Reviews of Rocky Top Catering (Catering)

Letisha Cobb

I was a little disappointed in Rocky Top Catering at this event and I've worked events with them...many times. They were still setting up the tables and stations when the guests were allowed into the event. Guests were let in on time but the setup was late. The crab cakes were cold and like most caterers I felt like they were cooked earlier in the day, put on ice and served later. None of the food was up to the correct temperature that the restaurant inspectors require for safe keeping. I noticed several of the sterno burners for short ribs and chicken were not even lit. I could not believe they brought out plastic cups at the end of the night for tea and water. Just a very sloppily ran event!! 7/13 Update: notice they replied with a general email addy. Come on...Great Customer service would be a direct email.

Janna McMahan

Married in March and Rocky Top was an awesome choice for our reception. We got tons of compliments about our food. We asked for a whole smoked salmon, something they didn't offer, but they made it for us and it was perfect. The braised ribs and meatballs were a crowd favorite. We also really enjoyed their staff. Really professional, positive and sweet people. Highly recommend.

Smokey

Wrk place luv ot

Kerry Townsend

Rocky Top Catering’s service was amazing- they brought plenty of drinks and appetizers to the upstairs room where the bridal party relaxed before their grand entrance. The staff was friendly and fun to chat to! The food was excellent- we could have made a meal of the turkey sliders and butternut squash soup hors d'oeuvres, but then we would have missed out on the delicious peppercorn smoked beef brisket and grouper, which were amazing. The service was exceptional- dirty dishes disappeared instantly but the staff never seemed to be hovering or in the way. It was also very nice that the bride and groom were given 'to-go' boxes so we could really enjoy the food the next day too!

Shelley Bainter

Great to work with from planning through execution. Our guests loved the food and the catering team left our office sparkling clean. I especially like how my rep Kayla had suggestions when I asked for ways to trim my budget a bit in ways that still delivered a high-quality experience. I'd love to work with them again.

Matt Fitzgerald

Mind blowing food, fantastic staff and the event planners are second to none.

Nicole Gerding

I attended a wedding this past weekend catered by Rocky Top. Not only was the food outstanding and the group of staff excellent, we found out that this company stepped up and in to save the day. The original company hired to cater backed out on Wednesday before the Saturday wedding. Rocky Top was contacted and didn't hesitate to step in and save the day . You would have never known this wedding was catered at the last minute. Everything tasted and felt like it had been planned for months. Highly recommended!!!

Michael and Breanna Bussey

Rocky Top’s food is top notch! Our wedding guests make compliments about that part of our big day the most. Elizabeth was very easy to work with and always available when needed. She is very experienced and knows how to tailor a menu to your specific vision, within budget. The waiters and waitresses were all outstanding and made everyone feel pleasant and fulfilled. They would even crack jokes with our guest and continuously ensure that they were enjoying the food and service. You will not be disappointed with Rocky Top!

Jordan Robbins

They've gotten too big for their britches. We've used them for a total of 7 different occasions at our house; from a special Mother's Day dinner for my family of four to multiple parties of 100+. Their have always been some glitches during the planning and actual party. But all in all things went off fine. And the food was so good that it made up for any issues. However, we recently had a party that was a total disaster. We had a start time of 5pm. The party was not set up till 5:05. Workers were still arriving by 5, after guests. My wife has food allergies. Being that we've had several parties catered by them, they are well aware of these allergies and have had no problem accommodating her in the past. And while we communicated every step of the way to make sure this party also accommodated her allergies, all of the food they prepared was not allergy safe for my wife. There was literally nothing for her to eat. They did go back to headquarters to make her food, but it took almost 1 1/2 hours and that food was mediocre at best. I They made changes to the menu we ordered without even asking us. They also didn't even make the desserts we had on our menu. In addition they neglected to bring knives which equated to our guests having to gnaw at their beef tenderloin. Not only was the main host and severs pretty flat personality-wise, nobody once asked anyone in my family if we needed anything. Past parties, throughout the event, my wife and I were constantly being asked if we needed a drink, etc. and if there was anything we needed them to do in general for the success of the party. Making us feel like we were hosting a party and being taken care of. But instead we felt like regular guests. Our party was a Saturday but the rental stuff was not picked up till Wednesday. This did come Sunday, even after I told the main hostess Sunday is our day of rest and to tell them not to come. And while we paid Rocky Top for all the rentals and they paid the renal company, we had to call the rental company to find out what was going. As a result of the delayed pickup, heavy rain caused the chairs to stain our deck. Please note the rental company did make good and promise to clean the deck. But it's still an unneeded headache. To make all these issues worse is that the owner was on site for the entire party as the main chef. He was aware of all these issues, yet didn't even bother to follow up after the party. I contacted him a few days later and expressed my displeasure. Instead of even hearing my concerns out, and learning from the experience, I got a long, snide response filled with poor excuses and denials. In fact it was quite hostel and confrontational. Why burn bridges, lose our business and potentially any business from our inner circle and now from people reading this review. There are other catering companies in the area that we will be using for future events.

The Hall and Gardens at Landmark

We are proud to have Rocky Top as one of our preferred caterers at our wedding venue because their service and food are absolutely incredible. If you are looking for the best of the best, Rocky Top is sure to exceed your expectations! We look forward to the next time they cater a wedding here!

Nancy Middleton

I just had my daughter's wedding at the Merrimon Wynne House and Rocky Top was our caterer. All of my guests said it was "the best wedding food they have ever had." The food came out hot, my guests who had special diets received just what they asked for. The Chef went above and beyond making sure that my Husband and new Son-in-law each received the special meals they requested. While I did not get to taste the desserts, I was told that they were excellent. Some guests went back for seconds! Thank you Rocky Top!

Patricia Palmer

Rocky Top catered for the Celebration of Life we had at the JC Raulston Arboretum to honor my husband Dan's life. I was so pleased with all they did to help. Carol went out of her way to help me. The food was displayed so beautifully and everything was delicious. I especially recommend the vegetable crudités in the shooter glasses and the little pimento cheese sandwiches. Thanks very much for helping make this day special. I will use them again when an occasion arises.

Mel King

Provided Wedding Reception Dinner Vicki, I just wanted to thank-you and the rest of your team for delivering a wonderful meal for Casey and Will’s reception! From taking care of the fact that we didn’t make it to the biscuit bar during the cocktail hour. I’m sorry that I missed that and the rest of the cocktail hour spread but as good hosts we were talking with everyone. I received nothing but positive feedback on the quality of the food. I was nervous that the fried chicken wouldn’t be as good as it was at the tasting it was. Which means it was as good as my grandmother’s on Sunday’s after church. I also received many positive comments on the brisket and the barbeque. We had high expectations for a dream day for Will and Casey, our family, and guests. Rocky Top played a big part in exceeding our expectations! We all are big fans! Father of the Bride

Shannon D'Agata

Rocky Top Catering is AMAZING! They catered our wedding reception and we cannot be happier! Everyone raved about the food and service for days after our wedding. Ciara was our sales rep. She is an absolute professional and a joy to work with. She walked us through every step of the process and was always available to answer questions and provide suggestions. She even coordinated every bit of our third-party rentals for linens, dishes, etc. She helped us consider and think through things we wouldn’t have otherwise. Our wedding reception was at the Blue Zone in UNC’s Kenan Stadium, and she worked seamlessly with Carolina Athletic Hospitality to pull off the event. Melissa was our day-of event manager and she was amazing as well! The days before and of our wedding were a blur – but she and the rest of the Rocky Top team completely rocked every part of it! I was thoroughly impressed with how not a single detail was missed between Ciara, Melissa, and Carolina Athletic Hospitality. The service staff was incredible as well. From the moment we arrived, they were completely on top of everything. As the bride, not one time did I go to the bar for a drink. A staff member made it her mission to make sure I always had everything I needed throughout the night. The staff truly went above and beyond to make this event work flawlessly. They wowed us by helping organize and manage our sparkler send off and even loaded my parents' van with wedding gifts and decorations at the end of the night! If you’re looking for a catering company for your next event – seriously look no further!

Juan Ortiz

Rocky Top Catering hosted the New Years Eve Gala at the NC Museum of Natural History NYE 2017. The good; The locale was fantastic, coat check was easy to check in and out and the music was pretty good. The food on each floor was amazing, fast and easy to get food with earth friendly plates and utensils. The bad; Not enough bar tenders. For the price paid there should have been more bar tenders since there were always long lines to get drinks, as well as non alcoholic beverages. The selected dance areas were not large enough for the crowd. Seating areas were very limited. For an event that lasts 6 hours, you can't expect the ladies to stand on heels for that long.

Matthew Lutes

Rocky Top catered our wedding at Barclay Villa in December. The food and service was fantastic! Our guests are still raving about how good the food was.

Donnell Perry

No one compares to the quality Rocky Top Catering offers. Simply the best!

Mary Fantuzzi

Wonderful food, great company to work ...very professional. They stayed on top of helping us plan the details of our wedding event at the Oaks at Salem 4/27/2019. Lara Kelleher was our catering manager and she was very easy to work with emailing many options, prices and helping us fine tune our final menu choices. She was organized and patient with many changes we made before securing our final menu. The food was outstanding! I was told by many of my guests attending the wedding, they were impressed by how delicious the food was one guest also commented how they couldn’t believe it wasn’t cooked on site! We attended a 2 tastings by rocky top to get the selections we would enjoy, and I would recommend this as it was very helpful. .. I am personally a foodie and cook myself so I am very food centric and picky! I was confident in their presentation, which was beautiful as well as their interesting menu choices and really top notch delivery of outstanding food. Guest favorites at our plated event were the short ribs, salmon as well as the chicken. We also offered a vegetarian sweet potato that was very good as well. Passed appetizer favorites were chicken and waffles and crab cakes, as well as a few other choices. The biscuit bar was a crowd favorite as well especially since most of our guests travelled from New Jersey! The wait staff was very attentive and the bartender were very professional and efficient with our large crowd of almost 200 people.Rocky top was also very familiar with our venue and planned accordingly preparing for our large event of 200 people, which is not an easy feat! I would highly recommend this catering company , their attention to detail was wonderful and made our event run flawlessly. Thank you Rockytop and Lara Kelleher for all your hard work helping us with our out of town wedding. .... (M.O.B.)Mary Fantuzzi

Steve Ballentine

Beware of the hidden charges! They DID NOT provide service as we requested, especially after they said they would!! Not the best value.

Leslye Paige

Rocky Top Catering provided not only delicious food for our wedding last weekend (November 10, 2018) but also the best service. Before I describe the food, I must say that Vicki Tong is by far the best customer service rep that this company could possibly have. She made the entire experience so easy. She arranged for a food tasting, was able to keep me up to speed on what I owed and what the final invoice would be (most brides get blindsided by vendors) and just allowed me to be flexible with my choices all the way up to the week of the wedding. I could not have asked for a better person to be the liaison for myself and the Rocky Top Catering company. Now...the food....AMAZING! We went with one of their steak and chicken options. I had plenty of "Foodies" at my wedding who all shared the same sentiment that this was by far the best food they've ever had at a wedding. The mac n' cheese and the potatoes we are so yummy. They cooked their green beans to perfection. The steak was so juicy and the chicken was full of flavor. I cannot ask for a better experience with a catering company. I still receive compliments from my guests about how delicious the food was. I highly recommend.

Sandra Dangler

Our daughter was married here last September. The venue was perfect, the food delicious, lots of room for dancing and dining and the wedding photos were beautiful. Kevin kept everything organized and not stressful; can you imagine a wedding not being stressful???!!! We all had a wonderful time; I highly recommend Rocky Top for weddings and parties. The mother of the bride.

Lottie Arnold

Delicious food, beautifully presented. Staff was efficient

Melissa Jackson-Westbrook

Vicki was amazing to work with and all our guests LOVED the food. We had a guest with very specific dietary needs and they made a special meal just for them. The staff was so attentive during the actual wedding... you can’t go wrong with hiring Rocky Top!!

NA R

We had used Rocky Top for years for countless large events/parties but will no longer! The service was not always on point due to the negligence of the unorganized event planner but we overlooked it because the food was so great. They were able to accommodate food allergy restrictions and seemed to take it seriously. Unfortunately we noticed the last couple of parties we had with them there were some mix ups with foods we had previously noted as not being allowed in the menu were, making cross contamination an issue. The event planner constantly pointed the finger at the chefs and other staff members incompetence and would apologize. The last party we had was the last straw. Many details of the party were not forfilled as promised due to the event planner forgetting. The owner was apparently one of the chefs on our job so we figured it would go off without an issue. We were wrong. Not only did they screw up the diatary restrictions that had been in place for the duration of the relationship, they didn’t notify us. If we hadn’t inquired about the ingredients for the countless times on the day of the party people with severe allergies could have been made violently ill! Instead of the owner taking full responsibility he brushed it off and got extremely aggressive and dismissive of the magnitude of their mishap! He then stated they did us a favor taking our party on! Mind you we spent over $13,000.++ for this ‘favor’. We get things can happen but to take the stance of blaming or attacking the customer for the wrong doings of your staff is incomprehensible!

Gentry Hodnett

Words can't describe how lucky we felt working with Ciara and the rest of the Rocky Top team for our biggest event of the year, our Annual Holiday Auction. This was the first location switch we've had in years and everyone was raving about the food and quality of service. Aside from service on the night of, the most meaningful thing to us was the love and kindness Ciara showed throughout our entire planning process. We can't wait to work with this group again, and highly suggest Rocky Top for being so much more than a delicious catering service.

Kristen Mulgrew

Vicki at Rocky Top is amazing. To be clear, Rocky Top as whole was an absolutely amazing partner and caterer for our wedding in April so there are many more people that deserve recognition, but it always starts with the customer service and Vicki nails it. The Rocky Top team was detailed, reliable, and flexible with our catering requests as we planned our wedding, and the day-of service was incredible! Servers were bombarded the moment they walked out the door with trays, the chicken and waffles were a HUGE hit!!! With Vicki at the forefront, Rocky Top will continue to be a top-rated caterer in Raleigh. THANK YOU to the whole Rocky Top team for nailing our wedding day and keeping a ton of northerners satisfied and stuffed ! Cheers !

Katie Allen

Rocky Top catered my wedding and the food was superb! I highly recommend them for any catered event. We did shrimp and grits, pimiento mac and cheese and haricot verts. Multiple people came up to us during the dinner and told us it was one of the best meals they had ever had. I can attest that the food is of the highest quality and they do not cut any corners. Not to mention, the communication was great and we were confident that everything would go as planned during the dinner. Thank you for making our wedding wonderful!

Katy Rosenbaum

I volunteered with One World Kitchen a few weeks ago (hot meals for those impacted by Hurricane Florence) at Rocky Top and was incredibly impressed. The facilities were spotless (even with random volunteers cooking/prepping food), the staff who were there were friendly and knew their stuff, the owners were involved in everything from overseeing things to sweeping the floor when it was necessary. I was impressed by their willingness to open the kitchen for a week during this time for such a great cause. Will certainly look at them first for any future catering needs.

Bethany Hayes

Rocky Top catered my daughter's wedding recently at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. They did a fantastic job! I worked with Jeff and he was very professional, personable, accommodating and responsive to emails. He went above and beyond to assist us in coming up with a menu that was pleasing to vegetarians and meat eaters alike (bride and groom vegetarian). During the cocktail hour we had a bruschetta bar and NC inspired passed hors d'oeuvres (crispy pimento cheese with smoked apple jelly, chicken and waffle bites, shrimp and grits). Our guests devoured them! For the buffet dinner we started with the green apple and bleu cheese salad, then enjoyed a buffet including crispy smashed potatoes (amazing!), haricot vert almondine, bruschetta mac and cheese, sirloin carving station and vegetarian paella. Everything was so delicious. Rocky Top was happy to make the vegetarian paella vegan friendly for us and all the guests enjoyed eating it. It had a beautiful presentation and was served in a paella pan. I believe the chef had to go make more because it was such a hit with the meat eaters as well. All the food was very flavorful and the service was quick and friendly. They even packed up some leftovers for us! Although the museum only allows Rocky Top to cater, I would choose them to do the job regardless of the venue because of the outstanding customer service, taste, quality, value and willingness to accommodate dietary needs.

Boston Terrier

They have catered several parties at my workplace and the food is always delicious and the service remarkable. Most catering companies have at least an employee or two that is sort of just there - doing their jobs but not very engaged. I've never had this experience w/ Rocky Top, everyone seems to be on their game all the time. I've also been to the Jingle Ball several times, and Rocky Top's catering year was far and beyond the best. The thing I like about their menus is that there are some creative choices but also things that your grandparents will recognize. So you can make the foodies and the traditionalists happy.

Karen Duffy

Wish I had more stars to give this company. Rocky Top catered our daughter's wedding Jan 5th at The Sutherland. The food and service were impeccable. Jeff was our event manager and he is the absolute best. Our guests were amazed at how delicious everything was, from the delicious hot drinks served prior to the ceremony, to the beautiful desserts served towards the end of the reception. We hope one day to have an event that we will need their services again. Rocky Top is highly recommended, do not hesitate to hire them for your event! Jim and Karen Duffy

Kelsie Peters

Rocky Top was the best to work with for our wedding! Vicki was so quick to help us with any changes we had in our menu. The food tasted amazing! They provided food that fit perfectly with the theme of our wedding. I hope to work with them again! I highly recommend them for your next event!

Yuhong Gu

Amazing food! Was so pleasantly surprised when we went for tasting and we were sold to use Rocky Top for our wedding catering that night. 100% recommend. Sam is very knowledgeable about the menu and helped us end to end. Loved working with her!

Matthew Wheeler

Rocky Top Hospitality hosted and catered our recent wedding in July at one of their beautiful locations 1705 East in Raleigh, NC. We chose Rocky Top Hospitality as the caterer because of their outstanding reputation to deliver 100% satisfaction and go above and beyond. This was based on our own and other trusted friends’ previous experiences with them. Our wedding went perfectly and it was the most fun we have ever had. We chose 1705 East as the venue for both our ceremony and reception because of their amazing location, pristine grounds and facility, beautiful bar, flexibility to manage set up and break down, and gorgeous bridal suites upstairs. We chose various hors d'oeuvres for cocktail hour and a buffet menu (there are so many unique options for food and drink by the way) and the food we had was better than or equal to restaurant quality. Choosing them was a great choice and I would compare it to being able to take your hands off the wheel while the car still drives. There was no stress when working with them from day one through the wedding day and I attribute that to them being 1) professionals and experts at their job and 2) their ability to seamlessly work with various other vendors (flowers, baker, DJ, planners, etc). The most special part about going with Rocky Top Hospitality is how their team of experts welcome you like you’re part of their family. For that we have to thank Vicki Tong for going above and beyond from beginning to end. She is so accommodating and hospitable. She not only made us very happy with the whole experience but made both of our families very happy. Thank you from The Wheeler's!