The Shalom Group

Summary: tasty food, competent service, and great prices, but there wasn’t enough food, and they tried to over-​charge us. Given our venue’s restrictions, I would use them again, but would change some things (see below.)
The good: Patty Meza understood what we were asking for, and proposed exactly what we wanted — an Indian meat buffet that did not appear on their usual catering menu — at 20−30% savings over the alternatives. She was polite, responsive, and understood special needs such as guests with food allergies and vegan diets. She notified us how many linens we needed to provide ourselves, to help save us money (buying linens is usually cheaper than renting.) We ordered from them without having ever tasted their food, and the food was tasty and each dish tasted different. The vegetable korma and beef curry were particularly good. They did not attempt to profit from child guests: children under 4 were free, and children ages 4 – 13 were half price, whereas the other caterer charged an almost-​adult price for children. At dessert, there seemed to be plenty of fruit and standard pastries, but the flourless chocolate cake ran out right away.
The bad: There wasn’t enough food, they attempted to over-​charge us, they didn’t label the food, and they didn’t offer white wine to guests, only red wine. One dish — plain roasted chicken which we needed for picky eaters — ran out right away. The vegetable korma ran out partway through the first set of guests. Guests who wanted seconds (on the 9″ broad-​rimmed plates) discovered only a small amount of beef curry and chickpea salad. On the over-​charge: they billed us for 110 adult guests instead of 97 adult guests. When I pointed out the error, they claimed that the mistaken guest count was from older records, which can’t be true because our guest count went up over time, not down.
They didn’t label the food or tell us that it was our responsibility to create labels or print menus, so the guests couldn’t tell what the food was, and a vegetarian ate meat accidentally, and other vegetarians may not have realized what was safe for them. We provided 6 cases of wine — 4 varieties — and we were hoping that guests would feel that they had plentiful wine available to them, but they didn’t display the white wine — they kept it on ice — so guests only drank the red wine, and we came away with almost the same quantity of white wine that we started out with. They also gave only tiny cups of wine (5 oz instead of 8 oz). (Not their fault, but their liquor license doesn’t allow them to put bottles of wine directly on the tables.)
The meh: When we mentioned that there wasn’t enough food, they gave a lame answer: they told us that because the meal was late in the afternoon — which they knew about ahead of time — the first guests to go through the buffet ate more than they should have. The food was way better than standard catering, but some dishes had issues. The chicken breast in tandoori sauce was dry and a questionable color of pink, but the sauce was delicious. The spiced chicken pieces were crispy but overly salty. Tandoori tofu was greasy and tomatoey. We never got to taste the plain roasted chicken that we ordered for picky eaters because it ran out.
Overall, there were things that both sides could have done to make the relationship more successful. Both sides should have clarified who was responsible for labeling the food, the size of the wine glasses, and making sure that guests knew their wine options. I suspect that the caterer meant well and underbid, and perhaps they didn’t make a profit on this job. We had been willing to pay slightly more than she asked; we could have clarified that there would have been enough food at that price, and what could we get if we paid 10−20% more per guest.
If I could start the wedding planning process again, I would try to use a venue that would allow any caterer, so I could have used an independent kosher caterer (e.g., Sweet and Good Catering), which would have been higher quality and lower cost, but such a venue may not have existed. The wedding went really well, overall.