Thank Goodness It’s Sofia Catering and Events

I work for a very reputable and large non-​profit organization and TGIS has been our preferred catering company for about 3 years. It is hands down the best food that you’ll ever eat! TGIS’ owner, Sofia Riley, is so talented and creative! She will come up with out-​of-​the-​box and exquisite hors d’oeuvres, main courses and deserts. Also, her creative and wonderful décor leaves our guests with their mouth open every time. Now, when you think that our gala event in Long Beach is usually attended by 400 – 500 guests, you wonder how they are able to keep it consistent and make such a great impression on all those attending!?! Mark Rivera, Event Manager, is also outstanding to work with. TGIS is an fabulous company, great service and exquisit food. I highly recommend it for either small gatherings (which they have also catered for us) and large events!

We just had TGIS cater our halloween party, and let me tell you– they did a fabulous job! The food was amazing, and the service was even better. There was plenty of food to go around and the staff did a wonderful job cleaning up after the event. We will definitely stick with TGIS for any other catering needs we might have!

My aunt celebrated her 100^th birthday on April 10^th. TGIS catered this wonderful event. My entire side of my mother’s family were there and a lot of friends. The Sycamore Centre is a very nice facility. The food the caterer served was also very good. I enjoyed it all.
The only problem was the service. This venue of TGIS is apparently run by the City of Lakewood. The event sales manager actually has a City email address. The employees acted like city employees would act if they had to work on a Sunday. They were not happy to be there, they were in fact grim. When it came time for salad, they were so slow, my cousins (The hosts) were running around helping the service. They couldn’t enjoy their own event. When the emcee went to introduce the head table, it was empty, because my cousins were worried about the service being too slow. The HOST Bar was actually no host bar. Only the soft drinks were free. I ordered a gin/​tonic and an orange juice for my granddaughter (after being prompted to use the HOST bar). To my surprise the gin/​tonic cost $ 8.00, and the OJ cost $ 3.00. (Yikes) Then I saw the little paper sign to my right with the prices. When they served the birthday cake, the cut it into very tiny pieces, maybe two bites. I wondered why as at the end of the party ¹⁄₃ of the cake was left over. When I told a server my wife and I had not received any cake, this gentlemen scowled at me like I was dirt, and brought me two pieces. When the coffee was served it was tepid warm. Very disappointing. I asked one of the servers for the name of their company, and she looked at me like I was out-​of-​line and told me I shouldn’t be asking her. Puzzled, I asked again, and she pointed to a man who she said was I should speak to. This fellow was the grim fellow who had been rude earlier, so I gave up on my question. Later the woman gave me a business card. This left me to think the woman was just grabbed and thrown in at the last minute, or it was her first day. When my mother, wife, and aunt asked for doggie bags, we were told that due to the danger of food spoilage, they would not provide doggie bags. Luckily my wife and mother always carry zip-​lock bags in their purses for emergencies. (smile)
Since the facility is great, and the food is great, it was only the serving team that was poor. Despite the good facility and excellent food, the poor service put a damper on what was a very special and happy day. That might be the difference between the private sector and the public sector. The other review giving this place 5-​stars is based on a 4-​year-​old experience. I would NOT have my daughter’s future wedding reception using this team with the poor morale they displayed.
This venue of TGIS is nice, if you don’t mind rude service. Frankly, I’ve been treated nicer lately at the DMV. LOL
P. S. I posted this review originally on April 11^th as a 1^st Review. It was taken down by Unilocal Head Quarters due to a complaint which they verified that it had personal information. (I omitted the city employee’s name and email address from my text. Funny she doesn’t want her name on Unilocal, but has it on their business card.) Suddenly, two more 5-​star positive review pops up five days later. I smell a political cover-​up, so I’m taking it down to one-​star as a balance. The 4-​year-​old review was removed. Now an 10÷31÷11 review pops up. It you examine the 5-​star reviews you’ll see that they are fabricated, by non-​regular Unilocalers. This corrupts the integrity of Unilocal. Next time just update your review. LOL