From start to finish, Calihan Catering were phenomenal partners. They're family-owned, and clearly take pride and effort into each and every event they host. The food was top notch and service was excellent the day of our wedding. But they also worked with us throughout the process in helping define and shape what our day would look like. You'll get a great partner for your event with Calihan! read more

I worked with Nitin Vyas who painted a beautiful picture of our wedding. I loved how he discussed his keen attention to detail that would make a wedding planner envious. Tuxedoed servers, lighting, linens, decedent foods... Gosh! Do I love to eat. And you can only imagine how important eating is for our wedding. Nitin asked questions about the kinds of restaurants we like so that he could assemble a menu and a quote. I was ready to sign up right then and there on the phone. If Nitin could somehow make an amalgam of my favorite restaurants and make it into my personal restaurant zeitgeist... Well heck. I might as well marry him because he'd be my personal lord and savior! So you can only imagine my initial excitement followed by anxious anticipation for the menu and quote... And then the gradual realization that there was no menu. There was no quote. There was no Calihan Catering for our wedding. I heard nothing from him in any way - no email no phone call. Crickets. I guess he just wasn't that into me. But it was really a let down for more than just me. We needed a caterer to come through for us with a quote for us to consider one particular venue. Price-point was key. So Nitin's lack of follow up meant not only that it was a bust for Calihan Catering but also for the particular locale that recommended them. read more

I wish I could have the pleasure of reviewing Calihan's Catering service, but I have sadly not even gotten past getting a sample menu of what they offer! And that's not from lack of trying either. I've called and talked to Nitin from Calihan and was told I'd get a proposal drafted within the next couple of days. And then... heard nothing. I called a week later asking for Nitin's email to send a friendly reminder to send me more information... he replied he'd get back to me later that evening. It's been over a month and I still haven't received anything after multiple tries of getting a hold of them. Based on my limited experience with Calihan, I've experienced very poor customer service... I realize that my wedding probably isn't going to be a big money maker in their pockets, but ignoring a potential client is never a good business practice. Maybe a staff member dropped the ball on this one, but I would suggest thinking twice before working with Calihan who says they'll give you want you want but fails to follow through in a timely matter. read more

Outstanding service and food quality! They made planning my recent wedding go very smoothly and we are extremely glad that we went with Calihan. Received numerous comments from our guests saying that it was the best wedding food they've ever had... and that's what we were going for! You really can't go wrong with Calihan. They're professional, great chefs, and just excellent overall. In particular, I have to say that our consultant, Pam Swisher, was one of the key people in making sure our wedding ran smooth as clockwork. She was amazing! read more

We chose Calihan Catering for our wedding held at Cafe Brauer in June 2011 and were extremely impressed with the service we received. We worked with Nicole, who kept me on track with all the decisions (as a workaholic bride, I often lost track) and was extremely helpful even before we signed our contract! I knew that meant she and the company overall really cared about the quality of the event, especially since it was our Big Day. We even had a last minute change (I ended up wanting cake served as opposed to set out on a buffet) and she was right on it and very accommodating. I loved working with her. Everything can be customized according to your personal taste and your budget constraints. We had a summer wedding and wanted a lighter fare. Nicole and her team came up with great ideas for us and we even had two tasting (one as a couple and one with both sets of parents) to make sure we were happy with our selections. Our guests loved the menu - everyone was raving about it! The presentation of the food at the actual wedding was identical to the tastings, which shows they don't try to fool you. It looked beautiful. In fact, guests took pictures of the food just because it looked so nice! It was just as delicious. Regarding the service, I felt like there was a server dedicated just to me and the new hubby, to make sure we always had what we wanted and see that we were satisfied with everything. They were very attentive, yet never in the way. We were so impressed. One thing to keep in mind is that the Calihan contract is just food and service cost - it does not include the linens, table settings, glassware, etc. They show you a rough estimate of those costs since they work with specific vendors, but you have to pay those vendors separately. Nicole was good about keeping me on top those payments. I had originally thought those costs were included in my Calihan "per person", but it ended up tacking on another $6 - which adds up when you have 230 guests! Make sure you budget for that so you aren't surprised! Overall, I highly recommend Calihan for their exceptional quality and service. Their attention to detail can't be beat. read more

I am currently planning a gala event with Calihan Catering and I am so impressed with how flexible they have been and patient with my host committee. Nina and Nash are AMAZING. I've thrown her some oddball requests, and Nina has accommodated them with grace. They listened to what our guests would most want from the event, and were able to put together a beautiful menu with our nonprofit budget. I have seen many event spaces and catering kitchens during this gala planning process, and when I visited Calihan's production location I was eager to see their kitchen. It was spotless, beautiful, spacious, and efficient. You can truly see that they take pride in how they make their food. They went so far as to even show me their refrigerators (maybe they could sense by my eagerness to view their space that I had witnessed kitchen nightmares, which I have). Everything was fresh and pristine. They don't use any premade frozen ingredients and make everything from scratch. Everything in their fridge was meticulously dated and orderly. Their workspace had spacious lofted ceilings with original wooden beams, was well ventilated, and you could see their employees working on various projects. While I was there, the pastry chef was preparing desserts, which was fun to watch. Additionally, you could practically feel the pride beaming from their employees as they worked. They know they make a quality experience for their clients, and they were genuinely happy to meet me. I had previously fallen in love with other event spaces, only to walk into their kitchens and see dirty disasters. As an event planner feeding 100+ people, I feel a personal responsibility to make sure that their meal is being made in a healthy environment. You would be surprised how many event spaces have deplorable kitchens. Rotting food, bug traps that haven't been thrown out (and are covered in bugs!!! The horror!!!), dirty dishes that are obviously over a day old...you name it, I've seen it. I don't mean to go on and on about kitchens, but Calihan's was so beautiful compared to these other ones. I don't want to end on a gross note, so I'll talk about the meal I had while we went over our event proposal. It was a stunning three-course meal with salad, steak, and a mango dessert. During the meal, we were served wine personally selected by Nash. We were served in an intimate setting next to their kitchen with lots of sunlight and clean minimalist decor. The food was so beautifully plated, I almost felt bad digging in...almost. Just go with Calihan Catering! Trust me. I've been with a bunch of other caterers. They are the best :-). read more

For my wedding in August we went with Calihan Catering because, well, they're the best caterer in the city. My entire experience from beginning to end was absolutely flawless. I HATED planning my wedding and Calihan picked up on that immediately - they eased the pain. The actual tasting was amazing and I wish I could eat like that every night- it was so hard to choose what we wanted to serve because everything was just SO good. I went to eight weddings last summer, including my own, and no one at any other wedding raved about the food as much as people raved about my wedding food. Calihan's head pastry chef even made our cake and my friend's husband said, "Damn, that cake was good. I ate three pieces and I don't even LIKE Carrot Cake." In the end, I was an extremely happy bride but I am not surprised since I DID decide to go with Calihan. I strongly recommend that you do too - they do not disappoint! read more

There's not really much more I can say about Calihan and the team than FABULOUS! Their food is delicious, their staff is professional and easy to work with and their event staff is very attentive. We went with Calihan to cater our wedding as they are the vendor/owner of Gallery 1028. Even before we chose to go with Gallery 1028 we were told we HAD to use Calihan for our wedding because they were the best - and that was true. There's nothing more disappointing than a bad meal at a wedding or a lack of passed hors d'oeuvres to leave you starving at your table and Calihan provides exactly the opposite! The quality of food and taste are outstanding and working with Lee and Todd on the front end and the waitstaff (Garrison especially) and bartenders the night of were just so pleasant and stress free. I cannot thank everyone enough for a perfect wedding experience! read more

We had our wedding at the Oak Brook Bath and Tennis Club in June 2011 and were extremely pleased with Calihan Catering. Specifically we worked with Lee Calihan who was absolutely wonderful and helped us pull off our special night gracefully and smoothly. We had a long time planning our wedding (16 months) and through all that, Lee helped us make our selections, came out to the Club many many times to see the venue, tweaked everything we wanted (pricing, menu, decorations, schedule) and made very helpful suggestions. We really needed someone to "take the reins" on some of the food, drinks, organization, etc. and she stepped up every time. In my opinion she was a very central part of why our wedding ran so smoothly. Sometimes she took a few days to respond to our emails/phone calls but other than that she was very dependable, willing to work with us on pricing, etc. and always friendly and cheerful. Calihan's offices are located in the Goose Island area of the city, which is SOO convenient - that's where we did our tastings, picked out table linens, and dropped off our decorations the week before. The day before during the wedding rehearsal, I was pretty lost as to where to start with so many people (we had a huge wedding party) and Lee, having noticed this, just gathered everyone nicely and orchestrated the whole thing. I was so impressed and it took soo much of the stress away from me! The wedding itself ran astoundingly smoothly, food was yummy, and we did have staff making sure we ate ;) We were able to eat, drink AND dance at our own wedding. It was great! My only (small) gripes were that the way they called the tables to the buffet, one of the wedding party tables got called last, and also there were two buffet lines but nobody realized it so everybody was standing in one long line. But really, those are miniscule complaints. All in all - I highly recommend Calihan. If you need a reference feel free to Yelp! message me. read more

Calihan catered our wedding at Gallery 1028 in October 2010. We chose the venue first, and figured we'd try our luck with the caterer, knowing they were the exclusive caterer for this venue. Well, we got lucky!!! First, huge thanks to Nicole Fitzpatrick who was more than just our contact, but really our unofficial wedding planner. Nicole was super attentive, responsive, flexible, professional, etc, all that good stuff, and then some. Plus, she's as cute and sweet as can be. A true to pleasure to work with! Ok, the food. I LOVED our appetizers: deconstructed ceasar salad - it looked like a green jello jiggler, and probably some of our guests thought it was weird, but we loved it. very modern. apple cones with creme fraiche and caviar. duck confit in a sweet potato crepe. butternut squash flatbread with fried sage. seared tuna wonton with wasabi caviar. Our dinner was seasonal and fresh: heirloom tomato salad with goat cheese, tenderloin, halibut, spinach risotto cake. Calihan was also super accommodating when it came to our guests with food allergies. Sadly, the cliche is true... the bride and groom never get a chance to eat. read more

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I called to get an estimate and asked if I could add Tequila to our package. A simple "Yes, we can add a specialty drink with tequila" would suffice. This person went on about "This is Chicago we don't do shots" all snotty about it and that they have been doing catering for years and tequila at wedding always end up being a bad wedding. I didn't ask any of that and they way it was said was very rude and he kept trying to talk over me. I am not doing business with them anytime soon after this incident his name is apparently Nash Callahan and was the worst service. If this is how you will treat your paying customers before the wedding I can't even imagine how it will be when the wedding will take place. Amazing place just sad that the catering service was the worst. read more

Calihan Catering=TOP NOTCH! I wasn't sure whether it was a good or bad thing that we had to go with Calihan due to choosing to have our reception at Gallery 1028, but it is a blessing to not have to decide on another vendor! Calihan Catering's food and service is absolutely outstanding! We went to do our tasting with them way back in March, our wedding was in June, and now in August, we're STILL raving about their food! Cate was the absolute BEST to work with! She was there to give me honest answers when I had serious questions about food choices or decor ideas and was extremely attentive to answering all of my frantic questions and emails leading up to our big day! Our guests loved the food and were extremely impressed with the service of the staff! I would HIGHLY recommend Calihan for any catering services! read more

We chose Calihan as our wedding caterer originally because they were the exclusive catering partner for our venue (Gallery 1028). We were a bit cautious at first because we had to sign the contract before tasting any of the food. But we're so glad we went with Calihan! First of all, the entire staff was amazing to work with! We can tell that Calihan is a very organized company because we actually worked with two different contacts. We worked with Nicole in the beginning to design our menu and then after the tasting she was no longer with Calihan, so we worked with Cate for the rest of the wedding planning process. Nicole took such detailed notes that the whole transition was perfectly seamless and no detail was incorrect or left out. The food was amazing! We went with an Asian short rib and an Italian chicken and ravioli dish with a cauliflower steak as our veggie option. I think every single guest complimented us on the food. The hor d'oeuvres were also very creative as we challenged them to come up with an east meets west theme to represent our Chinese and Italian backgrounds coming together. We also did a signature cocktail that everyone loved, it was a twist on a Moscow mule with whiskey instead of vodka and it was a huge hit. They also provided a day of coordinator and a head of staff, John and Garrison, who both checked on us throughout the night to make sure all of our needs were taken care of. Looking back, we couldn't find one thing that had gone wrong. We don't know if that's actually the case or if they just took care of everything for us. All in all, we cannot think of a single criticism and only have good things to say. We would not hesitate to work with Calihan again if we need a caterer for future events, and highly recommend them to anyone looking for a caterer in the Chicago area. read more

So, I know they are supposed to be great, and we were VERY excited to have them do our wedding, but honestly, they were horrible. The only reason they get 2 stars is because the food was decent. Trying to deal with them after the wedding however was a NIGHTMARE. 1. The Food. They shrunk our food portions down to absurd and comical levels. Even though we were supposed to have 5 passed hors d'oeuvres per person, most of our guests didn't get a single one and didn't even know that there was anything. We never even saw a waiter during the hour long cocktail hour! Then, when it came time for the appetizers, they changed them on us! What was supposed to have been a pile of crab on a half avocado came as a shot glass sized one bite cylinder with crab and avocado in it. Where was the rest of it? 2. The Service. Abysmal is the only way I can describe the service. One thing will let you know how bad it was: my wife and I didn't even have wine at our table during the first set of toasts. We kept asking the waiters if we could have wine, but no one actually brought us anything. We ended up sharing the best man's wine that he had brought with him from the cocktail reception. So first, they promised us a personal attendant who would be at our "beck and call" (their words) for the wedding. Great. Too bad we never saw him again after he brought us a glass of wine right after the ceremony. For all we know, he left the wedding then. Second, the dinner service was painfully slow. It took them over two hours to serve dinner because they didn't have enough waiters there, and we didn't have a large wedding. Third, they served the wrong dinners to the guests and were not willing to correct their mistakes (I've been a vegetarian for 10+ years, I'm pretty sure I remember that I ordered the vegetarian meal at my own wedding, thank you very much!). Finally, the cake... Oh, the delicious cake from Bittersweet.. There was one woman there cutting the cake for the entire wedding. It didn't look like she had ever cut a cake before, it took forever for her to cut it, and the pieces were crumbling. Finally, at our request, they took the cake into kitchen to cut it there so the guests wouldn't see her desecrating the cake. Now, I'm not sure exactly what happened back there, but somehow, we lost a bunch of our cake. Unless our guests each had multiple pieces, we've never been able to account for the missing cake and understand why they ran out or cake early, and my wife never got to try it. 3. Post wedding. Wow, this was actually the worst part. When we emailed them after our short honeymoon to express some concern about some of the items (why we paid for food that we didn't get, why there weren't enough waiters there, why our attendant went AWOL, etc) they were extremely rude in their responses. They had the audacity to BLAME US for every one of their mistakes. They were so insistent and condescending in their denials that we finally decided to stop talking to them about it. It was nice to look at our wedding video and see that we actually were correct. Several of our friends have gotten engaged since our wedding and have been planning their own weddings now. Based on their experience at our wedding, they've all avoided Calihan. I know they're a top notch caterer in Chicago, and we had super high hopes for them, but they really let us down. Obviously their A team didn't show up for us, but the worst part was how rude they were after the wedding to us. You can tell that they didn't care at all about us or our wedding, they just wanted their money and to be done with us. read more

It's interesting to know that I was not the only one who had trouble with Calihan for my wedding. And like the others, I am giving two stars because the food quality was good, but overall we were quite annoyed with them as there were a bunch of unprofessional screwups that made us really aggravated which is the last thing you need with a wedding. My wedding was this summer, and in the spring we had dealt with Pam. Both my mother (who used to do meeting planning as part of her job) and I were extremely impressed with her and she was a big part of why we went with Calihan. So we were quite disappointed when two days after we signed the contract she informed us she was quitting. Pretty tacky if you ask me. And the people who took over from her working with us were not as experienced or confident. Plus a lot of things seem to have gotten lost, seem not to have been transmitted from Pam to the others. Specific problems we had: Too few vegetarian entrees Vegetarian entrees not as tasty or nicely presented as what we had at the tasting Sheet cake not put out immediately when layer cake was finished, had to ask several times Thus lots of sheet cake was left over but it was not saved for us, nor were the other left over cookies and chocoates etc. I can't believe they threw out hundreds of dollars of cake!!! And how hard would it have been to box up some of those chocolates for us to enjoy later, given how expensive they were and how many were left over. Table clean-up was overzealous and too early, so those who left their favors on their tables while dancing returned to find them discarded. I had a friend who got ill at the last minute and could not attend, I at least wanted to give her her favor but it was thrown out. We had ordinary champagne for kir cocktails and then a special champagne that my dad had bought for the toast, but despite clear and specific instructions they served the ordinary champagne for everything leaving two unopened cases of the special champagne We never heard a peep from them afterwards other than please come get the finished champagne. Just really unprofessional. There are other caterers, suggest you look at those! read more

You really can't go wrong with Calihan Catering Inc. They know how to throw a party. The food is always great tasting and good looking. The desserts are the best part by far of any dinner in my humble opinion. The service staff is always happy to help and get you what ever you need and the kitchen is willing to aid in dietary restrictions. I've found they do many wedding and their fair share of large events including fund raisers. Would love to have them cater a party that I threw. Maybe I'll have them cater my going away party for when I move down to Georgia. If anyone would like to come please let me know I only ask one thing... Bring money for the catering bill!!! While they are good at their job it does come a bit of a price! read more

Excellent food and service. They catered my chairman's department summer dinner party. Truly chef-quality appetizers included coconut shrimp, shrimp cocktail, oysters (raw bar), meat dumplings, and waffles with mushroom or lobster or some other kind of sauce. Main courses were baked red snapper, medium rare beef tenderloin, grilled chicken, summer salad, mushroom ravioli, and spinach ravioli. Dessert included chocolate mousse, creme brulee, and ice cream bar. Mmm mmm, enough said. I stuffed myself; I think your guests would too. read more

Unfortunately I have mixed feelings about our wedding with Calihan Catering at Gallery 1028. They own the space so they were the sole caterer we could work with. Before we signed any contracts we wanted to ensure we could get the menu we wanted from Calihan. We were put in contact with Todd who was unresponsive from day one. Our first scheduled phone call he was unavailable at the time of the call and called me back an hour later, extremely annoying when I had to leave work to take this call. He had originally sent us a plated dinner menu so I requested a buffet list as that would be our preference. He sent us a list of stations that looked nothing like a wedding menu. After further discussing this he apologized stating that those station menus were typically used for cocktail hour corporate events. He clearly knew we were planning a WEDDING. Our second scheduled phone call (my fiancé and I both had to leave work) was once again missed by Todd as he called us back 40 minutes later. We insisted on making the next phone call an in person meeting at the Calihan office as we had already been blown off twice. A few weeks before the wedding we were looking to pay the final deposit so we requested a finalized proposal from Todd. We didn't pick up the original guest count as anyone planning a wedding knows, so we had less guests than our initial proposal. This final proposal included EXTRA wait staff and another job title that had never previously been listed on any other proposal. When discussing this with Todd he admitted he had accidentally left off this needed staff member and meant to just put the title at no cost but claimed the "system" accidentally added the cost of $300. Todd almost "accidentally" charged us an additional $300 but we were fortunate enough to be checking every detail. It is unfortunate to say that Todd's lack of attention to detail caused us undue stress during our planning process. The only reason I am even giving this high of a rating is due to the service staff the day of the event and the quality of the food. The food exceeded our expectations so our compliments to the chefs! We continue to get compliments from our guests on how delicious the food was. The event staff from Gallery and Calihan were top notch and they made sure the event was perfect. The wedding was wonderful but I don't know that I would choose to work with Calihan again. read more

Calihan Catering has been in business for over 21 years. They're very established within the Chicagoland region and cater to some magnificent venues, which is why I am completely surprised at how poor their customer service is. I had booked with a public venue in November of 2008. Since then, the venue I booked with has become privatized, and will be managed and catered by Calihan Catering. Upon my initial meeting with the VP and marketing director (Lee Calihan), she had assured me that the original prices/package inclusions that I had signed my contract under would be honored. However, after receiving an updated proposal from them, with the new pricing structure and additional fees, the overall total price change was close to $4,500 above the original pricing under the old management. Items that were once included in the package were omitted in the new package and fees that didn't exist before were tacked on. Phone calls and emails went unreturned for months, until I finally filed a claim with the BBB. Even then, it took months to resolve anything and to get my original deposit back. I know to a company as large as Calihan, the revenue they would make from my wedding is just pocket change. However, to me and many other brides out there, budget matters. One would hope that they would see more than dollar signs, but after my experience with them thus far, I have reason to believe otherwise. read more

seriously amazing food... so delicious... and so many options for us to choose from. and they were very helpful coming up with ways to make some of our food vegan for me. the big however -- the staff are somewhat difficult to deal with. the major issues we had: - our day of coordinator told some of the staff they could take a couple vases of flowers after the event had ended... we started with around 150 vases and when we went to pick up the few odds and ends the following monday, we went home with about 100... their staff had taken around 50 of our flower vases! and even though they had warned us saying, "you are welcome to leave items here until monday, but things always turn up missing." - okay, thanks for the warning, but all you are telling me is that you hire staff that steal your clients belongings! - our families/friends are HUGE scotch drinkers, which we told them up front... we asked to substitute the base level scotch with a higher end scotch and instead of raising the cost, we lowered the quality of beer... about 2 hours into the wedding, they ran out of the fancy scotch and were using an even lower level than what was in the original bid... when we asked them about it after the event, they said they felt they provided plenty of scotch based on our guest count. oh well. overall - we had such a great time and enjoyed the food so much, we can't say they are terrible... just a few items that came up that we were not pleased with. read more

Wow. I cannot say enough about Todd and Jessie (and the whole crew) from Calihan! Though our wedding was in Chicago, we live in Houston, so tasting appointments and other meetings were hard to schedule. Todd was completely accommodating every time, and our tasting was unbelievable! Todd and chef were able to accommodate every request we had: special late night snacks based on our St Louis roots, and the from-scratch pistachio cake was completely out of this world - so many people took the leftovers! One special request we had was for charcuterie boards on the tables and they were unbelievably delicious - all guests had nothing but good things to say about all of it. We truly couldn't be happier with the food and service of this team; it made the day unforgettable! Thank you Todd, Jessie and the Calihan team!!! read more

Adam S. -- We had the same experience with Calihan... it's almost eerie. Everything turned out ok all things considered, but the road to the wedding was indeed overly tramatic and we spent too much time dealing with things that we should not have been dealing with while using a high-end vendor. We experienced similar issues with our contract being "incorrect" from a staffing perspective (increasing the overall staff bill by 10% only a month before the wedding). I emailed the owner a month before the wedding with a list of complaints and only received a half-hearted response three days before the wedding. This place is supposed to be high-end (and it is certainly priced that way), so I expected more. The food was good, but save yourself the headaches and the bait-and-switch method by which this company does its wedding business and use a different company. I really can't recommend this place at all and its a shame because several of our guests commented on the high quality of the food. read more

If you don't want stress up until the very moment you say "i do," DO NOT USE CALIHAN Catering! Prior to our wedding, Calihan tried to charge us an excess of thousands of dollars. My now husband and I had to create an EXCEL sheet illustrating their creative accounting to them, for which we are still battling to get our money back. They throw in hidden charges whenever possible, change liquor selections, and do not respond to emails/return phone calls in a timely manner. Their food is awesome, but it comes at an emotional and stressful cost. Our contract changed so much, 5 minutes after saying "I do" I had to answer contract questions and battle for them to honor their word. In regards to their contract, READ EVERY WORD, look up the EXACT definition of the words they use because they are very cunning. Word to the wise - proceed with extreme caution. read more

I have worked with Calihan Catering for more than eight years, planning events in and around Chicago. I cannot speak highly enough about their food quality, high standards of service, and professionalism. From a 20-person luncheon to a 500-person dinner, they execute flawlessly and are attentive to the needs of their clients. There are many caterers in town, but Calihan is absolutely at the top of the list. read more

While we ultimately chose another caterer for our Sept 2016 same-sex wedding reception, we found the proposal process with Linda S. to be a very positive one. She was friendly, helpful, and responsive. Initially, we found the pricing to be higher than we could afford but ultimately ended up paying about the same with someone else. So, the pricing is competitive for the high quality offered. She will be transparent about what can and can't happen with your budget and is a great professional to work with. I would recommend them! read more

We had our wedding on 10/25/08 at Gallery 1028, and Calihan was our catering company. We were on a budget and I was really concerned about the quality of food and overall service. I had a good feeling about Calihan as soon as I met with them, and they delivered on all accounts. We absolutely loved the food and received rave reviews from so many of our guests. We had a passed specialty cocktail and passed hors d'oeuvres during the cocktail hour which everyone loved. The food was just as good as the night we tried everything at the tasting. They had SO many options to pick from, so I don't understand the 'lack of vegetarian options' comment!! We had stations for dinner, with salmon skewers, roasted chicken and fingerling potatoes, and a pear and goat cheese salad - all superb! My mom and I were incredibly impressed with Nicole Fitzpatrick, who was my main contact at Calihan. Our original contact accepted a new position, so Nicole took over our account during the wedding planning, and everything was seamless. She went out of her way to make sure we stayed in our budget, and she honored everything we were promised originally. She gave some vendor recommenations, and ended up being my "pseudo-wedding planner". She was even able to get us deals on our dance floor and chandeliers we rented for the space. The night of the wedding, I felt like everything ran so smoothly, and there were servers everywhere. I did have a contact person for the night, but I didn't really need her for anything. One of the servers even went into a dumpster to help find my spare heels that my mom accidentally put in a garbage bag! I would completely recommend Calihan to anyone having a Chicago wedding. They were flexible, worth the $ and they know how to throw an elegant, unforgettable wedding! read more

Thank you Calihan's for helping make my daughter's wedding wonderful. Everything was so perfect and so flawless!!! The service was beyond excellent!! We loved working with Todd! He was enthusiastic, creative and unflappable. The food was amazing! From the mini chicken pot pies, polenta with pulled pork and butternut squash pizzas, to the heirloom tomato caprese with brittle, then the short ribs with grits and finally the pies and cobblers. Everything was absolutely delicious. There were actual fights over the brittle in the caprese! I almost forgot the late night waffle station that made the entire room smell like cinnamon! The food was casual yet elegant which was exactly what I hoped for. read more

Wow, reading the more recent reviews about Calihan is a bit cathartic. We had our wedding at a New Leaf on 10/19. The venue was amazing, our DJ's were great and overall we were as happy as could be with the entire day. Even the weather cooperated. That said, doing our "post-mortem" a couple days later - the one thing we thought was a bit off was the catering! The whole "someone will be near you at all times making sure you have something to eat and getting your guests food" was, as someone else mentioned, non-existent. Most of the food did turn out well taste-wise, but I was only approached by someone passing apps once or twice in an hour making me think no one was getting enough food up front. In terms of the main course, we had "stations" vs. a sit-down dinner because of the venue. Even though we had meticulously mapped out where everything was to be placed, my wife and I turned to each other right before our pre-dinner toast and whispered: "uh, what's going on with the catering??" We also received nothing at the end in terms of sweets, etc. even though there were trays and trays of extras. But didn't we pay for all that food? Just a small thing but a gesture that would have gone a long way in making us feel like we weren't being nickel and dimed and way over-charged. The pre-wedding planning was also uneven. I understand they had a staffing change - we too were dealing with Pam who we really liked. We got passed on to Nicole who we had no chemistry with but was nice, and she definitely was feeling the heat of following up on Pam's parties - at one point meeting with her I thought she was going to break down. But then we started getting the calls about things not charged correctly, more staff being needed or the time of the party being cut, etc. At one point we got an excited call saying "We've re-done your contract and the good news is you'll only owe us $5 more dollars!" After several phone conversations, contracts being mailed back and forth, and an in-person visit we thought we had it all figured out, only to receive another bill for $1,000 a few days after our wedding. WTF! Planning this wedding was already stressful and my wife's to-do list was solid ink on several sheets of paper. Going back and forth with the caterer about new charges and staffing changes was ridiculous and time consuming. The bottom line - we never would have known if there were 8 servers there instead of 9 and it's not our problem they had an employee go rogue. Honor your original contracts, be part of the solution, not the problem, and serve great food. Calihan wasn't BAD by any means and we didn't have any of our guests outwardly complain; most people told us the food was quite good. The whole experience felt messy and overly dramatic, and the execution on the day of just felt half-baked. My wife and I are by no means high maintenance and only complain at restaurants about our food if they've literally put dog food on our plate. But for the amount of money we threw down...Sigh... If we had to do it all over again, I think we would have used Entertaining Company. They are a smaller shop but their food was the best in our tastings. We didn't go with them because they were more expensive, but in the end Calihan with all the additional charges, etc. ended up being far more expensive than any other quote we got. read more

We chose Calihan to cater our wedding because: *Their quoted price was considerably less than our venue's other selected caterers, but the quality was comparable. *Rather than up-charging for a limited selection of equipment and linens, Calihan lets the client choose their own dinnerware and tablecloths, then coordinates direct payment to the vendor. *Staff were down-to-earth and super helpful, never pressuring us to turn our celebration into a bigger production than we wanted (as some of the other caterers we interviewed did). They didn't bat an eye when we downgraded from a seated dinner to a cocktail reception months before the event, and they accommodated our many family members when the future in-laws flew in for a wedding planning and tasting weekend. *The food was elegant and refined, yet approachable and tasty. We did a sushi station, mini sandwiches, shrimp skewers, soup shooters, and passed hors d'oeuvres--mushroom ragout-filled beggar's purse, crab cake with scallion fondue, chorizo and onion quesadilla. You get the picture. Lots of compliments. Yum! Held off on those last two stars because: *Some staffing changes in the final months made things a bit chaotic. Lots of back-and-forth, confirming and re-confirming. Took awhile to revise proposals, make adjustments, and get final bills in order. Somehow unanticipated charges kept cropping up, left off of earlier bills due to simple oversight. In the end, I'm not sure the price advantage was as substantial as we anticipated--if it existed at all. Our final bill was much higher than our estimate. *We were promised that an attentive staff member would follow us around on the big night, keeping our glasses filled and our bellies full. We never met this mysterious figure. The only thing we ate all night was the bites of cake we fed each other during the ceremonial cutting, the only sips drank were from glasses of water brought by our friends. By the end of the night we were so hungry we ended up ordering a pizza at 1 a.m.! *We expected the staff to introduce our guests to the various stations and dishes, but between the music and the schmoozing, some missed the sandwiches and sushi altogether. I'd like to think any minor mishaps were just bumps in the road as staff acclimated to their new roles. Calihan was still pleasant to work with and I wouldn't hesitate to hire them again. I'd just be clear about the logistics and follow-up details up front. read more

I can't even begin to explain what a dream it was working with Calihan was for my wedding. It was truly the best day of my life and that is largely due to how great it was to work with them and how amazing the service and food was at our wedding. They executed every detail perfectly and were so helpful to me the whole time- any questions I had were answered thoughtfully and quickly, and they really understood our tastes and preferences to make a fantastic menu that everyone loved. My now husband and I love food so we knew we wanted that to be the best part of the wedding, especially since we have a number of friends and family in the restaurant business and people with discerning taste- Calihan really listened to everything we said and everything from the appetizers to the dessert was so delicious. Every member of their staff did a great job. The entire night I was able to talk to guests but they still kept a fresh glass of champagne in my had at all time. Everyone had wine and water glasses kept refilled. They made sure my husband and I had an assortment of all the passed appetizers before the reception started so we got bites of everything and didn't have to chase around the waitstaff while we were mingling and taking pictures with all the guests. The dinner entree was beef tenderloin and although you would think that might be hard to execute well for almost 200 people, each plate was cooked perfectly and we had countless amounts of people tell us that it was the best wedding dinner they had ever had. It was a classy, relaxed, beautiful night for my husband and I and the guests alike. This is exactly what we had hoped for so it was a dream come true. They worked harmoniously with our other vendors to make it the perfect day for me and I think I will be on cloud 9 over my fairytale wedding for the rest of my life. If you want your wedding to be an affair to remember, definitely going with Calihan is the thing to do. Thank you John and company for the best day of my life read more

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Attending a reception for my aunt and uncle. Calihan were the caterer's they were beyond the expectation of my relatives the smoked salmon platter was devoured.! read more

Our wedding is in December of this year at the Art Institute Ballroom and one of the very few caterers we are allowed to partner with was Calihan. We were very pleased with the quick responses and options that were presented to us in our price range of $40-$50 per person. We had finally narrowed the choices down to two caterers and Calihan said we should come in for a tasting. We were impressed with the appetizers, me more so than my fiance, who is not as easily impressed with caviar foam and cucumber cubes as I am. The filet entree was mouth watering. Comparable to Gibson's or Erie Street Cafe. The dessert options were a little kitsch and simple with chocolate covered strawberries and cheesecake lollipops. Not all food should be put on a stick. In the end, what didn't seal the deal was the service plan and the time between the first table being served dinner and the last. We have a wedding of 150 people, so 15 tables and the time difference would be 30 minutes. Let that marinate for a moment. 30 minutes between the first table being served and the last. They have a very specific way they conduct their service that has staff working one table at a time rather than several at a time. We found this unacceptable for and for the time to be cut down we would have to hire an additional serving staff of 5 costing $800 to the already large 10 we had in the original contract. We asked if there were any other possibilities without adding additional staff, since the other caterer was able to serve our guests with a 10 minute gap and had the same about of servers. Nope, that's the way they serve and their service is their trademark. So essentially, one server table. Fair enough, but it was a bit much and bewildering, so we declined. Overall, we had a positive first experience with Calihan and found them to be spot on a very professional. I can only dream about caviar foam now. read more

Calihan overcharged me $160 for an event in Lake Geneva this summer. $160 overcharge is not the end of the world, but how they dealt with it drove me through the roof. I called, they led me to believe that I could / would be refunded, but then didn't. This happened over and over; they just kept giving me the run around, and didn't seem to be really listening to my issue. I probably spent a couple hours just trying to deal with the management over there. Finally I gave up trying to get anywhere with them; so, Calihan, you leave me no choice but to warn others not to deal with your shady ways. Never again would I work with this company; there are plenty of honest caterers out there who could / would solve a problem like this. read more

We had our wedding at Gallery 1028 in September '09, and Calihan is the exclusive caterer for that venue. The tasting was a fun experience, and everything was delicious and presented beautifully. Same goes for the wedding itself -- delicious, beautiful, gourmet food that everyone enjoyed! People always say that you don't necessarily get a chance to eat much at your wedding, but I was sure to eat every bite of my dinner because it would have been a crime not to! The service was amazing, and Nicole and the staff really took care of us and made sure that everything went smoothly. We're so happy we chose Gallery 1028 and Calihan! read more

We found Calihan Catering through Gallery 1028 which we chose as our wedding venue. Calihan catering was truly extraordinary. The food is absolutely delicious, and the staff is exceptional. Zach Stevens was our account executive and was wonderful to work with. Zach was extremely responsive to emails and phone calls and was very accommodating. When we went in for our food tasting we were blown away with how delicious all the food was. There was truly not one thing at our tasting that we did not like. Zach was great helping us narrow down a menu for our wedding and was even able to mix and match a few of the meals to create the perfect dinner menu for our guest. When we expressed to Zach that we wanted to have a signature drink he didn't hesitate to offer some suggestions. He even provided a few recommended signature drinks for us to try at our tasting. When it came to food allergies Calihan had no problem accommodating guest with allergies. The staff did a fantastic job serving all guest at the same time and making sure all guest was satisfied. We were blown away by the exceptional service Calihan provided. From the minute cocktail hour started Calihan did an amazing job serving our guest appetizers and cocktails while flipping the ceremony space into a beautiful reception area. We received so many compliments from our guest on how delicious the food was and the excellent service Calihan provided. Over all experience was truly exceptional. Gallery 1028 and Calihan Catering did an outstanding job to make sure we had the wedding of our dreams. read more

We cannot say enough good things about Calihan Catering! Not only was the food delicious, but the staff is incredible! Todd is truly amazing! He makes you feel very special and catered our every need. He was truly excited and happy to be working with us. Todd was always available to reply to emails very promptly, which I sent many times! The tasting was so much fun, they really roll out the red carpet for you! During our wedding, the staff was incredible and looked very professional. Many of our guests said how wonderful the food was. Todd was also able to give great recommendations. I am going to miss working with everyone at Gallery 1028 and Calihan. Thank you all for making our wedding truly amazing and memorable! ~Carrie and Matt Nesta read more

Calihan is a dream to work with! We worked with Nit for my June 2010 wedding at the Chicago Botanic Garden and had the most wonderful time doing so. Having little experience with weddings, we asked a LOT of Nit, and he was always happy to go above and beyond. He walked the grounds of our wedding with us three or four times (at our request), answering questions about how the day would go, always pleasant and happy to be there. And the tasting he conducted for us was so much fun! As busy as Calihan is, I always felt like the attention was 100% on us when we were there. If fact, we were considering getting a wedding planner in the early stages of planning, but after meeting with Nit and learning how experienced he was, we didn't bother! We knew we were putting our wedding in the best hands. One more short anecdote about Nit: while taking our wedding photos, my husband sat on a very dusty bench and the back of his tux was covered in pollen or dust. We handed it to Nit and asked if there was any way he could take care of it - and within ten minutes he was back and the jacket was perfectly clean! I think that sums up our overall experience with Calihan. Thank you, Nit, for a flawless, amazing evening! read more

We had our wedding at 1028 and Calihan catering is by far the best caterer in the city! It is well known that their food is outstanding, and it certainly was on our wedding day. The bridal party arrived to the cocktail hour late after taking photos. When we arrived several staff brought out appetizers to the trolley and everyone got to eat while we finished pictures and I gut my dress bustled. We had a 250 person wedding, so cocktail hour was a bit crowded, but it was a non - issues. There were enough staff passing drinks, and apps that no one had to wait for a drink. We made some last minute changes to the menu and the seating, and they were MORE than accommodating. They added a vegan meal (WITH vegan dessert!) and a kids meal at the last minute. The dinner and wine service was incredible. It was quick and accurate. We received endless compliments after our wedding about the food and the service. We had someone paying extra attention to us, as promised, and they were there, or there in a flash if we needed anything. I don't know why so many people are complaining about not having a personal servant on their wedding day. I was glad to know they were helping my guests. The staff was friendly, professional, and made each guest feel special. From initial meeting to wedding day and soup to nuts, Calihan was extremely helpful, professional, flexible and DELICIOUS. If you want your guests to love their meal and feel as though they are important guests for the entire event hire Calihan. You will NOT be disappointed! read more

Callihan's provided an excellent experience for our wedding reception and worked seamlessly with me through a venue change and the additions and last minute changes involved. The food was delicious and we had rave reviews from our families and friends. The steak was especially well loved and guests were impressed that everything was consistently delicious throughout the buffet service time frame. Elias was very organized and flexible and ALL of the staff members were especially helpful. Callihan even sent a staff member, Laura, to oversee chair set up at our ceremony location and to provide water for our guests in the park. At the reception when a guest knocked a glass out of my hand they immediately filled me another and cleaned up the mess seamlessly without anyone saying a word. I felt the price was reasonable and the service provided was top notch. Very nice work! read more

I can't say enough good things about Calihan. We got married at the beginning of March and Calihan catered the wedding as well as the brunch the following morning. Everything leading up to and the event itself were absolutely perfect. The planning, coordination, and food were outstanding. Anything we wanted was unilaterally replied with 'yes.' I couldn't imagine a more positive experience. read more