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Blue Rooster Event Catering Co.
Rating Details »
Neighborhood: Lakeview
4011 N. Ravenswood Ave.
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 687-8417
4011 N. Ravenswood Ave.
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 687-8417
- Nearest Transit:
-
Irving Park (Brown)
- Hours:
Mon. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
6 reviews for Blue Rooster Event Catering Co.
I went to a wedding recently at the Ravenswood Billboard Factory that was beautiful, but the catering company fell way below expectations. They put meat in an all-vegetarian buffet, which was an absolutely huge mistake at this particular wedding and had to be removed by request of the groom; they didn't have the entire menu that was ordered (original item replaced by meat item); they were short by a couple of tables that were supposed to be brought out after the ceremony.
I can also second the inattentiveness of the staff, as I saw a few spills/dropped food that went left on the floor for quite some time. The food was hit or miss with some of it being phenomenal and some of it being just ok. I would definitely do your research before deciding on using this company.
Thankfully the bride and groom were able to look past all of this by the end of the night and have a great time on their wedding day. Just a very disappointing experience with this company.
Using Costco meatballs to serve at a wedding ! Oh no thanks!
I couldn't believe it when I saw it in the kitchen, when I was at an event at the Billboard factory.
I thought that it would be artisinal gourmet food...sadly no!
*This is going to be VERY long*
I was hesitant to write this review. Blue Rooster Event Catering Co. catered my best friend's wedding at the Ravenswood Billboard Company (the same wedding that AJ attended). I was one of her matrons of honor, therefore I helped make sure things ran smoothly the day of so that the bride would be relaxed and have a great time. While the wedding itself was wonderful, Blue Rooster Event Catering Co. was the one vendor that really dropped the ball. There were quite a few things that went wrong, but I'm only going to list the major problems.
1. The caterer decided at the very last minute to include chicken in the buffet. This was to be an all vegetarian wedding, no exceptions. The bride has been vegetarian for 10 years and is an animal rights lawyer, so this was a pretty damn huge mistake. It was in their contract, they had multiple conversations regarding the importance of the ALL vegetarian menu. Then on the day of, with no warning, they switched out vegetarian burritos for chicken taquitos. The vegetarian groom unknowingly bit into chicken. Absolutely unacceptable. The bride was extremely upset (and rightfully so) and the caterer, Andy, was less than thrilled to even issue an apology. Seriously, what if they had requested a vegetarian menu due to a food allergy? Someone could have gotten extremely ill if they took a bite into the food without realizing it had chicken in it.
2. There were supposed to be chairs placed in the corridor, mainly for the elderly to be able to sit and wait until the main doors opened for the ceremony. Andy and his staff never followed through with this, and as a result a lot of people that should have been able to sit down and wait were forced to stand. Unacceptable. This was also discussed numerous times before the wedding.
3. The bride and groom wanted their (very well behaved) dog to be included in their wedding festivities. They sought and received approval from Blue Rooster and were thrilled that their dog could be included on their big day. The morning of the wedding, the caterer's wife (I can't remember her name) was yelling at us asking why the dog was there! She was definitely way too harsh and didn't need to be yelling at the bride. It seems like this catering company has quite a communication problem, as the dog had already been approved by another member of their staff.
4. Horrible customer service. As I said, A.J. attended the same wedding that I did. She called me today to let me know that right after she posted her review, someone from Blue Rooster Event Catering Co. emailed her a very rude and threatening email. He told her to take down her review or he would post our friends (the brides) name and email correspondence on Yelp. First of all, Yelp is a place for people to write honest reviews based on experiences and service they received. The service from Blue Rooster was sub-par to say the least, and we have a right to review it. Second, if the owner (or whomever emailed A.J. and I bet will email me next) receives some negative feedback about their services, they should try to learn from it and improve, not threaten and harass.
5. On the day of the wedding, after Blue Rooster was already told that they were to provide a full bar, they failed to bring along mixers! The father of the groom had to go make a run for mixers and pay out of pocket. I'm baffled at how much miscommunication took place!
Overall my friend's wedding day was great. Everyone had an amazing time and nobody really noticed the mistakes except the people who helped with the planning. But the things Blue Rooster messed up on were huge problems and if you are looking around for a caterer to use for your event, I'd make sure you get everything in writing and really investigate this company before hiring them. I am not thrilled when I have to leave businesses and companies negative reviews but with the way the owner has acted I feel like I need to.
THIS IS AN AMENDMENT OF A PRIOR REVIEW WHICH I REMOVED
Andy Kalish is the most difficult business person we have ever dealt with. Andy and his assistant, Aly, know a lot about food, but not a lot about events. Our menu, directly from Andy, was creative and different from a typical wedding reception. The food served at our event was superb. In no way is this review meant to paint the food in a bad light, in fact quite the contrary. Our event total at the Industrial Ballroom was nearly $20,000 including food, equipment, rentals, bar setup, service, set-up and tear down, cleaning, security, server gratuity, and tax; alcohol & other costs were additional. Over $200/guest for Blue Rooster. At any level, this should be more than adequate for a 90 guest reception no matter what your "means" may be.
Andy and Aly's difficult process led us through occasions where we asked several questions in one email-their preferred communication method. Responses were almost always incomplete (eight questions, two answers) so we would re-try. Speaking directly with Andy, decisions happened but he seemed to acquiesce to requests just to end the call. My husband had a couple of conversations with him regarding difficulties with Aly, but it fell on deaf ears.
We wanted minimal & classy; a jazz club feel. Details were important to us, like the glasses & silverware even though in conversations Andy stated no one would notice. His assumption was moot as we were trying for a complete look. WE were paying the bill. WE would notice. If we wanted to get a quote on a different fork, knife, plate or glass that was being provided by our catering company, we thought Blue Rooster could answer. To achieve an understanding Andy treated my husband to a SHOUTING match over the phone. Although Andy realized he was incorrect about information on the rental co's website and he apologized, this is completely unacceptable behavior in any business setting.
Andy's wife is another area of friction. We were never introduced to her and she didn't bother to offer her name when handed over $14,000 to settle our bill. Arriving at our event in a tennis skirt and tennis shoes was a surprise to say the least. Our guests were in cocktail attire; the supervisor should be comparably dressed if they intend to be on the floor. Plus, at our final meeting four days before our event, we were assured Aly would be supervising. There was never a mention of any other point of contact.
Sample of specific promises not fully delivered:
-The two appetizers we expected in the reception were in such short supply most guests were unable to try them. Many have noted this in conversations with us. The staff did not even bring then directly to our "sweetheart" table.
-Paper lanterns which Blue Rooster had hung from the rafters looked great a few days before and even when we were in the ballroom before the ceremony. However, when the ceiling fans and A/C were turned on, it was apparent the paper lanterns were too high-many of them began swinging.
-We were surprised to find a bar in the dessert lounge; cabaret tables & chairs were requested to watch a slide show of the two of us. Because we had a bar set up in the ballroom, we were confused as this had never been mentioned.
-The napkins were folded incorrectly. We had a plated salad when people sat down and they were forced to pick up the salad plate to retrieve their silverware and napkin, which were placed under the plate, silverware tucked in instead of next to the napkin. The silverware was chosen specifically for its look but was hidden.
-The wrong plates were used. We wanted a flow for the evening as discussed with both Andy and Aly throughout the process. Because they used 12" plates, our guests went to a "buffet" once and then just looked around.
-The table used as the guest book & dessert table was missing black linen promised at our last meeting. One table out of the entire event without linen, and it is HUGE! Every other table had black or charcoal linen.
-The timeline presented during our final meeting had a chartered bus pickup at 10:15pm with another departure later for guests; wedding party departure at 11pm with some guests still there. At 10:30, the staff was dismantling our event by removing flowers and linens IN FRONT OF OUR GUESTS who began helping us gather belongings like clean-up time at a house party. Our signed contract stated alcohol could be served until 11:30pm and all personal items must be removed by 1am. All in all, before 11pm our guests were gone (after they helped us pick up our things) and we were out the door.
This ruined the end of our event which was executed, in broad terms, nearly as we expected. Our saving grace was most of our guests didn't notice these issues or were too polite to tell us while still at the event. Please, confirm every detail in writing signed by Andy Kalish. Our experience was one that was so stressful that, if repeated in your case, you will simply not enjoy your event.
We were looking into caterers for our wedding and we had a list of preferred vendors from our venue. Blue Rooster was one of them. Initially, I wasn't sure if I should contact them because their web site wasn't so good (at that time... but now, they've updated it and it definitely reflects a lot better in terms of their style!) I decided to be fair and contacted EVERY vendor on the preferred list (about eight caterers total). We narrowed it down to two based on: 1. dynamics between the representative and us 2. reputation (we've heard through friends of friends who used these caterers for their events) 3. Pricing.
Food was the second most important thing to us for our wedding (first being the "getting married" part.) Andy first met with us to get to know us as a couple and to know what types of food we like and dislike. He then comes up with a menu just for our wedding where it reflects our taste in food and one immediately knows that he listened well in the first meeting!!! I really enjoyed this process because it shows thoughtfulness on the caterer's part as well as flexibility and ability to really make sure you get the menu you want for your wedding.
Our tasting with Andy, the owner and executive chef at Blue Rooster, consisted of some of the food we would have at the wedding and some of the other foods he's prepared for other weddings. The menu was flexible until a month before the wedding when it was finalized. It was one of those things where when you sample the variety of food that Andy was able to prepare and you learn that you can trust your caterer to much prepare what you want for your wedding.
The tasting basically sealed the deal for us with Blue Rooster. Andy's smoked salmon appetizer and mushroom strudels melt in our mouths. Even though we had a separate vendor for our cakes, he still provided us with desserts that were just decadent.
On our wedding day, our original venue flooded and Andy was gracious enough to give us his venue at Ravenswood Billboard Factory to host our wedding! Everyone (and we've received emails afterwards about it as well) raved about the food (we had about eight appetizers that included East and West food as well as a buffet with four different types of meats!) and the amazing party we threw! This would not have been possible without Andy and his crew's help!!! If you want a party that people will remember for its unique venue and food, I'd highly recommend you to go with Blue Rooster and Ravenswood Billboard Factory.
I held my recent wedding at Ravenswood Billboard Factory and used Blue Rooster (which is located on site) for catering. I really did not want to have a sit down dinner so we did a "cocktail style" reception with buffet stations of various small plates. The food was fabulous. I have received so many compliments from family and friends and was even told by one friend that she had never had so much food at a wedding. I would have given them 5 stars except for a few minor service issues. 1.They were very slow to clean up plates and empty glasses. In fact, I had to ask my brother to pick up some food that someone had dropped on the floor that had just been sitting there for a LONG time. There were also a couple spills on the dance floor that had to be cleaned up by the guests since no staff members seemed to notice. By no means, was the place a mess, but I noticed it. 2. We used an outside bakery for our cake and had a 2-tiered decorative cake to cut with sheet cakes in the back. At the end of the night we were given the entire decorative cake to take home. They did not cut or serve it at all. This just seems completely weird to me, we didn't even ask to have the top tier saved (considering it was an 8inch round). What are we supposed to do with an entire 2-tiered cake. I think there was plenty of cake served, but it was still weird.
