Crazy Chefs Caterers

We used Crazy Chefs to cater our wedding in September. Our wedding was 100 ish guests and done cocktail style– with heavy passed appetizers, a dinner carving station with small plates and late night pizza and french fries. For the style of reception we did and for the type of food we like they did a phenomenal job.
We met with one other area caterer and attended a tasting. The food was horrible. When we went to our tasting at Loco from the first course we were sold. It is apparent that they go the extra mile to make their sauces from scratch, their stocks and breads in house and it is apparent that the people cooking the food there are actually trained chefs, not hacks. Our tasting experience was 5 star for sure. Likewise, the initial meeting and contract negotiation with Jodi, the catering manager were also very professional and in line with what we were looking for. When you look for catering for your wedding, be prepared to want to shoot yourself when you find out how expensive it is… but don’t be afraid to negotiate a bit. The initial proposal we got was way more than we could afford and Jodi was able to adjust the menu options enough so to get that proposal down almost 3000.00. We knew that the bulk of our wedding budget would be for the food and booze– these are after all the most important things to provide your guests with at any party. What I really liked about Crazy Chefs was that they had the options we wanted for our bar service– as in you can purchase your own beer and wine and they provide non alcoholic mixers, glassware, bartenders and the liquor liability insurance. This saved us a lot of money in the long run and the bar staff at the wedding was terrific.
The feedback I got from my guests on food was overwhelmingly positive and the little I ate (I thought I would eat but I only had a few bites here and there– too excited and busy talking!) was very good. The reception space itself was put together beautifully by Jodi and her staff and the presentation of the food was very nice.
The only reason I knocked one star off was because I did have a brief issue with not getting communication back just before the wedding. However, this was because the manager of my event had a personal issue and had to be out of town on an emergency basis and hence, didn’t return my calls or emails for a few days. That is FINE– I totally am understanding that life goes on even if you are getting married– and everyone getting married should be understanding of this as well. The only reason I mention it is I would suggest in any future situation that the manager, if unavailable, call a member of his or her support staff and have them reach out to the bride or couple just to let them know the situation– brides and weddings– especially in the two week crunch time prior to– are a panic attack waiting to happen and I would just suggest to them they keep the lines of communication open always even if the particular event manager is understandably unavailable. It’s a LOT of money– and for those prices I do like to be coddled a bit.
Overall I would strongly recommend Crazy Chefs– or even just their restaurant Loco to anyone considering catering. They really truly care about food and it is extremely challenging to cater parties and make the food good. Know this about high volume food: your food will never taste AS GOOD as your tasting does– making food for two people is very, very, very different than making it for 100– but Crazy Chefs’ food will be as good as it possibly can be, the place will look amazing and your guests will be well fed and taken care of.

DO NOT HIRE THIS CATERER. I’d like to start by saying that I am an experienced hostess and I entertain throughout the year. I’ve hosted both intimate events and larger affairs. I called Crazy Chefs SIX months before an event I had in July to make sure they would want to handle a smaller, 50 person, event. Jodi assured me that they would LOVE to cater the party and seemed very excited to help. (Jodi is now running the company. The positive reviews you see are dated at the time when her brother Jim was managing the business. He’s since moved out of state.) I have a passion for setting the scene and creating the overall theme for an event. I was going all out for this particular event because it was my 40^th birthday party. I just needed Jodi’s help with the food. She never returned my calls or emails before the event and the week before I was in tears because I truly wasn’t confident that they would even show up. She emailed me the DAY OF THE EVENT to say that she would be arriving LATE to the party at 7:00. I was horrified, not only did she not follow up with the details but now she was telling me she would be late. But, guess what, here’s the kicker, SHE NEVER CAME TO THE PARTY! No call, NOTHING!!! So unprofessional. So disappointing. Thank God I’m experienced and was able to pull off the event. The other key detail is that my husband and I were the last to go through the buffet and there was very little food left and what I had to eat was dry and tasteless. Isn’t one of the most basic rules of catering to assure that either the hosts or the bride & groom are saved a plate of food?!
I really felt duped and hope this review spares someone the disappointment we experienced.

Although the catering service and restaurant both have great reputation, they were completely unresponsive to my request for pricing for a small cocktail party. It’s been over two weeks and I’m still waiting for a proposal after having been in contact with the chef/​owner and two staff members. I was not expecting this lack of professionalism.

We absolutely cannot say enough about Jim and his entire staff. Above and beyond doesn’t come close. We were planning the perfect outdoor wedding when we saw the weather reports for a hurricane due to hit at the exact same time as our reception. One day before the wedding we decided the storm wasn’t going to pass and it was time to weigh our options, Jim offered to change the day, the date, the time… His biggest concern was that we had the perfect day, rain or shine. In the end we moved the wedding up by 5 hours. I have no doubt that Jim had to do a whole lot of maneuvering to get the staff necessary on such short notice, but he never mentioned it, he just got the job done. Every member of the staff was amazing! These people worked in the rain and the wind and never stopped for a moment. We had tents for the guests, but unfortunately, the staff didn’t have the same luxury of working under them the whole time. These people were soaked to the bone by the time they left and I never heard a single complaint. I have never seen a group of people work harder. As far as the food goes, AMAZING!!! My husband and I have eaten at Jims restaurant LOCO enough that there was never any doubt.

Crazy Chefs made our BBQ dreams come true! Our passed hors d’oeuvres (not BBQ) were beautiful, plentiful and creative (seared scallops, tomato/​mozzarella crostini, clam chowder mini cups, etc.) — our guests were freaking out a little about how tasty they were. And out BBQ feast was so delicious — Jim even smoked brisket for us and it was incredible! And who knew people could flip out over black bean and corn salad? Our guests are clamoring for the recipe… There was no weak link in this operation. Jodi managed our event so well and answered all of our questions quickly and sweetly. The serving and bar staff at our event were unfailingly polite, accommodating and gracious. They wee great hosts and really made our guests feel comfortable, and (eventually) full! I can’t say enough… Crazy Chefs weren’t the least expensive caterer we looked at, but the quality of the food, service and organization made it more than worth it — I would hire them again in an instant. Stellar!!! …

We live in Texas and decided to travel to Cape Cod for our wedding. My husband’s family lives on the Cape, and we always dreamed of a destination wedding, so it worked out perfectly. We wanted an experience to remember, and Crazy Chefs Catering helped make sure our dream wedding was a reality.
Planning a wedding from a distance may seem tough, but Debbie Arena made it so easy. She is amazing — calm, funny, and a consummate pro at event planning. We had two 20 minute conversations with her and she was able to turn our vision of an elegant but laid back party in to a reality. Not one thing went wrong. It was an absolutely beautiful event. And, we were able to stick within our conservative budget.
At some point, we needed to take a leap of faith and put the fate of our reception experience into the hands of the caterers — they didn’t disappoint. When we walked into the reception hall on Saturday afternoon, we were blown away — beautiful linens and china, all of our printed materials — menus, table numbers, seat assignments — and wedding favors were exactly how we envisioned. They even coordinated with all of our vendors like the DJ and photographer. It put us at such ease, and at that point we could stop worrying and start getting truly excited about our pending nuptials and enjoying each other.
Their professionalism and knowledge continued throughout the night — the servers and bartender did a wonderful job (the bartender — maybe TOO good of a job. He sure was generous with his pours, but our guests didn’t seem to mind!). And the food was exceptional! We were very impressed, in so much as we didn’t have to think about it during the reception — they took care of everything, and we never needed to worry that they’d be in the right place doing the right thing.
We’d highly recommend Crazy Chefs for any catered event (especially weddings) in the New England area.