
On the day of our wedding, they were awesome. Guests arrived to welcome drinks they provided, and continued throughout the evening with appetizers, a family-​style dinner, and a dessert buffet that was delicious and beautiful. They accommodated the vegan and kosher guests with a special menu in addition to the family style dinner. And, the staff they brought with them were friendly and professional. At the end of the night, they packed up the leftovers and made sure they got to our hotel; we enjoyed a second dinner later that night.
In short, Beth and Stephanie provided restaurant quality food at a wedding, which I think is rare. We enjoyed the experience and the food so much that I find myself looking for a reason to work with Whoa Nelly again as soon as possible.

Whoa Nelly’s new venture — Little Nelly — catered our March 2014 wedding of 85 guests and was OUTSTANDING. My husband and I were excited for our wedding day — and part of that was definitely because we knew what an amazing meal we’d have waiting for us and our guests. Farm fresh, local produce. Perfectly cooked steak and salmon. Yummy adorable little desserts.
One of the comments we kept hearing was it was the best wedding food our guests had been served (and we are the last of our friends to get married so there were many data points out there).
They were also incredibly professional and flexible with our event, which was not at a traditional wedding venue. Due to a rogue storm, we had to move the time of the dinner up considerably as well. Their waitstaff also had to shuttle platters and plates back and forth through the rain and did so with smiles. I was very impressed with the serving staff and captain: so courteous and friendly to us and guests. (I also think 50% of the female guest under 40 fell in love with the bartender they provided ;)
Wish we could do it again!

Whoa Nelly catered our wedding a few weeks ago at smog shoppe and it was BREATHTAKING! We have heard from many of our guests that it was hands down the best, most incredible wedding food they’ve ever had. We loved working with their team to plan the day– they were unbelievably thoughtful and accommodating and turned out the most delicious food ever. I’m still dreaming about their short ribs and farro!
Upon their recommendation we decided on family style and were slightly concerned it would be overwhelming but it ended up being perfect– it allowed everyone to be social and try everything. Also on the day they made sure my husband and I got a taste of all the appetizers and were so excited and upbeat, it was infectious.
These ladies are special!

Whoa Nelly did an INCREDIBLE job catering my wedding last month. Everything they did was perfect and made the wedding even better than we could have imagined. Their food is the best. That’s it. End of story. Great food was my #1 priority for my wedding (I really like food) and everything they made was unbelievably delicious. It also looked beautiful– nothing even resembling sad wedding food. All night people were coming up to me to compliment the apps, the salad, the mains, and the desserts– my guests loved all of it!
Their food is just delicious!

Whoa Nelly catered a party for 50 @ our house in Marina del Rey in February. We’re new to the area, and had no prior experience with local caterers. They did a fantastic job and our friends still talk about how great the food was. Their staff was excellent, they were prompt, and their clean up could not have been more thorough. We talked to 2 other caterers and chose Whoa Nelly mainly because we liked their proposed menu items the best. All came highly recommended. They were not the cheapest, so don’t be expecting a bargain. In the future they will be the only ones we call.

Beth and Stephanie catered our wedding in April 2012. It was absolutely EXTRAORDINARY. Their names were thrown in at the last minute by a friend, but because I live in New York & we were planning on a tight timeline I couldn’t taste the food… luckily my husband was in LA and Whoa Nelly went over to my parents house and did a tasting for the 3 of them. Well, my husband and parents were over the moon, and the ladies were so accommodating and all the menus were exactly to our taste that we booked them without my even trying it!
THE FOOD IS SO GOOD. California, seasonal freshness. You will not find better catering in LA. Heirloom is all the rage, but honestly these guys are just so far superior. They were so easy to work with, so fun and funny. We did a really beautiful buffet with a lamb stew, a gorgeous salmon that they grilled whole and then flaked off pieces for serving, a farro salad, a green salad that my friends are still talking about, and some beautiful cauliflower and pea shoot awesomeness. You know how fish at big events is usually dry and terrible? This was so juicy and flaky and just perfectly cooked and served.
Appetizers were equally delicious. AND DESSERT: chocolate pot de crème, an orange cake that i get requests for the recipe weekly, and a honey lavender cake. ALSO for late night snacks they made bite sized churros that were perfectly fluffy and popcorn.
They never made us feel bad about our budget, they helped us craft a beautiful feast that was truly memorable. Great food was our priority and these guys nailed it.

I usually don’t write reviews but I was so happy with Whoa Nelly’s service at my wedding that I felt I had to make an exception. We got endless compliments on the food, and the servers were wonderful (the groom said his glass was never empty). The best man, a consummate foodie, ruefully declared that our wedding food was better than his own, and all of our vegan guests were absolutely over the moon about the vegan options that they provided. My family even loved the food, and they tend not to be adventurous types! All of the food was locally sourced at farmer’s markets, yet the girls were great about working with us to keep costs down where we could. I will be highly recommending Whoa Nelly to any of our friends who are planning weddings or other events in LA.

I was looking for a catering business for my wedding. I contacted Whoa Nelly catering because they had a really cute website and the food seemed very fresh & local. BAD CHOICE. Very bad business practice. They are so hard to reach and very flakey. You do not want them for an important event. I emailed them so many times before they finally responded 2 weeks later. After a couple emails back and forth, I wrote them an angry email to tell them how difficult it was to communicate with them, they emailed me back right away and even called me. Okay, so I called them back and left a voicemail, no response. At that point, I was tired of trying to make things work with them. I was done. BAD business practice and very unprofessional. I DO not recommend them.