Lisa and her staff were outstanding!…read more
I hired Luau Factory to cater a retirement party for my boss at Stanford University. Initially, Lisa told me that they were fully booked the day of our event, and that all she would be able to provide would be drop off service, unstaffed. I really needed a full catering staff, with servers for this event, and really wanted Luau Factory to do the catering. I had another vendor lined up just in case, but based on Luau Factory's Yelp reviews, they were my first/best choice. Lisa heard my plea, and despite being on vacation in Hawaii with her family, she communicated with me via phone and email throughout that week to plan our event. She managed to arrange for full serving staff, a bar tender, and Polynesian dancers for our entertainment. What a rock star! The only thing she asked was that we provide the beverages for the bar, and find our own shave ice vendor, as hers was already booked. We happily hired Paradise Shave Ice, who were also outstanding (see my review of them, separately.)
We held the party at the outdoor beach volleyball stadium on campus, which is relatively new and challenging to find if you work on campus, and nearly impossible to find if you don't know the campus well at all. As soon as she was back from vacation, Lisa came out to find the venue and scout it out in advance, to be sure she knew how to get her staff here for the event. On the day of the event, she herself came to staff the event! She arrived right on time and began setting up the buffet while I decorated the stadium for the luau. She even brought beautiful tropical floral decor for the buffet tables, so everything looked very festive and pretty when it was all set up.
I had ordered ice and Passion Orange Guava (POG) juice for our bar from Safeway in Mountain View, who were to deliver shortly after Lisa and I arrived at the stadium. I had planned to have a Mai Tai in my boss's hands as soon as he arrived at the start of the party. However, when Safeway failed to show up as scheduled (they lost my instructions!) and could not be reached by phone despite multiple tries, and with the party beginning within just a few minutes, Lisa sent her staffer Jerry to drive to Safeway to pick up my order. Jerry returned only about 15 minutes after the party began, and essentially saved the day. That was service well above and beyond the call of duty, and for that Luau Factory will forever have my deepest gratitude!
We ordered kalua pork, coconut shrimp, pineapple fried rice, egg rolls, and fruit salad, with one each of the burnt almond cake and the guava mousse cake. All of the food was absolutely delicious, and the cakes were out of this world! At my request, Lisa brought take away containers so that our guests could take home the left over food, at no extra charge. She and her staff even packed up the food for people as they were leaving. What service!
Everyone, including my boss's family who attended, absolutely loved the party, and I am still getting comments and compliments weeks later. My boss was especially touched, and told me what a wonderful event this had been to mark his departure from Stanford after more than two decades.
Lisa and Luau Factory deserve every one of their 5 star reviews here, and if I could give a higher rating I absolutely would, without hesitation. They will be my first call the next time I plan a luau. They should be yours, too!