Skip to main content
Weddings
ARE YOU A VENDOR?

Chef Joe's Catering Reviews

Chef Joe's Catering

Chef Joe's Catering

Franconia, NH
4.3 out of 5 rating, 25 Reviews
View more information

Reviews

4.3 out of 5 rating
4.3 out of 5 rating
25 Reviews
86% recommend it
Write a review
  • Quality of service
    4.2 out of 5 rating
  • Average response time
    4.1 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    4.2 out of 5 rating
  • Value
    4.6 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    4.3 out of 5 rating
Write a review

Awards

25
Chef Joe's Catering 1
Chef Joe's Catering 2

  • Featured

    G
    Gwendolyn S. Sent on 10/25/2022
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating

    Wow your guests with an incredible menu and great food

    Chef Joes Catering is known as the best and their food and service consistently meets those expectations. For our wedding this past September at Toad Hill Farm they developed a custom menu that featured Portuguese staples to honor the communities my husband and I grew up in. As we were developing the menu, Mora and her team did all of the work. We gave high level direction on the type of food and she came up with a wide range of options for us to choose from.

    The food knocked the socks off our guests. We got numerous comments from guests that this was the best event food they had ever had.

    Chef Joes was a big part of making the evening a success and we’re so grateful that we got to work with them. We can’t wait to come up with another reason to hire them!
  • Katrina
    Katrina Sent on 09/15/2023
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating

    Amazing food & service!

    Chef Joes was amazing! Working with them was so easy and not stressful at all, which made this so nice. Great people, easy to communicate with and the quality of food was AMAZING!!! You can not go wrong with Chef Joes, just all around amazing!
  • S
    Sarah D. Sent on 12/06/2021
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating

    Amazing, wonderful! Would absolutely hire again!

    Chef Joe’s catering is absolutely amazing! The food was delicious! The service was great! The communication, accommodations and help during the entire process was absolutely perfect! They are a great family and crew! I highly recommend them!
    • illustration stars

    Are you interested?

    Send a message
  • Natasha
    Natasha S. Sent on 08/12/2021
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating

    Chef Joe's knocked it out of the park!

    We had to reschedule our wedding due to COVID and Chef Joe's was so accommodating with our new date (one year later). Mora was lovely to work with--answering the many questions I had and providing plenty of options for apps, salads, and entrees to make sure that we stayed within our budget. We made lots of changes to the menu prior to the wedding and she was always super flexible and happy to help. On the wedding day, we were blown away by the food. Everyone was telling us how delicious everything tasted. The servers were also super professional and very kindly made sure that my husband and I had a chance to sample all of the appetizers! I would hire Chef Joe's again without any hesitation.
  • V
    Valerie V. Sent on 11/16/2021
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating

    Delicious food, excellent coordination!

    The Chef Joe’s team was incredible to work with for my wedding catering. To start, the team is incredibly helpful, and helped us create a unique, fall themed, family-style vegetarian menu. Our guest could not stop raving about the food! Second, Mora was wonderful to work with, very responsive and detail oriented, guiding me through the decisions and very accommodating when last-minute adjustments had to be made. Highly recommend and excited to go back to their bistro this fall!
  • Kerry
    Kerry W. Sent on 10/11/2020
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating

    Extremely professional & delicious food!!

    We used Chef Joe's for our August 2020 wedding. We initially reached out to them because we had eaten at their restaurant before and loved it. We wanted non-traditional wedding food with some flavor and something guests would enjoy as well. We both LOVE Mexican food and decided on tacos, enchiladas and some amazing side dishes along with plated salads and passed apps. They came up with a great menu that was exactly what we were looking for and fit it to our budget. They hit it out of the park! We also used them to cater our Friday night Welcome Party and that was amazing as well. We were married in the middle of the Pandemic and Joe and his wife Nancy were SO great about clueing us in to all the safety precautions we needed to consider and that they were going to implement as well and also helped us adjust our menu (without adding any cost) to meet all the necessary safety criteria. We couldn't recommend them more!!!
  • M
    Mora Sent on 02/06/2017
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    If you are having a wedding in the area then Chef Joe's Catering is the wedding caterer for you!!! They are absolutely incredible and we are in love with their food. They are always available to talk, they are extremely professional and super flexible. Our guests went crazy over the food. Joe and Nancy helped us to customize our menu and incorporate food that was important to our family. Love them, their food, and the amazing wedding that they gave us. Thank you so so so much!
  • L
    Leigha Sent on 09/01/2017
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    Chef Joe's catered our backyard wedding of 200 guests a few weeks ago and people are still talking about the food! We had SUCH a great experience working with Chef Joe and his wife Nancy. At the last minute, after our caterer fell through, they were able to do our event and exceeded all expectations. The food was beyond delicious, we had SO many different options on the buffet, the servers were professional and very helpful- everything was perfect!! Nancy was also very responsive by email, came to the house to do a walk through a few weeks before the wedding, and was all around super helpful and efficient. I had a great experience working with her. I can't recommend Chef Joe's Catering highly enough!!!
  • User2393269 Sent on 10/27/2015
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    We have no complaints about Chef Joe's! Our food was incredible and we've heard great compliments on how good it was. We would definitely recommend Chef Joe's to others!
  • User2299010 Sent on 09/03/2015
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    Outstanding food, both for the rehearsal dinner and wedding!
  • L
    Lori Sent on 11/17/2013
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    Even though we changed our mind multiple times over our wedding meal - Nancy & chef joe worked with us until we were happy. The end result was amazing though we knew whatever they served would be incredible! We had a thanksgiving dinner served at our wedding and all of our guests raved and some still are raving about it. I made sure to try a little of everything and I'm glad I did. Everything was absolutely delicious and the staff was super professional and helpful. I would absolutely recommend booking chef joe for your event, you won't be disappointed!
  • C
    Cat Sent on 08/27/2013
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    We had a wonderful experience working with Chef Joe and his wife Nancy with catering our wedding. They were super helpful and involved in the planning process (even helped us come up with a timeline for the night) and were totally available to hop on the phone any day of the week. They thought of all the little things I would have forgotten and made sure the night ran smoothly. I was totally impressed with the service (we had passed apps at our cocktail hour) and speed at which dinners were served and with the quality of the food. They even brought us over an appetizer sampler to the head table since we didn't get to eat any during the cocktail hour! They were wonderful to work with and seemed to genuinely care about us and our wedding. I highly recommend them!
  • S
    Saa Sent on 01/15/2012
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    Chef Joe was very friendly, helped us come up with a delicious menu. My guests were raving. He even set us up some snack platters for the bridal and groom's suites. He packed us to go boxes too complete with silverware and one of everything we had!
  • L
    Lauren Sent on 10/29/2018
    4.8 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating

    Amazing Food, Great with Allergies

    Working with Tiffany, Nancy and Chef Joe was a great process. I am the bride and have Celiac disease, and a lot of family and friends are vegan or riddled with many other allergies. Chef Joes not only had AMAZING food and customized our menu for our fall wedding, but they were awesome with allergy awareness, with pivoting slightly on some dishes and so much more. When visiting their restaurant for our tasting Chef Joe even stepped back into their garden to grab fresh herb leaves for us to try to see if we wanted to change a flavor. Amazing. So kind, so great. There were a few times that they were a little slow or odd with communication and confirming they received checks, but nothing major at all. Would ABSOLUTELY recommend. So many compliments on the food and the buffet set up was seamless.
  • L
    Laura Sent on 11/06/2016
    4.8 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    My husband and I first met with Chef Joe to do a menu brainstorm session which resulted in a mouth watering in season customized menu for our mid-August wedding. He was very helpful in coming up with recommendations and created a delicious customized menu that both my husband and I were excited about for cocktail hour (we did a mix of stationary and served appetizers), buffet dinner and a variety of desserts. He was also very accommodating and came up with creative solutions when it came to food allergy/sensitivity issues. If you are looking for a caterer that is passionate about food and will create a delicious customized menu for your wedding, I would highly recommend Chef Joe's! We got so many compliments from our wedding guests about the food.
  • B
    Becca Sent on 11/03/2016
    4.4 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      3.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    We LOVED our chef joes food! We had them do a cheese, cracker, and fruit tray for our cocktail hour that was SO beautiful, and then we got the barbecue menu buffet style for our wedding reception and it was SO yummy!!! People couldn't get enough and I think everyone went back for seconds :) The staff was extremely friendly. YES, I will reiterate what other people are saying, Nancy was not always the easiest/quickest to communicate with, but she always met our needs and in person she is absolutely wonderful and so friendly (which doesn't always translate over the phone). We were invited to their bistro to see how their staff runs a business and we got to have a meal on them to meet Chef Joe, Nancy, and the rest of their team. While we didn't eat any of the food we'd actually be having at our wedding, we very much understood it was all going to be delicious and beautifully presented since everything we had at the bistro was outstanding. I really would highly recommend them. Such great value for the incredible food.
  • A
    Alyssa Sent on 01/18/2015
    4 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    Very very good food. Not at all your typical wedding fare, as the bride I made sure to eat and eat a lot! All of our guests raved about the meal and couldn't say enough good things.
  • sarahd07
    Sarah Sent on 10/07/2010
    4 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      3.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      3.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    Amazing food and wonderful service. Some issues with communication before and day of the wedding...but overall we were very pleased with the food.
  • C
    Conner Sent on 08/30/2016
    3.9 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      3.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      3.5 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    Chef Joe's catered our reception and we also did our rehearsal dinner at their bistro in Franconia. For both occasions, the food was really delicious and the value was fantastic, particularly for the reception. During the planning process, Chef Joe's was often a bit difficult to communicate with and we found them somewhat unfriendly at times even during the wedding weekend. However, if you are willing to put up with some annoying communications issues, Chef Joe's might still be worth it for the quality and value of the food.
  • K
    Krystin Sent on 09/19/2018
    3.1 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      3.5 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      3.5 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      2.5 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      2.0 out of 5 rating
    Communication and important information was not shared within a timely manner, resulting in us missing out on a tasting. They were also very rigid to plan with, and not the friendliest. BUT, I guess in the in it was worth it because everyone raved about the food and wedding day servers/service was flawless! I think they are at least a 3.8/5.
  • Tyler
    Tyler L. Sent on 10/07/2022
    3 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      2.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      2.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      3.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      3.0 out of 5 rating

    Good food, but bad service

    Pros:
    -Good food
    -Great, polite waitstaff
    -Good communication leading up to the wedding (Mora)

    Cons:
    -Did not respect the wishes of the wedding couple
    -Hostile to Day of Coordinator and staff
    -Put out desserts early (cocktail hour)

    Chef Joe’s is a mixed bag for catering. Leading up to the wedding, we worked with Mora. She was amazing, answered every question we had, made sure we considered some of the catering needs we hadn’t thought of, and got back to us very quickly. We felt we were in good hands leading up to our wedding, so much so that we added a rehearsal dinner on-site at Chef Joe’s for the night before our wedding.

    On the day of the wedding, we instead had Nancy, the owner’s wife, coordinating on site. Nancy was very rude to our day of coordinator and was unwilling to work with the other vendors. Nancy and her team put our desserts out during cocktail hour, and constantly replenished them until they ran out. The desserts all ran out during cocktail hour because of this. When the time came to cut the cake, Nancy refused to cut the cake because "there wasn't enough for everyone". The point of the other desserts was to supplement the cake. Any professional caterer understands that you wouldn't replenish the desserts until dessert time. When I was alerted of this by our day-of-coordinator, and informed Nancy that I still wanted the cake cut, she said “okay” and I thought the matter resolved.

    In reality, what happened was Nancy and her team packed up and left, leaving dishes outside partially washed, the food from dinner packed up but not stored in a refrigerator (left out at room temp for 2+ hours), and the cake still not cut. If not for our day-of-coordinator, the cake would never have been cut. This is extremely unprofessional behavior, and the major reason why I would not recommend Chef Joe’s to anyone who asks about them. When emailed after the wedding, as a sort of head’s up to Chef Joe’s, blame was placed on there “not being enough tables for both the desserts and hors d’oeuvres” (something we had discussed prior to the wedding, the number of tables they required), essentially putting Nancy’s behavior back on us. Like I said, extremely unprofessional all around.

    To leave this review on a slightly brighter note, I do want to emphasize that the food served was all very good, and the waitstaff (outside of Nancy) were very friendly and professional. If you are looking for a caterer for your White Mountains wedding, however, I would look elsewhere. I’ve heard our experience is not uncommon.
    • Chef Joe's Catering 3
    • Chef Joe's Catering 4
  • M
    Megan Sent on 10/08/2016
    3 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      3.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      2.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      2.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    My review on Chef Joe's is kind of mixed. We chose Chef Joe's for our wedding because of their pricing and their reviews of their food. The food of the wedding was wonderful. We had a buffet and custom-made the menu. We had passed and stationary appetizers. At most weddings you hear that the bridal party misses out on appetizers while doing pictures, but the servers brought over appetizers to us during photos and left us a plate at the head table for when we were finished. They also boxed up the food at the end of wedding for us to take home all the leftovers! Before the wedding, we had a consultation with Chef Joe and his wife/business partner Nancy. We discussed the menu and they said we would be invited for a dinner in place of a tasting so we could experience the total package. We never were invited for this. Our venue required proof of insurance from the caterer. I requested this from Nancy 6 months prior to the wedding and asked her multiple times by email and phone and never received it. A few weeks before the wedding, I called Nancy to check in. She had lost our menu, didn't have the correct venue, didn't know the address, had the incorrect head count, and didn't remember we were renting plates and silverware from them. When we finally got our invoice, it was incorrect 2 times. It was very stressful leading up to the wedding and luckily the food and servers were wonderful and everything ended up working out great.
  • S
    Seta Sent on 09/27/2016
    2.9 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      2.5 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      2.5 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      3.5 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      3.5 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      2.5 out of 5 rating
    Joe and Nancy are big whigs in the catering industry and will impress you with their inventiveness of dishes and name dropping. My husband and I were pretty surprised to find such well-rounded catering talent in rural NH. They can definitely cook and your guests will LOVE their food, for certain. They aren't for everyone though.

    They can come off as kind of disappointed if you don't want their food to be the center of your wedding and if you aren't interested in dropping 10 grand on food. I don't recommend working with them if you are a shy couple because they move fast and you'll walk out of your consultation wondering what the heck just happened and what you singed up for. Also, they take handwritten notes during your meetings, but then they send you a summary of what was agreed upon and it's just not clearly spelled out. They say that contracts aren't their thing so they have an informal handshake agreement style. As any couple on a budget knows, this kind of informal connection with your vendor can leave you feeling vulnerable.

    Finally, more than any other wedding vendor we worked with, I felt that after Joe and Nancy were paid, the communication came to a grinding halt.
  • S
    Suzanne Sent on 10/01/2017
    2.4 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      2.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      1.5 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      3.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      3.5 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      2.0 out of 5 rating
    There aren't many caters in the Franconia area so Chef Joe's was one of our only options. We were happy with the food for our September wedding and Chef Joe seemed like a great guy with a fun flair for food. Nancy is challenging to work with and made the wedding planning process feel more stressful than it needed to. Her communication is slow and often missing details. The food was good but I wouldn't work with this vendor again.
  • C
    Christine Sent on 09/09/2016
    2 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      2.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      2.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      2.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      2.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      2.0 out of 5 rating
    I wouldn't recommend them for a wedding. Perhaps a business event, but not a wedding. Chef Joe's wife Nancy handles the business end of things and is a bit abrasive, difficult to contact and not interested in providing good customer service.
illustration stars

Are you interested?

Send a message