Caribbean Catering

I urge everyone to stay away from this volatile and dangerous business. I’m still in shock at how owner Debbie Pierog pulled out of our fully confirmed 2 day event at the very last minute without any regard for our previous arrangements, or any regard for what a terrible spot she was leaving my company and clients in by doing so.
In 10 years of hiring professional caterers all over the world, on a regular basis, I have never experienced such a bizarre mode of behavior. Many caterers have their quirks– but this was completely off the spectrum. I urge anyone considering hiring this unstable business/​person to contact me directly for the entire story of what happened. Or simply save yourself the time and stay away. You run the risk of letting them ruin your event.

If I could give zero stars I would. When I first met Debbie I explained I already had a caterer and at that time only needed tables chairs setup and all the deco. This was at least 10 months before the wedding date and she was fine with everything. She actually said there is enough business to go around. Skip to present day and my chef has passed away. He was not just our chef but a friend. Giving her first right of refusal I called and left a detailed message with no response. Several days later I emailed her to give an update and add items to our list. She sent me back the nastiest email «WE are out of town for the month of Sept so I don’t receive phone messages, only email. WE always close for the month of September but I guess you don’t know that …» How would I? She further goes on to drop me as a client. This is 2 months before my wedding! Thankfully I have found an angel in Mike Forster and Mangrove Mike’s! I highly recommend steering clear of Caribbean Caterers.

Unfortunately this business gets 1 star because of their either lack of integrity or competence, whichever the owner Debbie would like to blame this on. I was told we needed to let them know the next morning of wether or not we were going to use them for our rehearsal dinner. I called the next morning at 8:45 am and left a message confirming that we would be using them and asked for a return call. I then wrote an e-​mail later that night to see if she’d gotten my message. She finally returns my e-​mail this morning and informs me that because SHE didn’t check her voicemail until late that she took a deposit from another bride who came into her office and couldn’t do our dinner. I’m sorry but this is either due to a lack of competence in checking your companies voicemail, a simple task, or a lack of integrity when someone comes in waving money in your face. So be it. I’d rather not have a company of this capacity doing ANYTHING that has to do with my wedding. Thanks for saving us from having a possible WORSE experience had we used you.

My Bride and I had a wonderful experience with Debbie and the staff at Caribbean Catering, thank you!

I shared many of the same experiences as the previous post from «Beach G».
Debbie was a delight to work with, taking the time to meet with us two months before the wedding and immediately offered creative suggestions that were out of the box, and exactly perfect for us. We wanted plate service with a variation of family style dining — she suggested seafood Paella, which was absolutely amazing. Our family and friends raved about the quality of the meal, so good!
Although my fiancéé was disappointed that we didn’t do a cake tasting before the wedding, the mouthwatering double-​chocolate cake was honestly the best cake I’ve tasted — I can’t wait until the year anniversary to savor another piece. To me, just as important as the taste, the baker pulled off an off-​the-​wall idea, improving on our whimsical design, making a cake that was unique and special. Top notch baking and design!
Debbie and her staff are dedicated and truly care. Thank you for helping us have a most memorable day!

I recently got married in Islamorada. Our wedding venue recommended Debbie and Carribean Catering. We happened to give her a call when we were only in town for 2 days back in Sept. scouting wedding locations (we live in California) and she picked up right away and asked us to come by that day! (AMAZING!) She patiently went over options with us and helped us with any questions we had. From start to finish, working with Debbie and her staff was SO EASY. She delievered on every promise (and more)!!
We had her cater a rehearsal dinner (for 70 guests) the night before our weddding. We asked for Margaritaville theme. She created a menu with hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, homemade chips, baked beans and all the fixins. All of the food was SO delcious. I swear I am still dreaming about those homemade chips.
She also not only catered our wedding, but helped set up our wedding décor and advised us on what alcohol to buy for our bar set up. (She even came by a few days early with some table linen options so we could see the colors in person first. That was SO helpful and nice of her to come to us at the hotel.) We had macadamia chicken, pork and crabcakes. Everything was amazing. The guests are still talking about how good the food was and how perfectly everything was decorated (Thanks Debbie!!). They even packed up food for us to eat later after the wedding.
From beginning to end, Debbie was completely laid back, a true professional and so easy to work with. She really knows her stuff! You really get the sense that she is there to help you and really wants your day to be perfect. I would recommend her to anyone getting married in the Islamorada area FOR SURE!

We echo the review from Jennifer F. We had Caribbean Catering at our wedding in Islamorada. When initially searching for caterers and talking to Debbie, the owner of Caribbean Catering, she was very pleasant and seemed very flexible and willing to help out with anything. After signing the contract and agreeing on the service she became very inflexible and everything then seemed to become about price.
When initially talking to her about the tables, chairs, linens and dinnerware Debbie made it seem as though she had many different options and styles or was able to acquire them. However after signing the contract and attempting to deal with her about different styles, she only had a very limited selection of colors or styles and if we wanted something else then we would have to pay extra for it. We only wanted a white tablecloth with a light brown/​beige table runner. She showed us a picture of a dark brown and a turquoise table runner which she had, but that was not at all the color we wanted and we did not find them attractive at all. She said that she could not supply any light brown colors and if we wanted a different one then we would have to supply it ourselves or pay her more. We ended up purchasing our own tablerunners.
The food was also below our expectations. We had fish and chicken as the main course and we thought both were luke warm at best and did not have the flavor we expected. They were pretty bland. The Salad was old looking. Overall, the other sides were nothing special either. We know not to expect too much from catered food, but for the price Caribbean Catering charged, it simply does not measure up. We heard this same comment from many people at the wedding. Overall, the food was not terrible, it just wasn’t that good and definitely not worth the price.
Also, some of their servers did not perform like we would expect from a professional catering company. Some staff members were seen eating the food right out in the open in front of everyone. We considered this a lack of professionalism. We know it is generally acceptable for staff members to have some of the food, however this should be done out of view of the guests and not right out in the main area where the service should be performed. Additionally staff came up to the bride and groom asking to get cake for themselves. We did not have a problem with this per say, it just seemed a little odd right when we were still finishing serving the guests cake. Also, about the cake, since we did not purchase the cake through Caribbean Catering, they would not provide plates for the cake. We found this very odd, that just because we did not buy the cake through them (which is not odd for most weddings) that they would not provide the dinnerware. We had to purchase our own. The guests felt rushed through the dinner and as soon as the plate was about empty, the plate was gone. And so was their table deco and things they wanted to take home, like the place cards. We understand that some people may not like keeping the plate, however some of the guests commented that they were not finished. We just would have appreciated the servers asking if they wanted the plate and place settings removed prior to taking it.
We also had both alcoholic and non-​alcoholic bar tending service provided by Caribbean. We had to purchase the alcoholic beverages, however, Caribbean was supposed to provide the mixers. We had also purchased some non-​alcoholic mixers for our own consumption on previous nights. Towards the end of the night we noticed that the bartender had run out of their mixers and started using our mixers. We paid Debbie’s price for the non-​alcoholic set up and felt that they should have provided enough beverages and supplies to cover for the entire night. Additionally, late in the night an apparent friend of the bartender showed up and started drinking at the bar as well. We believe it was likely someone to help the bartender close up and clean the bar, however, they shouldn’t be drinking from the alcohol that we provided ourselves, at least without asking first.
After the wedding she was also posting photos from our wedding ceremony, decorations and design on her facebook page. Us being fairly private people, we did not want our wedding experience to be broadcast for the world to see. We at least felt that Debbie should have asked us about this prior to posting on her public facebook page.
Overall we felt Caribbean Catering was primarily concerned with making money (which business isn’t, but come on, some basic customer service and flexibility should be expected in this industry). They became pretty inflexible and ultimately, we were not at all satisfied with this important part of our wedding.

We used Debbie & Co. for our wedding and I thought they were fabulous. My guests had nothing but rave reviews for the food, which was the seafood pasta station and apps. I ended up not eating until after the wedding, but thankfully Debbie’s people had kindly come up to me when I was mingling with guests, asked what I wanted, and put it in a container in my room fridge which I greatly appreciated at 2:00 a.m. when I had the time to eat it!
They took care of our linens and bartending as well. Debbie worked with our photographer/​planner and the hotel for the rehearsal dinner and the ceremony. For the rehearsal, we got the Mexican option and it was good.
They do not supply liquor so we had a engagment party and asked the guest to bring booze which we used to supply the bar. The bartenders were awesome and even concocted some shots for some of my guests and they came up to me afterwards very excited about it.
I chose Caribbean Catering after thorough research and was not disappointed. They were definitely what we spent the most money on out of the entire wedding but the cost was not unreasonable and frankly worth every penny. I would highly recommend them (and have) to anyone getting married in the Keys.

Do not use Caribbean Catering under any circumstance! We had a terrible experience with Debbie for our wedding in Islamorada. She is inflexible, expensive, and makes promises that she cannot keep. Instead, we found a caterer in Miami (Food by Chef Lars) that traveled to Islamorada for our wedding. The food was superb, they did everything we asked them for, they were cheaper than Caribbean Catering, and the quality was top-​notch (I’m a total foodie and the food was the most important part of my wedding). Debbie is really unfriedly and inflexible, and to be honest, all she cares about is money. She doesn’t deserve your business.