Maravela's Reviews

My husband and I were ABSOLUTELY blown away by how amazing Maravela’s was for our wedding this past June. For real, we looked high and low for quality food that would not break the bank. Maravela’s provided us with more than that. The service was excellent, and everyone was raving about the food! So many people were going back for helping of the real mashed potatoes and grilled chicken! One of our only wedding regrets is not grabbing a few more plates of this amazing food. Maravela’s made our guests impressed, and the bride and groom very blessed! Words can not express how pleased we are by their service!

We don't know where to begin to describe how INCREDIBLE Lorenzo and his entire Maravela's team are! They go above and beyond for their clients from start to finish. You will instantly receive a personal touch from them and truly feel special. Throughout our entire wedding planning process, we were constantly surprised with how much Maravela's did for us. Along with their AMAZING hospitality, you will be guaranteed to have DELICIOUS food and PHENOMENAL service! Our guests are still raving about our meal choices and how well they were taken care of throughout the night by the bartenders and servers! Maravela's was also so considerate when it came to food allergies and restrictions! Thank you so much for making our day PERFECT! We are a PROUD Maravela's Couple!

Maravela's catering my wedding and they were fantastic and so amazing to work with! I did not have a wedding planner and was doing it all myself and they were so helpful throughout the process and the set up! I would use them a million times again and will highly recommend them to everyone! They truly are amazing and make your day so special! Thank you for all the help Maravela team!

Maravelas is amazing! The food was amazing, but this caterer was so much more. They were outstanding at helping plan out all of the little details! I asked if I needed to bring cups for the bar, and they responded back immediately with pictures, prices, and ideas for cups to purchase from costco! The whole night they made sure things were going smoothly, but I was never bothered with small questions. Did I mention the food was delicious!?! 5 stars for sure!

Everyone at Maravela's was fantastic from the very start. Super reasonably priced and very easy to work with. The tasting was phenomenal and the actual appetizers and meals at the wedding was even better, even with our venue being off site. Our guests raved about the food and the staff. The staff was incredibly friendly and made sure that our wedding party had appetizers waiting for them in the bridal suite and at the head table even tho we missed most of cocktail hour. Any plates that weren't put down were packed up for us to take home, as well as the leftovers from our late night snack. Couldn't have asked for anything more!

Thank God we booked Maravela's for our reception venue! They were so quick to respond, had awesome recommendations for decorations, and their food was AMAZING! They were so skilled and confident, we knew we were in great hands through the entire process. I would highly recommend them! My guests loved the service!

From start to finish I had a wonderful experience with Maravela's! Our DJ actually recommended them and I could not have been more pleased! We had an individual tasting and Kali had everything organized and ready to go! She was very helpful and answered all of my questions very professionally. When we communicated through email she had quick responses and professional answers. Maria ended up taking over for the day of my wedding and she was also very attentive. All of the servers and the bartender were friendly and made my friends and family feel right at home. If you love good food and a comfortable atmosphere I highly recommend hiring this company!!

Maravela's catered my daughter's wedding at The Riviera Ballroom last Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016. From the delicious tasting at Maravela's to select the menu, to the very final details days before the wedding, Maravela's was truly on top of everything! The food was absolutely outstanding and every one of our 230 guests could not stop complimenting the dinner and the service. Maravela's truly made this my daughter's fairy tale wedding! Maravela's also provided two very professional bartenders who definitely satisfied our guests, but never over served anyone. We also had our bridal shower in December in-house at Maravela's. This event was also well planned with Maria's help, and the food was delicious! I cannot recommend the service, professionalism and expertise enough from Maravela's. I have also had previous events, and every event is handled in the most professional manner and the staff goes above and beyond to make sure your event goes off without a hitch! 5 stars aren't enough. Hats off Maravela's for knowing how to totally please your customers! I would highly recommend your services to everyone!!!

Maria and her staff were wonderful to deal with! She was able to do our linens and decor at no extra charge. The day of the event was perfect. I would recommend them to anyone. Our cost was about half of what most places would have charged us. I can't say enough good about them!

Maravelas was by far the best vendor to work with for our wedding. Maria was my main contact during the planning process. She was kind, accommodating, and so reassuring of the whole process. I had a lot of last minute changes and she addressed them quickly and politely. I loved working with her. The day of my wedding their service even got better! The main guy ( I do not remember his name) was amazing! He went above and beyond to ensure that everything ran smoothly. While he was getting ready in the kitchen earlier in the day he had some down time. He came out and helped put up the finishing touches of the decorations. It was amazing. As the night went on the staff and himself were providing exceptional service. The food ( chicken and prime rib) was so good. It was cooked off site but it tasted hot and fresh. I received many compliments on how delicious the food was. I would recommend this company to anyone!

Maravelas did an excellent job catering for my wedding reception. Not only was the food exceptional, but it was also within our price range. We were allowed to bring in our own alcohol which also helped to keep costs within our budget. Maravelas was prompt with their responses in the planning process, and the food tasting was wonderful as well. All around amazing experience with them!

Wish we could give higher than five stars. Can't wait for our wedding and reception here in March. They have been amazing. Answers the phone, returns emails promptly and assisted with obtaining other needed services. Highly recommend.

Beautiful setup! Great food and service. Highly recommend!

They are very easy to get a hold of and send very detailed emails with charts that are easy to understand what you are spending your money on (down to the smallest detail). Which I loved! They are flexible and easy to work with. The linens they provided were beautiful, they even decorated the buffet table to go with my country rustic theme. They really went above and beyond! The food was wonderful, I heard many wonderful things from my guests. So glad we chose them to cater!

Everything about their services was absolutely PERFECT!

Maravela's was by far the most outstanding caterer we could have had at our wedding. The food was delicious, the service was impeccable, and the help with tear down at the end of the night was amazing. We were married at the Byron Colby Barn where all set up and tear down is done by family and friends. Maravela's came in the morning of to set up all tables, linens and china. Maria at Maravela's helped to make our day seamless and her staff was so easy to work with. Couldn't be happier to have worked with them! Would recommend to anyone!

Maravela's was exceptional. We had the ceremony and reception here and things couldn't have went smoother. They worked with all my vendors without any issues. All my emails, phone calls, and questions were answered promptly. The food was amazing, the price was amazing, everything was set up the way I wanted it and Maria made sure everything flowed as it was supposed to on our wedding day. From beginning to end Maria had everything covered as my day of coordinator and more! I would definitely recommend Maravela's for any event!

Maria made it so I truly had nothing to worry about!! Such a wonderful company and I wish you all the best of luck!!! Thank you for being such a fantastic company!!!

We absolutely loved our wedding reception at Maravela's. The food and service was outstanding and working with Maria was wonderful. Thank you!!!

Maravela's did such a wonderful job catering our wedding and their food was delicious! We had a buffet style dinner and the food was perfect temperature. We had the beef carving station, stuffed shells with alfredo sauce and chicken vesuvio as our main dishes. All of the sides we had were to die for, especially the mashed potatoes and gravy! All of our guests really enjoyed their dinner. For dessert we had delicious brownies that my wife absolutely loved! Maria and her staff were all so helpful and friendly, they made planning our wedding a breeze when it came to catering. Overall, Maravela's is a wonderful company with awesome food, reasonable prices and a very friendly staff!

We had a great experience with Maria and her staff. Had our wedding on Aug 17, 2012 received the best service from owner to staff. My husband and I had been there New Years eve prior to our wedding Loved the event they really know what they are doing. As for the food everyone of our invite loved it, and severed on time not like many weddings you wait for ever to eat, and it arrives cold. Maravela has the best in all areas. We will use them again if ever another large event comes up. As for our Cake was included in our price and it was to die for!
Thank you Mary and staff!
Love Kollar family.

Maria was amazing! The food was excellent, the venue was beautiful and she took care of everything! It made for a very stress free day for us!

Everyone LOVED our food! Maria was wonderful and easy to work with!

We loved Maravela's! They were so friendly and accommodating. Maria was especially great to work with. They had lots of options and helped fit everything we wanted into our budget.

The food was delicious both at the tasting and the wedding! My husband and I two meals boxed to go with us when we left, and I'm so glad we did since I did not get to eat much during the reception.

The service was very professional and the staff was great to work with during the reception. They brought in tables and set up all the place settings two days before the wedding which was so helpful in preparations. They even decorated the buffet table with flowers that matched my wedding colors perfectly. Would highly recommend them!

AMAZING!!!!!!!! We were so HAPPY. We had our wedding reception here and the food was delicious. All of our guest enjoyed the food so much and even had seconds! The service was fantastic and the entire wedding reception was fabulous. They did a great job with decoration and the tables looked beautiful. Maria was so sweet and very nice to work with. She made sure everything went smoothly and we have no complaints at all. This is an AWESOME wedding venue and i would reccomend this place to anyone looking for great service, beautiful venue and EXCELLENT tasting food.

AMAZING!!!
Maravela's was my favorite vendor to work with, Maria is wonderful and treated us with outstanding service. Personal and professional!!

Maravela's set up a lovely buffet lunch for my wedding. The food was good, the staff was very attentive and friendly, and they really kept things running smoothly. They were great about being flexible about needing an extra table, or shifting the tables around to accommodate a band. Really really great experience, and reasonably priced. I would ABSOLUTELY hire them again for any event requiring smooth service and tasty food :)

Maravela's was a pleasure to work with and did a fantastic job at our wedding. From the very beginning, they showed genuine interest in our desires and were open to customizing the menu to meet our needs. We had a pig roast, teriyaki and sweet and sour chicken as main course (luau buffet menu). Maria was helpful with selection of the food, quantities and very flexible to changes. Maravela's has an extensive selection of table linens, and Maria was extremely helpful in offerring us options that fit our theme and venue. On the wedding day, Patrick, the head server, lead a very professional and courteous staff. The set up was smooth, and their experience with catering showed throughout the event - they aniticipated our needs and the needs of our guest and we never had to ask for anything. Our friends and family gave many nice compliments on the delicious food and the service - which was also a very good value. We were very pleased with every aspect of the experience and highly recommend Maravela's catering.

We decided to have an outdoor "do-it-ourself" wedding. It got very overwhelming until we met Maravela's. It was almost like having help planning the wedding. Maria had all of the details covered, had simple answers to all of my questions. Maravela's has EXCELLENT food, great pricing, and perfect service. Everything went flawlessly (even the things I didn't think of ahead of time)!

Where to begin!?
Maria became my mentor while I undertook planning a huge wedding by my lonesome.
The food was superb, the service unmatched (go Patrick!). I want to hire Maria as a life coach, she's got it together!
Nothing but quality, empathy, understanding, ingenious attitude, and a MUCH needed calm to weather the wedding storm!
Such a pleasant experience!!!

We had our reception at the Byron Colby Barn in Grayslake. Stan the Barn contact provided us a list of recommendations. Maravela's was one on the list. After speaking with Maria I knew this place would be my caterers. Maria is very nice and easy going. She goes over everything and even helped us save money while going over our contract! She does her job very well and truely makes you feel like you're the only bride who's having a wedding!
Maravela's has a taste testing dinner for brides and family before your event to help choose what foods you want for your wedding. The Chicken with Mushrooms is possibly the BEST chicken I've ever had. The buffet we had at our wedding was set up perfect. The staff memebers were great and kept the trays full. They were able to break down the buffet table very quietly. I can honestly say they were so quiet, I don't remember hearing/seeing the transition of buffet table to dance floor! All of the food was incredible. From the salads, to the veggies, to the meats, to the cream puffs: everything was perfect!

Maria and Maravela's are the best and so affordable too. I researched a ton of Chicago area caterers and none came close to the value and delicious offerings they had to offer. They are one of Byron Colby Barn's recommended caterers and after I talked with Maria I didn't bother with calling the others. I would recommend them to anyone, not just brides on a budget (which was me). Catering is one of the biggest expenses that can make or break your event. I was so lucky to find them. I got a lot of bang for my buck by going with Maravela's. We went with two apps (we brought in an ethnic appetizer as well, which was fine with them) and a three-entree (pasta, chicken marsala and sirloin) buffet plus salads, starch and veggies for about 90 people and only spent slightly less than $3,000. We also were able to offer kids meal (chicken tenders) and vegan meals (eggplant parmesan). We also had some special foods needs that they attended to quickly and professionally. A huge bargain in the Chicagoland catering biz! They are extremely flexible and will pretty much work with you on whatever you want and within budget. I told her of all my needs, wants and concerns and she had a question for everything. She is always accessible through e-mail, even when you send that frantic message in the middle of the night. I would get married again just to have Maravela's food. Everyone raved how great it was. Thanks for making the wedding so fantastic!

Maravela's was amazing. Their costs are cheap but the quality and quantity of the food is incredible. I would recommend it to any bride. We catered from them - and they were so helpful and responsive to all my questions. They arrived at the reception hall on time and set up the linens and food in a beautiful arrangement.

All I can say is if my new husband and I could give more than 4 stars we would.Everyone connected to our wedding was FANTASTIC,the food,bartenders,waitstaff and of course the Maravela family for knowing how to pull it all together-a memory we wish could do over and over again-extremly happy with the service.

Maria and the Maravela's crew are absolutely WONDERFUL!!!
She took care of so much and went out of her way to do some things!
The food was amazing!!!
I am very happy that i booked my reception here

Would definitely recommend. Food was really good at a really reasonable price. We had an appetizer buffet, no sit down dinner, and they were totally flexible with us. Only critique is that they stopped butler serving our appetizers when we asked them to do it the whole time we were at pictures.

While we felt the administrative/planning staff could have been a little more helpful, the staff at the event could not have been better. Any fears we had were eased immediately after meeting the coordinator and the servers.

They were on top of everything and polite and hard working. They took care of everything wonderfully.

Food was surprisingly good for the price as well.

They were so wonderful to work with! They took all of our questions and concerns and answered everything and put our minds at ease! We were very pleased with the service, the food (which was amazing!), the decorative touch, everything! The staff were very polite and friendly to our guests.

Overall, working with them was a good experience. Maria was helpful, but their other coordinator was a bit flighty and scattered. It made getting accurate costs and estimates difficult. However, they did answer my many questions and were fine with my last minute changes.

The food was good and well priced.

What made this experience was the catering staff at the event. They were WONDERFUL! So friendly and responsive. They really helped things go off without a hitch.

I did not book for my wedding, but we went to a tasting this weekend, and I was very disappointed in the bland and rubbery food served. At a tasting you would think they would put their best foot forward, but I ate better in my college cafeteria. We had to pay for said tasting and we honestly each ate 1 bite of everything we sampled and left.