Red Tree Catering

What happened to you Red Tree? I used to visit the Marda Loop store very often and loved your food and great service. Last week I actually walked out from your store, the employees that work on weekdays do not care about customers. Won’t be going back…

Quite good food, but prices are also quite high. On balance, the price is higher than than the quality of food deserves.
HOWEVER, very unique and interesting food.

I had a party at my house for approximately 15 people, and was digging around for a caterer that was available on relatively short notice in the month of July (silly me). When I was asking around, I had a few people recommend Red Tree Catering to me, so I figured that I was in good hands by checking them out.
When I walked in, everything looked good and the location is quaint and small. There was a gal behind the counter that was extremely helpful. She helped my mom and I choose the appetizers and even allowed us to sample a few of her recommendations, which sealed the deal on everything we picked.
We didn’t hire them to come to my house and run the event, but simply to prepare the food in advance for us to pick up the day before. There are a few very key things that impressed me about this caterer that I would like to share for anyone hiring them the way we did (go in, pick the menu, pick it up the day of the event type deal).
There are a few key things that really impressed me about Red Tree Catering:
— The hours were flexible enough that I could get everything done outside of office hours, including the pick up on Friday night (I was able to come there at 6 p.m., which did not impact my work day).
— As mentioned before, the gal behind the counter was EXTREMELY helpful and allowed us to try samples. She also asked lots of questions abourt the guests that were going to be there and helped me choose items
— When I picked up the order, it was EXTREMELY well packed for transport and storage in my refrigerator (since I don’t have a deli counter fridge at home). :) I had no problem getting a relatively large order into my fridge in its original containers from the caterer.
— Some of the items that we ordered required assembly. Instructions in and on boxes were EXTREMELY clear about what chutney went with which appetizer, etc. It was very straightforward to put it together without guessing which sauce went with what meat.
— I had a minor freak out moment the day before the event and called them to ask if they thought I had enough food for 15 people. Rather than overselling me, they went through the order with me and assured me that I had more than enough food, and they were right.
The important part of this story is that the food was OUTSTANDING. This is a fancier caterer, so you wouldn’t necessarily come here for sandwich trays, if you know what I mean. It is gourmet food and it delivers unique flavours and high-​end ingredients.
I saw a few comments on here about how overpriced some people felt it was. I am not a person with an unlimited budget, but for us, for 15 people we were weighing whether to make a reservation and go out to dinner at someplace nice, like The Ranche or Open Range, versus catering a wide variety of high end appetizers and having a nosh-​fest. for 15 people, our bill came to $ 700, so that works out to approximately $ 46 a person and honestly it fed the party amply, and also gave us some amazing leftovers for the rest of the weekend. I am pretty confident by the time I got appetizers, meals and desserts, I wouldn’t have got out of the restaurant at $ 46 a head, and we grazed all afternoon. For our audience, it made sense.
I will also say that i checked out two other gourmet caterers. One competitor was in the same price point ($ 18-​$ 30 per dozen, depending on item), and the other was MUCH more expensive (a dozen lamb kabobs were $ 65 per dozen). In my opinion, Red Tree may be a pricier option if you compare many caterers across the city with varied menu, but when I compared gourmet caterers with fancier fare, I was thrilled with what we paid, and for how much we got.

We discovered Red Tree Catering at One Yellow Rabbit’s 2013 Wine Stage. Red Tree had an amazing dessert buffet of carre fours, brownies, macarons and other eye-​pleasing and delicious sweet treats.
Their shop in Marda Loop is contemporary and clean with a decent selection of appetizers, salads, entrees and desserts. There is a small yet solid selection of gourmet sauces, spices, teas and dips.
Service is always friendly and helpful. Take-​out pricing for Red Tree is somewhere between Sunterra and Mercato. I think Red Tree’s beef, spinach & ricotta lasagna is the best in town (it’s not heavy and packed full of cheese/​beef which is great!).
I would recommend Red Tree for a special dinner at home… Just be prepared to pay for quality. I’m tempted to try out their catering services in the future based on their consistently tasty take-​out.

Nice and clean deli-​like, with the display cases of the goodies.
Opted for the quinoa salad, and have to say it’s better than most. Paid by the weight.
Probably not something to deliberately drive to unless one is in the area.
But was impressed by its labeling on the paperbag, and wrapped utensils in a paper napkin – nice touch.

I recently used Red Tree’s order-​and-​pickup service for a 10-​person birthday party. Since I was ordering from San Francisco I couldn’t go into the store to check out the food, however the staff that I talked to on the phone were extremely helpful. They gave me lots of practical recommendations on best bets for my family’s taste, number of portions, and what would reheat best. When I picked up the food it was exactly what was promised — and delicious! The roast chicken was especially wonderful. A good experience all around.

I was on a hunt for something to fill my hunger, not really knowing anything about Red Tree I walked in. They have some kitchen accessories for sale, all of them seemed really pricey. I walked up to the display and a woman asked what she could get me, I told her I was just checking things out. They had a couple small desserts, tarts, chocolate bombs, all were $ 1.50 to $ 6 each and you had to buy a minimum of 4. They had small containers of salad, chicken, crab cakes, to go, most were about $ 5. They had a number of entrees out, salmon, pasta, chicken, which ranged from $ 8 to $ 13 each per serving. I decided to just try out the beet, pomegranate salad. The portion I got was small and cost me $ 3. When I got a chance to eat it, it was super good, definitely a unique salad!
This place seems very decadent, they definitely focus on catering, which you can read more about online. It is a unique place, but I could see that buying a lot of food to go from here could add up big time.

If you’re looking for expensive food, Red Tree is definitely the place for you to go. They specialize in what would seem like fancy food. I don’t know what the means exactly, but it’s true!
When you walk in, it smells great and you will most likely be provoked to buy something. However, the prices of the food they have seems a bit much for me. I’ll admit that everything in the display case looks delicious, but it will cost you to eat that delicious-​ness. It’s all freshly made in store, which is nice to know!
They also sell cooking supplies and other little items specific to food. They had a couple of fondue sets for sale, as well as some serving ware and bake ware. When I went in there they had a 70% off sale going on, which applied to most stuff in the store. Even with that discount, though, the products were still pricey.
I really like the idea of Red Tree, but don’t so much like the pricing. I’ll indulge every now and then, but it definitely can’t be a weekly thing for me. It’s a special occasion kind-​of-​place, in my books!