Vonderhaar Catering

We used Vonderhaar’s Catering for our wedding in July, and they were great! Jan was very responsive and flexible during the planning process; this was especially important since we were planning across state lines. The team accommodated several tastings, since we needed to make decisions in stages. Jan kept our contract up-​to-​date, even with small changes, so we always knew what our current quote was. The bid and contract were sufficiently itemized to clearly indicate where costs were coming from. We were allowed to choose as much or as little from Vonderhaar’s as we wanted (we chose to bring our own liquor, wine, and desserts — no problem).
The day-​of service was awesome. We got compliments on the food, drinks, and staff. All staff that I interacted with were friendly and flexible. Honestly, the only complaint I have is that tip jars were left out on the bar (I think that’s tacky at an open-​bar event and didn’t know to ask in advance that there be no tip jars). Aside from that, I was all smiles!

I can’t say much about their catering but this is your one stop for liquor. They have a huge selection and are priced decently.

On very short notice, I called Vonderhaar’s to cater a holiday lunch for my office three days before the event. They have an extensive and very affordable menu, so we opted for the traditional pasta bar at $ 11.95/head. The service to place the order was fantastic — easy, quick, friendly, and she made sure to follow up with me via email so I had the contract waiting for me as soon as we were finished with the call.
The delivery was a few minutes early, and they set everything up beautifully without me having to lift a finger. The quality of the dishware they provide is much better than I expected, and staff gushed about how great the food was, especially for having been delivered! Portion sizes were generous, and we had some leftovers for lunch the next day, which even reheated well!
We’ll definitely be considering Vonderhaar’s as an option for future catering needs.

We love vonderhaars! We used to go here all the time when we lived in reading, they have a nice little grocery/​liquor store. We love there fresh cut steaks and home made potato salads. This place has amazing quality at very reasonable prices you must give it a shot if you in the area. We have also have used there catering service for about 70 people and it was very good everything was warm and delicious!

Vonderhaar Catering makes wedding planning easy! I am having my upcoming wedding at Cooper Creek (in July). We went to a private tasting with Don. He was extremely professional and answered all of my questions. He was easy to work with and very resourceful. On top of that, the food was wonderful!
Wedding planning can stressful and it is really great when you come across a vendor that you feel 100% confident in working with-Vonderhaar’s was JUST THAT!

We met the staff of Vonderhaar’s at the Wendy’s Bridal Show, they were friendly, interested in working with us, and as a result, we set up a consultation. As we are having a destination wedding and just a party here in Cincinnati, we were hoping to pull off food for a reasonable price. To boot, our families aren’t all that adventurous when it comes to eating so I was fine with their more budget friendly items like the pasta bar. Ultimately this is what we went there to try.
The interactions with the staff were smooth, efficient, and professional at first. This was one of the 6 places our party venue allows us to have catering from, and all was looking good. The food was fine, but not all that impressive, and despite this, in the end, I ended up being pretty turned off by our experience there.
In part it was because as we entered (into a bit of a slimey liquor store/​deli?) we were walked to the back where I saw LOTS and LOTS of canned food. See the earlier statement about my family and guests likely being fine with this, but sadly I’m a bit snobbier of a food person to want canned EVERYthing. I don’t know if they use a mix of fresh and canned (as is probably likely) but our offerings felt largely preserved and not fresh. The chicken, for example, I’m pretty sure was frozen. If not, the color and cut wasn’t appealing and should be reconsidered.
So the food really was ok, the canned food usage could have been fine, but the quote we got made this all less tolerable (almost $ 800 over our wedding food quote that is MUCH higher quality and local food-​though to be fair, in a different market). Nevertheless, this was shocking. I do believe that we might have been able to negotiate some of the expensive pieces out of the proposal, but when I tried to go down this avenue (which was, btw, suggested when we were there– aim high and then cut) I felt I was met with more attitude than desired. As an example, we ended up buying all of the plates, cutlery, cups, and napkins (the exact ones we would have purchased through Vonderhaar but cheaper via Costco) and I was told that I’d have to supply examples of these choices by them since my poor choice in plates might reflect badly on them. Huh? (Did I mention they were exactly the same items they offered us? Oh. I did!)
Maybe I just got annoyed with the high price for what I felt was just mediocre food, but by the time our conversation got to the point to work out a contract, I was pretty uninterested in working with Vonderhaar. To each their own, perhaps, but if you’re food doesn’t sell itself, you really do no favors to your business by suggesting that my choices could cheapen your product. (As a point of reference, I ran this by our destination caterer-​who suggested we buy our own flat wear to save on cost– and she felt this was not standard for the industry, and probably poorly presented, at best).
I see that a lot of people like Vonderhaar’s but I couldn’t recommend them at all. Decent first impression but the lack of ability to kindly and professionally negotiate the deal was very off putting to me!

We recently had Vonderhaar’s catering for our outdoor wedding in May.
From start to finish, Don and his staff were extremely professional, thoughtful and fantastic to work with. We were able to pick several items off the established menu, but they were also willing to create items specifically for us. During the tasting, we were allowed to try whatever items we wanted and Don and his staff were extremely patient with us when we went back and forth tweaking the contract and changing out items. They were extremely quick at communicating and turning things around for us as well. They were very accommodating and willing to work with our budget and really help us make the day what we wanted.
One of the greatest things about Vonderhaar’s was how they helped us with the bar. They provided the essentials, but we were able to add in whatever other wine, champagne, liquor that we wanted, and they only charge for what they open from their stock. They even recreated a recipe for a signature drink for us and had a tasting for just the drink to make sure they’d done it right!
Their menu, at first glance, may not seem super upscale, but we shopped around for a few caterers and the quality of food from Vonderhaar’s could not be beat. (And they are more than happy to create custom items for you as well!) The food was fresh, the service was great, and even the set up and decorations they had were tasteful, fun and very cute! Don and his assistant actually worked our event and made sure that we were happy the entire evening (but without being a nuisance at all).
If I had it to do all over again, I would definitely use Vonderhaar’s Catering and am so happy to have worked with a company that so obviously appreciated our business. If you go with Vonderhaar’s, you won’t be sorry!

Planning my wedding has been fairly painless, the only speed bump we’ve been hitting is that my fiancé’ and I are vegan and everyone else is… not. So we thought finding a caterer for the rehearsal dinner might be difficult. My mom suggested we all do a tasting at Vonderhaar’s, she talked with them through a few emails and found out their marinara sauce and noodles are vegan. We went up to their location, which is several buildings including a market, a creamy whip, and a building devoted to their catering service. We sat down with Don Vonderhaar and talked about a meal proposal while sampling the food. The pasta with veggies was delicious and Don was very professional and friendly. He was very accommodating of our vegan diet and even brought us the part of the breadstick box with the ingredient list on it so we could check it ourselves. On top of all that, their prices are very reasonable. We’re definitely booking with them for our rehearsal dinner.

This is a great lunch spot, if you’re looking to just grab something and go.
They make amazing sandwiches at amazing (read cheap) prices! It’s a small convenience store as well as a deli. That means they also have salads, cole slaw, potato salad, fruit, all sorts of sides if you want a nice healthy lunch. They even make their own chicken salad!
You can pick your toppings, bread, meat, cheese, everything is custom made to order, yummy, and filling! Bonus, its good for you too.
The place is behind the catering building, so just watch out for that. But a great little shop! oh, and they sell liquor too :)