Pacific Grill Events & Catering

I had my wedding at this location and the actual restaurant catered my wedding and it was definitely a 5 star experience, I am so happy I chose them. They just went above and beyond. Michael from the PG was who we worked with. He did fantastic and was just always amazing to work with and with all the fiascos of wedding planning I knew that everything catering and venue related was covered and I didn’t have to worry about a thing. Everyone told me the food was the best they had ever had at a wedding.

Complete nightmare, stay away if you have a personal event you’d like catered. This is a shortened copy of a letter we sent to the owner and the catering manager. We got no response, a simple «thank you for your feedback» would have gone a long way to easing our anger.
Issues Leading Up to Reception
* Event Coordinator took days to weeks and required multiple emails to get back to us over simple questions and requests
* When we did get an updated quote it was never 100% correct, either the headcount was off, the food menu was incorrect, details were never updated (wait staff, rentals, etc.)
* Less than one week before the event, we got a surprise increase from rentals, which clearly shows those rentals quotes were never updated. Our quote went up by a few hundred dollars, as it was never updated in the system despite our numerous requests for an updated cost quote.
* One week before our event, the event coordinator quit or was fired and we received no communication from management that this happened. We only knew because the original coordinator sent us an email; a one sentence announcement in the midst of other business items. This was absolutely shocking considering how big the event was to us and the many problems we had with the event coordinator to begin with. She had promised us less than four days prior to that email that that we were her only priority (and only event) for the next week.
* Our special order beer keg was never actually ordered, despite confirmation in BEO as of ³⁄₂₆ it was. Luckily, the new coordinator was able to track one down two days prior to the wedding.
Issues During Reception
* The bars were not set up per our agreed-​upon design with LeMay; we clearly had requested both bars be close to the buffet.
* We spent a lot of time and effort on creating a seating chart for our event; we placed the people most important to us closest to the head table. Unfortunately, the staff didn’t follow our layout — so the head table wasn’t in the center, the bride’s family was nowhere close to her, and the groom’s family was split up into different sides. While this may seem like a trivial detail, this was perhaps the most angering. The new coordinator was given the attached layout the week of the wedding, with specific instructions to set up Lemay as detailed. The fact that he completely disregarded our request was inexcusable.
* There was no plates for seconds at the buffet even though the actual headcount at the wedding was less than what we had discussed (6 people didn’t come that we had planned to come). The mother of the bride had to argue with the wait staff to get another plate — she was told that the plates were dirty and that she couldn’t have another. Only when she got angry and said she’d already paid for this food did a small plate magically appear.
* The sweet tea tasted terrible — the original coordinator admitted you guys didn’t have one on your menu but didn’t offer an alternative. A wedding is NOT the place to experiment with new items.
* Cornbread mislabeled (with and without peppers signs were on opposite items)
* Guests were served coffee at the beginning of the reception but we had several guests tell us that they looked for coffee when cupcakes were served and by that point there was no coffee available
Issues after reception
* We were charged for bottled beer, which we didn’t host. We had to dispute the charges for the non-​hosted beer, which management did agree to credit.
* Despite new coordinator’s claim to not know we were hosting soda, we were charged for half the guests’ soft drinks. Pretty embarrassing for guests to think we were willing to host beer and wine but were too cheap to cover soda
While our event is over, we wanted you to be aware of our dissatisfaction with your company and hope this letter can lead to changes so the next couple that has a wedding catered by you doesn’t have the same regrets as we do for hiring Pacific Grill.

We just held my mom’s wedding/​reception at our backyard catered by Pacific Grill Events and Catering. I was personally very impressed and pleased with everything they’ve done, from table set-​up to serving and clean up. Follwing is the thank you note I’ve written to them. I would definitely use them again for any kind of event and catering need in the future.
Thank you so much for a wonderful event!!! It was a beautiful arrangement and Jon and Miguel did an excellent job of making everything look professional; it was of a first-​rate service. Also the food was delicious and excellent! Everyone loved the steak! My mom and was so pleased with everything you’ve done. All the guests were impressed with the whole thing. As Jon might have shared with you, many asked where we catered from. Kudos to you and the staff, espcially Jon and Miguel and the chefs! Thanks again!

We used Pacific Grill catering for our Tacoma Art Museum wedding and were very impressed. Our contact was Pattie, and after interacting with the other approved venue caterers, I didn’t want to work with anyone else. Pattie was highly organized, responsive and helpful, which was definitely not the norm elsewhere!
Our budget was on the smaller side and our wedding was later in the evening, so we went with a ton of hors d’oeuvres instead of a plated dinner. They were all delicious, with the stuffed mini-​potatoes and proscuitto-​wrapped asparagus being the favorites.
Pacific Grill didn’t give us any grief about supplying our own desserts and alcohol and even helped us store and cool our kegs before the event! Pattie was great about trouble-​shooting any issues that arose.

I should start by saying that I’ve never had to PLAN an event with the event center, but I’ve attended 3 different events there.
The space is beautiful, clean, and well maintained. Whether it was for a wedding or an awards banquet there was plenty of smart, attentive, professional staff members to get you a drink or answer a question.
I can’t think of a better looking space to hold an event in downtown Tacoma. While the convention center and the pavillion at the Murano are nice, they are much larger and more sterile commercial spaces. The PG events center is a warm, classy space, with great food and great staff.
And fancy bathrooms. The end.

We recently held our wedding reception at the Pacific Grill Event Center and were blown away. Our contact (Rebecca) has been in constant communication over the last few months… and did an amazing job coordinating with the Marriott (where many of our guests stayed), Celebrity Cake Studio, and Adams DJ. By the time we arrived from our reception — the cake had been delivered, dj set up, etc. and we didn’t have to lift a finger.
We opted not to have a plated dinner… but rather ordered LOTS of passed hors d’oeuvres. Rebecca was fantastic about sending us ideas and responding to our ideas. When we asked for a keg of hard to find specialty beer (7-​Seas) from a local brewer she told us she could get anything we wanted… and did.
The evening was fantastic: the service, food, etc. at PG was all AMAZING. All of our guests were very complimentary of the food, and — especially — the staff. From the manager on duty to the bartender and wait staff — they were all nice and professional and very accommodating.
Our reception was Saturday night, and by Monday morning I had a recap email from Rebecca waiting for me. Our guests hadn’t drank all the wine we ordered — so we have a small refund coming our way.
Aside from the service and food — the location was great. Having guests stay at the Marriott was super handy, and being next to the UWT, History/​Art/​Glass Museum, and Tollefson Plaza was nice for our guests.
All in all, i wouldn’t think twice about recommending PG Event Center.

I attended a wedding this weekend and it was catered by Pacific Grill. Our table of 10 at the wedding thought the food was FABULOUS !
Perfectly cooked chicken and perfectly cooked salmon. We all loved their artichoke mashed potatoes. Very pleasant wait staff. I was so impressed that i wanted to check out their web sight and found myself writing this review.
As a guest at the reception I would say GREAT JOB Pacific Grill !!!

A long overdue review. Quite possibly the worst customer experience I have ever had. The catering department charged me for someone else’s catering job, then had the brass to suggest it was my fault. It took over a week to get a refund and the catering manager acted as if he was doing me a favor to make it right.
UPDATE — Response to Jacob: The point being your team charged the wrong card. Your team may have realized the mistake, but they didn’t bother to call and inform me… I discovered the mistake and had to call to find out what was going on. And Chip was pretty rude about it all. Those are the facts.