Cater2U

I attended a good friend’s wedding recently and Chef Rhonda was the caterer. When I arrived at the venue, Rhonda’s staff were in dirty white t-​shirts and black pants (no bistro attire to be seen!). Mind you, this was a semi-​formal wedding at a beautiful location and guests were expecting a dressed-​up event.
Aside from her staff not being dressed properly, they were still setting up the tables as guests were arriving at the venue. This meant that the scheduled welcome drinks and appetizers that were supposed to be passed to guests upon their arrival were nowhere to be seen. When myself and the wedding planner approached them to let them know they needed to hustle because guests were about to arrive, their response was «ok» and they then continued to move slowly and made no attempt to get the welcome drinks/​appetizers setup for guests. This is when my boyfriend and I HAD TO PICK UP SERVING TRAYS AND PASS OUT THE APPETIZERS AND WELCOME DRINKS TO GUESTS OURSELVES! When Rhonda saw what we were doing, she did not get flustered or embarrassed or any of the reactions you would expect from a caterer that has guests of the event doing her job; she simply walked by slowly and said, «thank you». My boyfriend, the wedding planner and I had to serve guests the first 2 hours of the reception in order to prevent a catastrophe.
When I went in the back to refill on things, I noticed the «chef» cutting up veggies directly on rented tables without cutting boards. I was seriously horrified and thought things could get no worse. Well. They did.
Guests arrived at the venue at 5:00pm and we were not sat down to eat until after 8pm. Guests were starving and because Rhonda still was not ready, we sat until 8:30 before the first table was served. Because food kept running out, half the wedding was done eating and the other half were barely getting their food. To top it off, the food was practically frozen. And, half the wedding did not have the full array of menu options because Rhonda had run out. It was so bad in fact, the bride and groom had to ask the venue management to quickly throw together some chicken fingers to help compensate (which cost an additional $ 500 out of pocket).
And, did I forget to mention, Rhonda did not bring enough plates?!
The whole event was a disaster because of Cater2U and not once did Rhonda or her staff appear apologetic or helpful. There was no sense of urgency whatsoever. In addition, Rhonda brought three servers to cater to 217 people. Guests went with empty water glasses and sat among dirty plates for far too long.
In all honesty, Rhonda should be embarrassed of the job she did. It is appalling that someone would promise a stellar level of service for one of the biggest events of one’s life and show up understaffed, unprepared and generally unprofessional.
Words of advice if you are considering this company for catering: RUN!
Thank goodness the guests at the above mentioned wedding were lighthearted and didn’t let this hiccup get in the way of their fun.

I have used cater2u on two occasions… The latest time was for B’day /​Family reunion… I live in Berkeley and the party was in Bakersfield… I ordered a pretty large menu of items including: Tamale pie, Spaghetti Bake, Mixed Greens, B’que Wings, Garlic Bread and 2 slabs of B’que Spare ribs… For desert I ordered a Red Velvet, New Orleans Bread Pudding… Everything Absolutely Dellious… She delivered the items to me in Berkeley as requested ON TIME… My family asked who made the food. Everybody enjoyed her cooking and EAT IT ALL… I highly recommend her catering service. Rhonda Plummer @ cater2u… Enjoy!!!