Royal Raspberry Catering

We booked Royal Raspberry catering for our wedding and they were fantastic! Incredibly professional wait staff and delicious food. They also did a great job working with my wife in planning the decorations. We worked with Barbara and her knowledge and experience was great in helping us plan the wedding and her day of management was indispensable. The wedding was beautiful, the food amazing and the service friendly and prompt. I would highly recommend this catering service.
The only complaint that we had was we really didn’t want to spend a lot on the cake so my wife wrote them several times to get a quote or estimate on the cost of the cake. We never got a response until a week or so before the wedding and it was much more than we had planned for. Barbara was able to knock off some money by decreasing the amount of cupcakes a bit, which we greatly appreciated. The cake and cupcakes were delicious and looked beautiful, and so now I would say it was worth the money, but I would’ve liked to know before hand for budgeting purposes.
All in all I would absolutely use them again for any catering service and as you can see my only complaint wasn’t much of a complaint. Especially since it was an external bakery so it may have just been the bakery not giving the info.

Book them now.
Don’t read this review. Call Royal Raspberry now, book them, then come back.
Royal Raspberry is the one, guys. We booked Royal Raspberry after our friends wedding (where we remember the food being good) for our own thinking we were just going to a simple dinner that was extremely well priced.
We had that and more. We worked directly with Barbara who from start to finish was amazing. Everything we asked, whether it be early on or last minute, Barbara had an answer for. And it was always a good answer. Not once did I hear the word no, and not once did we receive any pushback. Barbara and Royal Raspberry did everything for my wife and I and we are so grateful.
Royal Raspberry not only provided our food, but our furniture, linen, dishes, cups, flowers, cake, you name it. If a wedding needs it, they will have it.
I’m not one to use the word «beautiful» for anything except for describing my wife, but the whole event was beautiful. It looked exactly how my wife and I envisioned from start to finish, including the fine little details.
The best part was that Barbara was not only the person we made first contact with, she is the one who does everything. When you go with Royal Raspberry, the person you work with is the person who plans everything, shows up on the big day, and runs the show. I think this is very important when it comes to something like a caterer because it is always difficult to pin-​point the person you need to speak with should something become an issue.
The entire wedding went well because Royal Raspberry is experienced, caring, and helpful. The entire wedding went great because Barbara is a great vendor, leader, and all around human-​being.
Book them now before its too late!

Royal Raspberry did an amazing job for our wedding 2 weeks ago. Our guests are still raving about how amazing the food was — from the starters to the croquembouche. I cannot give a more positive review on a the amazing staff, especially Katherine, who just took care of everything — even if it is outside of of typical catering responsibilities. I highly RECOMMEND!

Katherine our main contact and wedding reception coordinator (for an Oakland evening reception in May 2014) went above and beyond to make our reception memorable and run smoothly. From personalized hors d’oeuvres to spot-​on table cloth recommendations to skillfully crafted timeline and alcohol suggestions to reducing any extraneous servers we might pay for… the list goes on! She handled everything with threw at her with promptness and grace, and for that my husband and I are truly thankful. She made our wedding planning much easier, which obviously paid off since the guests were raving at how polished our reception turned out – a big part of those kudos belong to you, Katherine!
The only thing that my husband was not completely satisfied with was the number of chairs at each table. Katherine overlooked the step of asking for our table list, so each table had the same number of chairs but not the same number of guests. While I don’t think anyone really cared apart from my husband, he disliked seeing those empty spaces, which was the only part of the night he pointed out as «going wrong.»
Overall, we’d fully recommend Royal Raspberry Catering to those looking for quality food, service, and coordinating at a more than reasonable price! Great job RRC, and thank you so much for helping make our wedding day a success!

I was disappointed with the service we received. The caterer called my son the day of his wedding and told him he needed to pick up some Pellagrino and cider for the punch. it was pouring rain. Everyone was confused where to go and he was told he had to pick up the pellagrino on Sunday and no one was there to let him in. No return calls. I am not happy with the service

My husband and I got married about 3 weeks ago, and EVERYTHING went off without a hitch! Have you ever heard of a wedding that didn’t have one thing go wrong?! I hadn’t either, until our wedding day. The room was set up perfectly, her team was AMAZING (especially one girl with short blonde hair, I feel awful I never got her name but both my husband and I vote her as our favorite by far!), everything ran right on schedule, and we had an awesome time! We just got our pictures back and somehow everyone of the Royal Raspberry team were everywhere and made sure everything was taken care of, but were not seen in any of our pictures. How in the world did they do that?! They are truly magical. Every plate was cleared and most went back for seconds. The food was fantastic! We even had a chance to eat!
I could go on forever about how amazing they were. But just know if you are trying to find a caterer, your search should stop now, and call Royal Raspberry. They were amazing during the entire year of planning, always available, great resource, just fantastic!!! I would pick Royal Raspberry again and again, no question about it.

This is SO OVERDUE but I want all my Unilocal folks to know how amazing this company is.
I won’t even talk about how amazing the food was because all these reviews don’t lie and my whole family will probably be up in the mix testifying like «YUPPPPPP» Katherine and I met for the first time at one of the Brazilian Room open houses and she was my point of contact from day one, even remembering my mom and my son before I knew she was going to be my caterer, which told me she was a cool person overall that wasn’t just about making a sale.
Trust is the key word here. I’m the kind of person that needs a straight up itinerary, like shit planned down to the minute — mainly because in my 20’s I was notorious for being either late/​unprepared and as my career has progressed, I’ve fortunately gotten better at things like time management to the point of being anal. Unfortunately for the people around me, I also tend to expect it from them. And in true fashion of someone that can read me right away (another thing I hella liked about her), Katherine was on point with everything.
Our contact during the week of my actual wedding, however, was pretty minimal. I was trying not to make my panicked state obvious because I’m the kind of person that always has phone in hand at the ready, but what I didn’t realize was that she was totally behind the scenes taking care of all the little unseen things — the wedding day itself carried off without a hitch. She worked with my officiant, my bridesmaids, everyone else you could think of, to make the day feel like a dream for my husband and I.
BTW I’m totally behind on my thank you notes but she will definitely be at the top of my list for all the magic she made happen.
Go with Royal Raspberry!

Thank You!!! Thank You!!! Royal Raspberry is a top notch caterer. We really enjoyed working with Katherine for our Nov 2013 wedding at the Brazilian Room. She is very professional and helped us through our wedding planning/​details. And she made sure everything ran smoothly throughout the day.
Our guests have constantly told us how amazing the food was. And there was plenty of food! The staff made us plates and made sure we sat and ate while everyone was heading to the buffet line. Katherine even made us a doggy bag of leftovers so we could eat more delicious food at the hotel after the fast/​busy night.
There are quite a few vendors out there and many decisions to make. We were extremely happy with our choice to use Royal Raspberry. They are the whole package!

Royal Raspberry catered our wedding at Ardenwood Farm on 7÷27÷13. I cannot put in to words just how amazing Katherine was to work with! She always responded to my emails promptly and answered all my questions. She helped set up a timeline for the event and floorplan, even though we had a day-​of coordinator included with the venue. She reached out to all my vendors the week of the wedding to make sure everyone was on the same page. Having her on my team made me confident that everything would go smoothly, and it did. The food was absolutely amazing! We had the Jeruselem Chicken and a Vegetarian Lasagna. We hardly had any leftovers at the end of the night because people were going back for more. Katherine even did our flowers which were better than I could have expected. I was able to go with her to the flower market and pick out exactly what flowers I liked and she worked her magic and put all the bouquets and center pieces together and they were just stunning.
I absolutely recommend them for any catering needs!

Katherine, Katherine, Katherine, and all of the staff at Royal Raspberry… you are the best. Thank you SO much for making our day so special.

Royal Raspberry was perfect in our view. We held our wedding in May 2012 in the Berkeley Botanical Garden/​Redwood grove. We first met with Debbie and then started working with Catherine. We were able to taste everything before we chose it. They helped us plan the whole flow of the day, ceremony time, photo time, cocktail hour, guest performances and speeches, etc. They decorated the tables beautifully for us with centerpieces that we chose from pictures we saw in their books and added decorations and candles which we bought on our own. They helped us with absolutely everything! They recommended our photographer, florist, DJ and dealt with the CAKE! All we sent was a picture of how we wanted the cake. It was really important to us that they helped us with everything because we started planning in January for a May wedding. We had 46 guests. We met with them an extra time just get our questions answered and fears quelled.
The food and service was excellent. Everyone at the wedding said that it was the best food that they ever had at a wedding. The servers were so gracious, helpful, and hardworking. And again, Catherine was there every step of the way calmly helping us move through the night at our established pace. Catherine was the only attendant at the wedding who was able to figure out how to bustle my gown. She was waiting there for us under the shade of the palms with appetizers and champagne on a silver tray when we arrived from our photos. It was so organized, beautiful, and delicious and they helped us with absolutely everything. It was an lovely day all in all and RR played a huge role. I recommend them without reservation.

I hired Royal Raspberry for my wedding at the Brazil Room and they did an amazing job!
We worked with them for over a year and they always made themselves available to answer any questions that we had about anything! The entire staff is pleasant, helpful and enthusiastic.
They were flexible and caring on the day of and had their event coordinator, Katherine, came to the wedding and made sure everything went smoothly! The food was delicious and there was plenty of it! Katherine even made sure that we (bride and groom) had food to take back home with us.
Wonderful catering company, great people and delicious food! I can’t say enough about Royal Raspberry!

My guests were all very happy with Royal Raspberry! My husband’s 60^th birthday was a Casino Night theme and since we didn’t have a lot of seating space, Elizabeth came up with a fork-​friendly menu. The food presentation was beautiful and everything tasted great! We had a «mashed potato bar» that was (s)mashing! One of our guest was on a peculiar diet and Elizabeth whipped up a meal just for her! That’s service!

Royal Raspberry catered our September 23 wedding at the Brazilian Room. We can’t recommend them enough!
We started working with Debbie about a year or so prior to our event. She was the first caterer we met with, and we knew right away we didn’t have to look any further.
Debbie was truly a pleasure to work with! She is warm, knowledgable, and experienced, and her friendly manner put us at ease from the start. While we had several meetings with her in person, since we live out of the area, we have had most of our contact via email. She was always prompt with her replies (emailing back within a day– even when she is on vacation or out of the area). In addition, she was very accommodating to our needs/​wants and bent over backwards to make us happy.
The food served on our wedding day was delicious. We had tri tip with potatoes au gratin and green beans (and vegetarian lasagna for our vegans). It tasted great, and I have to admit… it was some of the best wedding food I have ever had– and I am not just saying that because it was our wedding!
The sit-​down service was outstanding, and many guests commented on the servers’ attentiveness. They did a great job taking care of not only us, but all of our guests, too.
The entire evening went smoothly thanks to Debbie’s direction and guidance. She made sure everything went as planned without a hitch, and we can’t thank her enough! :)
We highly recommend Royal Rapsberry to anyone looking for a caterer in the Bay Area. Their food is delicious, and they provided excellent customer service to us from day one. Thank you!

Royal Raspberry catered our May/​2011 wedding at Piedmont Community Hall. I can’t endorse this vendor more enthusiastically. The food was amazing, the service impeccable, and the prices outrageously reasonable. And Elizabeth was a joy to work with; she was calm, organized, and on the ball from the first meeting to the big day. I was planning my wedding from 3000 miles away with no wedding planner, so, this last detail was very key.
The food is excellent; simple, wonderfully prepared, delicious!
The service is wonderful; Elizabeth and her staff made our guests feel welcome and comfortable. And the Groom and I were looked after from the word go! Everything went smoothly and appeared effortless, and they kept us on schedule without feeling rushed.
The pleasure of working with Elizabeth is really what made this vendor a standout. Elizabeth made it clear from the word go that she would look after every detail, without being overbearing or pushy; she took direction when I had it, and offered guidance when I was at a loss. She was the consummate professional and made me feel like everything was going to be okay every time we chatted. And it was. the day was amazing and Royal Raspberry was central to its success! Use them! YOu won’t regret it!

Royal Raspberry catered my March 2011 wedding at the Brazil Room.
Debbie is unfailingly polite and warm, she was a pleasure to work with. Everything was perfect. The chicken melted in your mouth (we had chicken piccata), people raved about the grilled veggies. The service was excellent, the food was excellent, everything happened as planned.
Their prices are reasonable, without compromising on quality. And I love that they are a green business!
I can’t recommend this vendor enough! I’ll actually miss Debbie just a little. :)

Excellent job catering our wedding, we couldn’t have been happier.
We were interested in a lower cost option, with really good food, and service on the big day but without the frills (we did NOT need an ice sculpture, or money spent on elaborately displaying the food). We called lots of places and interviewed/​tasted with several, and Royal Raspberry was the Best!
First, the food is excellent. Simple food made excellent with the best quality, fresh ingredients and subtle touches. For example, we chose the pasta primavera, and it was perfectly prepared, and flavored with fresh herbs and lemon zest instead of gloppy sauce, the best pasta primavera I’ve ever had. The citrus punch was light and delicious without being too sweet, and the vegetable salad with soy-​sesame dressing was perfectly fresh and flavorful. Best of all, the food tasted every bit as good on wedding day as on tasting day.
Royal raspberry also spent time with us during the tasting to discuss what we were looking for in terms of timing of the event and layout/​logistics. This was impressive and helped me feel comfortable going with them. Then again after we chose them, we met to go over details, select bowls for our centerpieces, make sure everything was right. I really appreciated that they listened to what we wanted, worked with us on price (we adjusted what was included a few different times to get the price down, and they advised us and were patient about it), and made sure they had the details.
On wedding day, they were timely and organized. They were there as needed and not in the way. They even helped us clean the fireplace at our wedding site so we wouldn’t get charged a fine. I would definitely recommend them.

Royal Raspberry is co-​owned by very gracious, organized event planners. Hence, their strength is customer service and event management. It was a pleasure talking to Debbie about the details of the wedding, from table décor to napkins to chairs to staffing and bar ideas. Her excellent customer service skills and capability as an event coordinator made her company a serious contender. However, the deal breaker was the food.
Whereas they’re top-​notch service providers when it comes to event planning and coordinating, food did not seem to be their priority. At the first (and only) tasting, most of the food from their menu was very simple and easy to duplicate at home. The best vegetarian/​pescatarian dish was pasta primavera but it’s a very boring dish. It’s the kind of dish my partner and i make when we want a simple, fast meal after a long day. The worst dish was their signature dish which was heavily pitched to us as the favorite dish among clients. It was salmon with corn relish. The acidic, salty sauce tried to hide the fact that the fish had been frozen, but it just tasted awful. We couldn’t finish it.
The lemon rosemary chicken breast was tasty, juicy, tender, but again, home cooked quality. The vegetarian/​pescatarian dishes were on the sad/​pathetic side. There was no wow-​factor when it came to the food.
The portions were very generous for the tasting, but neither of us wanted to eat it after.
They would be a great company to go to if your priority is event coordination. It’s great that they’re willing to work with all budgets. However, you can taste the difference between a catering company started by event coordinators versus a catering company started by a chef. Our priority was good food, especially for pescatarians/​vegetarians. Hence, we went elsewhere.

We used Royal Raspberry for our daughter’s wedding, and we could not have been happier with our choice. We had a choice of 14 caterers that were approved for the Brazil Room in Berkeley. We talked with, and tasted our way through the entire list. We chose Royal Raspberry based on the quality of their food, and their professionalism. We definitely made the right choice. Our daughter’s wedding was perfect. The food, and service were wonderful.

RR catered our wedding at the Brazilian Room. We wanted Indian food and was concerned that no one on the catering list could make real Indian food that would satisfy my family. The food turned out great. My mom even liked it. They also provided all the rentals and did a great job setting up for the ceremony and reception. Debbie was really easy to work with. She even ran to the store during the reception to get us more wine. Note that I tasted 3 other Brazilian Room caterers and RR was the tastiest, most professional, and most reasonably priced of all of them.
I would have given them 5 stars, but I unfortunately had to subtract one. The chef added nut paste to the chicken (it was not in there when we did the tasting). I had also mentioned earlier regarding the rice to add something besides onions (because my mom doesn’t like them) and said that nuts are often used but I was concerned about nut allergies. It turns out that the groom’s brother was very allergic to nuts. He turned beet red during dinner and he and his girlfriend snuck out to drive to the ER and ended up taking an ambulance. He was fine the next day, but he missed half of our reception. Nuts should always be labeled!