Cynthia Brooks Distinctive Catering

My cousin and I used Cynthia Brooks Catering for a recent memorial service reception for about 30 guests. We were extremely pleased with the service and the food, and our whole experience with them.
We were first attracted to Cynthia Brooks Catering by their menu, which offers many different options at different price levels. The selection, including chicken, beef, pasta and fish entrees, side dishes and desserts as well as beverages is ample and varied. The prices are clearly marked and they are reasonable compared with those of other catering services. The estimates that we received, including for subsequent changes and adjustments, were transparent and clear, with no hidden costs.
The food was delivered at exactly the time agreed upon. Each dish was abundant and delicious; we received many compliments from the guests, several of whom asked me for the recipes (!) of the items that were served. Two of the guests asked me specifically for the name of the catering company. Because of budget reasons we decided to forgo their labor (servers and bartenders) and provide the food buffet style; this was made simple by the fact that each container with entrees and dessert came with all the necessary serving utensils.
I was very favorably impressed by Michelle, the very nice woman who first helped me on the phone and with whom I made all the subsequent arrangements. Michelle is an excellent communicator and answered my e-​mails promptly; she was consistently courteous, professional and very accommodating, as she went out of her way to help me to find a menu that would fit our budget and expectations. She answered with patience my many questions as it was the first time I was using a catering service. When I told her that the initial estimate was higher than we could afford, she worked with me kindly to make it workable for us.
I would certainly use Cynthia Brooks Catering again with no hesitation and highly recommend it to all, including my relatives and friends.

This is a great catering company. We had a large family gathering and ordered from Cynthia Brooks Distinctive Catering. The food was wonderful and so was the service. Her employees do a fantastic job of setting up, serving where needed, and making sure that the buffet items were plentiful. We have used this company for several occasions and never been disappointed.

Great catering company. We used them for our recent wedding at ambassador mansion. Great presentation of food and great taste. Met head chef at tasting and he took notes on any requests and was there at the venue on our day as well. All of our guests loved the food. They have different options from the pricier side to the more affordable options like buffet service. Though some items are expensive, they live up to the quality it should be for the price they charge. Keep in mind, weddings just arent cheap and you get what you pay for.
Very detailed oriented people and work in a timely manner. If you are using the ambassador, they have worked the venue many times and are very familiar with all the locations it uses. Only complaint maybe was the bar tender i think left the coke sitting out too long and tasted flat when i ordered a drink but thats a service issue not there personal mistake but was still kind of surprised. All their food servers were very kind and stopped to say hi to us at our table and congratulate us. They offer full service bar, tables, linens, chairs, etc so it makes things easier going through one vendor. Very happy with the service. Very professional and kind people. Highly recommend. Also wanted to note that they are very flexible with menu options and can often custom make items for your special requests at sometimes no extra charge. They have a great chef so dont hesitate to ask!

I used Cynthia Brooks for my wedding reception at Ambassador Campus in 2012. She was one of the preferred caterers, so I didn’t shop around much. I highly recommend her for any event at Ambassador Campus. She knew the venue very well, all the regulations, and exactly what needed to be done when and where. Of all my vendors, I felt the most comfortable with her. Her price was for an «all inclusive» package, but when my husband and I had decided to substitute a few items from a different rental company (a family friend was giving us a very good deal), they happily subtracted the price for those items from their overall cost. All of our interactions before the event were timely and professional. Her staff were very good communicators. Our tasting was very good. The chicken at the wedding was a bit dry, but in my experience, it’s very hard to serve a chicken dish to 240 people at the perfect temperature/​doneness. The only reason I subtracted a star was that, on the wedding day, the staff was a bit abrupt. Also, immediately upon the end of the last song, they started to break down the party. It felt like we were being rushed out. I wish we had been given 15 minutes or so to gather ourselves. Her staff was kind enough to gather items left behind and hold them in their office until my husband and I were able to retrieve them when we returned from our honeymoon.

Interesting range of reviews.
We’ve used Cynthia Brooks for the last five years, for a number of both corporate and personal events. We’ve used them in corporate settings, and at our home — which admittedly has space for a caterer to work effectivly in.
First: the food has been consistently good. When an adequate and appropriate kitchen is available at the facility they use it with a chef (or two) on site to ensure highest quality.
Second: when a kitchen is not available for cooking, take their advise as to what will work best, giving them some guidance on what type of foods you want.
Third: my experience is that they do use third parties for table/​chairs etc. rental, so expect a mark-​up on your order. If you are doing a big event with lots of complexity, ask for a detailed bid on everything. This is an area where I’ve noticed a hefty mark-​up. Perhaps OK for a corporate event, but worth questioning for «personal» events.
Fourth: Venue — From past experience, Castle Green is not on my repeat list. Lots of places look good, but don’t really have the polish to deliver on special events — without the help of a party planner of some sort.
Fifth: Staff — broadly speaking, well mannered and well presented. They do tend to be a little older, which for me equates with experience. But they are there to present the food, not make the overall event work.
So. Bottom line — Cynthia Brooks is my go-​to catering company when I know that I want good food, well prepared and well presented.

Thank you Cynthia Brooks Distinctive Catering for a delicious memorable dishes! Loni was a a great help in selecting the right amount of food for a luncheon. The gentleman that delivered the food was right on time and so kind.
It was a a big hit! The doctors kept going back for more and asking of your company. We really appreciate you and Cynthia Burke Distinctive Catering for accommodating a smaller party. My mom, dad and I were beyond happy!

I recently used Cynthia Brooks Distinctive Catering for a work event at Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum and the event went great. Leading up to the event I worked with Loni and she was very helpful when it came to organizing the event. We had many changes we wanted to make up until the week of and she was very accommodating.
At the event service was great, but the best part was everyone loved the food. The CEO of the company and his wife even made it a point to tell me how much they enjoyed the meal. My personal favorite was the key lime pie dessert, perfect for a hot summer’s day. I would definitely recommend them.

I must admit up front that I have not ever used their services, so this review is strictly based off my overall impression of the business after just a few exchanges through email and telephone conversations.
I contacted Cynthia Brooks because they were one of the preferred vendors recommended by the Ambassador Campus, where I’m set to have my wedding ceremony this upcoming September. Since my reception will be held elsewhere, I was only in need of a vendor to provide chairs and a couple of tables for sign-​in/​guestbook.
While they were completely friendly through out each exchange, I was flabbergasted when I received my cost estimate. They charge a ridiculous amount for set up and delivery. In fact, labor costs exceeded the actual rental items by more than 50%, which is a hard pill to swallow when all of the competing businesses offer to deliver the same chairs/​tables at a dramatically lower cost. Do the delivery guys set up in tuxedos and white gloves?!? Why are they so expensive?
When I emailed to decline their services, they suddenly reduced their delivery and set-​up prices for me because another party had already booked them so they were already delivering to the site (on the same day) and was essentially allowing me to piggy back my rental items onto this other’s party order.
Personally, I feel that this is bad business practice. Even though their labor fees are dramatically higher than their competitors, they should maintain consistency in their pricing. Ultimately, even after they knocked off $ 200 in labor fees, all of their local competitors were still cheaper.

I’m shocked at the overall reviews listed for Cynthia’s catering. I thought the food she provided to my daughter’s wedding yesterday was magnificent. We received nothing but compliments on the entire meal and the servers were personable, friendly, and professional.
Cynthia also assisted us in setting up some bakery items for our dessert buffet which made it nothing short of spectacular.
I may not have known of Cynthia’s exceptional quality had they not been referred from my venue, Middle Ranch in Lake View Terrace. However, I would be quick to hire her services again at ANY event.
The reviews you see here are old and they have clearly come a long way, based on my experience.
If you want something great, call Cynthia!!!

I love Cynthia Brooks! She catered my wedding on March 31, 2012. From start to finish, the process and working with Cynthia, Patti, Loni and staff was so easy and fun! The food was delicious — I heard rave reviews all night about the food and the bartender!, and the staff is professional and so nice — especially Erin who really catered to me and my bridal party the entire day! Most importantly, Cynthia and her staff, are so nice and easy to work with… and they listen to you and what you want and make it happen! Every e-​mail was answered promptly and to the best of their ability! I really appreciated that! I highly recommend Cynthia Brook’s Catering and would use them again in a heartbeat! Thank you, Cynthia!

Cynthia Brooks Catering was the preferred caterer at my venue. After my initial meeting with Cynthia, I felt I was in good hands. The food was tasty, the staff knowledgeable and the price very reasonable.
Unfortunately, that only lasted until my deposit was paid. All of a sudden there were new fees related to my venue, new items I would need to rent and rules that didn’t seem realistic. The staff was not as friendly and on the day of the event, they were down right rude!
My biggest issue with this caterer was they did not fulfill my biggest request. I had two entrée meats on my buffet. I called and emailed multiple times to make sure my guests would be able to enjoy both choices when they went through the buffet line. And then I spoke with Cynthia about it directly to triple check. To my dismay, I had guests tell me the buffet servers would not serve them the second meat choice. Even worse, they embarrassed the host of the party by refusing to serve her when she asked for it and as other guests watched.
Additionally, Cynthia and her team tried to tell me they could not serve alcohol for my entire event because it exceeded the legal time limit. Totally bogus! If you are going with this caterer, please get your liquor from someone else (ex Paradise Bar or Huntington Catering Company).
The moral of the story is you get what you pay for. This caterer looked good on the initial contract because their price was so low. But I ended up hiring other vendors to accomplish what Cynthia Brooks Catering could not. Decent food does not make up for the headaches and I will not be using them again.

We have used Cynthia Brooks many times for private parties in our home of over 100 guests or for catering very large fundraisers of over 400. We have also been at many events which she has catered including our engagement party. She and her staff are wonderful to work with, the food is fabulous and I have never experienced a mis step They are my favorite caterers and I use them every chance I have.

I used cynthia brooks catering for my wedding last august at middle ranch. Cynthia’s office was very helpful with all my MANY questions. My husband and are are HUGE food fans, so we were very picky with how the food was done. We ended up doing 2 tastings. We found out at the different tastings that they have different chefs. From doing the two different tastings I discovered they had two different chefs that use their own recipes for things. So the risotto was different for each tasting and the salmon was also cooked different. Cynthia was very accomodating in makeing sure a specific recipe was used for the day of the wedding, because we liked one chefs risotto and salmon better than the other chef. One issue i had with the tastings, is i made it clear that i did not want onions in any of the food, but at both tastings they had onions, due to miss communication. They were good about recooking the meal for me, but it worried me that they day of the wedding they might also make the mistake. Luckily the day of the wedding all the food was as expected. The salmon was a bit on the dry side, but the risotto was very good.
Cynthia was also very accommodating when i wanted to bring my own cake to the wedding that wasn’t made by a licensed cake baker. I had to sign a waiver of liability, but i was able to save money by making my own cake. She also was very helpful in giving us ideas about how to do the s’mores, which we were doing separate from her and not paying her for. She still was great about offering ideas, you could tell she really enjoyed her job.
The day of the wedding, the person on site that was running the catering did not seem to know what was going on and did not set aside hor’deurves for my husband and I. We even discussed it right before the ceremony with her and when we got to our table for dinner there were no hor’duevres. When i asked her about it, she went back to the kitchen to see if there were any left over. Luckily they found a few, that she brought out to use, but the bacon wrapped plantain was all gone. Which i was really upset about, because that was what i wanted to try the most. When i informed Cynthia of the mix up, she was great and actually provided me some bacon wrapped plantains when we got back from the honeymoon. She gave us 12 fresh ones to eat. The tuna wontons, crab cups, and asparagus wrapped in procuitto were also very GOOD!

I used cynthia brooks for my wedding at Middle Ranch (the only option for our venue) this past May. I have to say, I had a wonderful experience with them. The food was fantastic – and many of our guests told us that when we saw them after the wedding.
The only problem I had was that I was not able to try any of the appetizers that we ordered for our guests before we ordered them, so we were flying a little blind there. Even now, after the wedding, I wish I had at least gotten to try them at the event (and I was told a waiter would come out with some samples while we were taking photos; but that never happened…)
As with all large events, there were some small hiccups. The servers started serving fish to people who were supposed to get filet mignon (labeled with an F) and steak to people who wanted sea bass (labeled with an S). But they were quick to correct it so i think only a few of our guests did not get what they ordered.
And their fish was really good!

I used Cynthia Brooks for my daughter’s wedding, April 10, 2010, primarily because they were the catering company the venue used.
Honestly, I thought it would be one of those things you accept if you really want to get married at Middle Ranch. Since food was not my priority, location was, I was willing to take a chance on them.
I could not have been more surprised and thrilled with the food and service. They are truly professional, courteous and very well versed in what they do.
The food was warm and flavorful; the presentation was beautiful just as seen in the pictures. I had an open bar and the drinks were very well done not watered down.
The staff was friendly, helpful and got me were I needed to be during dinner and cake cutting.
As for the pricing I am not familiar with how they compare to other catering companies because this is my first experience, however, I would use again without hesitation. MB-​Burbank, Ca.

The food they provided at our wedding was VERY good. Everything we wished for. We had plenty of attitude from the staff at Cynthia’s office, however, when working out issues relating to the drinks for our guests. We had a very small wedding (35) and wanted to provide drinks for them, but they required a minimum of 100 people. We understood this and ended up paying the minimum of 100 people, but the condescension attached to the working out of these details was just not necessary! I did ask to speak with Cynthia herself, but was never able to get to her. I assume she knew what was happening, but I hope that she would approach her clients with a more diplomatic demeanor.

NEVER use Cynthia Brooks for a wedding!!! I recently used her for my wedding at Castle Green in May and they were awful. Cynthia herself is nice but everything else about her business is horrible.
The week of our wedding they notified us that they were going to be using PLASTIC CUPS at our wedding… so they made us cough up an extra $ 1,500 that they had not informed us about. I’m sorry but if you have ever gotten married or have any friends that have — the last week is the most stressful and the last thing you need is your caterer jacking you and informing you that they will be using plastic cups at a wedding that you already spent $ 30K+ on.
The food was cold on the day of our wedding, the meat was dry and the servers were old and had attitude problems. Luckily, the only problem at our wedding was the caterer and I would advise anyone thinking of using Cynthia Brooks to find someone else.
I was more than displeased with their lack of professionalism, bad service and unacceptable quality. Hands down… I would NEVER use them again.