Blue Heron Catering

Blue Heron catered our wedding and so many guests told us it was the best wedding food they'd ever had. We had primarily Indian, Mexican, and Latin American food. It was all great. Especially the tamales. Amazingly, some of the food was actually even better at the wedding than at the tasting. They also did a great job catering to vegetarians and vegans. Compared to other caterers we explored, we found that Blue Heron had more interesting food and a larger variety.

They were also happy to do a bunch of different dishes on the buffet instead of just a few main ones. They were also quite reasonably priced. They didn't have quite as many employees at the event as some other caterers quoted, which kept the cost down, but it didn't cause any problems for service quality. We got married at Chabot Space and Science Center, and Blue Heron was responsible for setting up all the furniture for the event in addition to catering food and tending the bar.

They were clearly very experienced working at the venue and did a perfect job setting up the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception as well. They even figured out how to set up the chuppah for us. Tony, Debbie, Humberto, and everyone else we interacted with was very helpful and organized. Tony even brought us (the bride and groom) a special plate of appetizers at cocktail hour to make sure we were well-fed.

They also brought the groom a special extra large plate for dinner at his request :-) Our menu: Passed appetizers: Sweet potato, leek and kale, tomatillo salsa empanadas Potato and pea samosas with peach chutney Memphis hot fried chicken slider, cole slaw, pickles, caper aioli Buffet Dinner: Chana masala Aloo gobi Paneer tikka masala Grilled tri tip with chimichurri Berto's Tamales Salad with cucumbers, rainbow carrots, radish, napa cabbage, cashews and cherry tomatoes in a yogurt dill dressing Jeweled basmati rice Grilled Mexican-spiced vegetables and tofu Oakland bread and creamery butter Dessert: Humphrey Slocombe ice cream

Blue Heron Catering is fantastic to work with! Tony and Debbie were very communicative and kept in contact with my partner and I constantly. When we had to postpone our wedding in 2020 to 2021 (cough pandemic cough), Debbie contacted us and graciously agreed to the postponed date. Hands down the some of the best food that my partner and I have ever tasted.

Chief Humberto knocked it out of the park! At the wedding the catering team was on it, Tony who the point of contact was so sweet and enthusiastic through out the process. If you are thinking about having Blue Heron cater your next event, please don't hesitate. They are a fun and professional, and the food is amazing.

Fabulous food and service! Blue Heron catered a Big Birthday event in backyard with style and amazing food. Third time we've used them (wedding and another Big Birthday) and always to raves from friends and family. Punctual, efficient, super food, and clean-up. Friends were asking when we're having another party.

My company ordered from Blue Heron for our weekly company luncheon. They were running a bit behind schedule, but Gail contacted our organizer to inform her of the delay. Once the orders arrived, her team of two quickly set the food up and brought everything, down to the tongs and ladles for serving. The food from Blue Heron was superb and I received many compliments on everything.

The roast was fall apart tender, the black-eyed pea salad had just enough bite, and the bread pudding was a smash! I am giving them 4 stars because of the food arriving late.

Hired Blue Heron for my husband's 50th birthday party in our backyard. The set up was great, the staff was friendly, professional and helpful and the food was absolutely delicious! Would definitely hire again for special event!

We used Blue Heron to cater our wedding this past March. We found them through our venue's preferred provider list, but we could not have been happier with the results. The menu options we had to choose from for our tasting were varied, and they had plenty of options available for alternative diets. Jessica was a pleasure to work with and she really knows her stuff and is very organized.

The food was excellent and we received many compliments on the food and service (the oyster bar was a big hit!). One reason we selected Blue Heron is that they were up front with their pricing and didn't try to play the ridiculous "cat and mouse" game with the budget that many other caterers we requested quotes from seemed to play. Catering a large event can be stressful and time-consuming, but Blue Heron was a pleasure to work with and extremely professional. We recommend them for any event.

The entire Blue Heron team was incredible to work with, and made our wedding at the Brazilian Room so special. Jessica Brown was our events manager, and from day one she was responsive, understanding, efficient, and accommodating every step of the way. She is also a joy to work with, which definitely helps! On the day-of, the catering staff and bartenders were really friendly and very professional.

The food at our wedding was SO SO GOOD. All of our guests kept commenting on how amazing it was, and most everyone went back for seconds (and probably some thirds, knowing our friends). We of course knew this would be the case, because at our tasting Chef Humberto completely blew us away with the dishes he made. In my opinion, good food is such an important aspect of a wedding or event, and Blue Heron exceeded our expectations with the taste of the food and the ease with which they worked at our venue.

I can't recommend Blue Heron enough, especially if you're getting married at the Brazilian Room or one of the East Bay Regional Park District venues. They're one of the EBRPD's approved caterers, and the staff know that venue like the back of their hand. Not only does Blue Heron do a great job with the food but they also act as coordinators and manage the day-of happenings at the venue.

Blue Heron catered an afternoon book party for me, and I was delighted with the outcome. Stella Davies, the coordinator, and the servers were wonderful -- warm, helpful, and efficient -- and the food was great. I would call on Blue Heron any time.

My experience with Blue Heron perhaps wasn't quite a perfect 5-star rating but they really came through for me big time in the end. Picture it: San Francisco, December 28th, 2017. I was chairing my agency's all staff retreat and we found ourselves without a caterer with just a week and a half to go. I posted on fb asking if anyone had any suggestions and a friend from high school suggested Blue Heron.

I contacted them through their website and I heard back from them within an hour. Customer service was 4.5 stars: very prompt responses via email and they rolled with my numerous questions and changes. They also allowed my agency to pay later with a check even though that meant they wouldn't get any sort of security deposit, just my word or actually my electronic signature. (Paying with credit card will cost you a 3% additional fee).

I was also impressed that their events coordinator reached out to our venue to get details about the space rather than asking me to do that. They only lose a half star because their events person wasn't quite as polite on the phone as she was on email. Their menu said "please ask about vegan and gluten free options." When I did I was told "oh gosh it's obvious." Turns out only a portion of their menu was labeled, the weekday events menu did not have their gluten free and vegan items labeled.

But minor issue and by no means does that little blip taint the overall great service we got. The day of the event, their staff got us set up for breakfast well before start time. Everyone was really impressed with the spread. My favorites were the zucchini breakfast sandwich and the egg and sausage scramble. Lunch was also really good. My faves were the Mac 'n cheese, steak and strawberry shortcake.

In the end I got major props for the food, which was a relief because food is very important to my agency. Couldn't please EVERYONE of course but lots of people took food home with the to go boxes they graciously provided so all in all it was a resounding success.

My wife and I had Blue Heron as our catering company at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden and were really happy. When we were looking, BH stood out as having high-quality food with well-sourced ingredients and being within our price range, which is a lot to ask in itself! They were really friendly from the start; we met them at the Brazil Room for a tasting they were doing and they were very kind and gave a lot of good suggestions.

We basically just wanted California fresh food with seasonal ingredients, and they made that happen. For the day of the wedding, they worked really well with our other vendors (florist, photographer, tables, DJ) and did a great job making the setup look awesome. Everybody commented on how good the food was. Beverage-wise, they took care of the bar setup, accommodated our beer setup (we had two kegs from Faction), poured wine and made our requested cocktails, and threw in free water, lemonade, tea, and coffee to round everything out.

Right after the ceremony they had some appetizers and water set aside for us in another room so we could have a moment before joining the crowd, which was really sweet. Overall they were really considerate, helpful, and kind, and the food was fantastic. We were extremely glad to have leftovers (which they packed up for us on the day) which lasted us a couple of days!

Excellent food- we had the Caesar and Caprese salads with homemade potato chips and homemade pickles.yum! The pickles are bread and butter pickles and the chips.so crunchy.

Jessica and the team at Blue Heron is amazing! My fiance and I wanted to be extremely careful in selecting a caterer, and we are SO glad we went with Blue Heron. We've been to our fair share of our friends weddings, and only if the food is spectacular does anyone actually remember it. Our wedding planner (A Monique Affair) put us in touch with several bay area caterers, and from the start we could tell that we were on the same wavelength when talking about food and food quality.

Blue Heron accommodated our busy weekday lives with a Saturday morning tasting, and from that tasting we constructed our menu for both happy hour and a black tie dinner service. My fiance and I are bit snobbish when it comes to wine, and Blue Heron even let us go to Napa Valley, pick out the specific wines we wanted ourselves, and handled transporting the six special cases of red, white, and sparkling wines flawlessly. Additionally, we have lots of guests with dietary restrictions (vegan, halal, kosher, lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant) and Blue Heron had no issue executing the gymnastics required to accommodate them all.

After the ceremony everyone kept coming up to us to tell us how much they enjoyed the whole roast suckling pig (roasted on site, yes Blue Heron built a kitchen for that) as well as how wonderful the pan seared fish was for dinner. Their servers were happy and that happiness really translated into both the food and the atmosphere in general. Jessica, the general manager, was on site on the day of the wedding to manage the team and made sure everything went off without a hitch.

We really appreciated how she checked in with us to make sure our wine glasses were never less than half full! At the end of the day, finding a caterer flexible enough to construct the menu you want within budget can be a daunting task. We know that the team at Blue Heron can handle it. They seem to be pretty popular, so you might want to book them early! Your guests will thank you.

We hired Blue Heron for our wedding at the Brazilian Room in June. We were blown away by the quality and creativity of the food during our tasting, which is the biggest reason we hired Blue Heron. They also offered a number of beverage packages with a wide selection of wine and beer, which was helpful so that we did not have to procure the drinks separately.

We found Blue Heron to be competitively priced compared to the other preferred caterers allowed to serve at the Brazilian Room. Jessica was our event manager and worked well alongside our wedding coordinator during the three months leading up to the wedding to make sure that everything was in place for the day itself. There were a couple of hiccups during the wedding: they arrived later than anticipated due to traffic and were a bit rushed in setting up for the ceremony and reception, and during dinner one of our tables was served much later than the rest.

All in all, these hiccups ended up being minor and throughout the night our guests kept telling us how good the food and wine was. We would recommend them for your wedding or event!

My biggest disappointment is that I can't leave 6 stars! Elizabeth catered our wedding yesterday. But that doesn't tell the whole story or give the full perspective. Elizabeth choreographed out wedding reception. My wife and I could literally sit back and enjoy our special evening while Elizabeth knew precisely what to do and when to do it, from when to pass the appetizers to when to introduce us to when to start the meal to when to come cut the cake, and so on.

And she is the consummate professional and makes you feel that your wedding is special to her. The food was simply amazing. The chef is so talented and versatile that he can carry out everything on the menu with near perfection. The bottom line is that if you are at all contemplating hiring Blue Heron, just do it and suspend your search. You cannot possibly do any better!

Blue Heron was the caterer for a wedding I photographed at Julia Morgan Hall in UC Berkeley's Botanical Gardens. They were a pleasure to work with, their food was amazing, and their service was top-notch. I would definitely recommend them for your wedding or event, and hopefully, I'll get to work with them again soon.

Blue Heron catered our wedding in Oakland in July 2016 and was beyond amazing. Stella Davies was our coordinator and we could not have been luckier to have her. She was so helpful, fun to work with, and dependable. Everyone else, from the chef, to the back office personnel did such a great job for us. Multiple people at our wedding said it was the best wedding food they'd ever had and I totally agree. I cannot recommend Blue Heron highly enough!

Elizabeth and her team at Blue Heron catered our wedding last week and did a phenomenal job! We researched several caterers (at least 10 and had tastings at 3) and Blue Heron provided the most extensive menu within our budget. One thing we learned is that if you are looking for a caterer in SF, you're automatically going to pay a premium. Our venue had a preferred caterer list so that narrowed down our options.

We definitely got more for our money with Blue Heron and the quality and presentation were exceptional. We received so many compliments from our guests about how delicious the food was and how it was replenished throughout the night. Humberto is an amazing chef and really delivered some awesome dishes. Elizabeth (the co-owner) was our coordinator and was wonderful to work with.

She made great suggestions as we were planning our reception and menu and was a lifesaver during our reception. Throughout the evening she checked on us to make sure we always had food or drinks and quietly grabbed our attention when it was time for cake cutting, toasts, first dance, etc. Elizabeth worked closely with all the vendors to make sure that our vision came to life and paid attention to all the small details. Our wedding was perfect and Blue Heron was a huge part of making our day so special. We definitely recommend them!

Debbie is wonderful, very easy to work with, and made our wedding go so smoothly. Thank you for everything! I highly recommend Blue Heron for catering and event coordination. Blue Heron had such delicious, fresh food, and all the employees were a joy to work with. They truly went above and beyond to help us put on a fun event!

Blue Heron was a treat to work with. Katherine was super helpful in all the planning. And the food was SOOOO good. The chef was so nice and he changed all kinds of stuff to make exactly what we wanted. I ate so much at my own wedding that I couldn't eat anymore! They came and asked me if I wanted seconds and I couldn't even do it. I wholeheartedly recommend Blue Heron - and Katherine ESPECIALLY!

Caveat: We only tried Blue Heron at a catering tasting, so I can't really say how they'd do at a big event. We're getting married at the Brazilian Room, and Blue Heron is on the list of 12 or so approved caterers. Of the four caterers we saw (I chose among the six least expensive on the list), Blue Heron was the most expensive. They seemed very professional, and one big plus is that for a wedding they provide you with your own event coordinator who starts coordinating a week before. They're the only caterer we saw that does this (Ann Walker kind of does this if requested). They're located across the street from a really scruffy park in West Oakland.

Our tasting included: Apps -Bastilla (too much flaky pastry and not enough filling; it's good if you've never had it before, but if you're Moroccan/Mediterranean food lovers like we are, you know that there are much better renditions at restaurants out there) -Potato and zucchini latkes with sweet onion relish or applesauce (LOVE!) Salad -Asian long bean salad (we'd rather have tried their heirloom tomato salad but it was out of season; this was good but way too oily) Entrees I like that they didn't skimp on letting us try entrees like other caterers (I'm looking at you, Shai's). -Salmon with soy, sherry, and ginger (okay, but bland compared to similar preparations we've had elsewhere) -NY strip steak with onion Zinfandel sauce (I was surprised they served this as the steak wasn't very good quality at all) -Chicken with mushrooms (very good; we would have kept this dish) Overall Catering Ranking: 1) Ann Walker 2) Shai's 3) BLUE HERON (second best in taste but most expensive so that brought it down to #3) 4) Schumann's Four Seasons