Heidi’s Events and Catering

Heidi’s went above and beyond to get us a catered lunch for our CEO visit and town hall meeting today. I want to thank Jillian and Chef Matt for your professionalism and great food as everyone loved it.
Thank you,
Ronnie Smith

Everything was great until the event itself, and unfortunately the poor experience at our event overshadowed all of the other good things Heidi’s Catering offers (like quick communication, competent administrative staff, tasty food and an excellent banquet manager).
I work for a nonprofit, and we hired Heidi’s Catering for our biennial benefit dinner. We hired them based on positive referrals from her past clients (including on Unilocal) which is why I was so surprised by our poor experience.
When we met with Heidi weeks before our event, we asked her how she made sure they wouldn’t run out of food (we were serving the food buffet style). She pointed to her wall of awards and said, «I didn’t get all these awards for nothing.» Point taken. But then they ran out of food. At the event, we had well *under* the number of guests we told them we’d have, but we still had about 20 people who didn’t get full meals: 14 of those people had no meat or potatoes at all, and many others took very tiny portions of meat and potatoes because they saw the food was running out. This negatively affected our donations because some of our donors were upset that all they got to eat was salad, cooked vegetables and crackers. And dessert.
Other problems that night:
— The servers began clearing the salt and pepper shakers and the napkins while people were still eating – while the program was still going and people were on stage speaking. It was incredibly disruptive, and I could see on the faces of a few guests that they were not pleased. At what restaurant do servers take away your napkin and salt/​pepper while you’re still eating? The server for my area of the room seemed particularly inexperienced, clunky and unsure of himself – our guests were notably distracted from the program we had designed for them.
— The coffee was served lukewarm and unevenly (only some people at each table were offered coffee).
— We paid for tea service, but the servers didn’t offer tea to the guests. I asked for tea because I knew it was an option, and I was given a cup of hot water (no tea). So I had to wait until the server returned and ask again for a tea bag.
— We paid for centerpieces and received lovely candles and fresh flowers. This was mostly nice, except some of the flowers were dead and were sitting in dirty water – I’m guessing they were reused from a previous event (?).
— The desserts were assorted small bites you eat with your fingers. They were very good, but they were served with cocktail napkins featuring a giant «Heidi’s Catering» logo. So incredibly tacky – I could not believe they decided to advertise at our event, to our guests, without asking us. I would gladly have paid for plain napkins had I known they would do this.
If you are considering using Heidi’s Catering, I would suggest you review the items above with Heidi before your event, to make sure you get what you expect.

Heidi and her team are a class act! They recently catered Tempe Chamber of Commerce’s Women in Business Conference and I LOVED the lighter, fresher meal — you NEVER see that at a conference! And the deserts were just the right size for sharing so that everyone could enjoy their favorite flavors.
Thank you for making the day with your hospitality, Heidi!

Save yourself the frustration of dealing with this company, they were horrible.
We had multiple issues the day of our wedding due to some unexpected weather and all of our guests and vendors pitched in to make it go as seamless as possible except Heidi’s Catering. In addition, Heidi’s showed up late and they parked their catering truck right in the backdrop of our ceremony location as guests were arriving. Their service to us and our guests of honor was poor, and our guests waited 45 minutes to eat, some finally gave up. When addressing these issues and a few others Heidi replied by blaming anyone and everyone besides her company and telling us that we didn’t pay her enough to do certain things. She took ZERO accountability.
After looking through other reviews on this site and a couple others it seems this is not a one time occurrence with them. Stay Away!

Searched over and again for a bridal shower venue for my daughter. Nothing was appealing to my need to make it classy, yet have a cozy feel as well. Finally came upon Heidi’s venue, which I didn’t know existed till then… and I thought it was perfect. Went to one of her fabulous open houses to taste the offerings with the maid of honor, and we were both impressed… but let’s face it… if the bride isn’t happy… none of us are happy.
I am thrilled to announce that my baby girl was over the top ecstatic about every aspect of her bridal shower! From the venue to the food, the ambiance and the friendly staff, I highly recommend this venue!

They catered our wedding. Their prices were competitive, and the food on the day of the wedding was quite excellent — even better than we were hoping for. The service and communication was also great. Thank you Jillian!
Overall, highly recommend Heidi’s. They’re professional, helpful, and executed everything flawlessly at our wedding. They also offer free tasting events in the weeks/​months leading up to your event. Thank you!

We hired Heidi’s Events and Catering for our 225 person plated dinner at Bella Rose Estate. We interviewed 4 catering companies considered top in the valley before choosing Heidi’s. Through Heidi’s unique, generous and fun monthly open house, we were able to try so many different combinations of main dishes, side dishes and appetizers over a 6 month period and were confident we had made the right choices for the big wedding dinner. Heidi and her team guided us every step of the way. The night of 2÷20÷15 arrived and Heidi’s Events and Catering delivered the most amazing wedding meal ever. I had no less than 30 people come up to me and say it was by far the best wedding dinner they had ever had. The main dishes were out of this world — perfect! No small feat when plate serving 225 guests. The side dishes — fresh vegetables with herbs directly from their own garden — amazing. The scalloped potatoes — to die for. The appetizers were all the rave. EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT. Heidi’s exceeded our expectations 10 fold. Lastly, the employees of Heidi’s cared tremendously about us and our event. They worked so hard from 3p — midnight (wedding hours were 4:30−11pm). They were unbelievably polite and provided a level of service that truly was fit for a king… and a queen. Our wedding turned out to be the kind fairytale’s are made of, the magical fairy Godmother was Heidi Vail, owner of Heidi’s Events and Catering and the impeccable food and service gave us the wedding we’d always dreamt of; 225 guests, bride and groom, happily ever after.

Heidi always come thru with her promises in a timely manner. She’s prompt and keeps her word and always provides excellent customer service.
My boyfriend and I have used her services several times in the past for several fashion shows to private parties at our home.
She’s got everything for your catering and banquet needs.
She has a beautiful facility in Tempe and I would encourage anyone to use her services
Great job Heidi,
Cesar G

I used Heidi’s for two separate occasions. 10÷04÷14 for my wedding and 09÷20÷14 for my bridal shower.
I am giving 5 stars to Heidi’s catering and events because I felt that my experience was very awesome. I came into contact with Heidi’s because I asked my good friend who caterers events if she wanted to do my wedding and she said immediately that I should consider Heidi over her. Her initial reasonings were because her price is unmatched and her food is good. Not long after that I found Heidi at the Bridal Expo and was able to secure her services soon after that. At our first meeting we went through all her food and appetizer options and with a $ 100 deposit my date was booked. What I liked about Heidi’s is she had experience at the venue I was holding my wedding at which made it helpful in planning my wedding. She was not only a caterer but offered advice, rentals, and solutions for vendors when I didn’t have my own. Her reputation amoung other venders is superb which is ultimately important because if your caterer has a bad reputation other people may not want to work with them. My wedding planner Chandra knew exactly who she was and seemed almost excited to work with her.
Prior to my wedding my bridal shower location fell through so I discovered I could host my event at Heidi’s as well. This was where I got a chance to experience how amazing the service and staff were. Her staff is very professional, helpful and positive. Her assistant Jillian is class all the way.
When the wedding came my wedding planner was able to work well with them and the service I received was A+ My guests enjoyed the food, and the timeliness of the service. If I were to host another event Heidi’s would be the first company I would call.

As a professional, full-​time wedding, portrait and event photographer I have worked with numerous catering companies over the years. By far, Heidi’s is one of my favorites and I have worked with her team on more than twenty occasions. The food is always stellar and her staff is very friendly and helpful. They are always at the top of my list when my clients need great food and great service.

My husband and I used Heidi’s Events and Catering for our recent wedding. We are so happy with our experience. She helped us plan the perfect reception that was in our budget. It was a very stress-​free process which was fantastic. We got so many compliments on the food served by our guests. We had 3 different food options, and all three were perfect and delicious. The presentation of the food was gorgeous!
My favorite of everything we purchased was the sweet petites. If there were any leftover, I would have taken them home with me. Heidi and her staff are amazing! Thank you for making our wedding a night to remember.

Best and most organized caterer in Arizona. Thank you for helping make our big day coming up amazing!

I have attended 3 or 4 events and two weddings that Heidi’s Events and Catering has provided the meal for. I have always been exceptionally pleased with their food and service and feel quite comfortable recommending them highly. Our company is in the wedding industry and we work with over 80 wedding venues. Heidi’s Events and Catering is a preferred caterer of several of the venues we work with. If you are considering hiring them, in my opinion, you can’t go wrong.

Heidi’s Events and Catering is a fantastic option for throwing a wonderful party. The staff is very responsive and creative and the food has always been a big hit for any of my events. I have been in the wedding and event industry for almost 10 years and have worked with Heidi at least a dozen times. They are very open to working with big to small budgets and stretching your dollar as far as it can be stretched. The food has always been yummy and the presentation always colorful. We love Heidi’s!

I’m giving this a 1 star for a few reasons.
–Food is not edible. They need to really take time to add natural and fresh ingredients to their food. It tastes and looks very processed like they purchase bulk items, overcook them then serve them. They pair food that does not at all go together. I have tasted food that costs as much as they charge and I would say that this place is not worth it for people that enjoy fresh well prepared food. It might be good for some people. I guess.
The employees are very nice.
We were sent a survey and responded with honest specific feedback. The owner actually decided to not take the feedback or focus on the customer experience but rather decided to blame us for waiting until the survey to provide the feedback.
That was sad. I guess some people have a hard time seeing feedback as an opportunity to improve or «wow» a customer.
The other bad review made us worried before we went. We thought lets give this place a chance it was probably the customers fault. After trying this place we can very much see it was not the customer. But just a serious lack of care an passion or even business acumen on the part of the establishment. Hopefully they do not see this as a negative post but as a chance to take feedback and change.

We held a banquet in December 2012 on a Saturday for a party of about 30 people, give or take at the actual Heidi’s location. Heidi worked with our budget and was extremely responsive in the beginning which we were extremely grateful for. We had a 3 course meal consisting of salad, beef bourguignon, and an assortment of desserts. Nothing tasted weird or anything when were eating it at Heidi’s and the guests thought the food was good. The party went well, awards were given out, and all of us were happy that another successful formal banquet had been planned and passed without any hardship.
*Cue Horror Music*
Come the following Sunday and Monday, all of my friends are falling sick left and right, dropping like flies. One even passed out on the bathroom floor at 3 am and had to be sent to the ER. All of them were complaining of the same symptoms: throwing up, fevers, stomach-​aches, tiredness, etc. I didn’t know what was going on until we all realized that over ¾ of the guests present at the formal banquet was sick.
Our social chair contacted Heidi’s and their very first response was «we’re sorry to hear that YOUR party has fallen ill» but it wasn’t their fault because their cooks ate the same meal as us that night and they were not sick.
First of all, this wasn’t just «our party» because Heidi’s hosted it and fed us so they neglected to accept any responsibility at all. Secondly, while your employees may be well, it should be the customer’s well-​being that you are concerned about instead of just waving it off like no big deal. It’s as if a guest walked over a certain part of the floor and slipped and hurt herself, but the chef had walked over the same part and was fine so it’s no problem. Thirdly, Heidi’s tried to point out that their staff eavesdropped on our guests planning to go somewhere afterwords so we must have contracted it at the location they went after. While what they heard was true, this lame excuse was proven false as most of our guests actually went straight home right after, including those who were most sick afterwords.
After I was made social chair in January, I tried to pick up after our last Social chair who e-​mailed Heidi’s for a solution but after back and forth statements that none of it was their fault, they stopped e-​mailing and left it at them still trying to side-​step away from getting almost an entire party ill.
While I understand that many others below have had great experiences with Heidi’s, I only wish our guests could have received the same as well. I’m not entirely suggesting that you not contact their catering as an option for your next event because it seems like we were the first case, but I’m definitely not going to advocate for it either.
P. S. Might I add that our entire party was made up of college students. Particularly, college students who have iron stomachs; stomachs that have digested food & beverage combinations unseen or unheard of. It’s hard to get us sick. Just saying.

We used Heidis events and catering for our wedding reception this october! Heidi’s events has everything imaginable you could ever need for any type of party, tons of table linens, food choices, decorations etc! Jillian was extremely helpful and Heidi was very accommodating!
Hedis staff set up everything for our wedding (tables, chairs, food, bartender etc) which was outside and everything went perfect, no issues! I would use them again and highly recommend them to anyone else.

We used Heidi’s for our daughter’s and now son in-law’s wedding reception.
The food was very good every guest I spoke to commented on how good it was. The staff was on the ball and did and excellent job of setting everything up and clean up was done before I knew it. Heidi and Jillian were always so helpful with all of our questions and very accommodating.
Hope to use them again.

I used Heidi’s events and catering for my reception 14 years ago and they were fanatic, but this review was for my 40^th birthday party. We had a retro wedding. Costumes from the 50’s 60’s and 70’s. The food mini meatloaf sandwiches with a mashed potato bar served in Martini glasses (very 50’s). A chocolate fondue (very 70’s) that was dark, milk and white chocolate with all the sweet and savory stuff for dipping; pretzels, marshmallows, lady fingers, strawberries and more. Petit fours (very 60’s) that I think I was on a sugar high for 3 days after. The guests LOVED the chocolate fondue. The event went off without at hitch.
Food — Exceptional! Met my budget and vision.
Staffing –Excellent! Professionally dressed, early arrival, served and cleared plates and helped with the clean up.
Tables and Linens — Excellent! White linens touched the ground white folding chairs very comfy.
Have recommended for 14 years.

I was put in charge of planning this years annual holiday party for my company. Since event planning is one of my absolute favorite things to do, I was more than pleased. Everyone knows that the most important component for these functions is the booze and food so I had to find a catering company that would meet my foodie expectations while delivering a professional and thorough outcome. Heidi’s was referred to me by a good friend, so I called them up.
Drew ended up being our coordinator, and was so helpful and just plain awesome throughout the entire process. I poured out my ideas from the passed apps to the centerpieces to the ambiance I wanted to create. Not only did he deliver everything I expected, but he went above and beyond to make sure I got everything I had asked for.
Upon arrival, they wasted no time setting up. The spread of appetizers they arranged was lovely, and I never remember once running out of anything. They kept it stocked up for my drunk and hungry guests. They supplied a bartender and bar. brought all the tables, linens, centerpieces, waiters and heat lamps to keep everyone warm since it was outdoors and kinda chilly. Everything worked out seamlessly, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome. Once the party was over, they had everything broken down and cleaned up within a half hour. They even took out all the trash which was unexpected. The guys that worked our party were so nice too. Drew even called the next day to make sure I was happy.
I highly recommended Heidi’s to anyone planning any sort of event. They are so accommodating and wonderful, I cannot wait to work with them again.