Grapes Of Wrath California

Our organization just held a major event with buffet luncheon at Grapes of Wrath's center at East of Eden, and the response of the audience was totally and enthusiastically positive. Delicious food, suited even to those who were vegetarian (a positive surprise to many of those), fine set-up, smooth operations and excellent staffing. We had an over-full house of 200 guests, with people on the waiting list in the lobby, and we managed to accommodate everyone. All in all, a truly excellent event. I will say it was a little difficult to reach them in early stages of the planning, and the excellent estimate we received did not at first reflect the deposit already paid. But as our date approached, they were very flexible in meeting our specific needs, and very supportive at the event itself. A+. Pros: delicious food, kept vegetarians happy too, great staffing Cons: a few rough edges to administrative end of advanced plans more

Grapes of Wrath made my wedding the best night of my life! I had the misery of planning a wedding from 2,000 miles away but Dana, the owner, made that possible. Whenever problems would arise, she took extra time to help even when it didn't involve anything in the food area. Grapes was very flexible on the menu and allowed us to have whatever we wanted. Everyone at the wedding raved about how great the food was (and how much there was to choose from). During the wedding, one of the staff took extra care of me and my husbad by making sure we always had a full glass of champagne. They did a great job of serving the food, setting up the whole event and slicing and serving the cake. One of our favorite memories of the wedding was flying back home and enjoying an entire plate full of our wedding food that we didn't have the time to savor. My only criticism of Grapes was that I had to remind them of details several times before they were recorded. They were also cost a little more than I had planned for, but with such great quality and attention, I was relieved to know that my wedding would be in good hands despite the cost. Pros: Excellent restaurant quality food, attentive staff Cons: A tad bit expensive, forgetful on some details more

What a CROCK!!! Totally unorganized and unprofessional. I called 2 weeks ahead to make an appointment to come meet with someone and do an initial consultation. I spoke with Dana the manager/owner. At the time she seemed a little flighty but I thought I would give them a chance. I called about half an hour before my appointment to confirm and get the address to where we were to be meeting and Dana asked if we had done a budget. A little peeved at her lack of knowledge (even though we had spoken at length and done an in depth discussion on the phone). She seemed to have no notes or no information about the client about to come in. When I arrived at the office Dana was sitting with another couple discussing wedding options. I was shocked. She asked us rudely who we were and if we had an appointment. When I explained we were her 12 o'clock who had called to confirm only 30 minutes earlier she embarrassingly admitted she thought the couple sitting with her was the couple on the phone even though I had again told her our names when I called...did she not ask this walk in couple there names??? Rather than asking these people to make an appointment for later she asked US to re-schedule.... Seriously, since when do you ask the person who made the appointment to re-schedule OVER the walk-in!!! When I explained that I had driven 90 MINUTES for this appointment she offered to let us go up to the reception hall on our own to look around as a wedding was currently being set up. The lack of organization made me go no further with this company. If you cant even get my initial appointment right on your calendar how can I put something as important and expensive as my wedding in their hands. Not to mention if it was my wedding I would not want people wandering around asking questions and interrupting the people who are supposed to be setting up my event, unsupervised. I am SORELY disappointed in this business and would definitely NOT recommend them to anyone looking for a caterer and reception venue. Pros: Found out before it was too late and my wedding was ruined Cons: Unprofessional, Unorganized, rude, flaky more

We had G of W cater our Monterey wedding and he guests are still talking about that amazing flank steak with cabernet mushroom sauce. My fiance and I went to ONE tasting and were completely sold on their incredible cuisine. They are fantastic. The event was managed seamlessly by Tammie and masterminded by Dana - they allowed us to enjoy our wedding as bride and groom, not as event planners. I highly recommend these professional caterers. They will make your event the talk of the year! Ok, they cost money. But all great food and service do. They will rock your world with their delicious creations. We are the proof! Pros: Amazing food, great organization, great evevnt coordination, Cons: none whatsoever more

Grapes of Wrath is amazing! I am so glad that I picked them to cater for my wedding. After reviewing many websites and talking to many snooty caterers, I was so thankful to come across GOW. After meeting with them I knew I was in good hands. After the wedding I received so many compliments- best wedding food ever. People came back for seconds! But the food they offer is just the beginning. They coordinated my whole day and it was organized and went on without a hitch. They are professional, but comfortable. I was struck by how genuine and dedicated they were to making my day exactly what I wanted it to be. They even helped me find a great location to get married at that was in my budget. So, to sum it all up, great food, amazing service, everything was taken care of, and I wouldn't have changed a thing. I even miss them! I will need to come up with something else to have catered so I can see these wonderful people again! more

Dana and GOW did such a fabulous job catering my rehearsal dinner and wedding at the Holly Farm last May. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical at first. Similar to other reviews posted here, there were some initial communication problems with working within our budget and finalizing the menu and I wasn?t able to try the food we served before hand. So, to put it mildly, I was nervous. more

My husband and I were very happy with the services provided to us by the Grapes of Wrath for our wedding in Monterey, CA. Dropping in on one of their 'Open Houses', we became impressed with them right away when they sat down with us and sketched out a rough schedule of how our wedding day would unfold. It was clear that they were not only going to provide us with food, but were going to help us 'manage' our event. This was reassuring to my husband and I, as we had never planned such a huge event before. Throughout the year of our planning, the GOW did in fact serve as both a catering company, and an event management service. Good-natured and friendly, Dana and Tamie also graced us with their wedding wisdom, helping us to make some tricky decisions about our big day. more

We first met Dana and Tami at one of their tasting events. We knew right away that we wanted to use them as our caterer for our wedding. The tasting event was a great idea, they had other vendors there and that is where we also met our florist. This was very helpful to us because we were not familier with the area that we were getting married in. more

We have nothing but good things to say about Grapes of Wrath Catering!!! Not only did they deliver high quality and delicious food for our wedding...they essentially took on the role of event coordinator as well! During our first meeting, Dana sat down with us and started mapping out the location and had SO many great suggestions and recommendations...and the day of, Tamie was on-site directing everyone (and put out a couple of unexpected fires that came up with one of our vendors!) And as the weather did not cooperate, we had to move the entire dinner inside at the last minute and Tamie handled it seamlessly! As the Bride, I never had to stress about any of the last minute details, GOW took care of them all! The staff was very professional and fun at the same time, which is not always easy to find in CA. And the next morning when we came to clean up the venue, there was virtually nothing to do! They had come and gone and hadn't left a trace. Thanks Dana and Tamie! You helped make our wedding perfect! Pros: Not only a catering company, but event coordinators as well! Cons: Nothing more

My husband and I were married at the Holly Farm 2 months ago. We wouldn't change a thing about the experience - the choices we made for venue, flowers, caterer, invitations, music, ceremony, etc - were all perfect for us. Grapes of Wrath was the caterer we used for all three of the meals served during our weekend celebration. We chose menu items that Dana recommended and we were happy with all the food (everyone LOVED the BBQ themed party Friday night!) The linens used and special attention to detail (Dana and her team tied plaid ribbon around almost 200 napkins for me!) were absolutely gorgeous! Pros: Incredible service, handled everything beatifully during the event, executed flawlessly on the plan Cons: Loosey goosey process pre-event, tastings are not tailored to the bride and groom more

We were impressed from the first appointment with Dana, at Grapes of Wrath. She made sure that both of our thoughts were heard and integrated. Our wedding took place at beautiful Holly Farm, and we wanted a casual vibe, with simple, yet delicious food. Dana's crew hosted three meals for us- a sausage/artichoke/ice cream sundae rehearsal dinner, a DELICIOUS carnitas/rockfish/chicken burrito wedding dinner and a beautiful brunch on Sunday. Being food lovers, we had specifics, and Dana and her crew were willing to listen and work with them all. Dana has a calm demeanor, so we had the sense from day 1 that any issue would be handled and not become a big problem for us- as we obviously wanted to focus on friends and family. That hope came to fruition. If there were issues, we knew nothing of them. Our friends and family LOVED the mango margaritas, the burritos (Both the carnitas and the rockfish were PERFECT!), and the quiches. Dana and her crew are quite busy, and our only struggle became some communication difficulties. There are so many funny details, we hoped to get things checked off the list when planning, and we did have a bit of trouble getting final budget numbers- though they were very close to initial estimates- and getting details set (for example, chicken sausages vs. chicken bake). Obviously, the highlights far outweighed the difficulties, and Mike and I, our friends and our family would recommend Grapes of Wrath without reservation. Dana and her crew thought of so many things- in terms of ideas and thoughts about what works vs. what may not, and they were right on. Between the entrancing Holly Farm (and its AMAZING staff) and Dana's thoughtful, experienced Grapes of Wrath team, we were proud, delighted and wonderfully satiated. Pros: Creativity, prepared staff, DELICIOUS, thoughtful ideas Cons: efficient communication from a distance more

We came to the Holly Farm after being cancelled out by the Mayacamas Ranch in Calistoga with only 6 months to go until the wedding date. This was indeed a blessing in disguise. Both the Holly Farm, Erin, and the Grapes of Wrath caterer, Dana, made us feel that we were finally in capable hands. As my daughter likes to say, ""WE now had the PHD's of wedding planning!"" We had special needs. This was going to be an old fashioned Jewish wedding with separate gatherings for men and women before the ceremony and special requests with food. Both the Holly Farm and GOW came to our aid with good suggestions: grapes for the tables, hand washing station for the more Orthodox, chuppah to decorate, menus that kept to our various food issues, challa table and when could we fit in the puppet show. I could go on and on. The wedding day flowed effortlessly. I, as mother of the bride, enjoyed everything and never felt the need to remind anyone of what needed to be done. The staff from the Holly Farm and the GOW were so reliable, friendly, helpful and competent, that I had no complaints. Our guests from age 3-82 all said they had never seen such a wonderful wedding, nor had so much fun. The GOW also had very competent vendors for such items as Kosher food, a cupcake tower, flowers for the table, and the liquor store for wine and beer. I'm only sad that I don't have any other children to marry off so that I could do another event at the garden of Eden. Pros: perfect garden setting, very good list of additional vendors, great caterer Cons: I can't think of any more

We hired Dana to serve a California kosher (no shellfish, no crab, etc) fish and vegetarian luncheon Pros: The items they got right were yummy Cons: They didn't follow the menu, and didn't care. more

Happiness is the Grapes of Wrath Catering: more

My sister was the bride who was unsatisfied with the service provided by The Grapes of Wrath Catering. For some unknown reason, her review was deleted. My sister was unsatisfied with this vendor and she has the right to be heard. I am not a direct client of the vendor, but I did taste the food and I believe this qualifies me to proivde a review. Now I will say that my sister and her husband had very specific requirements for their wedding fare. They requested Chilean food prepared in the Vegan manner. I realize this is perhaps a tough requirement to fulfill, and I don't know how other caterers would have rated, but the food was mediocre at best. My sister will also vouch for the fact that the vendor refused to prepare any of the food before the wedding for a tasting. This vendor provides monthly tastings, showcasing her standard menu, but flat-out refused at any moment to prepare my sister's dishes before the wedding, thus not allowing the couple to provide any feedback before the date of the event. The ""Porotos Granados"" (that Dana references below in her own review of her own service) is already a Vegan recipe. The chef took creative liberty, adding ingredients that are not traditionally included, and excluding ingredients that are key in the preparation of this recipe. Most of our relatives did not even recognize what the dish was supposed to be. There is one final thing I would like to point out. My sister and her husband were very satisfied with all of the other vendors provided by the Holly Farm. They had no other complaints about their weekend and had a lovely wedding. Perhaps this vendor is suitable for standard, traditional weddings, but they were inflexible and unwilling to accomodate this couple's specific requirements. more

I'm also an alumni bride of the venue mentioned in these reviews AND a very satisfied client of Grapes of Wrath. Our experiences with GoW were quite opposite of those mentioned by the disapproving client below. We planned our wedding from overseas (we are currently living in Europe) and basically planned our budget-tight rehearsal dinner and wedding reception via emails and a few phone calls. Dana bent over backwards to accomodate our needs and wishes, which, given the technical difficulties of the distance between us, was particularly outstanding. In the end, the food was fabulous. The appearance was amazing. And the staff (Dana especailly) was practically family by the time the weekend was done. (And we absolutely LOVED our leftovers that night! Everything was wonderful and it was like an extra bonus that we had a plate of gourmet eats after such an incredible night.) Pros: Creative, local fresh fare, beautiful presentation, fun staff more

I was amazed at the review posted by the bride that dissed Grapes of wrath catering. We too were forced by the Holly Farms to use only ""Grapes of Wrath"" as the official caterer for thier venue and at first we were very apprehensive as the negotiation factor is certainly limited. But after working with Dana and her family and staff I can honestly say it was one of the best strokes of luck we had in what proved to be a unique experience to say the least. Dana was more than willing to help us with all our arrangements and to take our considerable dietary restrictions into consideration. She suggested, and made for the tastings, all of the dishes that we had agreed upon, she organized, suggested and acted in our best interest as if she was our wedding coordinator. When 2 weeks before the wedding the couple cancelled thier plans and we were stuck with many guests still arriving she was the most accomodating of any of our vendors. We changed venues, and menues and in a week she reorganized everything and had one of the most elegant ""Non-Wedding"" events that anyone could have hoped for. If I ever have a need for a caterer in the Monterey area I can gaurantee everyone that Grapes of Wrath will be the ONLY place I will go to look for a caterer. Pros: Convenience, willingness to accomodate, quality foods more

Darn--I just wrote this whole thing and it didn't post...I'll try again....As the owner of Grapes of Wrath, I'd like to respond! Our bride has some valid points! She came to us just as we had gotten the contract for this exclusive site--and it took us a couple of months to get the web updated--and there WAS confusion. The site itself sets our rates, so it's true that we were not as flexible as we could have been with a publice venue. IT's true that we just couldn't find the love....we tried and tried, lowered prices.....we researched Chilean foods and made a lovely regional dish for the buffet (Porotos Granados) and my right hand woman went home and made 150 Chilean style vegan!! empanadas for them since the dad wasn't going to have the time....and, yes, the family loved them and ate them all up before the bride and groom could get to them....all the other apps were still there......but still just couldn't make ajoyful connection. The couple just felt that we were doing them wrong... more