Checkers Catering & Special Events

They were wonderful! I ordered the fajita bar for a large meeting at the Oakland Scottish Rites Center and they were fantastic! It was a huge hit. We have some vegans and gluten free folks and the food hit all the right notes!

Today our family had a celebration of life for my brother in law who passed in January. Checkers Catering was incredible!!! Sandee Munroe and her staff were phenomenal and took care of everything! On behalf of our entire family, Thank You so much for you, your staff Eddie and Nick were outstanding and took care of everything and detail. I cannot wait to have another event, and that is what is great about checkers catering it doesn’t matter how big or small they make you feel as if you’re the most important event going on anywhere!!!
Thank you, Thank you
Kevin and Victoria Vierra

As corporate event planners, my coworkers and I have partnered with Checkers to cater over 20 events over the past three and a half years. We have used Checkers for events ranging from 50 to 2,000 people. We continue to do business with Checkers again and again for three main reasons; the people, the food, and the presentation.
1. The people. As an event planner, good communication is very important to me during the planning process. My point of contact with Checkers is Monica. Monica is a pleasure to work with, has excellent attention to detail, and always communicates thoughtfully and thoroughly. I can always count on timely responses from her… it sometimes feels like she’s working around the clock for us!
When it comes time for an event, their staff is always on time. They run a tight ship and clean up after themselves.
Their event staff is very professional. They always greet our guests with a smile and ensure that food stays replenished. It is fun to see the Checkers team working together to cater a 2,000+ person event. They are a great team and work quickly and efficiently together.
2. The food. Checkers food is DELICIOUS and their menu offerings are extensive. We like to challenge them to come up with new menu concepts for our events. They always present a variety of creative options for different styles of event. They cater to our guests and provide a wide array of vegetarian options. We’ve used Checkers for breakfasts, lunches, cookouts, appetizers and hors d’oeuvres, dinners, desserts, and bar service.
3. The presentation. The phenomenal service we receive from Checkers doesn’t stop with their staff and food. From linens to florals and other décor, their flawless presentation contributes to an incredible event.
The only thing I would change about Checkers is that they only cater in the Bay Area. We wish we could use them for our events across the nation.

I used Checkers Catering for our company holiday party on 01÷21÷16. I looked up multiple caterers and I thought they had the best review, so I went with them and they didn’t disappoint. Tracy helped me from start to finish. She is fun to work with because she is very responsive and creative. She also listened to some of my ideas and worked with it along with ideas of her own. They arrived on time and the party went smoothly from beginning to end. The food was delicious and we had enough for leftovers but it was gone the next day. Both of them were professional and always attended to the guests but didn’t hover too much. They also left the place how it was and cleaned after themselves. I would book them again in an instant if I have any events coming up. Thanks again Tracy!

We have used Checkers Catering for several of our company events and I need to say they are the BEST catering company I have worked with. They are very professional, customer service is excellent, pricing is affordable OR they will work with you, food is outstanding, and their décor is beautiful. They truly go above and beyond. I highly recommend Checkers Catering. I will be using them for a personal event mid year in 2016, thats how good they are!
Thank you Checkers Catering! We look forward to working with you in 2016.

Fantastic catering company! I’ve recently started working with checkers for my company lunches and events. They treat every job, big or small with the same amount of attention, detail and professionalism. Friendly staff and very quick to respond. I would highly recommend them.

Sent a msg through their site. Received an email from their director Fred Kotrozo that someone was going to get back to me early the next week but no call no email, nothing!

Just had the great folks at Checkers Catering handle my wedding. Tracy and her staff were super helpful throughout the entire process. They were extremely familiar with our venue and even got us a little extra party time at the end since they had been there many times before and knew all of the ins and outs.
Tracy was patient and understanding with our dietary needs and recommended many Gluten Free options for our wedding. Tracy also provided a venue sketch that helped us a ton in our planning and always responded to our MANY questions same day. They even brought along additional decorations to help spruce up our venue!
On the day of, they arrived on time and all of the staff present was super friendly and helpful! Our bartender was awesome and always had a smile when pouring everyone’s drinks. The food was spectacular and we got comments that this was one of the best wedding meals a lot of people have had!
Hopefully we’ll never have to plan another wedding again, but if we do, Checkers will be our first call. No complaints whatsoever from Tracy and her crew! Thanks guys!!!

Omg I have never had such great service and help with my menu for our bridal shower. Tracy helped me, she was so helpful and made the process so smooth and it was so enjoyable working with her. I would highly recommend Checkers Catering to anyone that needs catering service they setup everything for you and then when our shower was over we put everything in there blue bin dirty and they pickup everything the next business day. The food is outstanding and Tracy helped me with the décor we were having for the shower and they had the color we needed for the table clothes. Let me tell you, you will not be disappointed with Checkers Catering they are number 1.

We used Checkers for our wedding reception/​party and am so glad we did! We had our party at the Temescal Beach House in Oakland and were initially uneasy about picking a caterer off a list, but really liked working with Checkers! Their food was delicious, they had vegetarian and vegan options, and was affordable. Our guests raved about the food and I’m still thinking about it, 2 months later.
Tracy was so great to work with. She had wonderful ideas about decorating and presentation (they have a whole warehouse of decorations that we were able to pick from!) and was super responsive. We were on a budget and they let us provide our own drinks and dessert to cut costs, and also used compostable items for our reception and dessert, which were eco-​friendly and cost effective.
I really can’t recommend them enough. I would not hesitate to use them again and hope I have a reason to do so!

I just used Checkers Catering for an event hosted at my home and I am thrilled with how it turned out!
My party planner was Tracy and from the initial contact weeks before the party she was prompt in her responses and professional in her manner. She was also amazing at understanding very quickly what my vision for the party was and accommodating my wishes to the best of her ability. Added bonus was her amazing sense of humor which is always appreciated when dealing with the minor stresses of hosting ;)
The food was AMAZING! All of our guests commented on how delicious the meal was. The staff that worked the event were efficient, kind, and made everything go smoothly.
The set up was also gorgeous and the décor made our backyard look elegant and beautiful for this special occasion.
Happy happy hosts and we will definitely use Checkers as our go to catering company from here on out!

We hired checkers catering to do our wedding on June 6^th. Samantha was absolutely amazing. She responds quickly to any questions, makes suggestions and made our night absolutely amazing. We had a few passed appetizers as well as a mashed potato bar and some antipasto for the cocktail hour and everything was amazing. Get the stuffed mushrooms for sure! For dinner we had braised short ribs and Mediterranean chicken with fingerling potatoes a lovely salad and assorted rolls and eveything was delicious. Samantha made sure we got a little of everything and helped keep the night on schedule. The buffets were beautiful and the food totally made the night, people are still talking about it. Go with Checkers and ask for Samantha, seriously you will not be disappointed

I have used Checkers a couple of times for off-​site business catering events. Most recently, I hired them to cater a BBQ in a local park for a group of approximately 50 people and I was very pleased.

The staff is very friendly, knowledgeable, and will work with you to accommodate your needs. I worked with Denise to place my order. After our initial conversation, she promptly sent me the complete menu, details of the event so that I can look over and confirm. I also want to note that I had to change the event location just one day prior to our event and Checkers happily accommodated that change with no problems.
I ordered BBQ hamburgers/​hot dogs/​chicken. I chose to have it pre-​cooked and brought to the site since we didn’t know what weather was going to be like (possible chance of rain that day), and this worked out perfectly.
The staff person (Nick) arrived exactly at the time requested. He was very friendly and professional. He did a beautiful set up. It wasn’t just food set on a table… there were BBQ appropriate props that also added to the function of the set up. Linen table coverings were used. It looked very clean and professional, yet it still was appropriate for a casual BBQ theme. I really wished I had taken a picture so I could include with this review because I know you would have loved it!
I did pay extra to have Nick stay the entire length of our event and it was definitely worth it. I didn’t have to worry about anything. After he set everything up, he kept a constant eye on the food table and replenished as needed. He took care of everything, including clean up and I was able to enjoy with the rest of the group.
Overall, all of the guests loved the food, many commenting on how good it was and bottom line is Checkers Catering made me look good! I received many thank you’s from my co-​workers for doing a great job. I almost felt guilty since Checkers really did all the work. I will definitely continue to use them for future off-​site needs.

I was attending a training event at Emerson Process Management. The lunch was catered. We got a spinach salad with bacon, pasta, chicken, bread, and dessert.
Everything was fantastic. I especially loved the salad dressing.

I first met Checkers catering as a fellow vendor for a high school prom at the Chabot Space & Science Center where I was the DJ.
Worked with Sam and Ross there, really nice folks.
At a friend’s wedding, I happened to work alongside them again at the Galleria in San Francisco as Mr. DJ again. At weddings, I’m also the master of ceremonies since I both the timeline and the microphone. I’ve seen Checkers under the gun in turning around an entire ceremony seating area at the Galleria into the Dinner reception area in under one hour.
For any caterer, resetting an entire room is a huge ordeal with no room for error.
Rocked that wedding alongside Monica, Sandee and Ross.
Much impressed with their performance, I hired them to do catering for my day job at Zoho where I run global events. We’ve very much enjoyed the food, consistency and customer service.
Fred has been a great contact to work with from Checkers as well. He gets it. He anticipates our needs and knows how to provide the best solutions whether it’s a 20 person lunch or a 200 person conference for three days.
I’ve done over 300 weddings alone and I do not recommend caterers easily because the role is so multi-​faceted. I’ve seen a lot of catering and few stand out in their delivery so consistently.
At the very least, of course you have to have great food, you need a great team at events. There needs to be a great workflow from how you source your produce to your kitchen prep, food transportation, setup, breakdown, business acumen, people skills, administrative duties and basic sense of design and presentation. There’s so many demands beyond just this! You have to be extra solvent to buy food in advance, pay your staff and still collect from the client. I’ve had other caterers shake me down for money the minute my event is over because they are in the red for a variety of reasons.
It is hard to be a great caterer!
As artists, as chefs or entertainers, the product to some extent is interchangeable. Yet the attitude and operating philosophy behind that can really vary and has such an impact on the final experience. I really enjoy the Checkers servant leadership attitude for that. It flows so much better when you can do business with people who like to do business.
There’s no excuses. No weird business practices. It’s just a well-​oiled machine of one-​stop shopping for anything event related from rentals to food and beyond.
If I had to organize any catering event from a 30 person thing to my own wedding, guess what single phone call or email I have to make?
Deal in confidence with Checkers Catering.
I do.

Catered a meeting I was at, it was delicious. And the presentation was gorgeous; linen tablecloth, orchids on the platters. The sandwiches, soup and bread was delicious. I’d definitely be happier at a work meeting if they were the caterers again.

I worked with Samantha Harrington for Checker’s to cater my wedding in November. Through the wedding planning process you meet a lot of different personalities through your search to determine which vendors you want to work with. Not only was the food incredible (my guests raved about the Parmesan chicken) but Samantha was such a pleasure to work with. She was very patient, accommodating and willing to go the extra mile to make my event perfect (and within my budget). I hope to work with Samantha again in the future.
As for Checker’s as a company, I can say they do an outstanding job catering different events and business meetings for my company (we use them for everything!)
Thank you for everything!

Just had Checkers do another spectacular event for us!!!

With only 4 days notice, Checkers delivered the most amazing memorial luncheon for a very dear friend who passed suddenly. We had no idea how many folks would attend given the short notice.
The day I contacted Checkers, Samantha and Sandee went on site immediately, met with the location manager and organized the event with seating and a catered lunch for 125+ in 4 days! — this was so appreciated by all of us since we were out of state dealing with the tragedy.
As a request from the family, we wanted this tribute to celebrate Jennie, her love of cats, pink girly things (including Hello Kitty), and cocktail parties. Checkers tastefully set up the event with a lovely cocktail tables draped very classy table decors outside and the most beautiful buffet presentation complete with pink accents, flowers. it was amazing.
The service by Checkers was amazing. the servers were so kind, it was a very hot day and they heard me expressing concern about keeping some of the older folks hydrated so they kept an eye on them (uh, what caterer does that?) — wow.
Jennie Bergstrom, was a very special young lady, who’s life ended by a drunk driver. This memorial service really meant a lot to her parents and friends. There is no way we could have pulled this off without Checkers. These place is run by angels!!!

This is my company’s go-​to catering place for lunch. We have a ton of meetings and they’re mostly catered by Checkers. We usually get sandwiches and salads from them but sometimes they’ll change it up and get a taco bar with lots of tasty toppings. They also have an individual menu so I ordered off there when I forgot my lunch one day. The only thing that they messed up was that they gave me a sandwich and not a wrap — otherwise, it was super convenient. The side salad is more like a regular sized salad. I had so much food, I had left overs the next day. They drop it off at the front desk and bring in the catering if there’s a meeting. They also pick up whatever is left and they have disposable containers so we usually leave them for the rest of the staff. I ordered a cheese and vegetable platter one time for one of my meetings. It was a hit.
You gotta try the home made potato chips. I don’t know what they put in them but they’re seriously addicting. We haven’t had an issue with them. They’re really professional.

We had one guest at our wedding who had a food allergy, and she recently told me Monica made an effort to go over, talk to her, and assure her that her food was okay to eat!
Checkers Rocks!