Catering By Michaels

I ordered from Michaels yesterday for Break the Fast. Delivery was great and the driver, Jose was very friendly and helpful. I followed all instructions that they sent with the food. I ordered The Best Smoked Fish Basket, Fruit Basket, Vegetable Basket and the Feta and Cranberry Salad. The bagels were hard, the vegetables in the basket were stale some of them I had to pick out before I served it. My daughter told me later that she had a piece of brocoli and it tasted horrible. The noodle kugel was very loose. All in all I was very disapointed.
I called Michaels today and was told the manager Jeff was in a meeting and would call me back. When I had not received a call back by 5 I called again. I then got a call from David asking me what was wrong. I explained everything to him and he argued with me that the bagels were fresh and they could not have been hard. He offered me a credit on the vegetable basket. Then told me he would send me something for a future date. I told him I would not be ordering from them again. At that point he said he was sorry and goodbye. My thought was he should not have argued with me about the bagels and also should not have blamed his trucks because maybe they were to cold. He should have just offered me a credit for the Fish Basket that came with the bagels. Very poor customer service. I don’t think they really care!!! Don’t order from here if you want a caterer who cares about his customers.

Mother’s Day dinner could not have been better or easier! Their menus are enormous but thanks to the salesperson (can’t remember her name) she planned a great menu that was easy to prepare. Most items came finished and displayed beautifully, everyone raved about the Mahi with tropical fruit relish, the chimi potatoes were amazing and on and on. easy ordering and great delivery staff.

I contacted a few caterers when looking for someone to do a simple «disney themed» menu for my children’s birthday party. I chose Catering by Michael’s since they were the most responsive and the most affordable. AND I happen to love Michael’s* in HP, although discovered post party that they haven’t been affiliated with them in 15 or so years. Oops. The only thing that Michaels in HP and Catering by Michael’s in Morton Grove has in common is that they both make delish food.
Emily Proia was the event consultant I worked with and she was great. She always responded to emails and phone calls within minutes and somehow seemed to whip up a proposal within minutes.
I had figured out the menu I wanted before contacting caterers and she was very helpful & realistic about what was possible. and what would be too costly. We ended up with the following menu:
* Cinderella’s spinach dip (served in a pumpkin)
* Mickey Mouse’s Hot Diggity Dogs (small hot dogs)
* Gus’s Grilled Cheese (in the shapes of flower and stars, which delighted my daughter)
* Jungle Book Salad
* Magic Wand Pretzel Rods (they personalized these with my kid’s names and they were a huge hit. They seemed to disappear instantly)
* Decorated shortbread cookies in the shape of crowns, pumpkins and mickey mouse
I had trouble figuring out quantities since you never know how much little children will eat, but Emily did her best to help me figure it out. We probably could have used more grilled cheese and less salad, but for the most part she got it right.
The delivery guy was right on time and very helpful in terms of showing us how to setup the warmers for the food. I ended up just taking back the warmers myself to save on the delivery charge, although if I had realized then they were in Morton Grove (vs the Michael’s in Highland Park) I may have just paid the extra charge.
Being the hostess of the party I didn’t get to eat much, but the small hot dog, salad and cookie I tried were delicious. And I’m guessing the grilled cheese and pretzel rods must have been good too since they disappeared faster than the fairy godmother whipped up a dress for Cinderella.
I’ll definitely be calling Catering by Michael for future party needs!
*

I had my wedding at Independence Grove, and it was catered by Michael’s. I have had at least 15 guests tell me that it was the best food they’ve ever had at a wedding, and I completely agree. Everything, from start to finish, was perfect. Everything was hot, fresh, cooked perfectly, perfectly seasoned. I had a great experience during the planning phase as well. I found Michael’s to be very responsive and helpful in terms of their suggestions, and they accommodated food allergies, which was really important for us. I really am so impressed, and I highly recommend them to anyone planning a wedding.

I have had nothing but exceptional service and food from CBM. My family has used «A Tray to Remember» service for small and large gatherings. We always get many compliments and inquiries on the food after. The beef tenderloin sandwiches are a staple for us at parties. I definitely recommend that, as well as the mushroom polenta cup appetizer. Delivery and food basket layouts are very convenient which sets up for a breezy preparation. I would definitely recommend CBM.

We use Caterinby Michael’s for all different events and love them. The food is always wonderful and presented beautifully. The staff is friendly and professional. I always recommend Catering by Michael’s to friends and coworkers.

I will start this review by saying that I have not actually ever used their service. My review is based on my experience speaking with Meredyth while trying to set up catering service for my up coming wedding. At first I thought that she was nice. I had spoke with her on the phone, explained that we didn’t have a large budget and that we were looking for something simple. She suggested that we just do passed appetizers and agreed to draw up a proposal. You can only imagine my surprise when the proposal she sent over was a quote for nearly 9,000 dollars. I will admit the menu looked amazing but it was way out of our price range and not what we wanted. It also had several things that we either could not eat due to allergies or that we did not like. When i emailed her back explaining our dietary restrictions and our working budget I found he response to be somewhat condescending. She basically told me that my budget wasn’t realistic and that she couldn’t change the menu. (it had 14 different appetizers and 4 deserts) She also ignored my concerns related to our dietary restrictions. Ii know she has a business to run but I have been told by others that my budget is very realistic. If you are looking for a pretentious caterer who doesn’t listen to you and makes you feel like your business is not important to them… look no further. I personally will be taking my business elsewhere and will not recommend this company to anyone looking for an affordable and easy to work with caterer.

I have used this catering company many times for events with work.
I have always spoke with Kevin to set up my orders. He is wonderful and helpful.
The food is delivered, it comes in baskets laid out with beautiful fresh flowers around the basket sides.
They have everything! Its always best to call headed with your order.

Well, Carolynne and I usually agree on things, but I guess here we must agree to disagree. I’ve used Michaels countless times since my original review, and they’ve been fantastic every time. Lately I’ve been working with Kevin, who’s very prompt, helpful, and accurate.

I have a book at home that helps you with all aspects of wedding and event planning. And there, on the first page of the chapter about hiring caterers, is a «Do’s and Don’ts» section. The first «Don’t» says to never hire a caterer that is not prompt, enthusiastic, or who just mindlessly slaps a proposal together without listening.
Looking back on the email correspondence with this company, it is littered with negative words/​phrases which should have been a red flag from the start. (we do not necessarily have, we do not do, unfortunately, sorry, etc) However, I left work early one day in order to meet with the coordinator (to work around her schedule, not mine). She was very nice and seemed to listen and take a ton of notes, asking what type of cuisine we liked, the style of the event, etc. She promised to have a proposal ready by the middle of the next week. THREE weeks later, I send a «hey, whats going on» email, and promptly get a rather terse «the proposal is coming along any moment. At this point we are above your budget…»
The proposal I get is not only «over budget» (by more than double) but it is extremely weird and nonsensical. A buffet of Indian and Greek food? Hot winter hors d’oeuvres (for a spring event) mixed with dessert style hors d’oeuvres? Plus dipping sauces which I adamantly stressed that I did not want.
It seemed like they weren’t all that interested in me or my event and just slapped something together at the last minute only after I inquired. I find it hard to believe any business, especially caterers, can be that busy or in such demand they can pick and choose clients at will in this economy, but hey, more power to them if that’s the case.

I have used this «Michael’s Catering» company for the last four summers to cater an annual event. They are always outstanding. Their food is sophisticated and their presentation (usually adorable baskets) make for fantastic and eloquent buffet layouts.
I have had the pleasure of working with Jamie each year. She seems fairly organized and is genuinely familiar with our annual event each time I call. Because of this, she is very aware of what we do and do not like and is often suggesting ways to combine their new recipes with our favorites, while giving us a selection that really blends well and covers our palettes.

A Tray to Remember has good food. This is a busy company so make sure to make an appointment ahead of time. They do a great job in setting up the food and they stay there and make sure that everyhting is going well and that everyone is satisfied. The prices are pretty good too.