We attended a charity event held at this companies event venue The Fowler. The space is a non - descript medium sized banquet hall. The appetizers were good and the staff serving food and tending bar friendly. The food at the dinner did not even meet my low expectations for an event of this nature. The chicken was very overcooked and super dry. Almost inedible. The side vegetables were mainly green peppers. Fortunately the cookies for dessert were decent so I didn't go home hungry. read more

Such a fantastic staff. Communication was phenomenal. So willing to work with us. Received endless compliments on the food and the staff. Could not have asked for a better experience! read more

We hosted our son's wedding up in Door County and Blue Plate Catering was willing to travel up for it. We have used Blue Plate many times and have ALWAYS had exceptional experiences, so we knew we wanted them for this event and they did not disappoint. They were fantastic ~ professional, food was delicious, staff was exceptional and David Porto was TOP NOTCH. They did a charcuterie table that is still being mentioned a month later. Their food was delicious, fresh and had a beautiful presentation. We could not be more happy with their group and they will always be the first we call for any event (even out of town!). Highly recommend them!! read more

Blue Plate Catering was AWESOME! I got some boxed lunches (Italian Sandwich, Turkey Club, and Red Pepper Hummus Wrap) from them for my place of work and each option was well-loved and very enjoyed by everyone. The options for me to choose from for catering were expansive. AND they delivered which made mine and my colleagues' days much easier and more manageable. On top of all of that, the communication was amazing and made me feel very important. Thank you, Blue Plate! read more

Blue Plate is one of the BEST catering companies I have ever worked with. Not only are they attentive, but they are detail oriented. The care and finesse they put into each and every catering job is absolutely wonderful. Maria and David are the beset people to work with and their crew do such a fine job representing Blue Plate, I am honored to be working with Blue Plate. I am so happy to be sharing my experience and hope you all get to experience their masterful work. IB Sept. 2022 read more

I had some off-site training for work. Our invite said "breakfast and lunch provided". Great - I love free food. Breakfast was a nice little "breakfast buffet" of scrambled eggs, sausage links and some fried potatoes. It included a great fruit tray (I love me some fruit - no guilt!) as well as a plate of various pastries. The eggs were very good and the sausage had a good, though different, flavor. Not the *best* breakfast I've ever had, but it was quite satisfying and enjoyable. I was worried about lunch - I've had some bad experiences where you're stuck with some tuna salad sandwich and end up going hungry. Or you get sub sandwiches with all the fixin's on them already and have to pick it all off. I saw they rolled in a few trays of wraps - turkey club and veggie. Harrumph. I'm not a big wrap fan as they always seem to have everything in them, and they did - notably diced tomato and mayo (thankfully no onion - we were working in teams). I was a good little trooper and quietly selected a turkey club wrap and dealt with the toppings as-is. HOLY COW it was good! The mayo wasn't nasty (hardly noticeable), thankfully. It was really, really delicious! I wanted to grab another one, but - while halves - they were pretty big. I didn't bother with the pasta salad, but folks seemed to like it. When the training was over for the day, there was plenty of food left, so anyone who wanted to grab some wraps could have some dinner, too. I did just that, and man! They were just as good for dinner, too! Well done, Blue Plate! That was a nice surprise. I don't often get to order catering items, but if it ever comes down to it, I'll remember you. read more

David and the whole Blue Plate team are truly the best! They were so wonderful and easy to work with. We used them two separate times for our re-re-planned weddings, and they stuck with us through it all. I am so grateful to them for being so generous and accommodating over the past year. I HIGHLY recommend Blue Plate catering for any event. The food is to die for, and the service is just exceptional. read more

Blue Plate Catering knocked it out of the park! We had a wedding reception with over 350 people and their service, attention to detail and quality of food was exceptional. They took care of all our bar needs as well and provided fun cocktail ideas for our guests. The dessert display was a big hit, too. I highly recommend them! read more

Ashley and the team at Blue Plate Catering were wonderful to work with. We had a last minute change of wedding plans due to the pandemic and it was so nice not having to worry about anything related to the food! Everything was delicious and the whole team went above and beyond to make our day special and safe. read more

Gary and Blue Plate went above and beyond from the very beginning. In a sort of "worst nightmare" situation, our wedding plans were rocked twice...once by the sudden bankruptcy of our reception venue and then again by the pandemic. In both situations, Blue Plate was professional, supportive, and incredibly flexible. Gary, who we worked with, was so knowledgeable and helped guide us through every step of the way. He was patient, always answered our questions in a timely and friendly manner, and provided amazing customer service! Being from the Madison area, we had both already eaten their food at various events we had frequented over the years, so we knew that was great already, but we were so pleased with the amazing service they provided as we navigated our own wedding planning! We would certainly recommend them to any couple looking for a caterer for their wedding day! read more

If you want to get married at Olbrich Gardens - and you probably do if you live in Madison - Blue Plate is the only caterer allowed to serve liquor there, so you're probably going to at least think about using them (Olbrich has very few catering companies they allow on their premises in the first place, and Blue Plate is one of the nice ones). I was pretty skeptical of Blue Plate at first. The tasting they did for me for my wedding at first wasn't much to my liking which caused me some worry. But what a breath of fresh air to really be listened to - and for a business to be willing to really try instead of just telling you, "This is what you get." Jodi, who is in charge of events there, really listened to my feedback about the things I wanted to change. We went through several iterations of how the menu would pan out. She allowed me to use rented china from A to Z because I thought the white plates she used were too plain for a fancy dinner. She really bent over backwards. And on my wedding day the food was UNREAL. It tasted like it came out of a great restaurant, and believe me they don't have a very big kitchen at Olbrich. They tried very, very hard to live up to my expectations, and they definitely did. Even the liquor bill at the open bar turned out to be reasonable. They did it on a budget, and they did it exactly how I wanted it. I'd recommend Blue Plate to anyone. They did an incredible job. Excellent work for a nice wedding. Remember, just because you're on a budget doesn't mean you have to do a buffet. Blue plate made it happen. Thanks Jodi, you are a consummate professional! read more

Just did a tasting for my daughter's wedding. The menu is very unique and expansive. The appetizers and entrees were excellent, comparable to fine dining. The food definitely sold us. David was phenomenal, very friendly, professional and extremely helpful in helping us plan the event. He made everything so easy and was very flexible to accommodate our wishes. David was definitely icing on the cake. While we are from Milwaukee and the wedding will be at Old World Wisconsin it was well worth the drive to Madison. Skip Milwaukee caterers and go with Blue Plate based on quality, service and price. I'll update after the wedding. read more

Blue Plate Catering was everything we wanted and more! Due to COVID, we changed our wedding venue and ended up needing a caterer 4 weeks before our wedding date... this tight of a timeline can be stressful but David was so kind and reassuring. Thanks to David and his team we were able to have a delicious dinner buffet that was served safely to our guests. Blue Plate also helped serve our desserts to guests from our dessert buffet table to prevent any cross contamination. I was very impressed with the can-do attitude and friendliness. David was very accommodating and helped us provide sweat tea for our family members from the south. The number one thing that stood out to me was how attentive the staff was to the wedding party. I have been in 3 weddings and have never before been able to partake in appetizers, Blue Plate came up to the wedding party both before and after the ceremony, asking if we were hungry (before the ceremony) and brought us a tray of appetizers when we were taking photos during cocktail hour. I was so thrilled to actually be able to eat the appetizers that we had picked out and really appreciated the extra effort from the staff. Thank you Blue Plate Catering, Jon, Greg, Miranda and Lizzie for making our wedding day dreams come true. read more

Blue Plate was excellent to work with for our January 2015 wedding. We had a small, intimate affair, with less than 70 guests, at Olbrich Botanical Gardens and Blue Plate is the sole liquor license holder. We read the reviews and decided to go with BPC for our full food and bar service. And we had a LONG list of special requests that BPC was able to handle easily. "Can we serve the groom's family's organic mushrooms as the vegetarian entrée and seasonal vegetable?" Their response: "No problem!" "Can we serve the groom's sister's artisanal goat cheese?" (She is a licensed cheesemaker) Their response: "Absolutely!" "Can we make up our own appetizer recipes to best showcase the goat cheese?" Their response: "Sure thing! Just provide us the instructions. " "Can we get a sauvignon blanc instead of these other white wine choices?" Their response: "We'll hunt it down for you." "Can our friend who just graduated from The French Pastry School in Chicago make our cake?" Their response: "As long as she is a licensed baker, we're just fine with that." Simply outstanding. And so very flexible with our many demands. David was ultra-professional and friendly and able to fit us into their admittedly very busy schedule for a tasting, several phone calls and about one million emails. The food itself was awesome. Pork tenderloin at a wedding that is NOT dry? Practically unheard of. The stuffed portabellas were excellent. The blue-cheese and fig-stuffed chicken breast was out of this world. The coffee served with the cake was hot and delicious, and their accommodating and excellent service was impeccably polite. They set up our tablecloths and candles, and worked with our event planner (my husband's eldest sister) to ensure everything looked beautiful and elegant. Thank you again for making our big day go so smoothly, Blue Plate! read more

My review is based only on the quality of the food with Blue Plate Catering. (I can't speak on the customer service, ordering process, prices, etc.) My workplace orders lunch from Blue Plate Catering for meetings a few times a month. I will intentionally skip my mid-morning snack on a day when I know I'll have Blue Plate for lunch! I've enjoyed Blue Plate's food for years at these work lunches. I've never experienced bad food, bad flavor, or bad preparation of food on any occasion. The food from Blue Plate is always 100% cooked perfectly, flavored very well, and freshly prepared. Blue Plate's cookies and dessert items are always fresh and never stale, and they're very tasty. The soups, which I understand are a "soup of the day" from my coworker who places the orders, are always incredibly delicious and different. Instead of a simple run-of-the-mill soup like tomato soup or chicken noodle soup, Blue Plate makes orzo soup or a garlic/cauliflower bisque, for example. As I said, I can't comment on the experience of being a customer with this company, but I can comment on the food. Blue Plate always delivers on quality, and its food is always delicious. read more

I cannot say enough things about the staff and food quality at Blue Plate Catering! They catered our recent wedding and we were absolutely thrilled with the results. We had a small wedding in Olin Park and we really wanted the food to be the center of the day. We wanted local, seasonal food and were on a tight budget. Originally, Underground Food Collective seemed to be the most logical place for us, but after meeting with them and feeling like we had to change what we wanted to be "hipster" enough to fit their vision and seeing the outrageous price tag that comes with their catering, we knew we had to look elsewhere. Blue Plate listened to what we wanted and was so accommodating. I suggested some recipes and they whipped them right up. They worked with other local businesses, like Batch Bakehouse, and also didn't bat an eye when I suggested two craft cocktails for our bar, one that required the orange peels to be smoked. I wanted to do a lot of the wedding myself and they were happy to allow me to drop off the drink mixes store before the wedding, as well as using my DIY place settings. I have a recipe that my dad has been making since I was a toddler that I wanted for the main dish and they were able to recreate it for us without a problem. The day of, the service staff was friendly and professional. The food tasted amazing, and there were lots of local foods highlighted. My dad's featured dish was delicious. We had a great bartender who made our fancy drinks taste just like I had imagined. I highly recommend this awesome catering service! If you want to see our wedding photos and some food pics, you can see them here: http://runningblonde.com/tag/wedding-photos/ read more

BEWARE!!! Blue Plate have VERY little regard for their potential customers. As a customer, we had to reach out and make several follow-up phone calls and emails. Finally, got a "meeting" in place for a Wednesday. Monday, we sent a confirmation email just indicating that we were looking forward to the meeting on Wednesday. David replied back stating that they had a "large event" book for Wednesday and no one would be in the office to meet with us. I have to wonder what would have happened if we had not reached out to them. We would have shown up for our planned meeting and no one would have been there to meet with. read more

My husband and I chose Blue Plate for our Wedding and we absolutely LOVED IT! We went with a burger bar and were able to customize the toppings and use entirely local beef and bacon as well as non-high fructose corn syrup ketchup. Tim was great to work with for our sampling and then through email from there on out. The day-of they grilled on site, so when everyone arrived to the reception it smelled like grilled burgers--so delicious. As for price, we were shocked at what they could do with our budget. Another place was quoting us the same price for the burgers only--no toppings or sides. We were thrilled with Blue Plate. Highly recommend! read more

My trade group hired this outfit to cater our annual holiday party. It was to last from 5-8 p.m. Beer wine and liquor was served along with appetizers and sandwiches. At 6:20 p.m. I went back to the bar and was informed that they were out of liquor and now serving just beer and wine. Inexcusable. Very poor planning especially since our attendance was down from previous years. AVOID! read more

We traveled from Colorado to have our wedding reception in Madison, WI since all of our family is from WI. Blue Plate did an amazing job. They were very helpful over the phone (since I planned the reception from CO) and when we got to the reception hall the service was amazing. They helped us with all of the little things here and there we forgot and just offered amazing service. I would recommend them to anyone in the Madison area read more

I hired Blue Plate Catering to cater my small wedding in January 2016. (I had actually hired them also for my first wedding in 2001, and they were so good and memorable that I brought them back for the second time around!) David, the manager, was excellent to work with during the planning process. Blue Plate was able to easily recommend menu items to accommodate my daughter's dairy allergy and my sister-in-law's celiac disease. Only one item, the spanakopita which was passed by a waiter prior to the wedding, contained dairy and gluten. All other items were dairy and gluten free, and instead of being miserable, it was a decadent meal. I most appreciated being able to "upgrade" the prime rib to local beef raised nearby outside of Hollandale. It was delicious, and even better, we were able to literally put our money where our mouths were by paying for ethically raised beef. Thanks Blue Plate! read more

Blue Plate's customer service is terrible. It's difficult to get ahold of someone, and even if you're lucky enough to talk to an actual person, calls get shuffled around because nobody seems to know who the right person is make a decision. They don't return phone calls and are completely unapologetic about their atrocious customer service. Their food is good, but it's not worth the trouble. I would never work with Blue Plate again, and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. read more

Good food, easy to work with and consistent good service. Had the pleasure to work with Blue Plate for 9 months - they catered a weekly lunch event for Seniors I was managing. Tim, David and Gary are super easy to work with and we received excellent service from Andy on event days. The food was always good and we got rated as the best Senior lunch site in town! They were also a reliable and consistent partner. If any issues came up, usually on our end, they were extremely gracious and accommodating. How a business handles issues says a lot about them and these guys are top notch! read more

Austin and Rick from Blue Plate did an outstanding job at our recent Grand Re-opening. Delicious food, excellent presentation, and comfortable hospitality for our guests! Great job Blue Plate read more

We hosted a fundraiser at a unique venue and Blue Plate was AWESOME! In addition to the food being delicious, David was flexible, helpful, onsite and personable. We loved our experience with Blue Plate and will use them over and over. read more

Blue Plate has a "cafeteria" set up in the Wisconsin Trade Center and could use some attention! The cafeteria employees don't wear hair nets (and I've found hair in my food a couple times), they've been seen leaving the restroom without washing their hands, eat chips directly from the bowl sitting on the counter that are meant for customers when there's a lunch special that includes chips (extremely unsanitary!), they are rude, refuse to sell lunch items a la cart, eggs are not fresh (use egg beaters or something to that degree), refuse to make you a fried egg or any other special request, no healthy options on the menu, food is bland, service is extremely slow and prices are high for what you get. read more

Can I give a zero star?? At a wedding now and the buffet ran out of food. I literally just ordered pizza for my family table. Blue plate ordered jimmy johns for those who didn't get food. SERIOUSLY?? Jimmy johns at a wedding?? I'm glad I'm already married and don't have to get a caterer for my wedding! read more

We hired blue plate to cater our wedding. The food was okay; not remarkable by any means. They were late to arrive and get set up, which threw off the whole day because the ceremony was at the same place as the reception. I can't say I would recommend them to anyone based on my experience. read more

We had a wonderful wedding at Olbrich Gardens in May and Blue Plate was our caterer. David, the guy we worked with, was amazing. We booked them about a year before our wedding was to happen. David was extremely prompt with correspondence. He was very happy in every email exchanged which made me, as the anxious bride, feel very at ease whenever there were updates made. My husband and I initially chose a vegetarian-friendly buffet, but after chatting with my mom, we decided to add a meat entree...she actually wanted me to add three. BPC, the people we gave our money to, told us that while they'd be happy to do that, that three meat entrees, our vegetarian meet entrees, and our three (or maybe it was two..) side dishes was way too much for our less than 100 people and that one vegetarian and one meat entree was plenty. Fast forward to our day of and my husband and I were blown away by David and BPC. There was a 40-60% chance of rain that day. The day started off nice but humid. As the day progressed and 15 minutes before our ceremony was to start, David (and our day-of coordinator) come in a tell me that they're setting up the indoor venue AND outdoor venue with about 50 chairs each. They continue to tell me that if it does rain harder, they will move all the chair indoors and vice versa. 10 minutes before the start of the ceremony, David comes back in telling me that he's been in touch with his wife, who told him that there was now a 17% chance of rain and the ceremony is going to happen outdoors. On to the food. Amazing. It was delicious and I'm so glad my husband and I got a moment to ourselves to eat. We chose the fruit/cheese/cracker spread with a coffee bar and an alcohol bar along with our buffet dinner. In addition to an alcohol bar, we had BPC supply us with root beer floats as our Specialty drinks. Our wedding was kid-friendly and some of the adults don't drink so we wanted to be able to accommodate them and BPC was only too happy to accommodate us. All the guests seemed very happy with the food. BPC was wonderful. They went above and beyond with the food and with making sure we got the outdoor wedding we had been dreaming of since we booked with Olbrich Gardens. Thank so much for everything, BPC!! read more

Wanted to have blue plate cater my wedding. Their customer service was awful, wouldn't get back to us after we questioned the quote because the quote was DOUBLE the price of their competitors. Also, someone who works at our wedding venue mentioned that they always UNDERESTIMATE the amount of food they need and never have enough...which is my biggest fear, so we went elsewhere and I'm so happy we did. I do not recommend. read more

Blue Plate catered my daughter's wedding this past weekend in Stoughton. They were punctual and efficient and the food was hot. This is important to note given the distance and the time required to set up. I received nothing but compliments on the food. I had the onion crusted beef pot roast and it was delicious. The potatoes were very tasty and needed no additional seasoning. I loved it all and would highly recommend them. read more

Blue Plate Catering was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. The guests loved our food and signature drink, and I cannot say enough about David, Patrick and their team. They both went out of their way to ensure we had nothing to worry about on the day of. I appreciate them being open and creative with their menu, finding a way to mold in my husband's Ghanaian culture into the menu. Beyond thrilled with their professionalism and service. read more

Blue Plate did a great job for our wedding. Tons of guests complimented the flank steak, salmon, local beers, and cocktails. Blue Plate was also willing to discuss a number of options with us in terms of our budget and how to keep costs from getting out of hand. They were incredibly helpful in planning arrangements at the venue setting up the venue on the big day. Linens and plates were exactly what we wanted. Most of all, David was on top of everything in planning the big day and explaining how the timing of events and how everything would work. As a couple that did not have a wedding planner, Blue Plate's interactions with us, and with the photographer and DJ, were essential to having a successful day. Altogether, a very professional company that served some good food and drink. Highly recommended! read more

Having been a regular customer for quite some time, I have become very disappointed with the cafe' at City Center West. The two girls running the cafe' are very loud, seem more interested in socializing with each other and there is no concern for keeping the food warm. I can't remember a time where I have gone in there and it doesn't matter if there is 10 people in line, or no one there, all of the hot entree's are left uncovered and more than a few times my food has been cold - not even warm, but cold. Also, they will pre-box things such as hamburgers at the end of the day and leave them sitting out in front of the sneeze guard - disgusting. Unless quality control picks up, I would be hard pressed to find myself eating there again. As a small business owner myself, I thought this is something you should be made aware of. read more

Blue Plate Catering is TOP NOTCH! As a fellow wedding professional, I spent years hiring and firing many caterers. Not these guys! I cannot say enough wonderful things about Blue Plate. Their team is so professional and on top of their game and I never had to worry about a thing with them! Most importantly - there food is awesome! Definite 100% recommendation from me. I wish I could still use them where I am now! read more

I work at CCW building where they are the only food provider in the building and i usually go there for breakfest about 2-3 times a week. Well today I went there told the guy what I wanted, but then when it came time to pay he said that they dont accept plastic, which they use to accept just last week, this wouldn't have been a big deal but I asked him about it and he said it doesn't matter what was in the past. this company clearly doesn't care about the customers because how hard is it to make a sign that says "WE NO LONGER ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS" instead of denying ever allowing them. I will make sure that they never get another dollar of mine. Thats not how you treat customers. Take notes blue plate catering read more

We had Blue Plate cater our wedding rehearsal dinner, a picnic in Vilas Park. We thought we were going to do it ourselves but realized less than a week ahead of time that we were overwhelmed with other stuff to do and needed help. We called Blue Plate-stressed--and talked to David who clearly and calmly laid out the options for us. It turned out that they would be able to come and grill burgers and portabella mushrooms for not that much more than what we were already planning to spend on food and a grill rental. This included corn, potatoes and grilled asparagus as sides and he threw in an extra condiment and lemonade. The catering was flawless - they had two guys there who kept everything stocked throughout the night (we ran out of portabella mushrooms but should have known to order more). The food was great: pretty simple, but fresh and delicious. My wife liked the fact that they source a lot of their stuff from local places. It was totally successful. We ended up being able to spend our time with guests, who could eat good Wisconsin food. They also wrapped up leftovers for us to take and cleaned everything up. Highly, highly, recommended. read more