Calihan Catering

Unfortunately I have mixed feelings about our wedding with Calihan Catering at Gallery 1028. They own the space so they were the sole caterer we could work with. Before we signed any contracts we wanted to ensure we could get the menu we wanted from Calihan.
We were put in contact with Todd who was unresponsive from day one. Our first scheduled phone call he was unavailable at the time of the call and called me back an hour later, extremely annoying when I had to leave work to take this call. He had originally sent us a plated dinner menu so I requested a buffet list as that would be our preference. He sent us a list of stations that looked nothing like a wedding menu. After further discussing this he apologized stating that those station menus were typically used for cocktail hour corporate events. He clearly knew we were planning a WEDDING. Our second scheduled phone call (my fiancé and I both had to leave work) was once again missed by Todd as he called us back 40 minutes later. We insisted on making the next phone call an in person meeting at the Calihan office as we had already been blown off twice.
A few weeks before the wedding we were looking to pay the final deposit so we requested a finalized proposal from Todd. We didn’t pick up the original guest count as anyone planning a wedding knows, so we had less guests than our initial proposal. This final proposal included EXTRA wait staff and another job title that had never previously been listed on any other proposal. When discussing this with Todd he admitted he had accidentally left off this needed staff member and meant to just put the title at no cost but claimed the «system» accidentally added the cost of $ 300. Todd almost «accidentally» charged us an additional $ 300 but we were fortunate enough to be checking every detail. It is unfortunate to say that Todd’s lack of attention to detail caused us undue stress during our planning process.
The only reason I am even giving this high of a rating is due to the service staff the day of the event and the quality of the food. The food exceeded our expectations so our compliments to the chefs! We continue to get compliments from our guests on how delicious the food was. The event staff from Gallery and Calihan were top notch and they made sure the event was perfect. The wedding was wonderful but I don’t know that I would choose to work with Calihan again.

Woah, I realized I forgot to post this review. I just wanted to say that working with Todd for our wedding was amazing! He was extremely nice and responsive, and very helpful every step of the way. The food and service were both amazing! It was everything we could’ve asked for!!!

This is a tough one. My husband and I used Calihan for our wedding this past May. Up until 18 days before the wedding they were fantastic. We actually booked their wedding space, Gallery 1028, and used them both for our venue and our catering. We were extremely impressed by their responsiveness and the quality of their food at the tasting. But 18 days before our wedding they called us to let us know that we would not be able to have our wedding at Gallery 1028 due to a delay in construction. While I was shocked that they waited that long to let us know that we needed to find a new venue, we were impressed by their professionalism as they helped us find a new venue and paid all the associated charges. Specifically, Todd was phenomenal and basically acted as our planner, coordinating every aspect of the transition. Based on those interactions we would have said that we recommend them without a doubt. However, when we found out the weather for the wedding was going to be cold and rainy we emailed Calihan to discuss a contingency plan as our cocktail hour was now supposed to be outside (not the case at Gallery 1028). The response was that they would recommend heaters totaling $ 1000 but they were not willing to compensate us for the cost despite the fact that they agreed to pay for all necessary charges associated with the change in venue. At our rehearsal the night before the wedding they actually tried to get us to change all of our floor plans for the wedding the last minute. It was extremely unprofessional and downright stressful. We went to our rehearsal dinner worried and upset and that evening decided we would pay for two of the four heaters. We emailed Calihan to ask for them to pay for the remaining two heaters and the following morning (the day of the wedding) heard that they would. However, the heaters never showed up. The wedding was wonderful regardless, but after all of that I would hesitate before using Calihan again. The food was wonderful, the waitstaff were excellent, and Calihan was even able to get us ice cream from our favorite ice cream parlor in Michigan for dessert. But we were very disappointed by their management. It’s a tough call.

As a wedding photographer with 10 years experience, I have tried a ton of wedding food but when it was time for me to get married I was completely surprised at how amazing the food was that Calihan offered. We told them we were looking to have casual comfort food and they delivered with amazing appetizers followed by BBQ glazed chicken, Salmon, or black bean burgers. Our guests finished every last piece on their plates and we ever heard rave reviews from some of our more picky guests. I can’t thank them enough for the quality and service they provided which helped our day be the best ever. Especially Todd Klein who was attentive, responsive, and helpful throughout the entire process.

I can’t even begin to explain what a dream it was working with Calihan was for my wedding. It was truly the best day of my life and that is largely due to how great it was to work with them and how amazing the service and food was at our wedding. They executed every detail perfectly and were so helpful to me the whole time– any questions I had were answered thoughtfully and quickly, and they really understood our tastes and preferences to make a fantastic menu that everyone loved. My now husband and I love food so we knew we wanted that to be the best part of the wedding, especially since we have a number of friends and family in the restaurant business and people with discerning taste– Calihan really listened to everything we said and everything from the appetizers to the dessert was so delicious. Every member of their staff did a great job. The entire night I was able to talk to guests but they still kept a fresh glass of champagne in my had at all time. Everyone had wine and water glasses kept refilled. They made sure my husband and I had an assortment of all the passed appetizers before the reception started so we got bites of everything and didn’t have to chase around the waitstaff while we were mingling and taking pictures with all the guests. The dinner entrée was beef tenderloin and although you would think that might be hard to execute well for almost 200 people, each plate was cooked perfectly and we had countless amounts of people tell us that it was the best wedding dinner they had ever had. It was a classy, relaxed, beautiful night for my husband and I and the guests alike. This is exactly what we had hoped for so it was a dream come true. They worked harmoniously with our other vendors to make it the perfect day for me and I think I will be on cloud 9 over my fairytale wedding for the rest of my life. If you want your wedding to be an affair to remember, definitely going with Calihan is the thing to do. Thank you John and company for the best day of my life

We used Calihan Catering in conjunction with Gallery 1028 (the space they own) for our wedding in June 2014. We cannot say enough good things about these people. The staff (particularly Todd, but everyone there) were professional and patient and walked us through every step of the process in a way that we never once felt like we didn’t know what was going on or what we needed to do. During the event, the wait staff, bartenders and chefs were just perfect.
But the real star was the food. We were excited by the sample menus that they provided us, and at the tasting — which itself was a fun time that left us certain we’d picked the right folks for the job — we got to sample a good variety of very tasty dishes that our coordinator was able to tweak here and there to fit the theme of our wedding (upscale Southern). He also made suggestions that turned out to be big hits — from the flavored water in the pre-​ceremony reception area to the late-​night snacks (which was hugely popular after an evening of dancing). Everything from the entrees to the desserts to the bar package (they were quite flexible here, and accommodated our particular tastes) was perfect and worth every cent.
If you use Gallery 1028, you have to use Calihan for the catering. That might seem like a constraint, but it turns out to be a real positive. They have the kitchens right next door — which we got to tour during our tasting — and that helps guarantee everything is perfect when it arrives at the tables. The chefs accommodated a serious nut allergy concern, provided vegetarian options that were just as good as the conventional choices, and approached all of it creatively. Guests raved about the food and drink, which doesn’t happen too often at catered events, in my experience.
We’ve recommended Calihan and Gallery 1028 to other friends who are planning their weddings and look forward to experiencing their food again.

There’s not really much more I can say about Calihan and the team than FABULOUS! Their food is delicious, their staff is professional and easy to work with and their event staff is very attentive.
We went with Calihan to cater our wedding as they are the vendor/​owner of Gallery 1028. Even before we chose to go with Gallery 1028 we were told we HAD to use Calihan for our wedding because they were the best — and that was true. There’s nothing more disappointing than a bad meal at a wedding or a lack of passed hors d’oeuvres to leave you starving at your table and Calihan provides exactly the opposite! The quality of food and taste are outstanding and working with Lee and Todd on the front end and the waitstaff (Garrison especially) and bartenders the night of were just so pleasant and stress free. I cannot thank everyone enough for a perfect wedding experience!

Attending a reception for my aunt and uncle. Calihan were the caterer’s they were beyond the expectation of my relatives the smoked salmon platter was devoured.

I can’t say enough good things about Calihan. We got married at the beginning of March and Calihan catered the wedding as well as the brunch the following morning. Everything leading up to and the event itself were absolutely perfect. The planning, coordination, and food were outstanding. Anything we wanted was unilaterally replied with ‘yes.’
I couldn’t imagine a more positive experience.

I worked with Nitin Vyas who painted a beautiful picture of our wedding. I loved how he discussed his keen attention to detail that would make a wedding planner envious. Tuxedoed servers, lighting, linens, decedent foods… Gosh! Do I love to eat. And you can only imagine how important eating is for our wedding.
Nitin asked questions about the kinds of restaurants we like so that he could assemble a menu and a quote. I was ready to sign up right then and there on the phone. If Nitin could somehow make an amalgam of my favorite restaurants and make it into my personal restaurant zeitgeist… Well heck. I might as well marry him because he’d be my personal lord and savior!
So you can only imagine my initial excitement followed by anxious anticipation for the menu and quote… And then the gradual realization that there was no menu. There was no quote. There was no Calihan Catering for our wedding. I heard nothing from him in any way — no email no phone call. Crickets.
I guess he just wasn’t that into me. But it was really a let down for more than just me. We needed a caterer to come through for us with a quote for us to consider one particular venue. Price-​point was key. So Nitin’s lack of follow up meant not only that it was a bust for Calihan Catering but also for the particular locale that recommended them.

We had our wedding at 1028 and Calihan catering is by far the best caterer in the city! It is well known that their food is outstanding, and it certainly was on our wedding day. The bridal party arrived to the cocktail hour late after taking photos. When we arrived several staff brought out appetizers to the trolley and everyone got to eat while we finished pictures and I gut my dress bustled. We had a 250 person wedding, so cocktail hour was a bit crowded, but it was a non — issues. There were enough staff passing drinks, and apps that no one had to wait for a drink.
We made some last minute changes to the menu and the seating, and they were MORE than accommodating. They added a vegan meal (WITH vegan dessert!) and a kids meal at the last minute.
The dinner and wine service was incredible. It was quick and accurate. We received endless compliments after our wedding about the food and the service. We had someone paying extra attention to us, as promised, and they were there, or there in a flash if we needed anything. I don’t know why so many people are complaining about not having a personal servant on their wedding day. I was glad to know they were helping my guests. The staff was friendly, professional, and made each guest feel special.
From initial meeting to wedding day and soup to nuts, Calihan was extremely helpful, professional, flexible and DELICIOUS. If you want your guests to love their meal and feel as though they are important guests for the entire event hire Calihan. You will NOT be disappointed!

We chose Calihan Catering for our wedding held at Café Brauer in June 2011 and were extremely impressed with the service we received. We worked with Nicole, who kept me on track with all the decisions (as a workaholic bride, I often lost track) and was extremely helpful even before we signed our contract! I knew that meant she and the company overall really cared about the quality of the event, especially since it was our Big Day. We even had a last minute change (I ended up wanting cake served as opposed to set out on a buffet) and she was right on it and very accommodating. I loved working with her.
Everything can be customized according to your personal taste and your budget constraints. We had a summer wedding and wanted a lighter fare. Nicole and her team came up with great ideas for us and we even had two tasting (one as a couple and one with both sets of parents) to make sure we were happy with our selections. Our guests loved the menu — everyone was raving about it! The presentation of the food at the actual wedding was identical to the tastings, which shows they don’t try to fool you. It looked beautiful. In fact, guests took pictures of the food just because it looked so nice! It was just as delicious. Regarding the service, I felt like there was a server dedicated just to me and the new hubby, to make sure we always had what we wanted and see that we were satisfied with everything. They were very attentive, yet never in the way. We were so impressed.
One thing to keep in mind is that the Calihan contract is just food and service cost — it does not include the linens, table settings, glassware, etc. They show you a rough estimate of those costs since they work with specific vendors, but you have to pay those vendors separately. Nicole was good about keeping me on top those payments. I had originally thought those costs were included in my Calihan «per person», but it ended up tacking on another $ 6 — which adds up when you have 230 guests! Make sure you budget for that so you aren’t surprised!
Overall, I highly recommend Calihan for their exceptional quality and service. Their attention to detail can’t be beat.

seriously amazing food… so delicious… and so many options for us to choose from. and they were very helpful coming up with ways to make some of our food vegan for me.
the big however — the staff are somewhat difficult to deal with. the major issues we had:
— our day of coordinator told some of the staff they could take a couple vases of flowers after the event had ended… we started with around 150 vases and when we went to pick up the few odds and ends the following monday, we went home with about 100… their staff had taken around 50 of our flower vases! and even though they had warned us saying, «you are welcome to leave items here until monday, but things always turn up missing.» — okay, thanks for the warning, but all you are telling me is that you hire staff that steal your clients belongings!
— our families/​friends are HUGE scotch drinkers, which we told them up front… we asked to substitute the base level scotch with a higher end scotch and instead of raising the cost, we lowered the quality of beer… about 2 hours into the wedding, they ran out of the fancy scotch and were using an even lower level than what was in the original bid… when we asked them about it after the event, they said they felt they provided plenty of scotch based on our guest count. oh well.
overall — we had such a great time and enjoyed the food so much, we can’t say they are terrible… just a few items that came up that we were not pleased with.

We had our wedding at the Oak Brook Bath and Tennis Club in June 2011 and were extremely pleased with Calihan Catering. Specifically we worked with Lee Calihan who was absolutely wonderful and helped us pull off our special night gracefully and smoothly.
We had a long time planning our wedding (16 months) and through all that, Lee helped us make our selections, came out to the Club many many times to see the venue, tweaked everything we wanted (pricing, menu, decorations, schedule) and made very helpful suggestions. We really needed someone to «take the reins» on some of the food, drinks, organization, etc. and she stepped up every time. In my opinion she was a very central part of why our wedding ran so smoothly. Sometimes she took a few days to respond to our emails/​phone calls but other than that she was very dependable, willing to work with us on pricing, etc. and always friendly and cheerful.
Calihan’s offices are located in the Goose Island area of the city, which is SOO convenient — that’s where we did our tastings, picked out table linens, and dropped off our decorations the week before.
The day before during the wedding rehearsal, I was pretty lost as to where to start with so many people (we had a huge wedding party) and Lee, having noticed this, just gathered everyone nicely and orchestrated the whole thing. I was so impressed and it took soo much of the stress away from me!
The wedding itself ran astoundingly smoothly, food was yummy, and we did have staff making sure we ate ;) We were able to eat, drink AND dance at our own wedding. It was great! My only (small) gripes were that the way they called the tables to the buffet, one of the wedding party tables got called last, and also there were two buffet lines but nobody realized it so everybody was standing in one long line. But really, those are miniscule complaints.
All in all — I highly recommend Calihan. If you need a reference feel free to Unilocal!message me.

Calihan catered our wedding at Gallery 1028 in October 2010. We chose the venue first, and figured we’d try our luck with the caterer, knowing they were the exclusive caterer for this venue. Well, we got lucky!!!
First, huge thanks to Nicole Fitzpatrick who was more than just our contact, but really our unofficial wedding planner. Nicole was super attentive, responsive, flexible, professional, etc, all that good stuff, and then some. Plus, she’s as cute and sweet as can be. A true to pleasure to work with!
Ok, the food. I LOVED our appetizers: deconstructed ceasar salad — it looked like a green jello jiggler, and probably some of our guests thought it was weird, but we loved it. very modern. apple cones with crème fraîche and caviar. duck confit in a sweet potato crêpe. butternut squash flatbread with fried sage. seared tuna wonton with wasabi caviar. Our dinner was seasonal and fresh: heirloom tomato salad with goat cheese, tenderloin, halibut, spinach risotto cake.
Calihan was also super accommodating when it came to our guests with food allergies.
Sadly, the cliché is true… the bride and groom never get a chance to eat.

If you don’t want stress up until the very moment you say «i do,» DO NOT USE CALIHAN Catering!
Prior to our wedding, Calihan tried to charge us an excess of thousands of dollars. My now husband and I had to create an EXCEL sheet illustrating their creative accounting to them, for which we are still battling to get our money back. They throw in hidden charges whenever possible, change liquor selections, and do not respond to emails/​return phone calls in a timely manner.
Their food is awesome, but it comes at an emotional and stressful cost. Our contract changed so much, 5 minutes after saying «I do» I had to answer contract questions and battle for them to honor their word. In regards to their contract, READ EVERY WORD, look up the EXACT definition of the words they use because they are very cunning.
Word to the wise — proceed with extreme caution.

I wish I could have the pleasure of reviewing Calihan’s Catering service, but I have sadly not even gotten past getting a sample menu of what they offer! And that’s not from lack of trying either.
I’ve called and talked to Nitin from Calihan and was told I’d get a proposal drafted within the next couple of days. And then… heard nothing.
I called a week later asking for Nitin’s email to send a friendly reminder to send me more information… he replied he’d get back to me later that evening.
It’s been over a month and I still haven’t received anything after multiple tries of getting a hold of them.
Based on my limited experience with Calihan, I’ve experienced very poor customer service… I realize that my wedding probably isn’t going to be a big money maker in their pockets, but ignoring a potential client is never a good business practice.
Maybe a staff member dropped the ball on this one, but I would suggest thinking twice before working with Calihan who says they’ll give you want you want but fails to follow through in a timely matter.

We had our wedding at Gallery 1028 in September ’09, and Calihan is the exclusive caterer for that venue. The tasting was a fun experience, and everything was delicious and presented beautifully. Same goes for the wedding itself — delicious, beautiful, gourmet food that everyone enjoyed! People always say that you don’t necessarily get a chance to eat much at your wedding, but I was sure to eat every bite of my dinner because it would have been a crime not to! The service was amazing, and Nicole and the staff really took care of us and made sure that everything went smoothly. We’re so happy we chose Gallery 1028 and Calihan!

For my wedding in August we went with Calihan Catering because, well, they’re the best caterer in the city.
My entire experience from beginning to end was absolutely flawless. I HATED planning my wedding and Calihan picked up on that immediately — they eased the pain. The actual tasting was amazing and I wish I could eat like that every night– it was so hard to choose what we wanted to serve because everything was just SO good.
I went to eight weddings last summer, including my own, and no one at any other wedding raved about the food as much as people raved about my wedding food. Calihan’s head pastry chef even made our cake and my friend’s husband said, «Damn, that cake was good. I ate three pieces and I don’t even LIKE Carrot Cake.» In the end, I was an extremely happy bride but I am not surprised since I DID decide to go with Calihan. I strongly recommend that you do too — they do not disappoint!

Outstanding service and food quality! They made planning my recent wedding go very smoothly and we are extremely glad that we went with Calihan.
Received numerous comments from our guests saying that it was the best wedding food they’ve ever had… and that’s what we were going for!
You really can’t go wrong with Calihan. They’re professional, great chefs, and just excellent overall. In particular, I have to say that our consultant, Pam Swisher, was one of the key people in making sure our wedding ran smooth as clockwork. She was amazing!