Cheat A Little Catering

I have to say I was really disappointed with the food and the service. My husband’s company hired Cheat A Little Catering to cater their annual awards ceremony held at the Fox Theater in Redwood City. Here are the high/​lowlights of my experience:
*My husbands steak portion was teeny tiny, maybe 2 oz. at best, while mine was about 4, so I gave him my plate and essentially went hungry, as the rest of the food on the plate: veggies and potatoes were also in a teeny tine portions. We sat in 2 hours of traffic getting to the event and we were starving. I think I ate more bread rolls that night than steak, veggies, and potatoes.
*The peppercorn sauce on the steak was so overly peppered the steak was inedible in my opinion.
*Our table was completely skipped for wine service, we had to request wine service multiple times and we never actually received our wine.
*During the dinner service the CTO was presenting awards and giving a speech, the catering staff were standing right behind me bickering at each other and not at all in hushed tones. I could not hear what the CTO was saying over the bickering back and forth. Super unprofessional!
*The served us lukewarm coffee and we never received any cream and sugar.
I would recommend skipping this business and contacting Catered Too, they have exceptional food and exceptional service, you won’t be sorry!

We used Cheat a Little Catering to cater our wedding in April 2016 at CuriOdyssey. We started working with Brian in August 2015, and throughout the lead up to our event he was a great resource. He has worked with the venue multiple times, and therefore knew all of the ins and outs for the event space and the best way to set everything up and run the event. Obviously we hadn’t done anything like this before so all of his knowledge was very helpful. Also — it seemed like no matter what vendor we went with for other options (cake, for example), he always knew them somehow! Additionally, Brian handled getting additional vendors for tables, chairs, etc — he even researched speaker options for us when we decided to host our ceremony outside, where there was no power nearby.
We got extraordinary compliments on the food at the Wedding Reception — at the cocktail hour there were three passed appetizers (we only got to eat two the day of because we were off doing picture things, but when we taste tested all three they were excellent) plus a limited open bar, and for dinner there was a buffet with three options (delicious steak, an amazing dijon chicken that people still haven’t stopped talking about, and vegetarian pasta) as well as a salad, bread, mashed potatoes, and broccolini. After dinner, we added a «post dinner nosh» of macaroni & cheese cups, which were a huge hit! We also had an open bar, which when working on for us, Brian added in all extra alcohols and sodas we specifically asked for with no problem.
Brian’s staff was incredibly professional and incredibly pleasant. Brian was great at helping us decide the menu (even before we had officially decided to go with him and were just trying to find general pricing from caterers), and was so knowledgeable about the event space that it put our minds at ease knowing that he knew what he was doing. Afterwards, his staff did a quick and thorough breakdown and cleanup of the space.
I do have to say that it can sometimes take awhile to hear back from him when it’s not crunch time — it could take up to a week via email when we were 4 – 6 months out. However, in the weeks leading up to our wedding, Brian responded quickly and always had an answer. I had read this in reviews prior to going with him & Cheat a Little, so I wasn’t put off by it.
All in all, Cheat a Little was a great option for our Wedding, and was priced very reasonably for our 60 person reception. Thanks!

My husband and I got married in March of 2016 and we had Cheat A Little cater our wedding. Our wedding was at CuriOdyssey in San Mateo, and Brian, the owner, was very familiar with the venue. Overall their services were excellent. Brian was extremely professional and fun to work with. As we were planning everything, we really appreciated how he helped us plan all of the details — from cocktail hour to buffet dinner to the cake cutting ceremony. His attention to detail was impressive — he made sure to let us choose the colors of the tablecloths/​overlays to match our color scheme, as well as the type of chairs, silverware, and plates, etc. to be used. We felt completely confident in our choice of Cheat A Little as our caterer throughout the whole wedding planning process, and on the big day everything went completely seamlessly! The food was amazing (our guests agreed), the setup looked great, and the service was very professional. They also served a key role in coordinating our many vendors/​services — they worked with the staff at our venue, staff from our florists, and staff from the bakery for our cake to make sure everything went as smoothly as it did. We highly recommend their services to anyone in need of a caterer!!!

I am adding one star on my review because I have called the owner Brian, who apologized for the unsatisfied service and offered to pay the $ 160 cost of the additional refreshment I paid from my own pocket if I remove my review on Unilocal.I agreed to it first but I felt bad doing so. That’s why I decided to not get the payment but update some information here.
1. In the response, I was blamed for being 30 min late. However, I was never instructed a time to meet at the first place. I appreciate they arrived 1 hour before the event started, but I assumed setting up some simple refreshment will not take that long.
2. Again, as I mentioned in the original review, there was no table cloth, no fruit, no tea, no hot water, no sugars and cream in the afternoon refreshment session, which is totally against the contract. There were two cookie plates, and one Starbucks «coffee in a box» that contains 12 cups of coffee; while I was having a 35 people event.
3. I have never agreed «upon ahead of time that the afternoon service would be all disposable». There was no budget restraint, therefore it is untrue that Cheatalittle is making «effort to keep cost down and save our staff and delivery fees to help this client meet budget restraints». In the contract, it clearly listed there will be two additional delivery and pick-​ups (charged). But there was only one.
4. Finally, I was blamed for not calling in when I saw the poor refreshment in the afternoon. It was because I was shocked and embarrassed in front of thirty guests, two professors, and my supervisor. I simply cannot risk asking them to come back and fix it. I have called twice at lunch time, but they were still half hour late. I had to rely on myself to get it in the right way immediately at that moment.
I feel very sad that my experience is not as good as the other people on Unilocal.And my supervisor may never let me arrange an important conference in the future any more. I even start doubting about the accuracy of Unilocal reviews. Anyway, my first catering experience ended with a lot of stress and unhappy feelings. I hope others have better luck than me.

Cheat A Little catered our wedding event this August for approximately 115 people. To start we had a cocktail hour with passed hors d’oeuvres which were all amazing and delicious. Luckily as the bride, I managed to snag a few thanks to my maid of honor who was looking out for my appetite! The dinner was buffet style, and Cheat a Little even made our cake — they did a wonderful job! The food was delicious (to this day I keep hearing from all the guests how much they enjoyed the food) and plentiful and the buffet was set up very nicely. Brian Morriss was a pleasure to work with the entire time. The staff even wove in my table decorations and helped get those set up, and Brian also wove our floral into the quote and worked with our floral provider to make sure everything was set up and looking good. I highly recommend Brian and his team, and am happy to use them again in the future for sure!

Cheat a Little did the catering at my wedding (150 head count) in August, and the food and staff were amazing. We worked directly with Brian Morriss, and he was very accommodating and flexible. He listened to all of our needs, and the result felt so personal and charming.
PLANNING
On the phone and at the food tasting, Brian made us feel very comfortable and at ease. My husband and I weren’t that excited about planning the logistics of a wedding, but Brian actually made wedding planning really fun. The food at the tasting blew us away. I didn’t know wedding food could taste so good. Brian takes a few days to respond to emails but he remembers everything.
DECORATIONS
Brian’s staff did an amazing job with our decorations. We had some miscellaneous decorations but weren’t sure where to put it. His staff did some beautiful handiwork with the available decorations and classily embellished the buffet table, the bar, and the cocktail tables.
FOOD
The food was so delicious on the night of. We had a buffet line and everything was steaming hot. The presentation was beautiful. Brian calculated the amount of food perfectly. Our guests were well fed and there wasn’t much leftovers. We had several vegetarian and gluten-​free guests and Brian made sure all of the guests were well-​fed. I loved how the staff labeled the vegetarian option as «Limited Quantity.» My guests treated that dish like gold.
STAFF
I didn’t have that much interaction with the staff but a lot of my guests commented that they were very nice. I heard some of them were funny and quirky.
Thank you Brian and staff!
We highly recommend them!

Brian and his team did a fantastic job catering my daughter’s bridal shower. The service was delivered by Antonia and Lisa who did an awesome job of preparing and presenting the food. The food was very delicious and all our guests loved them. They took care of the left overs and boxed them up for us. A great service.

Oh My Goodness! Amazing! My husband and I got married on 7÷18÷15, but we booked Brian over a year prior to that and we could not be any happier with the quality of the food and the service we received from this company. I would do it all again for some more buffalo chicken meatballs and the mashed potato bar.
Our guests were extremely pleased with the selection of food at our wedding buffet. Not only that, but Brian is a doll and helped us plan and tweak things along the entire process. We had a lot of questions (and we were a bit disorganized at times) and Brian always emailed us back in a timely manner with helpful suggestions.
I can not rave about Cheat a Little any more. And when people ask about our wedding, one of the first things I mention is how awesome the food was.
Thank you Brian and thank you to your crew. We love you guys and will recommend you to whomever will listen to our praises.

I used Brian and Cheat-​A-​Little to cater my wife’s birthday/​baby shower. Brian was super flexible and helpful with the planning. I am very pleased with the experience and the food was really delicious. We will definitely be returning for future events.

Cheat A Little catered our wedding yesterday, and they did a wonderful job! They accommodated every request we made and the servers were extremely professional during the entire event. Scott, the coordinator on the day, brought food out for us while me and my husband were out and about taking our photos during cocktail hour. And the food was really good, all of our guests raved about it and even went back for seconds. Brian was also very easy to work with, he made sure everything fit into our budget, and broken down every charge for us so we wouldn’t be kept in the dark. I would definitely recommend Cheat A Little catering!

The food and staff are amazing! Absolutely top notch! We used Cheat-​a-​Little for our wedding and they did an outstanding job. They managed the food, rentals, and serving. This made it all a lot more simplified and really made the service seamless. I cannot say enough about the food, our guests couldn’t either; they kept raving about the tri-​tip and the chicken! The serving staff was kind, respectful, and very pleasing to deal with.
Brian went out of his way to meet our needs and reach our goal. He was exceptional when it came to planning, and our wedding planners couldn’t say enough about how good he and his kitchen staff were on the day-​of. Cheat-​a-​Little is without a doubt your next catering vendor, don’t look anywhere else.

Brian is probably the most accommodating vendor I have ever met. He really will go above and beyond to take a little stress off of his clients. Customer service — AMAZING. He is completely the «sure, no problem. we can do that» guy.
Now on to the food. DELICIOUS. We used him for our wedding reception. For the tasting he came to our house with one of his chefs, and cooked the dinner right on the spot. It was a great personal touch.
Our dinner was buffett style and we had passed appetizers during cocktail hour. All of the appetizers were great, but the crab cakes were definitely a crowd favorite.
Brian and his staff really work with you to create a perfect menu. I told him that my husband and his family were steak and potato lovers, so Brian came up with the idea for a mashed potato bar! How cool and creative. It was a big hit. All of the entrees were delicious and so fresh. I sometimes get worried when things sit in a hot tray for too long, but even the salmon was perfect.
I would recommend Brian and his staff for any event, big or small.

Since I only had 4 days to plan a Celebration of Life lunch for over 60 people, I thought my chances of finding a caterer were very slim. Luckily, Brian and Debby were willing to squeeze me into their schedule and they are not only super friendly but they did a terrific job. Brian created a wonderful menu and was at the event in person to make sure everything went smoothly. Debby was fantastic to work with as well and was so great about helping out with a few last minute changes. Everyone really enjoyed the food. I will definitely use them again in the future and I have been recommending them to my friends.

These guys are the best you can get for the money. Seriously, so professional and dedicated to preparing the best catering and service. We’ve used them on two remote film shoots, one being in the middle of nowhere and they were on top of it! I would never think about using a different caterer for any work in the bay area.

I used there services for our event reception last last week for around 50 to 60 people and they were amazing. I called them last minute and they were able to fit us in and were very helpful with the food selection and organizing everything.
I ordered the Caprese Skewers, Sesame Chicken Won Tons, Vegetable Crudités, Cocktail Meatballs, Beef & Bleu, Soft Lavash Wrap, Fresh Fruit Platter and Petite Dessert Display.
All items were finger size which made it very easy for our guests to continue talking while also enjoying some delicious food. There staff members were wonderful and very accommodating. They assembled the Chicken Won Tons while they were there which made them nice and fresh with the Won Tons still crispy. Staff members monitored the food and replenished when necessary making it a very relaxing and enjoyable reception for me.
Highly recommended! Thank you so much!

Cheat a little catering catered my dad’s 75^th birthday lunch party a few weeks ago and it was done beautifully. Brian was very understanding and accommodating with last minute requests. The chef who came to our home did an amazing job with the food — everything (lamb, prime, salmon) was done to perfection. Even my dad was mighty impressed and he’s a serious Michelin foodie snob.
Highly recommended, what a local gem.

Cheat a little catering was recommended to me by Lanie Agulay at Hiller Aviation Museum and what a great recommendation it was!
I contacted Brian Morriss at Cheat a little in regards to the party and eh was very prompt in getting back to us. He paid careful attention to the needs of our guests and crafted a menu to suit us. We worked out a food tasting and even tweaked the menu based on that.
Brian and I also did a pre event walk of the space with us and coordinated all the specifics a week before the event.
Brian was always cheerful and accommodating in the set up of the event.
over all the event was well served by hiring Cheat a little Catering, the drinks and hors d’oeuvres were great, dinner was tasty and the variety of desserts plentiful!
It was a very smooth and wonderful experience and i look forward to working with Brina Morriss and Cheat a Little Catering again!

We had them cater our office party last night and it was really good, especially the meats and the desserts. Very accommodating and easy to work with.

Brian and his team did a great job catering for my wedding in September 2014. From the layout, setup, presentation, food/​drinks, service, breakdown, etc., everything was executed perfectly. Everyone at my wedding provided positive comments. The most comments I received are regarding the food tasting and they all said food was tasty and hot, which is very important to us! All the staffs were friendly and did not show any impatience or frustration when we were running behind the schedule. I am very grateful to have CAL as my caterer and will recommend them to anyone who is looking for a caterer for an event.

Cheat A Little team pulled together and pulled off the ideal menu and presentation for my husband’s 50^th birthday. I wanted a playful, festive, tasteful evening blending early summer garden dinner party with a rustic medieval-​feast styled event to take advantage of the lovely old tudor home and garden we’ve rented while in Mountain View.
Oh, did I mention Cheat A Little Catering had a week to pull this off? Yeah.
No problem, follow through and follow up was fantastic. One call with Tara (who got me, she really GOT me!), one meeting with Tara & Brian — a couple phone calls and texts — and a week later they were there with the tables, chairs, linens, lights, candles, serverware, stemware, appetisers and a dinner that that people are still raving about a month later! I’m not kidding, I’d be tired of hearing about it except I had the BEST time too! (Got to enjoy my own party thanks to CAL!)
The feast featured the most massive and magnificent standing rib roast, crowned racks of NZ lamb, stuffed and beautifully roasted cornnish game hens — herb roasted root vegetables — rustic salad — loaves of chunky bread and amazing butter (seriously, the bread and the butter… my god…) Exactly what I wanted, exactly the way I wanted it. Tara and Brian nailed it! I picked up my own wine and wish I had let them do it. Though we surely drank plenty of it, I wasn’t crazy about the pairings and am sure Brian’s team would have chosen better for the menu.
That would have been enough, but the staff — Brian and Tara, the chef staff took over my kitchen, brought in everything they needed cleaned and left it nearly just as they found it! And the servers — what sports! They worked fast, quietly, engaged if needed but for the most part silently and pleasantly served.
Oh, did I mention the servers were Ren Fair veterans and came dressed as «Serving Wenches»! (I dignify the job title with captialization to overcome my discomfort with the term.) We didn’t ask them too. They just thought it would add to the lightheartedness of the event. (And it did. Not in a Medieval Times experience kinda way. Many of our friends were dressed with at minimum homage to super heros, Doctor Who characters, Star Trek/​Wars derivitiives. So serving wenches at the Medieval Garden Feast… Why not?! Oh yeah, Tara had even sourced giant dragon heads and suits of armor (I got my own — thanks craigslist!) Scale was no problem at this event. Seriously… it was amazing.
Yep, it wasn’t your average party — but it wasn’t for your average group. It was our closest friends, some family, the people we love most, who love us most. And it was P.E.R.F.E.C.T. The service and the food, combined with the playfulness we had built into the event and evening has been describedas an «epic» and «magical» — and it really was. Thank you Cheat A Little Catering.
That evening anchored and amazing 3-​day friends & family festival we’ll all remember for a long time.
So — no matter what scale or complexity of your party — a simple, beautiful garden party or a wild medieval feast. A kids birthday or a corporate tasting event. It wouldn’t matter. I’d trust Cheat A Little. to GET IT and NAIL IT.
And yes, I now own two huge suits of armor. Call Cheat A Little if you’d like to rent them for your next feast! :-)