Independent Restaurants that cater

Hi friends. I have a friend in town from Alabama coaching a college soccer tournament this weekend. He's looking for some local places to cater lunch and/or dinner. He is willing to pick up the food if necessary. He specifically mentioned meat and vegetables and/or potatoes, as well as pasta. I mentioned Stevens & Stevens for lunch. Any ideas would be appreciated.

North End Cafe definitely caters, though I'd guess most of their catering is covered out of the Frankfort Avenue location.

Frankfort Ave. Beer Depot.
http://www.frankfortavenuebeerdepot.com/menu.html

I'm guessing Joe Davola's cater lunches similar to Stevens & Stevens.
http://www.joedavolas.com/

Morris' Deli (near the intersection of Taylorsville & Bardstown Rds.)
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/ ... us-choices

Mark's Feed Store
http://www.marksfeedstore.com/catering

....An alternate idea would be to try to work something out with one or more of the local food trucks to set up near the tournament. Here's a link to the list of trucks....
http://www.louisvillestreetfood.com/cal ... view=month

[Robin Garr]

Forumite Marsha is the sous chef at Juleps at Sullivan. They may be more "upscale" focused, but you could always give Marsha a yell and see if it's something they'd like to do.

I also had a really good catering experience for a group with J. Gumbo's recently ... picked up hot bagged goodies at their new catering operation in Butchertown and got excellent Louisiana chow for a price that was right. Look for Ronnie D on the forum.

We at Juleps love catering; however, we have 5 jobs tomorrow plus a rehearsal dinner and a wedding, both out of town (in two different towns!) this weekend. People who would love a catered event: take heed! Let us know a few weeks in advance. From time to time, we can do an emergency job...but only if we're not already booked for some other things.

I think folks often don't realize the timeline catering joints need to plan a job, get it approved, and order product, then prep and cook. Also, folks (understandably) don't understand how expensive it actually can be - because it's expensive for the caterer to provide.

Hmmm. New column!

Smoketown USA caters. Excellent BBQ as well as great vegetarian options.

http://www.smoketownusa.com/

I think folks often don't realize the timeline catering joints need to plan a job, get it approved, and order product, then prep and cook. Also, folks (understandably) don't understand how expensive it actually can be. Linens, beverage service, servers, bussers, dishwashers, clean-up, mileage, delivery charge, service charge.... it's daunting, but it's expensive because it's expensive to provide.
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It's one of those things I don't understand either. I have this happen all of the time, people waiting until the last minute to try to place a catering order. I personally think people have the mind set that it's the same thing as sitting down in a restaurant and ordering food. I might be wrong, but do you folks out there that don't have catered events on a regular basis think this way? "Well it only takes about 15 minutes for my dinner to be prepared at______________(insert favorite local eatery), why do I have to give you a weeks notice? I also get this question a lot too. "Do you think it would be a problem if I add an extra 150 people to my order the day before the event?"
When doing catering side jobs, I also hear these a lot when I tell people who much it's going to cost them.
"Wow, that's a lot of money, Can't I get a discount? Don't you just pay wholesale price for the food?; I'm having 300 people at my wedding and only have $500 budgeted for food. What can you do?
I don't understand why people try to negotiate like they are buying a car when it comes to catering. You can't do that in a restaurant can you? The price is clearly printed on the menu. So when I show my brochure or order estimate with prices for your event, I've already figured out the best deal I can give you. I'm not open to negotiation at that point. Yes, it can be very expensive depending on what you order. That's why I like to break things down to a per person cost because it's easier for people to understand that way.
Like Marsha said, there is quite a bit of extra overhead in catering that you don't have in most restaurants and things can quickly add up.

I think Marsha and Dan hit the nail on the head. Most people have no clue as to what goes on behind the scenes of catering an event. I thinks Dan's synopsis is very on point. People think it's like walking in to their favorite restaurant. It's two completely different worlds. There is much more planning , organizing, and sourcing that needs to be done of both supplies and sometimes staff as well.

Jessica - We could handle this request for either lunch, dinner or both. You can contact me at 228-7776 or 727-6576. Michael Smith

I think folks often don't realize the timeline catering joints need to plan a job, get it approved, and order product, then prep and cook. Also, folks (understandably) don't understand how expensive it actually can be - because it's expensive for the caterer to provide.

Hmmm. New column!

True

Come Back Inn also caters. You can check out our menu @ comebackinn.biz.
We are also opening for lunch on Sept 11th !!! Come check us out!

Just remembered Kinsley's Meats & Seafood.
http://www.kingsleycatering.com/catering/

For future reference, DiFabios did an event at a property we manage and it was awesome. In fact we should have them do it again.

On a related note, I took a ten top there last night after the UL game... it is such a nice place for a group. Food was excellent, service was great, and the price is always right.

Cheers,
Geoff