John & Shirley’s Catering

This company catered a party for about 35 people at a private home for us. I had never hired a caterer for an event before so wasn’t really sure what to expect. We wound up paying close to $ 750 for the following spread: grilled chicken chunks on toothpicks, a bread bowl filled with cold spinach dip with the torn-​out middle pieces of bread on the side; a plate of raw veggies (celery, carrots, etc.) with a container of dip; a pineapple with fruit skewers stuck in the sides; and a bowl of salsa with some stale tortilla chips that did double duty alongside the spinach dip. People who were there and saw the table or who hear about the menu have actually gasped out loud when they find out what we paid. We provided all of the drinks and desert ourselves, separate from the catering.
The chicken was very tasty, although I’m not sure it warranted John and Shirley telling everyone in sight that it would be the best chicken they’d ever eaten. The fruit centerpiece was nice, but everything else I could have gotten myself at Publix for a fraction of the price. During the party Shirley found out my sister is a waitress and tried to recruit her for future events, because, «We’re the owners. Do you really think we want to be here serving?» OK, maybe that’s something you say when interviewing potential employees, but it’s just not appropriate to say to one of the guests whose family are the ones paying you to be there. By the way, the so-​called serving consisted of putting out the food at the start of the evening (and borrowing some of the household plates to do so) and Shirley circulating a few times to ask people if they wanted something else to drink. The rest of the time they just hung out talking to people they knew.
When it came time to pay, Shirley didn’t have a printed receipt for me – it was «out in the car” – but rather than go get it she turned to my cousin to ask what she’d said the price would be because «your memory is better than mine.» Everyone did get something to eat, and it was a lovely party in many other ways, but I really wish I hadn’t been so naïve about the whole catering thing. It was a big expense for what we wound up getting.
If you decide to use this company – and reading these reviews I don’t see why you would – my advice would be to get a copy of the menu and the exact pricing of each item up front. That way you’ll know what to expect and won’t wind up feeling ripped off.

I’m reviewing the food quality and service I experienced firsthand at an event catered by John & Shirley. The salad was wet and soggy. The beans tasted like they were from a can. The portions were tiny. The alcoholic drinks were not marked and placed among the non-​alcoholic beverages which led to drinking by a 12-​year-​old minor sitting at my table. However, and most importantly, I bit into a chicken bone while eating the boneless chicken. I cracked my tooth on the bone! It hurt like crazy but it really didn’t become an issue until Shirley started yelling at me unsolicited because she heard me telling the story to another guest at my table. She accused me of lying and freaked out. Needless to say, it was a strange reaction not to mention it was a very unprofessional way to treat a guest at an event. Again, this review is my direct and firsthand experience from eating food at an event catered by John & Shirley.

We used John and Shirley for a wedding recently.
The first red flag came a couple of weeks before the wedding, when Shirley called to say they would be about 75 plates short… meaning we had to go buy our own plates just a few weeks before the event. We also found out just days before the wedding that they would be unable to provide the agreed-​upon linen napkins… cue panic attack. It was also slightly alarming to have to explain to what a charger was to their «office manager»… caterers should probably be aware of basic table setting lingo, no?
Fast forward to the night of the event. The food was mediocre at best, but the service was appalling. Unfortunately it was raining that evening, and the reception was outdoors. They left food out, uncovered, in the rain, resulting in soggy salad and inedible appetizers (which, of course, we still paid for)… Saran wrap, anyone? Despite the servers’ incredibly rude enforcement of portion sizing, we still ran out of several menu items, which is especially concerning since our total guest count was lower than anticipated. Alcohol was unmarked, placed next to iced tea, resulting in children and recovering alcoholics nearly unknowingly drinking vodka-​based punch.
As soon as the last guest was through the line, John, Shirley and crew hurriedly packed up and left. Silverware and dirty plates were left everywhere. The entire wedding party spent the evening cleaning the mess John and Shirley left behind rather than enjoying the reception.
But the real icing on the cake? When Shirley asked if she could keep those 75 extra plates… for free. The plates we had to purchase out of our own pocket to compensate for her unpreparedness. Classy.

I wish I was able to review the food and service, but this caterer never showed up for our event. My mother booked them on the recommendation of the City of Maitland for a baby shower at Lake Lily. We spoke with them many times prior to the event. On Sunday we had 50 guests and no caterer. No one even called. Some of our guests left the shower to get food for the party. We called them multiple times with no answer. Finally we called them from a different number and they called back. They informed us first that the paperwork had been lost, then that the office manager was in an accident with our food. The story changed several times, first the owners were coming, then they weren’t, then the office manager was coming, then they donated food to a foster home. The story changed further when the office manager called us the next day. We had also scheduled a bartender through them that never showed — leading us to believe that they planned to charge us the extra $ 100 and not actually provide a bartender as required by the city. It was all very odd. We would have been much happier if they had just said they double booked and forgot (they were onsite at the WInter Springs Art Festival). They offered to cater a party for us, but we really don’t even want to do that. In fact when the City of Maitland called them to find out what happened they told the City that we already booked another party, which is not true. I am more upset about the dishonesty and generally bad business than the lack of food which we overcame. My husband and I both use caterers very frequently in our line of work and have never had a problem like this. It was just extremely unprofessional!