My daughter is turning two shortly and we are having a birthday party for her at our home. More people have responded yes than we originally anticipated so now we are considering having the event catered. I have never ordered catered food from a restuarant in the Springfield/Burke area so I am interested in seeing if anyone has any recommendations from their experiences. I would prefer to use a restuarant rather than a catering company as they have a tendency to be really expensive and have large minimum orders. Any info or advice on someone to go with for food would be great!
Hey J.,
Chic Fil A caters - they are very reasonable and actually have some healthy stuff on the menu.
We use Wegman's for all our large parties and have had wonderful results. The prices are much more reasonable than a restaurant and the food is marvelous. We also only buy our cakes from there now-- the whipped cream frosting has been a big hit with every party guest so far. I also recommend the Asian dumplings... that tray usually gets eaten first :)
I started a monthly get together for all of my mom friends (and our kids) that we call "Take Out Lunch Date". We each pitch in a given amount of money and I use the money to order mass amounts of take out from a different restaurant each time (places we'd love to go out to eat, but are unwillilng to do so for lunch with all of our kids in tow). I have yet to have a restaurant NOT be willing to cooperate, and many have gone WAY above and beyond for us. In my experiences, any restaurant will "cater" for you (I don't mean just ordering multiples of each entree, but the restaurant should be willing to make a large quantity or several items for you and charge you accordingly). Many restaurants have "catering" menus available if you ask, and if they don't, the managers have ALWAYS been willing to swing deals for me. I'd suggest just calling your favorite places to eat and seeing what they'll do for you. We have had great meals from Anitas, Reston Kabob, Tara Thai, Obi Sushi, Maggianos, Busara, and the best of all, which was a small local Greek joint where the owner/chef actually loaned us her mothers gorgeous pottery platters to serve the food on (proving that a small neighborhood restaurant may be your best bet! :) Just call, explain your needs, and see what your favorite restaurant will do for you! No need to hire a caterer, and if you pick it up and bring it home yourself, you will save a bundle!
~M.
Try www.rrcatering.com, they are in Springfield on Alban Rd. They have amazing food!
M.
I think Red, Hot & Blue in Fairfax does a nice job and everyone seems to like the food. I belive they will bring it and set up. I have ordered and then sent someone to pick it up (less expensive). They are nice about helping you out with amounts. -K.
There are a lot of different options you could go with, some things we have done include:
Glory Days BBQ and sides
Costco sandwich trays
Perfect Pita sandwich trays - so yummy!
Lasagna (try Milano's or Victor's)
Anita's for Mexican
Happy Birthday to your daughter!
I haven't done it myself, but friends and our church have had good experiences getting both hot and cold food not from restaurants or caterers but from local grocery store delicatessans. I've even been to two different weddings where the food was made by grocery store delis! Most of the the large Giants, Safeways and Whole Foods Markets all have extensive delis that can do both hot (like rotisserie chicken, hot ham, hot sides, etc.) and cold foods (deli trays of all kinds, fruit and veg trays, etc). Probably cheaper than restaurant catering too, especially for a crowd. Just a thought.
