My wife and I recently used deLITEful Kitchens to cater our wedding. We read Jessica's (the Owner) reviews; most were good and only a few were negative. One was an ex-employee who said Jessica was cheap and will prepare store-bought food rather than scratch cooking. We honestly thought it was just a disgruntled employee and not something to worry about. We were wrong.
Prior to the wedding, we had many conversations with Jessica, (the owner), planning the menu, and discussing direct set-up instructions and timing. We didn't like that she requested to be fully paid before the event or that gratuities were included, however, she made us feel confident about her food quality and business practices, so we agreed.
Long and short, they were to be at the venue a 4:00 pm and set up in a particular location. Jessica clearly knew where she was to set up and where not to set up. We walked in a bit behind schedule (of course) and we found their two vehicles and grill set up in a location that was to be used for part of the wedding (which Jessica knew). Upon many requests for her to immediately move, she was reluctant, slow, and uncooperative. Claiming that if she moved her (unheated) grill it would cause a 20- to 30-minute delay. We had no choice, she had to move, and she eventually did after many, many requests.
The time it took for her to finally move, caused not only our dinner to be over an hour late it also caused every aspect of the wedding and reception to be delayed resulting in guest traffic flow issues, DJ/band timing thrown off, photography time cut by over 45 minutes (which we had to pay for), and some older guests leaving prior to being served. And even though we had blocked off parking spots for her grill, she decided to place it in front of a side door causing the venue's main entry to fill with smoke.
We will say, the appetizers and grazing station were great, and thank goodness they were timely as guests were hungry due to the delay; however, Jessica refused to give any guest a second plate, despite the food being left over and dinner being delayed. As for the dinner itself, she didn't provide the cut of steak (Flank Steak) that we specifically requested, but instead a cheaper sirloin variation without the chimichurri sauce outlined on our menu. The chicken piccata was not sautéed breasts but instead, some kind of chunked chicken breasts, likely with store-bought sauce. We will credit her vegetarian option as those guests were satisfied. However, we do not believe most items were cooked from scratch, instead store-bought. Then to find out a week later via pictures, the soft pretzels we requested, had no salt on them, who does that?
Due to the setup issues, our entire wedding was thrown off, resulting in some money wasted, and unhappy hungry, confused guests. If any vendor has an issue when getting to a site about setting up, the first thing they should do is call the person that hired them; not make choices for themselves that could result in a review like this. Also, the google reviews are from years ago, mostly for a restaurant they no longer own. You should take this review seriously, and avoid this caterer. read more