Catering At Your Door

My email to Mr. Dave Model expressing my dissatisfaction with his services.
Regarding your services for my daughter’s 18^th Birthday Party on May 16, 2015:
1. It was my understanding you would send at least 2 «chefs» to cater our event of approximately 65 – 70 people. To my surprise, only one person showed up. He was very nice, did his best, but he was overwhelmed. However, I did not appreciate the 1 chef you sent over to cater our event asked one of my guest and good friend (Tabitha) to help him, not once, but 4 times. Asking random guest to help for what you are being paid to do is UNACCEPTABLE. I was extremely embarrassed when my friend told me about it the following day, but her being the sweetheart that she is, she helped him anyways.
Furthermore, because he did not have any help it took him a little longer to set up, that delayed the food being warmed up and consequently dinner started approx 30 minutes after the scheduled time.
2. I was informed I needed to provide to long tables for the buffet set up, which I did. I had a 3^rd table for drinks, chips and other items I was going to display but your chef said he needed all 3. I wish I would have been informed of this and I could have ordered another table. We had to do some re-​arranging and I was unable to display items on the table I planned to do so.
3. The food was horrible. I don’t understand how you can go wrong with a fajita buffet. The beef was gross with fatty pieces of meat. The chicken was somewhat more edible.
— For some reason the meats were cooked separately from the fajita veggies. I have never seen that done like that and it did not look like fajitas. Your chef displayed the fajita veggies (bell peppers) in a bowl COLD next to the sour cream and salsa. Last I checked fajitas and veggies go well together when cooked together and served warm.
— The rice looked terrible; it was like Rice-​A-​Roni (from a box) nobody touched it that is how bad it looked.
— The beans were straight out of a can, served in a bowl, COLD. Again nobody touched them.
Luckily I ordered 8 dozens of chicken and beef empanadas as appetizers from another vendor and they were delicious. The empanadas and cake really saved the night!
4. The cleanup started around 8:30−9 and again it was just horrible, a complete mess. Your chef decided it was a good idea to carry trays of hot water across the dance floor (WERE PEOPLE ARE DANCING!!!) and into the kitchen area. He spilled water on the dance floor, which my sister saw because her table was nearby and she cleaned it up before anyone slipped and fell. Your chef then entered the kitchen area where my husband I were at, he almost spilled the hot water on my husband (he was rushing because the tray was hot and his hands were burning) he dropped the tray on the floor right before bumping into my husband and spilled hot water on his hands arms, we immediately tried to help because we knew he was hurt. Your chef said he was okay and picked up the tray off the floor and poured the rest of the water in the sink. Of course we were left with the mess on the floor and had to clean it up. I would like to bring to your attention how dangerous the water spills could be, I work at a firm who represents people for slip and falls and this could have gone really bad had I and my sister not seen the spills and cleaned it up before someone slipped and fell. Gross negligence and 100% third party liability would have been placed on Catering at Your Door. In the future keep that in mind.
5. In the end I had so much food left over because nobody liked the food; it was bland and just horrible. I sent everything back with the chef and except for the chicken and beef which I kept and gave to the dogs.
This is the experience and service your company provided. I am nobody to tell you how to run your business, but I will tell you if you treat all your customers the way you treated my event, you will NOT be in business very long.
The reason I gave them one star is because I cannot post a review without rating, so I was forced to give them one star.
Sincerely,
Laura Ivette Luna

We hosted a «hot and cold finger snacks» event in our back garden and Dave Model was very helpful and patient is assisting with our requirements. The two caterers who came were organized and very pleasant. His smoked salmon triangles and stuffed mushroom caps were especially delicious.

This company recently catered an event for my job. The food was excellent. The service was professional and well organized. I can’t recommend this company more highly. My job will be using them for future events also.

Called about a crêpe station at my home for a brunch for 40 people. Call back was from a very ungracious person who seemed impatient about answering my questions. We did have a specific need for crepes without cheese due to a severe allergy the guest of honor has. Each option he gave was for a crêpe with cheese! When I pointed out his suggestions were not a help in developing a menu for this event he hung up. Guess the recession has not hit his business… YET. Definitely user unfriendly.

Catering At Your Door catered my wedding last month. To make a long story short, we initially met with Dave Model early in the wedding planning process to taste his food and see if we wanted to hire him. The food he gave us was INCREDIBLE. Homemade veggie burgers, meat burgers, mac and cheese that was to die for, potato salad… all hand made! We were so excited to have found our perfect wedding food! The price was great and Dave was nice to work with.
Fast forward to our wedding day. After the ceremony, my husband and I walked to the food line (we had a buffet style) and were shocked at what we saw: NOTHING was the same as it was when we tried the food months back. The burgers were all CLEARLY pre-​frozen patties that came from a store. The meat ones looked like Bubba Burgers and the veggie ones looked like Dr. Praeger’s. The mac and cheese was 100%, absolutely Kraft mac and cheese that comes in the blue box. It was neon orange in color and the little tiny sticks of pasta you can only get from that blue box. The next day my husband told me that he saw the grillers (the chefs that were grilling the food) using Jenny O pre-​made patties and throwing them on the grill. NOT WHAT WE PAID FOR.
We let it slide and enjoyed our wedding and had an amazing time. After our honeymoon I called Dave to explain to him the problem we had. I could tell I caught him off guard with this and he sounded like he was trying to find the «right lie» as he was fumbling over his words. He tried to tell me that he hand made all the patties and that everything was home made. LIE. He told me that the food at a tasting is never the same as the actual day of. LIE. He also tried to justify what he did by giving me excuses like «well everyone got there on time, didn’t they?» and «I mean, you had food there and everyone ate, right?» Seriously? I didn’t hire someone to cater my wedding to provide food that I could have made myself. I hired him because when we tasted the food it was some of the best burgers and sides my husband and I had ever had!
This situation really bothered us but what bothered us more was the way Dave handled it when we spoke on the phone. He acted like he had no idea what was going on since he wasn’t there that day, he tried to play it off like it was no big deal and tried to make me feel bad for having an issue with the service. Poor customer service.
I would not recommend using Catering At Your Door for any occasion especially one that is extremely important to you and your family.

Our company recently used Dave’s fine service for a 500+ person function. Right on price point, exceptional presentation and quality. Professionally served and managed throughout the event. Nothing but great reviews from the invitees, giving our company a finely spotlighted successful event. 100% satisfaction.

If i could give Catering At Your Door 10 stars I would. The food is delicious! and at a very reasonable prices too. I ate some of the Boneless Chicken Breast and everything was grilled to perfection. They have BBQ, Pastas, Brunches and even Mexican Food to choose from. If you live in the Thousand Oaks area and want delicious food for your next event I highly recommend Catering At Your Door.