At home backyard party...caterer ???

All this birthday talk has me back onto planning again...


We have a large family and decided to have DS's 1st Birthday at our house. I would really like to have the food catered - buffet style.

Any recommendations? Ideally we would like Italian.

Thanks!


Oh...also...with these types of events, do/can people be there to serve and refill the food...and clean up

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

LOL

great minds....

We have a friend who owns a pizzeria in Queens. I have used him for a few parties I have had here - and everyone RAVED about the food. HE is very reasonable also. He delivers. I would give you his # if you wanted to just taste some of his dishes (you have plenty of time to sample lots of different places - YUM!)

And - my mom always hires waitresses - they do a great job - I can get their number for you also if you want.

Actually - I went to a party a few months ago - where the waitresses were great also - I can get their number for you also - so you can have a few to compare.

Let me know if you want these #s. Both sets of waitresses do the warming of the food, setting up, cleaning up, bringing out desserts etc.

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

I catered DS's Christening with Guy Anthony's right on Jerusalem. The food was great and wasn't too expensive.

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

Diana - I would LOVE the number for the wait staff! That is great!

Chrissy - love Guy Anthony's - great idea

Maybe we would also consider Piccolo in Bellmore since everyone loved their food at the christening.

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

Iavaronne Brothers in Wantagh

There's another GREAT Italian restaurant on Sunrise in Bellmore/Merrick and I can't think of the name. If I can think of it I will let you know.

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

We use Malverne Deli for everything. They do Italian. They have great food

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

my friend used firestone.. she said they were great. they do the cooking for you right there on the BBQ, they will just keep cooking for your guests. and they bring salads and what ever else ou want. She also said it was fairly inexspensive.

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

Thanks so much everyone! I didn't realize just how many options we would have!

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

We have used Vito's in Franklin Square for everything. They have such delicious food!
Vito's Pizza
(516) 352-4190
190 New Hyde Park Rd, Franklin Square, NY 11010

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

We used Ivarone's in Wantagh for dd's 1st bday and everyone loved the food, but they were EXPENSIVE! Lots of places will now cater to your home so you may even want to check out your local delis, etc. I was surprised how many do this now.

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

Hey Ang!! You can use La Piazza or Galleria....I love Galleria and it is so close to where you live. You can also use my friend Jason's Deli....Iannuzzi's, right next to the Bowling Alley in East Meadow on Front Street. He is a great cook!

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

sorry to barge in but we used Nick D'Angelo's for my RD & everyone raved. Anytime we have a party at home, we let them do the catering

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

It's not Italian, but for DD's christening we used Zorn's. I actually wanted something other than Italian for once, and it was perfect. The price was really reasonable too - we had fried chicken, ribs and rotisserie chicken with sides. They also included salads, bread, soda and ice.

They didn't provide servers, but I do have someone that we use for our BBQ every year - she comes early, helps with set up and clean up - they are GREAT. She can also provide someone to BBQ if you want to go that route. We usually have one server and one person who does serving/cleaning and BBQing when DH wants a break so that he can talk to our guests.

Let me know if you need more info!

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

We used D'allesandros in syosset, they were great. I believe they do have help you can hire too, but we used someone we found privately (which by the way, is the best decision we ever made to get help!)

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

I HIGHLY recommend Guy Anthony's. We use them at least 3 or 4 times a year for all of our functions (my mom's at-home annual xmas party, my daughter's baptism, her 1st bday, my step-sisters engagement party, my engagement party, etc etc).

They are great b/c they can do any type of food. They specialize in Italian, but they do anything. They do buffets, platters, etc. They have per person packages but I always find that it's much more cost effective to buy trays- they will tell you how much you need for the amount of people you are having and they don't make you buy too much but leave you with enough food so people feel like they can have a second helping.

They also have servers you can hire- for DD's bday party we had about 45 people and we hired one person. For my mom's xmas party she has about 70 and she got 2 people plus a bartender.

To give you an idea of the food, for my daughter's bday I didn't have an idea on the menu but said, "i'm not having enough room to sit down, so the menu has to be built around the notion that people won't be able to sit down & cut" What they wound up doing for us was a delicious pasta with veggies and sausage, chicken fingers for the kids, two platters of small sandwiches (half were wraps, half on mini rolls) and an antipasto platter.

For my mom's party she usually has seared tuna (raw in the middle), some type of carving station, wild mushroom ravioli, etc.

My baby shower was at their restaurant- they are just unbelievable over there! Sorry I gush- but they are so reasonable!

I usually speak with Guy- but you can speak with AJ as well (they are the owners).

Guy Anthony's

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

I have two suggestions for you:

Coliseum Deli
and
Uncle Guiseppe's

I work for a waitress/server/catering place and tend to eat these places often, YUMMY!

ETA: Since I work for a company that serves, I can recommend my place. We send a waitress out to you to do the clean up etc.

Message edited 1/17/2008 12:34:51 PM.

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

Re: At home backyard party...caterer ???

For delicious Italian heroes and side salads, try Dominick's on Herrick's Road in Herricks (?). Great guy and great food!

The store is a little set back next to that new little ballpark. It's inbetween Jericho and Hillside Avenue.