I highly recommend Premier Catering and Events. They provided me with top notch professional services for my birthday party. There was good communication throughout the planning process. I was impressed by the variety of options at my tasting and the food was phenomenal. I highly recommend them and definitely plan on using them for my bridal shower, wedding reception and all future events. Thank you so much. A+ read more

From the groom. This company is a "bait and switch" caterer. Foley, their Director of Catering & Operations, will send a first response to get your date / desires, act like he'll work with you on anything. He'll send a first catering plan, but well show you weak and dismissive attitude when you request ideas and negotiations. Attached is an image of his horribly unprofessional response, rife with grammatical errors, it's obvious he does not read the emails completely, and he has a salty tone. I responded to this email with a simple request if, "he wanted to do our wedding, let's not waste each other's time?" He responded to my fiancée, did not take accountability, asked her to change the menu and let him know... Who wants to work with a company that is so dismissive in the SECOND email? read more

Premier Catering & Events - Party & Event Planning Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We were originally pleased by the food during our first tasting, but once they got our deposit, the problems started happening and this outweighed any positives we experienced. This vendor completely sabotaged our event, breached our contract, and left us utterly disappointed. I have never worked with any company as horrible as Premier. Premier servers could not answer questions about appetizers or entrees being served to guests, entrees were not prepared as promised despite Premier providing the options we chose (including known allergy concerns that were served to guests anyways and pasta primavera served with gray slimy peppers recycled from other entrees), Premier did not provide contractually promised items (curtains for bar, candles for tables, beer served in glasses, etc.), Premier arrived late and threw off our timeline by having dinner extend 45 minutes over schedule, and they took liberty in making changes that didn't follow our agreement. This meant we were paying for other services booked during a time we couldn't use them. This vendor claims to have a reputation that they can make anything happen for your event and that's simply not true. The first red flag should have been that they claim to have been in business for 50 years but have limited reviews from only a few years, suggesting they've rebranded, or somehow try to silence truthful reviews. We experienced attempts from Mark to force multiple options on us despite making specific requests, misogynistic remarks towards our planner and my wife, and eventually leading to 20 different proposals for them to actually get things correct on paper. This included having me drive to Premier 2 days before the event to help them do their job correctly just to have them ignore nearly everything we agreed on. At the event, the results felt so foreign that it was as if we received someone else's order. They are unprofessional, unresponsive, extremely stressful to work with and the costs are outlandish for their poor service. Finally, we eventually got through to them about botched services on our June 2023 event and they've offered a 50% refund as of 7/31/23. Thereafter, there was radio silence until we heard from Robert 1 month later just to be threatened that they'd withhold the check because we followed up too many times. As of June 2024, we have yet to see our promised refund - to the point where we needed to get an attorney involved. Mark, Tim, Robert and Celena all played a role in creating this experience, and it's truly not worth your trouble to have Premier catering at your event. Despite any retaliation or dispute on this review from this vendor, this is intended to provide an honest and truthful summary of our experience. It's too risky to even consider them for your event, so I'd encourage you to look elsewhere. read more

I hired Premier to cater a 100 person tailgate event at the White Sox game. We rented one of the Sox's "tailgate pads" and the Premier team put together an awesome pregame meal. Once Chef started that charcoal, I kept seeing our guests looking over at that grill just dying for the food to be done! When dinner was served, we were treated to burgers, chicken sandwiches and sausages. It was just awesome! I didn't have to do anything but show them where to set up and park. They handled the rest which is what you expect. It was easy and tasty! Thank you Robert! Your team was awesome! read more

Premier Catering & Events - What a spread! - Party & Event Planning Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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10/10 recommend hiring Premier Catering & Events for your wedding or special event. Robert was so easy to work with and brought great ideas to the table to ensure our wedding was perfect! The service was incredible and all of our guests couldn't stop raving about the food. We had ~250 guests and the night had no issues, thanks to Premier! read more

Premier Catering & Events - Party & Event Planning Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Premier Catering made our wedding unforgettable. The food was absolutely delicious. We are foodies and food was the most important aspect to us for our wedding. Our guests all raved about it and repeatedly asked who our caterer was. We had a chicken dish, a beef dish and a vegetarian dish which we got unprompted positive comments about. A big plus for Premier is their amazing props room (WAREHOUSE!) We were able to get chargers, an arch, wine barrels, votives and lots of other decor items from them. They brought them, set them up and packed them at the end of the night. This was a cost as well as time savings for us since we didn't have to buy and transport these items. On top of that, Robert was very accommodating and responsive throughout the planning, even offering suggestions and alternatives for decor, food, layout, timeline and logistics. It felt like having a planner and helped us a lot. The day of, everyone from premier worked hard to ensure we and our guests had a great time, making sure we always had a full plate and drink, tackling any issues that came up (string lights not staying up, guest belt breaking...). Our venue had a hard out of 11pm so we only had 1 hour to break down and clean and they worked on silently packing as the night progressed and were out in a timely manner. They are true professionals and wonderful people and we recommend them for your wedding. read more

Premier Catering & Events - Party & Event Planning Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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From the very start communication with this company was terrible. They kept forgetting we didn't live in Chicago. Our tasting was cancelled and there was no attempt for it to be rescheduled while we were still in town. That's because it was forgotten, again, that we don't live in Chicago. This took them out from being our caterer for our wedding. I would of forgotten all about them. The only issue was that we were strapped to them for our bar because they have a contract at the venue we were having our wedding reception at. Another reason I feel they didn't care about trying to have us use them as our caterer because they already knew they had us. Their prices are extremely inflated compared to other catering companies and they only provided the alcohol and mixers. No bartenders or glassware. My husband and I worked in the catering industry in Chicago and know what is prices should be at. They take advantage of the venue's location and historical aspect to create this inflation and told us that as their reason. Personally, I would have rather given the venue more money for renting the space than paying Premier an unreasonable amount of money. Spending a little over double what other caterers charged for just alcohol was really, really, really frustrating considering the other companies would provide bartenders, mixers and glassware. I would never use them again and highly suggested to our venue to reconsider their contract with them because their poor customer service reflects on to them and we loved our venue. read more

We had an excellent experience with Marti and the Premier Catering team for a recent event we did on the Southside. We had about 70 guests. While preparing for the event, I especially appreciated how accommodating they were to our needs. Marti listened and was thorough in her responses and questions --this really made me feel that the catering experience was customized for our event. At the event, the staff was great, and the food was delicious. Just as they said, people loved the shrimp skewers! Our vegetarians were very pleased with the portobello sliders and the lemon bars were a personal favorite. The amount of food was perfect. I highly recommend working with Marti and the Premier Catering team for your next event! read more

Stop your search and go with this company. I hired them for my wedding and did an EXTENSIVE search for a caterer for 100 people. Erica was a God send. She worked with my budget, gave me several options. And nearly worked as a wedding coordinator. I planned my Chicago wedding in LA and she was willing to go to the venue, without me, ask questions, take videos, send photos, and all for no additional price. She repeated time and again that she needs to be aware of everything going on, so that if anyone drops the ball she would pick it up to ensure my wedding was the best because the food and drinks is where my main investment comes. They are a one stop shop. I didn't even have to bring anything for the table settings because they have a warehouse of fantastic props to use. My table was gorgeous with what they provided. And there are even larger props to beautify the buffet table, create a selfie station, just so many things. The food for my wedding. O.M.G. My family is from Trinidad and Tobago. Chef Donna took my mom's recipes and did an excellent job bringing the Caribbean to life. If anyone knows Trini people, ya know if don't taste right, they will have words. They did it RIGHT! On the day of the wedding their execution was flawless. I left two bins with instructions on what needed to be hung on walls, placed on tables, our toasting glasses, cake cutting items, and guest table items. Erica delivered the bins to my day of coordinator to put all of these items up. She even offered before hand to do it for me versus paying a Wedding coordinator to do so. All she does is just tag on a price to labor. Imagine one hundred plus additional on your labor costs versus thousands for a wedding coordinator. Erica provided tips and additional thoughts to help me plan the wedding. Such as creating diagrams for my day of coordinator, create a layout of timing for the wedding, thinking about Plan A and B if it rained, thinking about how to make the crowd flow seamlessly through our venue. I can not recommend this dream team enough. Erica did everything with such joy and a smile. This company truly loves wedding and making the best event ever. read more

I have used Premiere Catering and Events for several years, high school and college graduations, bridal shower, and many dinner parties. They are exceptional. Marti is professional and she strives to give you exactly what you want, from casual to formal, they have it all. The food is amazing and I always get lots of compliments. I can't recommend them enough. You won't be disappointed. Carol G. read more

So after posting this review, we did hear back from the company and they offered an apology and refund. Times are tough for us all these days. I am glad that they were able to make it right. Kudos to Mark for being understanding. read more

We hired Premier Caterings and Events to cater the food for our wedding after we met Erika at a Chicago Park District event. Not only was she captivating and driven, but she was genuinely invested in her clients, and that is exactly what we were looking for. During the contracting phase, she worked well within our budget and offered a lot of things that others were not willing to provide. The food and service during our wedding was complimented by almost every guest! We decided to go with a buffet dinner, and it was exquisite! The icing on the cake was all of the props that Premier Catering and Events offers. The decorations that we were able to reserve took our venue to a new level. I have been recommending Premier Catering and Events since our wedding, and will continue to recommend this great company to anyone getting married or having an event. read more

Robert, Mark, and their teams are amazing! They catered my wedding and guests could not stop raving about the food and service - highly recommend! read more

It has been an absolute pleasure working with Premier Catering for over the years. They always deliver delicious food, incredible service and professional assistance during the months leading to the event. Thank you to talented team at Premier Catering and Events for making the 9th Annual Green Gala a huge success! read more

Premier Catering & Events - Bar Set up - Party & Event Planning Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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If you are considering Premier Catering & Events for your wedding, you may want to re-think this decision. This company sucks when it comes to providing service. We used Premier for our wedding, as they are a Preferred Vendor for the Chicago Park District venues. However, they did not come through for us. To list a small number of things that did go right would be shorter than listing all things that went wrong. (Dried out chicken breast, cold food, promised complimentary food for the wedding party, that did not happen, we paid for a full bar, they only provided beer & wine, we paid for servers, they were at the wedding but they were not serving the food, not sure why ...etc.. it was a total nightmare. We reached out to the Company nearly 3 weeks ago for resolution. Well, we are still awaiting a response. read more

My fiancé and I booked Premier for our wedding at a South Shore Cultural Center. We initially chose Premier because it was a great deal. We were able to get food, decor, and Erika's assistance for a very reasonable price. However, the food was also outstanding!! Our guests raved about the entrees, and everything was nicely presented. Erika was really a wedding lifesaver. She worked within our budget, never pressuring us to choose more expensive options. She also sweats the details. I went into the showroom for multiple pre-wedding meetings to choose decor, mockup the tables, and taste the food. Because of the attention to detail, the wedding day was FLAWLESS. read more

I have worked with Premier Catering & Events for a large parish event the last few years and they are great- easy to work with, great food and nice people. I have also attended smaller house parties with their food and it's delicious and presentation is super nice- highly recommend! read more