Purple Onion

Our company had an open house last week and it was a tremendous success, due so largely to the amazing food and presentation delivered by Purple Onion! It was a great experience working with Chana Brissett and her team of professionals. The food was delicious and we had so many compliments on the taste and look. That's one of the reasons to choose Purple Onion--they are imaginative and creative with presentation.

The catering staff that worked our event were terrific. Channa was wonderful to work with and so accommodating and helpful. We could not have had a nicer reception and are so appreciative to the staff at Purple Onion. They are a credit to the hospitality industry.

Paige is a catering queen! We loved working with her and the Purple Onion team. Paige was so easy to work with, responsive, knowledgable, and made great recommendations for our wedding day. Purple Onion was the perfect caterer for our December wedding. The food was amazing and all our guests loved it! Especially the appetizers! One of our favorite parts of our day was having appetizers and champagne ready for us immediately following our ceremony. I highly recommend the Purple Onion if you are planning a wedding or event in Northern VA!

Excellent service with a wide variety of really good food options. Was able to book their catering services for a corporate event in just a week's notice. They were super responsive, extremely quick, and overall very pleasant to work with.

Purple Onion Catered my birthday party and provided the linens and tables. Their attention to detail; creativity with the menu, and overall professionalism at the party was amazing! Margaret, my event planner took such good care of everything! The next day I had people calling me to get their number. They are the BEST! And I will be back!

Thrilled with Purple Onion Catering! Paige and the team helped our company plan and execute over 400 corporate boxed lunches to multiple locations throughout DC. We wanted to share an appreciation lunch for our essential workers. The variety of foods along with the tastiness of the event made it a huge success! The friendly service and the details of the employee note on a yummy treat helped make it extra special.

Thank you Purple Onion for adding some normalcy to these abnormal times! We have also used Purple Onion in the past for birthday celebrations, baby and bridal showers and graduation parties. Highly recommend this catering company!

Paige and all the staff at Purple Onion were so wonderful to work with! I had a very busy schedule as a surgical resident when planning my wedding out of state, and they did everything they could to accommodate me! Our guests said that the food was the best wedding food they'd ever had as well! Paige takes all your preferences in food very seriously, and when we said no cilantro there wasn't a speck anywhere; They were also so flexible with the changes to our wedding date as we had to reschedule it THREE times due to COVID-19- and there were no extra or hidden fees due! Would absolutely recommend them and use Purple Onion all over again! Thank you SO much, Paige!

Purple Onion catered my daughter's small (20 person) backyard wedding on Oct 10. The food was delicious (short ribs, cranberry chicken, Mac 'n cheese) and service was flawless and flexible. Day of the wedding a few things came up and whenever I said "Could we.or Would you.?" Kristen said "We'll take care of it". It was exactly what we wanted: intimate, elegant, relaxed and simple. Highly recommend them!

Purple Onion catered our 9/26 wedding, and it was a wonderful experience from beginning to end! Due to covid, our large indoor reception was completely scrapped for a smaller outdoor reception in late June. We worked with Paige who was beyond sweet, patient, and helpful (especially when it came to answering my hundreds of questions) We were so impressed with the service and even had guests sharing positive experiences.

The food was all delicious, especially the dessert bar (I didn't actually get to try any on our wedding night because the minis were getting swept up so quickly). I am so glad I chose Purple Onion and have nothing but great things to say about how professional, warm, and enthusiastic Paige and the entire staff were!

We had an extremely positive experience with Brooke and the Purple Onion team for our wedding this month. Throughout the process Brooke was patient, helpful, and friendly, building a menu, updating the menu (several times.), and planning out the day-of schedule. We were so happy with the support setting up the reception area and the tables looked beautiful.

The servers couldn't have been kinder and made sure my husband and I had some food throughout the event. Finally, the food was excellent! They made a custom menu item for us that turned out well, and everything from the chicken entree to the vegan potato cakes received compliments from our guests. Would highly recommend Purple Onion!

Paige from Purple Onion was an amazing partner in helping to design my wedding from the very beginning. She has a great eye and Purple Onion was great in providing the service equipment to achieve the vision I wanted for our big day. In addition, the food was amazing and we honestly did not have any food left over as all our guests loved it - especially the Mac & Cheese!

They partnered flawlessly with our venue and really made the experience and day such a fun and special day for us. They were quick with responses and respectful on the day to ensure my mind was on enjoying and handled all the last minute things that typically happen. I would work with PurpleOnion again and would recommend them to anyone.

While Purple Onion offers an extensive selection that were high-quality, elegant and delicious, we attribute our stress-free experience to Brooke's exceptional support. She worked tirelessly from day 1 to the end of the event to ensure every detail (no matter how small) was perfect. She's been responsive to all my questions (and there were a lot) and provided great recommendations based on her extensive experience.

Thanks to Brooke and the team (from the captain, to the servers and bartenders) for making our wedding day so memorable. It likely wouldn't have been so perfect without all her hard work and dedication. For those interested in having your wedding or special event catered, not only will you (and your guests) enjoy an amazing meal but you'll also work alongside a very talented professional, like Brooke. We definitely recommend!

Purple onion is a fantastic catering firm. We had a retirement and birthday party at my house and EVERYTHING was outstanding. The staff were first rate, presentation of the food was incredible and the pre-planning and communication with the catering professionals was perfect. Everyone at the party raved about the food. Will definitely use them again

We used Purple Onion for the first time to cater a large graduation party. The pre-event planning went well. Our event planner did a good job suggesting a menu and working out the details of the event. Since it was a fairly short party, we opted for a buffet but we wanted glass barware and coffee with dessert, so we were required to hire 2 servers in addition to the bartender.

I had a final conversation with the event planner a week prior to the event to confirm the timelines and the final guest count. On the night of the party, the staff arrived on time but seemed disorganized and they did not seem at all familiar with the details that I had discussed with the planner. I had specified that the dessert should be put out an hour or so after the buffet, but they put everything out at the same time and I had to tell them to put it back in the kitchen.

The bar was supposed to be open by 6:30 but did not open until after 7 pm because the bartender took a long time to get things ready and then disappeared for a while. We only had beer, wine, and some non-alcoholic beverages, so this was not a complicated setup. The food was delicious and we received compliments from the guests about the selection and the taste of the food. However, after I sat down to eat, I was told that the caterers had run out of plates!

I had to go deal with the crisis and spent several minutes in a panic trying to figure out what to do. The server tried to blame us for the problem by saying that some of the guests had taken 2 plates - probably because the plates were so tiny that hardly any food fit on them. Fortunately, the venue where the party was held had a staff member on site who found some paper plates.

By then, some of my guests had been standing around for several minutes waiting so they could eat. Then, when almost everyone had already eaten, the servers put out some large plates with no explanation as to where they came from. After the party, I sent an email to the event planner letting them know about the problems we had with the service. I found out that we had paid for 150 large clear plates, which should have been used first, and there was no explanation about why the servers used small plates first.

As a concession, they refunded the money for the plates. However, they did not take responsibility for the other issues with the staff. Although the food was very good, I would be very cautious about using this caterer. It does not matter how good the food is if the guests can't eat it. We had a lot of food left over - mostly the items that were placed at the end of the buffet - and I believe that more food would have been eaten if the appropriate sized plates were used.

Purple Onion catered my mothers 60th birthday party and did a fantastic job! The food was amazing and their team was super helpful in customizing a menu. They were very hands on and quick in responding to any of our questions. We have used them before for another event and we will continue to use them in the future. Highly recommend!

I have had food from here several times for different events and it has been wonderful! Brooke is always so kind and efficient in her work. She is friendly and outgoing. Quick to respond and always willing to help. She goes above and beyond in her job and her efforts show. If you're considering purple onion, you should definitely give it a go.

And ask for Brooke! You don't be let down in the quality of service or in the food. i always get excited when I go to meetings and we have purple onion again and Brooke is a leading expert in customer service and experience. For sure have to check them out! I wish I had pictures to post, but the food is always gone too fast for me to snag one.

Trust me when I say from presentation to experience to taste. you won't be sad you chose purple onion. and you need to work with brooke! you're missing out on the full experience if you don't.

We had Purple Onion cater our daughter's bat mitzvah (guest count of 90) and the service and professionalism was top notch from the initial inquiry to the evening itself. The management was incredibly responsive and accommodating (we have dietary restrictions) and the staff was superb. We received too many compliments to count on how wonderful the food was the entire evening (we had a full dinner buffet with station apps and delicious desserts).

The event staff was on top of every detail - and our event could not have run smoother. Thank you Purple Onion for providing such exceptional service to make our daughter's event so special.

Contacted Purple Onion about a wedding and quickly received a reply from Brooke. Waited about a week for a quote and didn't hear back. I went ahead and reached out 2 additional times and haven't heard anything.

We've had Purple Onion cater two large meetings for our church. The food is excellent and affordable. The service is great as well. Brooke was our sales rep and she made the entire process smooth for us. Highly recommend for large gatherings.

Brooke helped us plan the perfect menu for our 120 person party. The food was delicious, and the service was impeccable. Highly recommend!

Purple Onion had previously catered many of our holiday parties at our home in Northern Virginia. We normally procured a bartender, and serving staff for our events. We knew immediately that we would be using Purple Onion Catering when we decided to host our only granddaughter's first birthday. My daughter in law's family would be arriving from Romania, UK and Greece.

After speaking to our planner Brooke Hickling in February and providing her with all the necessary information to include the date, I reviewed the proposal that was sent as a result of choices I had made during our conversation. I conveyed that the RSVP's are coming family members in Greece, Romania, and London and the invitations stated the RSVP deadline was April 6 due to the responses coming from overseas.

Neither the proposed nor during any of our conversations was there ever a mention of cancellation by a certain date or a required deposit. As a matter of fact the only reference to cancellations was the weather cancellation policy. I was never contacted via telephone or email until I recieved an email from our planner Brooke on March 14 saying the following, " Hey Lorena, I haven't heard back since sending over the proposal but I just wanted to let you know that we are officially booked for April XX.

We will no longer be able to cater your event. I am sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused." I was shocked and wrote back immediately and asked why they were cancelling my event without notice and recieved the following response: "Lorena, I sent over your proposal to my supervisor and she said there is nothing we can do. We are completely booked.

I figured since I never heard back with your menu selections you went elsewhere. Usually when I hear back about the menu is when we move forward in confirmation. I apologize for the miscommunication and inconvenience this may have caused." I contacted another catering company who are 5 stars and they will now cater my event. Be careful before securing a date with the Purple Onion because it could be cancelled without your knowledge.

Purple Onion was referred to me by a friend and hired them to cater our company's holiday dinner party. They were a pleasure from the initial phone call, and gave me multiple options promptly. They showed up on time, set it up beautifully, and the food was fantastic! Everybody commented to me how much they enjoyed all the food. The chicken roulade and short ribs were moth watering. The dinner was perfectly hot even though we took extra time with the cocktail hour and appetizers. I was very pleased and plan to use them again.

Don't waste your time with this catering company. Unresponsive and they're extremely unprofessional. Our POC was MIA throughout the preplanning process. She's happens to be the daughter-in-law of the owner so good luck discussing post-wedding service issues. They were extremely defensive. Much better companies in the DMV area. Lesson learned.

I would definitely recommend Purple Onion! We used them for our wedding and were really impressed. I worked with Margaret to plan a reception for 130 guests. She was really professional, responsive and easy to work with. We were able to customize the menu to our taste and to accommodate all of the dietary preferences of our guest. They have great menus with fresh, delicious food and lots of variety. The food turned out great - the guests all enjoyed their meals but most importantly, the service and all of the staff were awesome!

I have used caterers in the past. Plenty. By far this has been one of the best. I had a death in the family and needed food. Called and spoke to someone right Away. (Katy). She came up with a menu. It was perfect. I had them use real platters. Which were beautiful. The men who delivered the food showed us exactly what to do and when. Very professional.

The food was delicious. I was blown away by the presentation. Everything was amazing! I would definitely use them again. And would absolutely suggest them to anyone needing catering.

I hired Purple Onion to cater a baby shower I was hosting for my daughter. I live in SF, and the event was in DC - so I was particularly interested in working with someone who could assist with details that would be challenging given the long distance planning. While I was assured by Joanie Rylander that she and Purple Onion would be perfect for the event - - the whole experience was far less than perfect. First, getting in touch with our planner, Joanie, was an exercise in frustration.

I started planning the August event in April. It took two weeks to get a formal proposal from her. Her excuse was that May was a big wedding month, so "hey, I'll be on it - just let me get through May." So, OK I thought - this is just a glitch - I'll wait for the details until June. But from then on, it was a continual struggle to get her to either talk with me on the phone or return emails.

Every single meeting time that I set with her was delayed by at least 30 minutes to an hour or more. During the calls she was rushed (although she continued to assure me that she "does this every day and is very good at her job" - really?). Emails went unanswered. Emails were lost and had to be resent multiple times. So amazingly frustrating! Second, her "attention to detail" was marginal at best.

For instance, after promising to send linen samples on May 11th, she finally sent me some photos of linens in mid-July (and then had the audacity to up-charge me for those same linens in the final bill in August even though the linen selection occurred in mid-July and the contract was updated in late July). Contracts took weeks to update - I had to continually remind her of the details of the changes. Decor for the event, which she had earlier promised as "one of her specialties" was dealt with so off-handledly by her that even in the last days leading up to the event something as critical as flower arrangements were still problematic (she said she had vases - which then she didn't have and we ended up having to go in a different direction the day before the event.) And last, on the day of the event - Joanie showed up for exactly 30 minutes.

She threw the linens on the tables, introduced me to the catering staff, helped make sure that the catering staff was informed and scurried out of there in a new-york-minute. Several friends who were there to help set up commented specifically on her hurried attitude - as if this was an intrusion on her morning plans. As for the actual catering staff on the day of the event?

They couldn't have been nicer. They were kind and helpful and so gracious towards my guests. The food was good, although it sure wasn't good enough to make up for the crappy pre-event planning. The iron platters that they used to try to keep the food warm did not work effectively, so items on the buffet got cold very quickly. So, bottom-line - - I wouldn't hire them again even if I could change event planners. I was really hoping for an experience that made planning the shower for my first grandchild fun and collaborative. In the end it was a grind. How sad.