Wow- can't believe I haven't written a review of this iconic Bay Area family catering business! If you live in the bay there's a very high chance you've had Rafael's Catering in one of your social events. They have been around since I've been a kid and I've had the pleasure of eating their delicious grub at weddings, birthdays, baby showers (including my own), graduations, you name it! They offer a popular international menu which includes their trademark rotisserie chicken (my fave!) and several delicious Filipino entrees including pancit, menudo and a whole lechon! They also have a classic American menu (pasta, mashed potatoes, ham, chicken, roast beef, etc.). Their prices are fair and the food is so good! The owners, Joe and Frankie Santos and their family are amazing. They have a knack for simultaneously exuding professionalism and making you feel like family. Thank you Santos family for always providing A+ catering service to the Bay Area! read more

Amazing service! They handle pretty much everything! From set up to take down! $ food was soooo good!! Definitely recommend!!

Everything was great, if I can 10 Stars I would. Thank you Ms. Frankie & Chad!! I worked with Frankie to organize and she was patient and understanding. Chad set up and broke down. Awesome company to work with. Thank you for making my mom's birthday so memorable. read more

Rafael's Catering Service - Caterers Near Me - Vallejo, California

Highly recommended catering service! Amazing food, great staff and easy to communicate with. Everything was delicious! Will be returning for future events. read more

Rafael's Catering Service - Lechon was very tender and crispy on the outside with sauce provided. - Caterers Near Me - Vallejo, California

Last Saturday, June 21, 2025, we had a family Reunion at Highland Park in Vallejo, California. We had 52 guests and everyone had a wonderful time. We had our food catered through Rafael's Catering, located at 616 Nebraska St, Vallejo, CA 94590. We were not as pleased as we would have been. We ordered the full Lechon it looks nice and precut but the skin was terrible it is hard to chew, just like leather; the rest of the food was ok but disappointing. The servers that came in to dish out the food were very pleasant and respectful and I am giving them a 5, but the rest of food we ordered, we were not satisfied and I will rate the overall experience as a 3. I am disappointed with the amount of money we spent for the cost of the food as I would have expected it to be a lot better than what we received. read more

I just had a catering service from them last Friday May 2, 2025. And it is EXCELLENT and AMAZING. Everything is very good, the salad, pasta, meatballs, ribs etc was very delicious. I'm very pleased. So I want to thank you to Frankie for accommodating me even it's a short notice. She still helped me. I owe you guys. So I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this Rafael's catering. Not only they are all professional. They don't charge a lot. So I was very happy about them. Now I know who I can trust for cater. Goddess. read more

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We recently had Rafael's Catering cater our event, and we couldn't be happier. From start to finish, their team was professional. The food was absolutely delicious and beautifully presented. Our guests wouldn't stop raving about it. Special thanks to Frankie for going above and beyond to make everything run smoothly. We'll definitely be using them again and my friends will use you too in the future! Thank you again! read more

Frankie and her team are top notch and are very helpful and professional. Working with Frankie took the stress of planning for food for my daughter's 18th and graduation party. She walks you through the process. Our guests really enjoyed and complimented the food. Their menu has a lot to offer and we were able to switch out items from their available menu. Recommend you do the sample test taste so you can really see what would work for your guests. The small fee you pay is worth it. That alone was so much fun and delish! The set-up and takedown of food went as planned and on time. Will definitely use them again in our next big event! read more

Rafael's catered our baby shower and were absolutely fantastic! From the inquiry stages to the day of, Frankie was an excellent communicator and made the entire process clear and smooth. I did the International Menu for 50 guests with some modifications and received so many compliments from family about how delicious all the food was! Their team arrived on time to our venue to set up and when they returned for cleanup, they made it such a breeze. Will definitely be a returning client! Highly recommend read more

Rafael's Catering Service - Caterers Near Me - Vallejo, California

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I'm updating with the photos of the set up. ( wish we got more of the food) this was from April 2022 for my moms 80th birthday. The set up crew came on time and they set up and hour before and came after and cleaned up and packed up the left overs! I will use Rafael's again and again. read more

Rafael's Catering Service - Food was set up beautifully in my sunroom ( wish I had more photos) - Caterers Near Me - Vallejo, California

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Used Rafael's Catering for the first time for a surprise birthday party and couldn't be happier. They were on time, professional, and the whole process was smooth. Guests loved the food! Highly recommended! read more

We hired Rafael's to cater our wedding! Everybody had great compliments of the food, especially the Lechon! Shout out to Frankie, who was easy to work with and allowed us to do multiple tastings since my partner was overseas. She also helped when we had last minute cancellations and needed to adjust our order. :) Great family-owned business. Thanks for delivering amazing food for our special day! read more

Rafael's Catering Service - Caterers Near Me - Vallejo, California

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Start to finish very accommodating not only did we enjoy the awesome food the gueats kept commenting as well. They will be our go to for large gatherings from now on! Looking forqard to possibly trying other selectuons they offer too. read more

We hired Rafael's to cater my 60th Birthday and boy did they deliver a spread. The food was so delicious and was talked about and complimented long after the party . I highly recommend the International Buffet and don't forget the LECHON! I will hire them for all of my future events ! read more

Frankie took my last-minute order of lechon for my baby shower last year; their lechon was so good; it was so crispy and flavorful. And this weekend they catered for my daughter's first birthday party; they made our life easier; their staff setup everything for us and picked up the dishes after the party; our guests enjoyed the food. I would highly recommend Rafael's to cater for your next event; they are very professional and on time, and of course their food is amazing. read more

I just had my first experience with Rafael's Catering for my husband's 80th birthday celebration. I am very pleased that I went with Rafael's. Frankie was accommodating and easy to work with. After selecting the menu I wanted, the rest was up to Rafael's: setting up the food at the agreed upon time and then returning later in the day to wrap up leftovers and take down the serving trays and utensils. I went with the international menu but substituted items upon Frankie's recommendation. The food was plentiful and delicious. I definitely would consider Rafael's Catering again for big events. read more

So grateful to the Rafael's team for providing amazing food and outstanding service for a family member's celebration of life. During a heartbreaking time, your team was so gracious, accommodating and helpful to our family, and you made the process so easy. Special thanks to Farris, who was so friendly and provided excellent service with delivery, set up and pick up. We received many compliments throughout the day on how good the food was! Thank you again for being so good to our family! read more

We just had our event just this past weekend. I cannot say anything but "Wow". Frankie's girls are so respectful and so happy to conversed with them even for a few moment. They are on time, the food is amazing, they really live up to their reviews. I did not provide tin foil container for the left overs this was forgotten all together by me. They provided some, but please don't do this to this wonderful people I should have prepared ahead of time and mind you Frankie made this suggestion in the contract too. Thank you so so much for everything. We will definitely use them again for any future catering need. read more

I planned my daughter's party 10 months ahead and Frankie was amazing since day 1. Professional, prompt, great customer service, and most of all the food was DELICIOUS! I have guests coming to me asking who catered? They loved everything, from the meatballs, pancit, lechon, fresh lumpia veggies (without the wrap), salmon, SPARE RIBS, everything was so worth it! We had 150 guests and Frankie was right, there were still a lot of leftovers! Also, the people delivering/picking up and setting up the food were awesome! So friendly and helpful :-) I highly recommend Rafael's Catering Service, they are phenomenal!! Thank you soo much!! read more

We used Rafael's Catering Service to cater a wedding rehearsal dinner for close to 100 people. We were extremely happy with the customer service and delicious food. Frankie helped with menu options and event day coordination; she responded quickly to questions. On the day of the event, Joe was on time, efficient and professional. I will not hesitate to use them again. Our guests raved about the food but especially the adobo, dinuguan and mechado! read more

Rafael's Catering Service - Caterers Near Me - Vallejo, California

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I grew up in Vallejo eating raphaels catering. And was always happy with the food except 2 weeks ago i attended a party Raphaels was caterer but it was held a brewery. To my surprise that the food did not taste how ive always known Raphaels. The menudo was watery thensauce was not thick and so is the shrimp fettucine was also water down. And the rotesseri chicken had no flavor the mashed potatoe was not very pleasant. It almost feel like it wasnt the same cook from how ive known them .over the years. read more

This is our 4th time catering with Rafael, and all those 4 occasions nothing but perfection from the food to their superb customer service. Can't wait to plan another event so we have a reason to have our food catered by Rafael again. read more

Rafael's Catering Service - Rafael's Catering - Caterers Near Me - Vallejo, California

Rafael's Catering is one of the most reliable and consistent caterers I've ever had a chance to try. I've been to a few parties with them catering and it's always been great food and excellent service. More recently - yesterday - I had a chance of ordering food from them (Lechon and Dinuguan) for a private party we had with our In Laws and the food is the same as i had before in another party they catered. I ordered a week and a half ago and Frankie was the one who assisted me. The communication and on point, prompt and kind. They were very exact with instructions and accommodated my request. The Lechon was amazing! When it was picked up it was still hot and remained hot till we carved it. You can tell it was fresh and properly cooked. Also, it wasn't "carved" out and missing meat. You paid for the whole pig as what was agreed upon. The skin remained crunchy throughout the day and was moist, tender and fragrant. Most of the pig actually was so tender that i just needed to pull it apart, my brother in law actually thought it was pulled pork! The Dinuguan (Pork Blood Stew) was a surprise. I only had it once before at another event they catered and I liked it then. It's a surprise to me because this dish is one of those difficult dishes that can be great once but falls flat the next if the cook who prepares it either doesn't know what they are doing, don't have the experience in making it consistent, or just plain do not care. The dinuguan we had yesterday from them was the same excellent quality I had before. It was flavorful, rich textured and the meat and innards where fresh and properly prepared. There was no smell to it and it was the flavor I wanted, known, and grew up with. A lot of the guests that tried it raved about it. It was the first dish among 9 others that actually got finished first! It went really well with the puto from Bulakan Bakery! All in all, Frankie and the whole team was excellent. Thank you also for the extra tray of dinuguan! I should've saved it for personal consumption at the house! Lol. I gave away your information to the other guests who were very much impressed with the food and the quality of it! Thank you so much and I hope you guys continue your great service and superb quality! read more

I had been planning to work with another caterer but they stopped communicating with me so that was a sign to move on! So happy that it led me to look for another caterer and I found Rafael's! Frankie was soooooo helpful and patient with me as I navigated the ever changing plans for our 45th high school reunion. She was so responsive which made my job a lot easier! The food selection was amazing! The prices were awesome! The process was easy! On the day of the event, Tristan and Farris were assigned to come set up and they were so amazing! They came in and laid out all the food and did a fabulous job. The two of them were super polite and sweet and extremely efficient! I barely knew they were there! The food was excellent, too! Everyone loved everything. As our event was coming to an end, Tristan and Farris quietly came back in and packaged up all our leftovers, which was super helpful! They provided disposable tins and lids and cleaned everything up for us! I could not have asked for better help! I will use Rafael's again and I highly recommend them!!! Sorry I forgot to take pics of the food! read more

Want to thank you Rafaels catering!!! Wondering job on the food and presentation. Shout out to Tristan and Farris who were wonderful and so professional in there hospitality. Thank you so much for all your help in Pacifica at the moose lodge. Thank you kindly for the amazing food and your promptness and organizations. It was so nice to meet you Tristan and Farris. Thank you both guys!!! Much Love!!! read more

I have used Rafael Catering for multiple events through the years. They have always been wonderful. I hired them for an event last week and people just raved about the food and asked who was the caterer. Hiring Rafael's catering would be a huge compliment to any event. read more

We used this for my moms funeral service and they exceeded our expectations with their timeliness and professionalism. Amazing how one guy did everything. We have enough food for everybody. Best price! Food taste great! Customer relationship was excellentl! During the process. And no problem at all! read more

Best catering in the bay area. Work with Frankie and she is simply the best. We provide staffing and they the food. Great company!

So amazed on how easy it was to plan with Frankie. She gave great suggestions on what food to choose from the menu and what is practical for the kind of guests we're having for my dad's 80th birthday party. The times they promised to be at the venue and the time they said they were going to pick up the trays and utensils were exactly the times they promised. I would hire them to do our next party . The wonderful guys who brought the food were awesome and organized. Thanks Tristan and sorry I forgot the other guy's name. read more

This review is long overdue! We used Rafael's Catering a while back for my grandmother's repast held in Oakland. What can I say? There were 200 hundred people AND PLENTY OF DELICIOUS FOOD. WE absolutely could not have selected a better caterer! As you can imagine with a funeral this was a quick order and turnaround. Joe Santos was so easy to work with, making it easy for our family! I have to say that all of our needs were met. AND THE COST WAS REASONABLE!!!! If I never said THANK YOU, THANK YOU. Our menu was as follows: Pasta Salad Wild Rice Garlic Mashed Potatoes Savory Pasta Rotisserie Chicken Shrimp Fettuccine Roast Beef with Gravy Fresh Mixed Vegetables Salmon Beef Meatballs Dinner Rolls and Butter 2 Fresh Fruit Bowls read more

Booked catering services for our dad's funeral reception and Rafael's Catering Service was very communicative and accepted our orders over the phone and confirming our order online. They set up the food at the banquet hall ready to be served...we did not have to worry about anything. After the event, they helped in packing the food for us. We provided our to go boxes and all was taken care of. We would reserve catering services with Rafael's in the future. read more

Nice family owned business that accommodate to your needs with a variety of tasty food items! Punctuality was key when we hired them for our wedding last year and they MET ALL EXPECTATIONS! read more

We had Rafael's cater our daughter's wedding on May 28. The whole process was so easy, it was a joy! Frankie is delightful to work with and she was very accommodating. Our daughter's friends had some unique dietary restrictions so we needed to adapt the menu a couple of times, but it was no problem! Any questions we had were quickly answered! On the day of the reception, Joe delivered. He was actually a few minutes early, and he got right down to business. He walked me through what he'd done and what the servers needed to do, then he came back a few hours later to quickly and quietly pack things up. The food was a huge hit! EVERYONE raved about it and the lechon was not only delicious, it was quite a hit with folks who'd never seen it served! We would definitely use Rafael's again, and would recommend them to anyone in need of a great caterer! read more

Rafael's Catering Service - Lechon and trays ready to serve - Caterers Near Me - Vallejo, California

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We ordered two lechons for our wedding and they were AMAZING! Rafael's delivered them for us, which helped a ton with the planning. The pigs had so much meat and flavor. The skin was soooo hot and crispy. We had people from all over asking where the pigs were from. Great customer service, super fast response and great prices. They gained a forever customer! read more

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Rafael's Catering Service was so awesome to work with on our wedding day! Frankie was very professional and quick to respond to any questions we had. The food was AMAZING! All of our guest kept raving about how great the food was! Not only that, their pricing is very reasonable we got so much food for our money. I highly recommend Rafael's Catering Service, you won't be disappointed! read more

Outstanding food and service from beginning to end. Frankie was easy to work with, communicative, and accommodating. I asked if they could make the food gluten free by using gluten free soy sauce. I love certain dishes m, like menudo, but I usually can't eat it because of a wheat alleged. Rafael's agreed to do it and did not even charge us extra; many places charge extra for gluten free. The food was absolutely delicious. My guests raved about it. I was happy to recommend Rafael's to my guests. The delivery people were timely, communicative and professional. The presentation of the food was clean and classy. I highly recommend Rafael's. Top notch food and service for very reasonable prices. read more

Rafaels catered our wedding in Oakland Aug2022. Frankie was so helpful and communicative from start to finish. The whole process was very smooth, from tasting dishes, setting up contracts, getting food delivered, and then cleaned up at the end of the event. I will say that the food at the event was MUCH better than what we had for our food tasting-- so if you liked the tasting just know it's 10x better when it's served hot in a chafing dish! Guests were so impressed by the food, especially those who had never seen Lechon before :) Lastly - absolutely cannot beat the prices. Amazing food, professional service... it's all there. Thank you to the chef, to Frankie, and to their great team! (will add photos when we get them back from our wedding!) read more

Frankie was amazing and very responsive to my emails throughout my planning process. Cost was extremely reasonable and EVERYONE at my event loved the food. We had about 75 people show up and had ordered two trays of rotisserie chicken, shrimp alfredo, mixed vegetables, a green salad and the yummiest, softest rolls I think I've ever tasted (LOL). Even after everyone had one to two plates, there were plenty of leftovers. The two guys that came to drop off and pick up we're very friendly and professional! They even helped me pack all of the leftovers into trays to leave the food with us to continue to enjoy! Such sweethearts! At the end of the night, we still had plenty to send off as take home leftovers with our guests. Everything was amazing! Thank you SO much! You all are amazing. read more

They were the only ones who provided a large lechon with less than two weeks notice. I will order from them again in the future.

Frankie was so helpful in planning the menu for my party of 50. So easy to work with and very accommodating. The food was fabulous. Thank you for all your help. Next time we have a party, I will definitely be calling you. read more