1) Working with Marcie Wyss and her office mgr, Cindy, was awkward. Communication was only via email in long email strings. I finally had to put a timeline in a PDF so I can keep the timeline straight. 2) Beware - the agreement you sign is just an agreement with your signature and a deposit check. They'll make up their own rules later with attachments which you don't sign, which is a total sham. 3) We paid for 100 guests and we had 28 people who could not attend for one reason or another, which is a large percentage of no-shows unfortunately. Upon asking her business partner, Matt Wyss for the left-over food towards the end of our wedding reception, Matt said he saved "this" for us. "This" was a VERY small container of food. I asked Matt, "What's this" We had practically 30 no-shows and this is all you have left? Marcie assured me I would get all the left-overs and I have that in writing. He said that's what's left after feeding his staff. I said, Marcie specifically said she would NOT be feeding her staff. I was very angry. I took what they saved and left. 4) My partner also found gifts under a table. It was unfortunate that as a matter of routine, they don't have their help search under tables for items such as wedding gifts. 5) I can easily say, STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY FOR CATERING NEEDS. 6) Pic of the food to follow... read more

My fiance and I have been on the search for caterers for our upcoming wedding. Fortunately our venue has a open house every Tuesday night with the exception of the fourth Tuesday of the month. Walking into the grand room was intimidating. There were three different catering businesses present and we were greeted by a woman representing Serves you Right Catering. At first she was friendly - she handed us this big packet of information that was a bit overwhelming. I had specific questions that I wanted to ask - I didn't want to read a dissertation on the company history or any of that. When I asked her my questions, she gave me this passive aggressive attitude and said all my questions would be answered in the packet. I was really polite (considering this was my first time at this open house) and I had no intention of getting nasty at all what-so-ever. After noticing her resistance towards us, my fiance and I went to the other caterers that were present and they were more than happy to fill us in with their company and what types of accommodations they have for our guests. Prior to leaving the premises, I wrote my information down on all caterers sign in sheet to have them e-mail me additional information. I've received information from all caterers from that night and all the leading Tuesdays open houses, with the exception of Serves You Right. I did research on this company and noticed that there were a handful of negative reviews posted on Yelp from prior clients of SYR (see hidden reviews). Although the hidden reviews are hidden for a specific purpose, I couldn't resist crossing this company off my list because of the consistent problems each client had with the representative (woman that we met). All I'm aware of is that I'd hate to have to deal with a woman that can't assist, be flexible, or understanding if a family emergency were to pop up (knock on wood). The last thing that I'd want for my wedding is shelling out a few thousand dollars and having to bicker about expectations or having my day ruined. Be careful if you chose this company and trend lightly if you feel like you're walking on egg shells with Marcie. read more

Serves You Right catered our wedding two weekends ago and did an INCREDIBLE job! We couldn't have been happier with the end result and with the entire planning process leading up to the wedding. Because we chose the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park, if you want your wedding catered, you are required to use one of their approved caterers. We found SYR to be the most reasonable for the product (we didn't want to do just sandwiches!) and appreciated their candor and sincere interest in making sure our vision was accomplished. They were also one of the only companies that returned our emails when we explained our tight budget! :/ We decided to go with a vegetarian buffet even though we knew it was a little risky. I am vegetarian, but we had a lot of meat eaters attending and sometimes people don't consider it a meal unless there is at least one type of meat entree being offered. However I needn't have been concerned, all dishes were a hit! We had passed hors d'oeuvres of tiny twice baked potatoes and mini bruschetta toasts, followed by a champagne salad, local asparagus w/aioli, pesto rigatoni, vegetarian paella, and a vegetable tian. EVERYTHING WAS GOOD. We had sampled their amazing gnocchi and garlic mashed potatoes at the Brazilian Room's annual wedding fair, but hadn't tried our actual wedding menu prior to the big day, which troubled some of our family. But no trial was needed! Other things that were important to a stressed out bride like myself: Marcie answers the phone, almost every single time I called, she picked up! Incredible. And if they're not available by the phone, they will reply to your email usually on the same day. The staff is incredibly professional, friendly, and polite. EVERY staff member continued to say congrats to my husband and I throughout the evening, they also made sure we always had a full glass in hand. :) They kept their word. The initial price quoted never changed, and everything that was promised was fulfilled. I honestly can't say enough great things, SYR really made the whole wedding planning process so much easier. They will give you a recommended timed schedule of activities (when to give toasts, when to cut the cake, etc.) which helped more than they will ever know and more importantly, they will also make sure the event stays on track. The set up is elegant and they are patient with even your most obnoxious of friends and family. Thank you Marcie and staff for making our big day perfect! We are so grateful and so happy we went with you!! read more

Serves You Right Catering - veggie heaven! - Caterers Near Me

Apologies to those who wrote me requesting an update. It's been several months after our May 2008 wedding, but finally, here's the updated review ... I heartily recommend Serves You Right Catering for your wedding at the Brazil Room. They are consummate professionals. Although you may choose and alternate menu apart from what you tried at their Brazil Room Open House, and though they don't offer tastings of the menu you may ultimately choose, rest assured that the food will be delicious and plentiful. We chose a Spanish-themed menu, with seafood and vegetarian paella as the centerpiece. We had tiny passed appetizers of chorizo pastry, button mushrooms, and manchego cheese with sweet yellow and red bell peppers. Other tapas-style accompaniments included cured olives, scallop empanadas, sauteed spinach with garlic, potato salad, and asparagus. Guests were definitely able to go back, and there was still plenty of food left over. Though Marcie initially indicated that they could not prepare take-home bags with the leftovers, she surprised us with 2 large trayfuls at the end of the night. We were able to bring our own alcohol -- for a fee, you're able to drop the batch off the Thursday or Friday prior to your weekend wedding. The guidelines on how much to buy they provided were exceptionally helpful, and we ended up with not much left over at all. read more

Serves You Right Catering - Photo by Shindig Photography; yummy seafood paella - Caterers Near Me

I had one request at my wedding not to serve the guests cake until my husband and I finished cutting "the show cake". Well, that was ignored. If you want a caterer that will do the bare minimum and you don't mind excusing yourself from your new bride/groom to walk across the room and pour yourself a drink--hey. These people are for you! They will set up a bar for you and then disappear. read more

We felt confident about SYR because of their experience with our venue, Brazilian Room, and great reviews on Yelp. Marcie also has her own process down. But in any questions outside of what she was used to getting, setting up the wedding in a more personalized way, or stepping outside of her schedule, Marcie was difficult and inflexible. The vibe I was getting from her was quite cold as well. I understand creating a streamlined process for ultimate efficiency - I can respect that! But a well-run service should be capable of adapting to the needs of the situation. Especially if the situation is completely within reason. My bridal party was also concerned about my nut allergy (although I had double-checked beforehand with Marcie but they wanted to triply check) and when they tried to ask the kitchen, Marcie rudely dismissed them. read more

Review for May 13th, 2016 (Just getting around to writing this review) My wife and I booked the beautiful Brazilian Room in Tilden Park for our wedding. There were a handful of approved caterers to choose from but Marcie and serves you right was the highest rated, so we went with her. We reserved the room from 12pm - 12am and wanted to spend 4 hours (12pm - 4pm) to set up the room before Marcie and her team came to set up the food at 4pm. However, the only person that can allow us into the Brazilian room to set up, is an approved caterer. Marcie was inflexible in trying to figure out a solution, without charging us $95/hr to stand there. Food: Food was mediocre at best. We ordered the Salmon and Chicken for mains. Some dishes were over cooked, some were cold. Sides were passable with no complaints from the guests. Positives: From the beginning Marcie was easy to communicate with through email. She was quick to respond and seemed to have clear templated answers that covered most of our questions. She and her staff arrived on time and completed serving food and clean up on time. Negatives: She was not pleasant to work with in person. Attitude and arrogance. She did not take the time to ease our concerns about my wife's severe nut allergy. Did not accommodate food for guests that arrived late. Would not allow us to take left over food with our own containers Ultimately, if you're happy with the templates, and don't care about anything specific, SYR is probably the service for you. If you're looking to be taken care of on your special day, I'd recommend anyone else. read more

We hired these guys for our wedding. After confirming the date twice and giving them a $500 deposit - which they cashed - they email us to say that another couple have already booked for that date. I'm sure they will mail me a new check with the cash but I'm dissapointed with their organizational skills. The food they gave us at the tasting was OK - my fiance preferred it to me. read more

Serves You Right Catering... yes, please!!! As a novice event planner, I am always trying to find affordable and incredible ways to serve the *wow* food for my guests, and create the *wow* factor for me in my wallet. I stumbled across their reviews on Yelp! and decided to call. I spoke to Marcie who greeted me with friendly, upbeat, professionalism. I explained that I was having a open house for approximately 100 people. She asked me if she could email me a copy of their catering menu (it had pricing on it which made me very happy!) so that I could make a selection. Within minutes the email arrived. SERIOUSLY.... every single item on the menu made my mouth WATER! The menu was interesting in that it gave you many options to choose from; Seafood, Chicken, Beef & Vegetarian. The information was very easy to read and figure out how much it was going to cost me. Marcie said they had some lower priced menus too if we were really on a budget. Hands down the best caterer in the Bay Area. We've used them for boxes business lunches (AMAZING) something as typically boring as a box lunch is unbelievable. Our clients were thrilled, and really, on the average day, who get a chocolate dipped strawberry at lunch!?!? and I recently attended a wedding catered by them in Marin and it was over the top! As a bit of a hippy dippy, I love Serves You Rights Catering commitment to sustainable, local, foods. Most importantly their staff is out of this world! When I have events, I want people working who are professional and seem to like their jobs. SYR hits this mark every time. All in all a 5 star company with the quirky name. The verdict; HOMERUN!! read more

SYR served us right!! If you are booking an event at the Brazilian Room, this is the caterer you will definitely want to go with. Why? 1) We went to a few of the caterer open houses at the BR. SYR by far had the tastiest food as well as the best presentation and had the most variety of food to sample. 2) SYR does the vast majority of weddings at the BR. Why is this important? They know the BR like the back of their hand. Very fast and efficient, they kept the party moving along. This is vital since the time slot for renting the BR is relatively short (6 hours) so that means you want someone who can set up and breakdown really quickly and effortlessly so you can maximize your party time with nothing to worry about. 3) Marcie the co-owner and coordinator is a pleasure to work with. She is very structured, organized, and detail oriented but at the same time, she is very open to your ideas and is willing to work with you. Staying in contact with Marcie was no problem at all since she readily answered all our emails and phone calls (which was very often in our case) =o). 4) Lastly, all our guests kept commenting on how surprisingly delicious the food was-- as if that's rare for wedding food. Although you don't have to take my word for it. Seek them out when they do their tastings at the BR open house and see for yourself. Thanks SYR for helping make our wedding a success! read more

Serves You Right (SYR) Catering has the BEST food and the BEST staff of any catering company that I know of!!!! My husband and I were married August 7, 2010 at the Brazilian Room at Tilden Park. We had the morning slot from 9am-4pm and thus chose a lunch buffet. We attended several tastings of approved caterers at the Brazilian Room and honestly the food of the other caterers pales in comparison to SYR. During the tasting with SYR, Matt (co-owner & chef) mentioned he sun-dries his own tomatoes on racks in his own garden and I was SOLD right then and there! The penne pasta with sun-dried tomatoes is to die for it's so delicious! Marcie (Event coordinator) knew that we had 180 guests to invite and were on a very tight budget. She worked with us to meet the budget and thus we were able to meet our price point without sacrificing our overall vision. Marcie always answered my calls, responded to email promptly, and overall she made the process stress-free for me. As I was not only the bride but also my own event planner she took a huge burden off my shoulders. She also made many suggestions and provided useful vendor contacts. The day of our wedding, I had several friends who arrived to assist with centerpieces, etc. and all of them told me how friendly and helpful Marcie and all the staff were. During our reception, our guests provided well wishes, but they also went out of their way to repeatedly tell us how fantastic all of the food was! Several guests even ran after Marcie for her business card :) Friends and family who normally don't eat salad were raving about the salad & dressing!, meat eaters were raving about the vegetarian dish!, and overall everyone was trying to figure out how Matt kept the chicken so moist!! All I have to say is that our family and friends comprise some of the best cooks you'll ever meet and everyone gave SYR an A+ grade which says a lot! I could go on forever raving about how fantastic Serves Your Right Catering is, but I think by now you've gotten the point that they are AMAZING!! Thanks again Marcie, Matt and all SYR staff!!!! read more

Wow. Bride and groom zillas abound on this one. Marcie and her staff were great, invisible and helped us to have one of the best tasting weddings any of our friends had ever attended. Everyone loved the food and kept telling us so. Rare for any wedding, truth be told. I'm not fussy, so maybe I missed something, but Marcie was always quick to respond to my emails, questions and problems. I would hire them again, and might decide to do so for my 40th b-day bash. read more

SYR was so organized and friendly throughout the planning process, and the wedding day went off without a hitch. It was so nice to have someone to handle such a big chunk of the reception, and Marcie really took care of everything. We didn't have a wedding planner, so she played that role on the day of. But honestly, it wasn't until later that we realized just how awesome they were...when we couldn't really remember talking to them too much on the day of. They really orchestrated everything so well they were practically invisible. I would definitely recommend, and would definitely use them again. PS. The food was DELICIOUS. And there was so much of it! read more

Serves you right is awesome! They just catered my wedding last week at Piedmont Community Hall and they did an amazing job. I've never been married before, so really I had no idea what I was doing! Marcie was so patient with me and always returned emails promptly. The food was absolutely delicious and the set up was beautiful. Marcie made sure I had a drink and a plate within 2 minutes of walking into my reception. Serves you right staff is an upstanding bunch! We had a pretty rowdy crowd, but they kept a smile on their faces all night and kept the food and drink coming. I would definitely hire serves you right for any catering I need in the future. I did a ton of research on caterers before picking them and I'm SO glad we chose them. I honestly think they're the best! read more

My fiancé and I were looking for a spot to plan our wedding in wine country so we could get a rustic and romantic feel. We came across the Brazilian room and fell in love with how gorgeous it is. We were told we could only use one of their contracted caterers and I immediately got nervous. We were on a pretty tight budget and I was worried about cost vs quality. I started looking at Yelp reviews and went with SRY because of their reviews and prices. I had not been out to do any tastings so I was truly putting the utmost trust in the reviews, but I honestly kept thinking "their prices are too good to be true m-they're probably going to suck and my wedding will be ruined because we are budgeting too much." We signed the contract and from day one Marcie was extremely helpful (and patient because as you can tell I was a nervous bride). We worked through menu options, she helped me with my idea of a fall apple cider sangria (which was the hit of the night-they did a great job ), she recommended people for me to work with (Dj, coordinators, rentals,etc) and helped me With my rentals and gave recommendations (most saved me money while still providing elegant atmosphere!). I sent a million emails and she replied a million times and quickly-she is one organized lady! Needless to say the reception was more than I could have ever imagined. People LOVED the food (we had the chicken and trip tip with roasted potatoes and asparagus). I still keep hearing about the hour d oeuvres-and Marcie had my fiancé and my food ready and waiting for us at our table with a plate of the hours d oeuvres (she said brides and grooms always forget to eat and made sure we did). The food was amazing-fresh, perfectly cooked and delicious. I cannot recommend SRY catering enough. They were amazing-do not let the prices fool you. When you book with them you aren't just getting food, you really get the full package of assistance that you don't get anywhere else. read more

SYR catered our wedding at the Brazil Room 2 weeks ago. The food was excellent and they were very easy to work with. Marcie is super organized and they know the venue inside and out. They were able to accommodate all our little requests without any problems and the day went off perfectly. We went to multiple open houses at the Brazil Room and tasted food from almost all of the approved caterers... SYR was by far the best food even though they are one of the cheaper options. Would recommend to anyone. Had to upgrade to 5 stars after the compliments on the food came pouring in. One friend said all she wanted for the next two weeks were those "delicious shrimp." read more

Marcie was easy to work with. We had our wedding at Brazil room in April 2016. Pro: easy to work with, almost all communication was through email. Food was great, no complaints from guest, they enjoyed the buffet style prime rib and salmon selection. Marcie was our wedding coordinator, how convenient is that?! Affordable. Friendly staff. Con: the staff set up the wrong number of tables, when I arrived i had to inform them they were missing a table. They were able to quickly add the 12th table. read more

I officiated two ceremonies this weekend at the Brazil Room at Tilden Park in Berkeley. The second was catered by Marcie Wyss and I couldn't help but notice how calm and organized and prepared her people were compared to what I had seen just the day before (I didn't notice the name of the other catering company). It was well before the reception and Marcie and her people were busy in the room but moving about quietly and calmly; I could enjoy the peace and beauty of the place even while they worked. The previous day was characterized by noise and haste and restriction, even a hint of chaos. Not so Marcie and her crew. That's the way it should be done! Reverend Tim Mills read more

I am so happy that I chose Serves you Right for our Brazilian Room wedding. Marcie was more helpful than she needed to be. They have easy online forms to fill out at your leisure. Marcie is so easy to contact by phone or email. She helped me even with things that didn't involve catering. In fact she pretty much ran the show and I didn't have a wedding coordinator. They were that on top of their time lines and business. I couldn't believe it. Marcie even came and gave me and my husband a plate in the room we were catching our breath in after the ceremony. I think my husband and I were both overwhelmed with all the attention and guests. She gave us some great advice and we felt more confident about just enjoying the day and just being so happy that we were married. Both sides of the wedding kept complimenting us on how good the food was. Saying things like, "wedding food is usually blah, but I loved everything!". They even accommodated some family members with pretty unusual dietary restrictions. Marcie made everything so simple that I want to get re-married again! Haha....well maybe not anytime soon. :) Thank you so much for making my wedding amazing! I can't thank you enough for all your help. Tiffany read more

We had Serves You Right cater our wedding in September at the Piedmont Community Hall. To this day, guests still tell me how good the food was. Serves You Right was able to accommodate a wide variety of dietary needs (vegan, gluten free) while serving very tasty and non-generic food for us meat-eaters and vegetarians! Marcie was a pleasure to work with. Throughout the event she checked in on me and my new husband to make sure we had everything we needed and that our glasses were topped off. They worked well within my day of timeline and were ready to go when the ceremony was finished. When everything was said and done, they left the space as they found it - which was all I could have asked for. Having Serves You Right recommended by a friend was the best suggestion for a caterer ever. We were getting very frustrated with the catering selection process and found a lot of caterers in the Bay Area stopped returning our emails and phone calls when we started to discuss our budget (which was not cheap, but we still had a budget to consider). We did not have this issue with Serves You Right. They were very upfront about costs and it was greatly appreciated. Do yourself a favor and end your frustrating wedding caterer issues with Serves You Right. read more

Serves you Right did a wonderful job for our wedding at the Brazilian room the last weekend in September. Working with Marcie was easy (very responsive during the planning process), the food was delicious and the staff were so helpful. The gnocchi was one of our guests favorite thing on the menu so I highly recommend it! Additionally, if you are getting married at the Brazilian room, SYR knows that venue so well which makes planning a wedding much easier. If you are considering doing candles at the Brazilian room, I recommend using SYR's candles due to the candle policy (we didn't and regretted it later). read more

We hired Serves You Right Catering for our wedding reception, and they were amazing!! People have not stopped raving about the food.. and I have a very picky family! Everything was very easy to set up with Marcie. She gave great advice, was very responsive to emails, and was a pleasure to work with on the day of. They also had great vendor recommendations. We are so thrilled with our choice to hire Serves You Right Catering and we 10/10 recommend them! read more

Serves You Right and their team did an incredible job at our recent wedding in Berkeley. They set up a beautiful buffet, and almost every one of our wedding guests that attended our reception mentioned that it was the best food they have ever had at a wedding, and it was! Their menu is very dynamic, and the price is right. Aside from the delicious meal, their staff was friendly, professional, and very responsive to our planning needs. Simply put, they are the best at what they do, and if we were going to do it all over again, we'd still choose them again! Great job! read more

This is a very late review. I've been meaning to write this review since my wedding day. As it is nearing my 3 year wedding anniversary, I've been reminiscing about that day. Serves You Right catered our wedding. Here are the things that I have not forgotten and still comes up in conversation: Food was delicious. None of our guests were allowed seconds and were served small portions. We ordered extra food and even had atleast 15 people not show up so there should have been plenty of food. Marcie yelled at my husband and I when we asked her if our DJ ate. When we asked him, he said no and he was never told to get food. When we kindly asked Marcie, she threw a fit and said that she told him to eat before everyone else. We looked at each other in shock because we could not believe that she was yelling at us on our wedding day. We weren't even being difficult. We just wanted to make sure that all of our vendors ate. We payed extra for each of them to eat. Our videographer and his crew didn't get to eat and we did not know until later when the food was gone. Marcie never told the videographers to get food. I spoke to her beforehand on the day of and leading up to the wedding about this and she assured me that she would let all of them know to eat and would make sure that they were fed. Marcie was nice leading up to the wedding but she was very rude the day of the wedding. Did she tell anyone that they've been having trouble with their mail and to be sure to send our payment in right away? Long before the due date? If I could change anything about that day, I would have hired a different caterer for my wedding. Marcie was not nice to us or our guests. read more

Thank you so much to Marcie and Matt for making our wedding delicious and easy-going. SYR was very helpful in coordinating everything for the day of our wedding and keeping us on track for our timeline. They were very familiar with the venue and were able to answer all of my questions prior to the big day. Our guests loved the food and drinks, and SYR was very accommodating for dietary needs. 5 star business that I would recommend to anyone in need of professional, punctual, and tasty service! read more

Missing one star because the whole process isn't over yet. Our wedding will be in November 2016, I will write an updated review after. So far everything is going smooth. We met with Marcie during an open house in BR back in Jan. Her and her staff were very professional. Corra, who has been working with them for years was great, not only towards us, but to everyone that was there. We didn't book with them right away, because we wanted to see other options first. After communicating with other caterers we realized that SYR is the best option for us. We chose a seated dinner over buffet style. We will be getting tri-tip, stuffed chicken, asparagus, vegetable tian, and smashed potatoes. The only thing we tasted during the open house were the side dishes, which makes us a little nervous for the meats and the hors d'oeuvres. But we figured that if what they had during the open house were tasty, then everything else must be good. I will definitely do a detailed review regarding the food, service, etc after the wedding! read more

PROS -- Food was wonderful! This food should be given 5 stars. It was well prepared and well displayed. I was very pleased. The serving staff was very nice and helpful. Marcie prepared a special meal for the bride and groom to take with them as they left (as we had requested). She did allow us to serve beer from kegs even though she made it quite clear that she did not prefer this. She helped us light candles on the centerpieces the day of the wedding which was very helpful. When the food ran out during the reception she was able to add a nice bowl of pasta to the buffet table. This was appreciated. CONS -- The price for the buffet was not as it was represented. The price was set by the price of the entrees we selected The price actually was $5 higher per person than the two entrees we selected.....we weren't aware of that until the final payment was billed to us. Also I was sent an email that my second installment (payment) was late weeks before it was due! We wished Marcie would have been a bit easier to work with. She was not very flexible. The price we paid included cutting and serving the wedding cake....but we did not have a wedding cake and she would not serve donuts and biscotti that we provided (we provided the platters also). She was not happy to serve beer from kegs (as the bride and groom wished) and would not set them up or tap them. She required that we provided the tubs and ice and we set up the kegs ourselves. The bartender was also not at the bar several times during the reception. I did not like that guests had to serve themselves!!!! She asked months prior if we were okay with the bar being left unattended and I told her that I was not....so it surprised me that this happened. The buffet was very nice but the tri-tip and salmon were gone very quickly and we were told that "there was no more". This was quite different than her description of her services, "Your guests will be able to go to the buffet for more than one visit. Your guests will be surprised the food is like a fine restaurant meal and will often have seconds or even thirds." I don't believe that our guests were "big eaters" so I found this troubling. Also, I looked for Marcie to give her the tips for her servers and was told that she had already left! I would think she would have stayed to make sure that all was done well. She does charge for the set up and clean up time (2 hours prior and 1 hour after) and I paid overtime charges to include this. If she wasn't going to stay I think it would have been nice for her to say goodbye and thank us for using her company! ALL THE OTHER VENDORS did this. Since the food was by far our biggest expense I feel very disappointed. read more

This is a limited review for just the initial communications with Marcie. We ended up going another route with the ethnic type of food we wanted for our wedding, however I was still really impressed with Marcie's communication. Out of over half a dozen caterers that we initially contacted in order to get questions answered, quotes, etc. Marcie was one of the quickest and most detailed in her responses, and also gave us feedback on the two different venues we were considering and comparing. Plenty of other caterers waited 5, 7, or 10 days to get back to us, if they responded at all. By that time I had already had about three rounds of communications with Marcie. I felt immediately comfortable with her. Just based on comfort level and communication (which, actually, my guidebook says should be the #1 factor for choosing vendors) 5 stars. read more

SYR is great! We used them for our wedding at the Brazil Room two weeks ago and everything was amazing. We heard from lots of people that they loved the food. We went with them because 1) they prepared the food on-site instead of transporting it from somewhere else 2) they had different price packages (we were on a budget) and 3) the food tasted the best out of all the caterers we tried at the Brazil Room Open House. Marcie was so easy to work with. She is very responsive to emails and makes the whole wedding planning process stress free. read more

SYR catered our wedding at the Brazil Room and we couldn't have been happier. Marcie is extremely organized and detail-oriented, which helped everything run extremely smoothly and kept stress levels low. She was very responsive and thorough by email. In fact, we planned the entire thing by email, which worked out fantastically with our busy schedule. The food itself was wonderful.. we're still receiving compliments on it! The salmon was a huge hit; even my husband's mother was raving about it and she purportedly hates salmon. All of the staff were very sweet and helpful during the event. They really went above and beyond to make sure that everything was perfect. For example, we were planning to serve mulled wine as our choice beverage for our March wedding, assuming it would be a chilly day. The day before the wedding, it was forecasted to be 75 to 80 degrees in Berkeley, and Marcie emailed me suggesting we switch to Sangria and to let her know if I agreed so she could buy the fruit at the farmers market. This struck me as really thoughtful and I felt that she truly wanted to make sure that the menu / offerings were coherent and enjoyable for our guests. I have to say, working with SYR was probably the least stressful part of the entire wedding planning process. I would hire them again in a heartbeat! read more

We booked SYR catering for our wedding last week and loved the food and service! From the beginning, Marcie and her staff were very organized and communicated every detail with us up front. We feel that their prices were the most reasonable compared to most catering companies. We had our wedding at the Brazilian Room and SYR is pretty comfortable with the space and rules so that made my organizing easier. It is a bummer they don't accept credit cards but to be honest, most wedding oriented anything wants cash....plus in the long run, I'm glad we didn't put that cost on a credit card. YAY SYR!! -Sarah read more

Superb job by Serves You Right Catering at my daughter's Brazil Building wedding on Sunday!! The food was absolutely delicious, bountiful, and also looked beautiful, and we received many compliments on it. It's hard to decide what we liked best, but definitely the vegetable paella was a big favorite. Perhaps equally important (though I did not know this when selecting them), SYR's experience really did shine at the event -- organizationally everything went smoothly and Marcie and crew never missed a beat. After the ceremony, guests magically had their drinks, appetizers were being passed, and chairs somehow reappeared at the tables inside. Soon we were inside and tables were being called to the luscious buffet. Marcie was also very responsive in the planning stages, and her experience kept this process efficient and manageable. I went to one tasting event at the Brazil Building, but after that, communication and decision making was by email, with an occasional phone call on my part. Among other things, I appreciated that pricing was straightforward and easy to understand -- all the elements for a lovely event were included, with no surprises. We were in good hands with Serves You Right Catering -- in terms of food, planning, and execution on the big day!! read more

We found Serves You Right at the Brazilian Room's open house for caterers. We went to a couple of these tastings and you could tell that SYR is step above the rest. Not only did their food look pleasing, they had several options to try and it gave us a true idea of how delicious their food truly is. With more research through reviews we knew SYR was the right choice for us. It rained on our wedding day, SYR has done so many weddings at the Brazilian Room I didn't have to worry about them adjusting to the weather. The waiters were all very professional and helpful. Our guests still are telling us how much they loved dinner. SYR's coordinator Marcie brought us appetizers and dinner to our table which was so nice because as the bride and groom you can easily forget to eat. For hors d'oeuvres we ordered the sausage lollypops, sesame crusted salmon bites, and creamy goat cheese with fig jam. For salad we had the young field greens, roasted garlic vinaigrette and classic Mac and Cheese, my favorite! Side dishes were Mediterranean fruit salad and my husband's favorite dish of the night, the Vegetable Tian. You can tell who is the healthy one. Lol. For protein, Sonoma Chicken and Tri Tip. Honestly everything we ordered was delicious. I definitely recommend Serves You Right to anyone planning a large event. I would definitely use them again and recommend to friends. read more

I have never written a bad review since I became a yelper a couple years ago. I usually believe in the good of people and give them the benefit of the doubt. I really didn't want to write a bad review for SYR, but how many chances can one get to fix a problem? So here we are, five months after my wedding and this catering company has done nothing to fix the problems that occurred that day. Marcie, the owner of Serves You Right and her team definitely served us WRONG on our wedding day at The Gardens at Heather Farm. First of all, we chose SYR because we attended two different food tastings and both times, they were great. However, on our wedding day, the food that we so long awaited for was horrible! The Asian style green beans were wilted, dried and chewy! The green beans tasted like they had been sitting for hours! Our Sonoma chicken breast was also dry. Nothing like a Sonoma chicken should taste, which is moist and full of sauces. The chicken was so dried and unflavored that I had to keep drinking champagne to wash it down. I had three bites and gave up. I tried my husband's tri-tip, hoping I could eat a good, juicy piece of meat. Whadayaknow, it tasted like rubber! I gracefully spit the meat into a napkin and kept my composure. All I had for dinner was two petite red potatoes, which to my surprise, was the only good thing to eat for the evening. I tried my hardest not to be pissed on my wedding day; after all, it was supposed to be the happiest day of my life! At the end of the evening, we found a case (11 bottles) of wine, which was corked and sitting outside on the balcony. We wondered why these bottles were opened but never served. We took a picture of the wine on our phone and sent it to Marcie. We left the opened bottles at the venue since there was no point in taking the bottles with us. The next day Marcie replied and said she will refund us our money. Anyhow, when we got back from our honeymoon, we never received a check from SYR. I was so dumbfounded when they accused us of giving away the bottles of wine to our guest. I did, however, give away a couple unopened bottles of sparkling wine. Yet, they made a dumb assumption that those were the opened bottles. This was the beginning of our nightmares. We slowly got word from our family members and friends that they also had complaints about the food and services of SYR. One of the biggest complaints was that Marcie and her staff never served their gluten-free menu that they promised. My mother-in-law and pastor's wife are celiacs (can not eat wheat-based foods, i.e. gluten-free) and we informed Marcie of this during our pre-wedding meetings. She said that there wouldn't be a problem and she would have a separate menu for them. On the wedding day, the servers didn't know anything about a gluten-free meal when asked about it. I couldn't believe my own mother-in-law wasn't able to eat at our wedding! When I complained about the dried green beans she blamed us for going over our scheduled dinnertime and said she had to re-heat the beans, and that was why they were wilted. For a company that's been in business for over 25 years, I can't imagine not being prepared for delays. When told about the dried meats, she fired back and said that I should have let her know about the dried meat and she would have found a moist piece for me. First of all, EVERYONE complained that the chicken and tri-tip was dried. Second, if this was my wedding day and the bride is serving herself, shouldn't their staff have the best chicken out there in the buffet line? Marcie did not once apologize to me for the horrible food. Instead she blamed me for not speaking up about it when I had the problem. I wasn't going to make a scene on my wedding day, because I thought that it was just me, and I was being a picky bridezilla. But when I found out after the fact that everyone else had some sort of horrible experience with the food or service, my husband and I decided to confront Marcie through emails. She said that several of my guests told her personally that the food was amazing. Of course, she didn't give me any names or descriptions. This woman is delusional and I don't understand why she is still in business today. One of my bridesmaids told me later that she was looking for water. Instead of getting some or having a server get it, Marcie told her to find it upstairs and help herself. One of my other friends complained of constantly having to look for someone to give them champagne flutes without any chips on the rims. Their contract stated, "No pitchers or chipped and worn serving ware will be used at your event." What a violation of contract, SYR! Wish I can tell you more, but I have reached my limit. They ruined my wedding day and continue to be in full denial of any wrongdoing. Don't waste your money and be fooled by SYR. There are way better companies out there that will respect you as consumers and are willing to listen and make you happy. From the Bride. read more

The food at my wedding was absolutely delicious and that was the point. The price was very affordable considering how good the food was and the quotes we received from other Bay Area Caterers. The service was wonderful day of and the staff was friendly and kind. Clean-up went off without a hitch and if you're getting married at the Brazilian Room, and on a budget you're going to want that deposit back. Serves You Right is hands down the best budget friendly option hands down. read more

The food at their tasting was okay. Food wasn't a huge priority for us and we were on a budget, so we decided to go with Serves You Right. Two months AFTER paying a deposit, Marcie informed us that our date was no longer available and that she would refund the money. I was confused, so I e-mailed and told her I thought the deposit was meant to hold our date. She said another bride had to change her date, and that she had booked before us. This caused a lot of stress and wasted time, so I would not recommend this catering company (as it seems they have done this sort of thing before). read more

Marci catered our birthday party for nearly 100 people. She handled all the arrangements quickly and efficiently by email. The day of the party staff was there on time to set up. Tables and food were attractively laid out. Marci and her staff try hard to please and made useful suggestions about getting guests to the buffet and organizing the flow. Although the venue had very limited kitchen equipment, the food came out warm and on time. I wasn't so happy about the food. The salad didn't have the ingredients we agreed on. I had asked her to leave out the feta cheese, and she got that right, but the roasted carrots and spicy pecans were not there and little tomatoes were in it instead. Guests said they enjoyed the food, so either they were being polite or my standards are higher. Roasted Salmon was cut into much smaller servings than the size shown on their website page and the vegetable paella was a great deal of fluffy rice with a few small pieces of carrot and other veggies here and there. The green beans were excellent. On the whole, I fear several guests were refused larger portions and went away hungry. Although I asked to take home leftovers, the staff took them home instead. read more

Serves you right sounds like they are going to have some smart-alecky type of help but they were polite, friendly and professional. The food was good too. read more

I didn't actually use SYR catering for my wedding, however my experiences with them were pretty dismal. First of all, they told me they only do tasting at the Brazilian Room open house days. Being from out of town I could never make it to the Tuesday tastings so instead I had to send a family member as an emissary. All other caterers I came in contact with were more than willing to do a private tasting on the weekend. Second, when I wanted to meet with SYR to discuss potentially using them at my wedding Marcie suggested I meet with them at the Brazilian Room a couple of hours prior to a wedding they were catering. This was really bizarre to me since it seemed like we would be potentially meeting with them while they were supposed to be setting up for someone else's wedding, but I agreed to it anyway. Third, two days prior as I'm at the airport about to fly out to the west coast from the east coast to meet SYR I get an email from them telling me they are no longer available for my wedding date. This came out of nowhere and I was super shocked since I was flying all the way from the east coast (which they were aware of) and they dropped my appointment just like that. There was no initial heads up that there were other people interested or anything. Really horrible experience dealing with them from out of town. read more

We were just married, at the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park, and this company is one of only about 15 options if you are having an event there. We got to taste a couple of things at a Brazilian Room open house (they don't do private tasting), but it was excellent. We butted heads with them over the location and staffing of the bar (we provided our own bartender, kegs and jockey box, since their employees don't serve from kegs). Between the two of us and our event coordinator, we went back and fourth with them for about a month, before getting it where we wanted...out on the patio, not inside crowding tables. Aside from this, we were told by Marcie that the Brazilian room doesn't allow wine on the tables, which we found out from the Brazilian room, was completely false.... I can only guess this was an attempt to charge us for another server, or merely to keep things as simple as possible for she and her staff. On the day of the event, Marcie and the staff seemed supportive and professional, until we spoke to our friend who was pouring beer. Apparently, Marcie was rude to her and not very helpful. Overall the food was excellent, but the communication was misleading at times and not that friendly. We felt one should not have to fight against or convince, someone that they are paying for a service, to get what they want. We are both pretty even keeled people, and not hard to deal with or demanding, so you must weigh your options...good food and headaches, or find a different caterer, with good food as well. The only addition I have to this is that 3 weeks later, upon our return from our honeymoon, I was greeted by a nasty voicemail from Marcy, trying to bully me into changing our post. She in no way tried to engage in a dialogue about our issues with her company, instead she started by say, "I haven't read your review, and I refuse to", and then proceeded to misquote what I'd said, such as saying I made her bartender cry by what I said, when clearly TO ANYONE WHO READ THE REVIEW I commented on HER, not their bartender. Not only did she speak from a place of ignorance, she went as far as to call my sister-in-law (who had acted as our wedding coordinator), trying to get her to post something discounting our review, due to us being crazy (apparently is you don't bow to her amazing presence, that's your label)... It's my wife's sister! First off, she agreed with us, secondly she then told us things we hadn't heard of yet, examples: 1) Family and friends were told the food ran out. Not only did we have 6 no shows out of 121, family members saw Marcie's employees leaving with to go packages of our food. 2) Due to the fact we didn't want one of their 2 choices of seating, but wanted something slightly different from one option (for which we created a 'to scale' plan, to show we were allowing at least 4 feet between tables), when my sister-in-law, mother and mother-in-law showed up to decorate tables, she told Shannon, "I set it up our way, if you want it different, you must move the tables yourself". This company is not a 'caterer', they are a provider of food who have little interest in CATERING to the desires of the people who are paying them thousands of dollars. read more