Chef By Request Catering

I will ALWAYS use Chef by Request! The planning coordinator, Amanda, was always responsive and extremely helpful in suggesting what I needed or would possibly think of needing/wanting for my event. Everything was complete and on time and the food was OUTSTANDING. They were very upfront in being short staffed and recommended another company for me to hire wait staff/bartender. The GM was friendly, communicative and hands-on. The support staff were professional, friendly and interactive. YES YES YES to Chef by Request!

Working with Chef by Request was easily one of the best decisions we made throughout our entire wedding planning process. From the first email, our contact Amanda Ingle went above and beyond to provide all the information and support she could, including suggesting creative ways of cutting costs. She was always professional and prompt in our communications, patiently explaining anything we had questions about.

She continued to be an MVP on the day of the wedding, even helping us make table number cards by hand when we realized that was something we had overlooked. And of course, all of the food was phenomenal. We 100% would work with Chef by Request again.

My husband and I used Chef by Request for our wedding reception. Amanda is amazing at coordinating as well as being very helpful with suggestions. Amanda was very responsive through the whole process and very professional. The food was amazing. We received many compliments during and after the party. I will use Chef by Request for any upcoming events.

Chef By Request catered a bridal shower for my son and future daughter-in-law. Amanda provided wonderful suggestions while planning the menu and the food was amazing! The chefs and servers were the best ever! Paul, Rita, Greta and Amy were beyond my expectations. I felt as though I was a guest at my own party and when they left, everything was spotless!

The process from start to finish was seamless. Chef by Request catered the event for a Celebration of Life. The appetizers were excellent, delivered on time, and the guests raved about the selections. We also rented bar tables and linens that were delivered by a friendly team and placed in the garage the day before the event. I will not hesitate to order from these culinary professionals for future events or special occasions. Thank you for the wonderful experience.

Have used Chef by Request for 5 years from engagement parties to baby showers, christenings and birthday parties. They are the best of the best. Service is impeccable and just a class act. I would use no other for my events at home! Props to Amanda Ingle for being there throughout the process for me!

We used Chef by Request for a bridal shower brunch in our home, and they exceeded my expectations. Amanda was responsive and communicative regarding all my questions and meeting all our needs. Set up was done efficiently and looked great! Best of all, many guests commented about how good all of the food was, including the fabulous desserts. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them or use them again for any event.

Just had Chef by Request cater my nieces' baby shower and the food was a hit! The quiche were perfectly cooked and the scrambled eggs were just right. All the other options I selected were spot on. Definitely will use again

Excellent food and service every time! Owner Dave Miller has a lot to be proud of! The staff at Chef by Request alway goes above and beyond; they are professional down to every last detail. Amanda Ingles is excellent at her job as the director of weddings and events and our delivery and set up gal was delightful, polite, kind and prompt. It is comforting to know that every one of my family and business catering needs will be great thanks to Chef by Request!

This is the second wedding in my family which we have used Chef by Request because the food, service, and coordination are amazing! At both weddings guests were so happy with the delicious food! Amanda helped us immensely through 3 postponements due to COVID and was always understanding and kind! She was able to make everything we wanted happen in an affordable way. We are so impressed and can't recommend Amanda and her team more!

Chef by Request did an excellent job for my daughter's baby shower at KLM. Amanda is wonderful, she went over all the details prior to the event and gave wonderful suggestions. Elle, Paul and Jeff the bartender were professional, friendly, and took care of everything during the event. Oh and the food was delicious! I would definitely use them again. I highly recommend using Chef by Request.

Our church used this catering service for a retirement party and may I say that the food was delicious. I had quesadillas, pulled pork sandwich, sliders and chocolate dessert. All of the food I had was flavorful. I went for seconds as well. The chocolate desserts were all different but so good.

Used them for our company dinner. On time, perfect set up, food hot and good. Delivered to our location. Really turn-key and done. Strongly positive recommend.

Can't say enough great things about the Chef By Request experience we had for a catered dinner in Chicago. Amanda and Al were FANTASTIC to work worth from start to finish for our event. The attendees raved about the food and presentation. We will continue using them for our events!

Lovely catering for a Celebration of Life; the food was very high quality and beautiful. The service was seamless and linens and set up were worry-free. We'd recommend them for your occasion!

Everything was delicious! We used CBR for my daughter's bridal shower and everyone loved the food. Amanda was so easy to work with and plan!

Chef by Request provided catering services for our wedding. Of all the vendor services we had to find, this was the most challenging. Our venue does not host frequent events. It was important that we found an organization capable and willing to take great care in leaving the space and equipment in the manner in which they found it. I can honestly say that Chef by Request delivered in that regard.

The food was good. The service staff was sufficient. Our captain made sure we were satisfied before leaving. Amanda was our contact for planning. She was excellent and her responses were helpful and timely. Her experience and insight proved valuable. They delivered everything on time and as planned. We are happy to recommend Chef by Request to anyone considering them for full service catering.

Amanda is amazing! She was super responsive and helpful throughout the whole proposal through final contract process. The food was great, and they even set aside an app plate during cocktail hour to make sure we (bride & groom) ate the food we selected for our guests! They worked directly with the venue on all the logistics, and it was honestly a pretty easy process for us, all we had to do was the tasting and select what we liked!

Amanda was amazing to work with from start to finish, and worked with my budget to help bring our vision to life without over extending ourselves. From first interaction, to the tasting, to the wedding itself I cannot say enough how pleased we were with the service, quality, and professionalism from Chef By Request. We got sooooo many compliments on how great the food was at our wedding (apps, buffet dinner, and late night snacks)! My only regret is not eating more :D Stop looking, Chef By Request is where it's at!

Recently, Amanda & her crew provided the buffet for a memorial for a family member. I could not have been more pleased! Amanda is easy to work with, knowledgeable & readily responds. Her staff are kind & helpful. Many compliments were heard about the food. which is always appreciated as the host. I HIGHLY recommend Chef by Request.

I can not say enough nice things about Chef by Request! Beautiful high quality food and exceptional customer service. Everyone raved about the food at our 'Tea Party' Bridal Shower and asked where it was from.

WOW, double WOW Chef by Request Catering has done it again! Every time I order from Chef by Request I am amazed at how smoothly everything goes and how delicious their food is! Owner Dave Miller hires only the best and he buys the best quality food which is the key to his long running success! I couldn't be happier and special kudos to Brittany Carroll who helped me plan a perfect corporate event for 125 people. Thank you! KK

Mortified. They knew my order was coming for days and decided to mess me after we had been emailing back and forth for days. Then suddenly they said the needed to know in an hour my final order, mind you they had still not answered my questions. THEN they went within 2 min from an hour deadline to suddenly a 20 min deadline, saying they needed it before kitchen close, for the Holiday. (which makes no sense as they aren't making the food for a week) So I sent it in 3 not 20 minutes later. Amanda who works there chose not to check her email knowing an order was coming for 45 minutes after saying she needed it in 20.

Then had the audacity to email back 3 minutes after kitchen close: Unfortunately, it is now too late to place an order. Happy Holidays. HAPPY HOLIDAYS? This literally ruined my baby gender reveal - which was in a week. I was in tears finding another caterer and 8 months pregnant (that is a lot of tears) but THANK GOODNESS Corky's Catering took pity on my sobbing and figured it out last minute for us and making my baby reveal magical. ( and made sure all food allergies were addressed and taken care of)

Dave and his staff did a great job for my son's grad party. The food was right on time and it was excellent. Everybody raved about it. Would highly recommend these guys!

Chef by Request. Catering is outstanding, Amanda will work with you from start to finish, help design your menu, arrange and staff the most delicious event. David and Leslie Malay

Had such a fabulous experience Chef by Request Catering! Used Chef by Request Catering for my moms surprise 60th birthday and they really went above and beyond from the booking of the event. then assistance from ordering the food. they were on time to the minute for the surprise party (which is really important!), they had to move all the food twice because she was coming in from another door and would have spoiled the surprise (and they did it with a smile on their face).

They were cool, calm and collected and helped me relax that they had their part under control. During the party they were so sweet, they even cleaned up. Could not have had a more flawless experience with the catering company. Thank you so much!

Amanda Ingle coordinated our dinner and wine event and she and the team made it easy and wonderful. From selecting the date to menu selection, my wife and I were so surprised at how stress free it all was. On the night of our party, the chef and service team arrived promptly and professionally. They were super easy to work with and came fully prepared.

We enjoyed our evening with our guests and left everything in their hands. The food was excellent, our kitchen was left spotless and, as Chef Chad said, the whole point was to finish the event and never know they'd been there. I'd recommend this service to anyone.

Chef by Request courts clients very well. HOWEVER, they turn our poor product and service, and blatantly pulled a 'bait and switch' on us. We had a wonderful tasting in their office and loved the food. We raved about it to family and friends for months up to our wedding. At our wedding, a fatty beef was served (my guests said they would chew and had to spit out fat pieces into a napkin), and bone-in light and dark meat chicken was served, when we had tasted a chicken breast earlier.

When I delivered this feedback, they requested pictures of the food from the wedding or tasting. Who would think of doing that? Sorry, I was busy being a bride and not an event coordinator. After the wedding, such as brunch on Sunday and Father's Day which was shortly after the wedding, family members said they did not expect a chicken leg or wing at a wedding and talked about how 'gross' the beef was.

It was completely embarrassing. I also learned that the food was taken and given to staff as their meal (totally fine and agreed to prior) BEFORE ALL THE GUESTS HAD EATEN, EVEN MY MOM. I can't speak to the appetizers as there was one flatbread passed in the area my family was taking pictures and there was probably 30 people hanging out in this space.

I got one compliment from 175 guests - the potatoes were good. Hopefully that fact speaks for itself. Like the other reviewed said, DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME AND PLEASE SELECT A DIFFERENT VENDOR. In the end, we were offered a refund on the cost of the beef - fair. The owner alleged that bone-in chicken pieces was 'elegant and trendy'. Sorry, that is not elegant, that is BBQ style. Not the look I was going for. Amanda is the coordinator we worked with, and she did a fine job. However, their owner is arrogant and insulting in his email communication.

I have used Chef By Request not only for my wedding but also for my annual wine party. The food is absolutely amazing. My friends raved about it. The servers were top notch. Amanda, who helped me with the menu selections was outstanding. I will be using this team for many years to come.

I just received my meals now and I am very disappointed with the service and packaging of Chef by Request. All the boxes were leaking and most of the food was out of the containers. There was barely anything left to eat that wasn't leaking out of the boxes. Besides the condition of the food, all these meals arrived days late. I'm traveling for a week tomorrow so the food will go to waste because i was expecting the delivery to be done on Saturday. Isabela

CBR catered my son's first birthday party at Knoch Knolls Nature Center in Naperville. The setup was beautiful and the food was delicious. We had many compliments. Coordinating the details with Amanda was a pleasure. I will certainly use them again for future events in the area.

I worked with Amanda and she was prompt and professional. I was pleased with her suggestions and patience. The baby shower we gave was small but I was treated wonderfully. The salad bar was great. The server, Jackie, was calm, collected and confident throughout the event. I liked her and she made me calmer! They did a great job for me and I highly recommend them.

We were considering Chef by Request as our wedding caterer for our wedding in June. We attended a tasting and were told we would receive an updated proposal with our menu choices. After approximately a month of waiting and a follow-up e-mail on my part, I received a response. We reached back out on several occasions over the next month, in an attempt to finalize the contact, but we never heard back from Katie.

It is now over 7 months later, and I still never received a response. Obviously, we went with a different caterer, but I wanted to write this as a warning to others. If efficient communication (or any at all, honestly) is something you expect from a caterer, I would suggest a different company.

I had contacted chef by request for a consultation for an event for 150 people. After some perseverance, i was finally able to make a consultation appointment in June. After consultation, we were told we would be receiving a proposal. I never received a proposal. I sent a couple of emails asking again for the proposal. It is now september. I still never received the proposal.

I decided to hire another caterer. If this is how they do business, I dont think I would like their business at all! I will keep this in mind for future events. Way to drop the ball chef by request! Update: one year after initial inquisition, chef by request emailed me asking if I would like a proposal. It is now July 2017. Original consultation was June 2016. Wow. Just wow. Sorry, I am in contract with another company. It's quite interesting getting snubbed for a whole year.

We love CBR! We've used them so many times for different things; graduation parties, birthdays, anniversary parties, and even one Christmas when we just had way too many people coming over to cook. Always fantastic, but they really outdid themselves for my wedding! I had a multitude of guests tell me it was the best wedding food they ever had.

The Sicilian chicken and garlic smashed potatoes were the favorites among guests and the duck quesadilla they served during our cocktail hour was fabulous. Always a great choice to go with CBR!

I attended a wedding in May that was catered by CBR and was very impressed with the menu and quality of the food, so when I got engaged, I reached out to CBR for a proposal for my wedding. I emailed back and forth with Katie Merkle multiple times regarding various details and options. I emailed her after not hearing back almost a month regarding a proposal she was planning for me and my fiance, and she responded right away that she would get a proposal prepared.

That was almost two months ago. I was very seriously considering using CBR for my wedding of 200+, but I do not think I should have to keep reminding their wedding coordinator to prepare a proposal.

We are planning our daughter's wedding in Chicago, to be held at A New Leaf. They have a list of caterers they exclusively use. I have had no luck getting feedback from a few of these caterers. Katie Merkle from Chef by Request Catering, however, has bent over backwards with menu suggestions, ways to cut costs, etc., without even knowing if A New Leaf will allow them to cater our wedding.

A wedding planner in Chicago raved about Chef by Request, saying she would choose them over any of the city caterers, with both fantastic food, service and affordability. If Chef by Request's food is even half as good as the customer service I have been receiving, then I am really hoping A New Leaf will add them to their preferred list!

I was at an event this weekend that was catered by this company and it was awful. The steaks were all over the map. My wife's was well done, mine was medium, my uncle's was rare on the boarder of raw. All of them had huge slabs of fat. They should have been trimmed before they cooked them off site. Twice baked potatoes were gray bland no seasoning.

The Shrimp Dijon was so salty no-one could eat it. The shrimps were like eating salty rubber bullets. The servers were good. The did a great job. I feel bad for the hosts. They did not get their money's worth. I would not use them.

I requested a quote from Chef by Request for my wedding, and did not receive any type of response or reply for 2 weeks. I emailed again to follow up, and thought maybe my email got lost and give them the benefit of the doubt. I received a generic response saying the wedding coordinator, Danielle Guzman would be in touch that day. She did not get in touch with me that day.

A few days past, and Danielle said she would get the quote out to me that morning, but I did not see anything all day. Finally, the following evening I contacted her and a few hours afterwards I had received a quote. This was probably the most unorganized quote. None of the items that I had requested were on there, and I knew that I did not want a caterer that I would have to chase down all the time.

It was no surprise, Danielle did not bother to follow up on the information she had provided me. Who knows if they would even show up on time and prepare for my wedding day. I am not sure if this company is extremely busy or the staff is completely incompetent. Good luck to anyone trying to get a quote or customer service out of this company.

We had a corporate luncheon for the holidays and this was the caterer. I had some pretty good food, but this was by far the best catering I have had. Very professional presentative, and tasted exquisite. If I ever need a caterer I will be calling them first and I recommend them for any event! Thank you Katie Merkle who was the event specialist