Nick and his team were nothing short of amazing on our wedding day! My wife and I had initially booked a venue where the food was included with the space so we had no need for a caterer. That all changed when our venue burnt down 3 months before the wedding. We had to frantically re-plan the whole day in under 3 months, and of all the caterers we reached out to Nick was far and away the most helpful in working with us to get us everything we wanted within the same price range as our previous venue. We didn't even have time to set up a tasting before the wedding, we just went into the night hoping the food would be good. It was incredible! My family are in the restaurant business so they can be some tough critics when it comes to food but every single one of them still raves to me almost a year later (I'm a little late on the review) about how great the food was at our wedding. The staff was equally as amazing as the food was, they were all nice and never missed a beat. Huge shout out to everyone on the Real Kitchen team, especially Nick - you all made our wedding the best night it could possibly be!

This review is long overdue for our amazing wedding caterer. Real Kitchen prepared amazing food for our wedding day. We did family style dining but they provide a number of detailed quotes for buffet and a la carte throughout the planning process. They were easy to work with, helping us choose seasonal foods, and adjusting with us as our guest count inevitably changed. Real Kitchen did an absolutely phenomenal job staying in communication throughout the entire process and I would use them again in a heartbeat.

Nick from RealKitchen is very easy to work with. We had a Sunday brunch style wedding and he put a great menu together. Everyone commented on how good the food was. If you want a boring chicken, fish, or red meat set plate menu, go elsewhere. If you want great unique food choices for your wedding, go to Real Kitchen!

From the very start Nick showed his professionalism, attention to detail and culinary genius in planning the catering for our wedding celebration. The food is unparalleled, and our guests couldn’t stop raving about it - the food was the #1 compliment we received from our wedding in May 2019!

The Real Kitchen team was instrumental in making our big day a success. In addition to planning & executing the delicious menu, Nick also organized all the necessary rentals (linens, flatware, glassware, highboys, cake stand, etc) and made sure to choose value options to help us keep costs conservative. We appreciated how detailed his proposal was compared to other vendors in breaking down all these costs for us. He was transparent throughout the process and also thoughtful - after our tasting we went home with all the leftovers packed up in eco-friendly containers :)

Nick also provided invaluable help planning our bar (we purchased alcohol outright & are so glad we listened to his advice on which store to use and what to buy). His & Real Kitchen's efforts really made the reception go extremely smoothly and allowed us to kick back and enjoy the evening. What more could you ask for? The service was top notch and the food was even better!

When we asked to do something a little different for coffee service they were flexible and accommodating. Even in the initial menu proposal they included ingredients from my region of origin which was a really nice personal touch. The room setup was also done perfectly and exactly as we had envisioned it. All of our requests were met with ease and professionalism, and the event went impeccably smoothly. Highly recommend Real Kitchen for their incredible food, professionalism, flexibility, and attention to detail! Great caterer!

Nick and his team at Real Kitchen did an amazing job catering our wedding. Often times, guests go into a wedding expecting the food to be mediocre, but our guests are still raving to us about how good each of their meals were! Nick did an amazing job creating a menu that reflected the food tastes my husband and I have, and he managed to accommodate all of our guests’ many different dietary restrictions. The staff working our wedding were extremely professional, organized, and pleasant. They were very attentive to all of our guests and ensured the food and drinks were served on time and plated to the appropriate person without having to ask each guest what they ordered. Finally, our bartenders were also amazing. They made our specialty cocktails perfectly and engaged in fun interactions with our guest. We could not recommend Real Kitchen enough for a wedding or special events catering-they do fantastic work!

My husband and I made a point to only working with vendors who were easy to work with, flexible, responsive and organized. Real Kitchen was all of that and more. Nick, the executive chef was amazing to work with and such a talented chef. We never worried once during the whole wedding planning process because Nick and his staff were so incredible. We did not work with a wedding planner and we still felt so relaxed and everything went so smoothly. Even the pickiest of eaters at our wedding had clean plates and were raving about the food! Quality and perfection! Highly recommended.

Working with Nick was AMAZING.
He's such a chill dude, yet very detail-oriented, thorough, talented, and considerate.

Some couples may enjoy catering tastings, but we honestly them to be pretty awkward. Our tasting at Real Kitchen was the exception -- Nick listened to what we wanted, providing smart suggestions on how to optimize the food and keep costs in check, and delivered some kick-ass food.

Throughout the process, Nick was on the ball with making sure we were covered in terms of crew, rentals, and planning. His team made our ceremony cocktail (which our guests were delighted by), handled the room flip, ensured our guests had ample drinks and appetizers, and made dinner happen. Also, when we were craving some pre-ceremony snacks, the catering lead brought us an overflowing plate of appetizers that got us through the night. All of our requests were handled with ease and the entire experience was great.

We could not recommend Nick and the Real Kitchen team more highly! Book them!!

Nick and the members of Real Catering were fun and great to work with. Nick accommodated apps requested by us that he doesn't normally do and they turned out great. He provided guidance when we needed it, but let us plan the food and service based on our preference. His serving staff was sweet and efficient. Everything turned out perfect! We were really impressed with their professionalism, the food and service.

My husband and I got married March 31, 2018 at Ovation in Chicago, and Real Kitchen catered our wedding. The food was unreal and the service was perfect.

From the very beginning of meeting and working with Executive Chef Nick Schmuck, we knew the execution of the menu and logistics would go off without a hitch. Nick is friendly, organized, super talented, and is an expert at implementing large scale events. He had great advice for us in the beginning of our planning process regarding our timeline for the day, and other great odds and ends. It was really helpful and appreciated!

During our tasting, we were blown away by the caliber of all of the dishes! Our friends who strongly recommended working with Nick were 100% right. We loved how simple, yet flavorful and beautiful all the dishes were. The ingredients were top notch and we really liked how the majority of the dishes were vegetable-forward. Our guests very much enjoyed that too!

We loved our entire menu, but if we had to pick our favorite dishes were the Mojo Roast Pork “Cuban” with Smoke Ham, Gruyere, & Cornichon (aka mini Cuban sandwich) / Prosciutto Tart with Romesco, Dates, & Almonds / Moroccan Pork with Apricot, Prunes, Couscous, & Pistachios / Green Beans with Shallot & Garlic Confit & Roasted Tomatoes, and Roasted Beets with Orange & Fennel.

Our friends and family members were also blown away by our menu, and are still talking about how amazing and memorable our wedding food was!

Additionally, Nick handled all rentals and hiring staff for the evening, which was a huge help! Everything he recommended was perfect and we wouldn’t have changed anything.

Bottom line: please consider Real Kitchen to cater your wedding. You won't regret it, and everyone will absolutely love the food!

Real Kitchen catered our wedding. The entire experience was amazing. We first saw Real Kitchen on a Facebook ad and decided to reach out to them after getting quotes from a series of overpriced and unsatisfying better known options. In our initial email, I told Nick of our limited budget. About 30 minutes later Nick replied "I like a challenge, I think we could make something work for you." A few days later we sat down with Nick for a sampling, not only was it the best food we had, true to his word, Nick put together a really affordable quote and even recommended a place to get a reasonable quote on alcohol.

A few weeks before our wedding, we realized we had a little extra money in the budget for appetizers. Again, Nick stepped up and offered us a reasonable package for appetizers, too.

We corresponded with Nick periodically throughout the process and he couldn't have been more helpful. By the end, we were consulting him about things not even related to the food.

Come the wedding day, everything was perfect. The tables were prepped and looked amazing! The food was amazing. Two weeks later, people are still calling me and raving about the food, especially the salmon appetizer, the vegetarian lasagna, cheesy polenta and the short rib. Just to put in perspective how amazing the food was, one of my guests was herself a wedding caterer. She said this was the best food she has ever had at a wedding.

In addition to the food, the catering staff was also amazing. The captain in particular stood out. He came up early in the night, introduced himself, and encouraged us to have a good time as everything would be taken care of. He didn't lie. Every instinct I had to worry about something going wrong or being unattended, he was two steps ahead of me.

Between the amazing food and amazing staff, Real Kitchen really came through for us.