Side Street Catering

Sandra was very helpful in planning some of the details of the party. She suggested we greet our guests with a martini bar set up near the front door, and that we serve a breakfast buffet after midnight. Both of these additions were a big hit. She did a site visit at my house about a week before the party, and she also made some great suggestions about where to put -- and where NOT to put -- seating for guests to give the party a good flow. Her attention to detail is exceptional. The day of the party, Sandra and her team arrived 2 - 2.5 hours early. They were courteous, pleasant, and worked very hard all night long to ensure that everything went smoothly. The food they made was outstanding. All the guests commented on how delicious it all was. The baked goods, which Sandra makes, were a real treat, especially the carrot and raisin muffins. So yum! And they continually cleaned up after guests, so that there was never a dirty plate or used glasses around. As more and more of our guests stayed downstairs dancing and partying at the main bar, Sandra and her team noticed the food that was on the dining room table on the main level was languishing, so they brought trays downstairs. Smart, proactive move on their parts, because then the food really went. We also had a number of kids at the party, and one of Sandra's team made sure they weren't running upstairs with food or drink that could spill and ruin furniture or flooring. And the two bartenders were terrific -- one on the main level with the martinis and another downstairs working the full bar; they were extremely personable and friendly with all our guests, including the children. By the time midnight rolled around, Sandra's team made sure everyone had a glass of champagne or sparkling cider to toast and welcome the new year. And when she and her team left, around 2 a.m., you couldn't tell by the looks of my spotless kitchen that it had been a beehive of activity all night. The bartenders upstairs and downstairs also put everything away and cleaned up. Having the party catered was such a gift to ourselves, because it allowed us to be rested when our guests arrived and to enjoy the party and visit with friends without a worry. We would definitely use Side Street Catering again. Sandra really knows her stuff, and she and her folks are a delight to work with!

Sandra and her staff did a superb job! We were extremely happy with everything. Sandra's suggestions re: food, venue, placement of tents/tables,etc could not have been more helpful. Even the tents, tables and chair rentals were coordinated by side Street Catering, so it was seamless. Our guests were so impressed with the fantastic menu and service staff. Thanks for helping to make this a most memorable occasion!

From the get-go, Sandra had terrific suggestions about our event. Her expertise extends far beyond wonderful food -- she used well-earned lessons in guest expectations to suggest having desserts and champagne in the afternoon, rather than our early plan for evening -- similarly, her ideas about staging and staffing gave us precisely the set-up we needed. She was thoroughly flexible with the limitations of our home and worked with us to create an event that our friends and family enjoyed and still comment on. And then there were the desserts -- wonderful Carrot and Red Velvet cakes imaginatively served bite-sized; cookies and bars; brownies and chocolates. Each was a hit -- guests still praise the pumpkin cookies, which flew from the table likes leaves in the wind. Everything was just terrific. Sandra worked with us during several phone conversations and made a visit to the house -- she was always professional and upbeat -- it was great and reassuring to see her so enthusiastic about our event. On the day of the event, she and her staff were punctual, knowledgeable, friendly and so good with the guests. The event was a great success. We plan to keep Sandra's number handy for future event-planning and catering needs.

Sandra and her staff arrived 3 hours prior to the event for day of preparations. Before the event Sandra visited our home twice to discuss our expectations and provide suggestions regarding rental items and how best to accommodate a large, elderly crowd. Sandra's suggestions and early arrival on day of event proved most helpful and ensured our event was completely successful. All food items were pre-cooked with final preparations completed onsite - yet out of site! Sandra had a staff of 5, including a bartender. She was completely hands on for every detail and managed the team efficiently. Her staff was professional and courteous. They passed drinks and foods. They cleared tables quietly. The buffet table display was artful and resupplied as needed without interruption to guests or flow of the party. After the party was over, Sandra and her team broke down all rental items, including tables, chairs, linens, glassware, flatware, and dishes. All were spot cleaned and left neatly in the garage for pick up from the rental company on Monday. I highly recommend Sandra and Side Street Catering.

The event was great and I can't thank Sandra DeVaux enough for all her efforts. She and her staff take a personal interest in your party and go above and beyond to make it a success. The food was wonderful and served with professionalism and kindness. it was as if I was planning a party with a friend.

Sandra helped us have a very successful party. She worked with me to create a menu within my budget, had good ideas of how best to use our space, and recommended a rental company for items I needed to rent. The food was delicious and interestingly served. She and her staff were a dream to work with the night of the event.

Side Street Catering was excellent, and I would recommend them 100 percent! Sandra, the owner, is wonderful. She worked with us personally to create the perfect menu, came to the house in advance to check out the space and discuss the event details, led her team during the event, and followed up afterwards. She was responsive, professional, highly organized, efficient, and at the same time very warm and friendly. Her team was also excellent, especially her bartender Matthew. Oh, and the food was delicious! We had a small plate lunch reception, with beverages, for 100 people. The service and quality of every aspect was top-notch, and the prices were significantly less than the bigger corporate catering companies. The event was actually the post-Mass reception for my father's funeral, so we wanted everything to be just right. We could not have been happier with Side Street Catering. Thank you Sandra!

Sandra was a tremendous help in planning and catering my birthday party. She helped me plan the menu, giving great advice on what works and what doesn't. Upon arrival the day of the event, she and her bartender, Wally immediately went to work setting things up and doing last minute food preparation. Neither one of them peppered me with questions. They knew what to do and did it. Everything ran very smoothly. All my husband and I had to do was enjoy the time with our friends. The food was superb! Not only did our friends gush about the food, they also gushed about how wonderful and nice Sandra and Wally were to them. I cannot say enough good things about them.

The food was excellent. The service staff was outstanding. The price was very fair. Overall, it was just a great experience.

Sandra did it all. Right from the start, suggesting menu items, helping us finalize the menu, staying within budget, utilizing our space to its best advantage, and timing service to suit the guests. Sandra and her staff were extremely efficient, and the food was exceptional. She smokes the pork shoulder and chicken herself, and they were both moist and delicious. Her own sauces were a perfect match, and all the sides were perfect. I spent over 20 years in the food and beverage industry and can't say enough about how friendly, and professional she and her staff were. In addition, the price was very reasonable - knowing how much work goes into an affair of this sort, we are very happy to give this glowing review. Definitely an A+!!!!.

The event went extremely well. The staff arrived on time and worked in my home while I was at the concert. Everything was elegantly prepared, without supervision by me, by the time we arrived. We had a bartender and one chef/server. The latter was Sandra DeVaux, who is the owner. She was extremely accommodating and professional. The only reason I did not give an "excellent" review for all categories is that the food, while perfectly good, was not extremely ambitious or unusual. Having said this, it must be remembered that Side Street was about 50% the cost of the average of other caterers that I contacted. Overall I consider them to be a very good value.

I had a wonderful experience working with Sandra. She was responsive and helpful in putting together the menu for my daughter's baptism reception. And the food was fantastic. My guests raved about the food. It was a small event but Sandra was extremely attentive to all of the details. She had an assistant help me the day of the event and he couldn't have been more professional. I highly recommend Side Street Catering.

Side Street Catering did an excellent job preparing, presenting and cleaning for a birthday affair of about 35 people; the food tasted excellent too! Sandra made smart suggestions in preparing our menu, was easy to work with, and her staff was extraordinarily polite and competent. The party was for Grandma, so we kept the menu somewhat simple to appeal to the tastes of the guests. Side Street Catering prepared both appetizers and a buffet dinner menu. Among the appetizers were Sandra's crab cakes and pecan crusted pork tenderloin. Both of those were strong hits, and coupled with the other appetizers we ordered, there was ample to keep our guests satisfied until dinner. The dinner menu included Sandra's Side Street salad which was followed by filet mignon with peppercorn gravy, shrimp scampi, mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, and green beans, among other things. Regina and Drew were our two servers, and they coordinated perfectly, and professionally handled all the details. My six year old daughter really liked the catering team, particularly Regina, which further demonstrated their polite nature and positive attitude to our party. We intend to call upon Side Street Catering for future events.

I am simply amazed and the responsiveness and the professionalism of this company even though we never got to hire them for our event. I reached out Sandra by email at 6:30 PM on a Thursday night to see if she can possibly help us cater for a charity/fundraiser event at our home on the following Saturday for +/- 50 people. Not only she reached out to me and my wife seperately all within 5 minutes and explained that she was not available given a 2 days notice and seeing that she already had 3 events booked for the weekend. She also got online and contributed to our fundraiser. The way Sandra handles the situation, her response time, and her generosity is unbelievably professional, and the reason why I am sure we will be doing business together in the very near future

We had agreed on the price, but while the guests were still there, the owner extorted an additional $150 from me for a tip even though she did all the work herself & was already paid $120 extra for that. $82/person for finger food was outrageous. Etiquette says you do NOT tip the owner of a business, only employees.

At a very difficult time (my mother's funeral), Side Street Catering lifted the burden from us when they catered a reception at our home following the funeral service. They were, in the words of my daughter, "flawless." The food was delicious, and the staff were completely unobtrusive while they performed their jobs. We would definitely hire them again and would recommend them to others.

We could not be more pleased with the services of Side Street Catering. They made our holiday party a most enjoyable evening not only for all of our firiends, but also for my wife and me. From our first meeting with Sandra, we knew that she would do a fantastic job and she did not let us down. She is an incredible cook with a special eye toward presentation. She and her assistant, Drew, were extremely professional, very hardworking, and most pleasant and delightful. Sandra eliminated any and all stress that sometimes comes with hosting a holiday party. In fact, we were able to relax with friends the night before our party and even attended a brunch the afternoon of our event. We left the work to Side Street Catering, and they did not disappoint. We have already received rave reviews from our friends for hosting such an enjoyable holiday party. Thank you Side Street Catering! We will be calling of you again.

SIdestreet provided the catering for a party at my home for 90 people. I selected them based on reviews on this site and was quite happy with my experience. This was the first big party I had thrown in quite some years and I was a bit anxious about how it would work. After making initial contact with Sandra, we went back and forth a bit on the menu- during this part of the process, there were times when I was unsure if our communication was satisfactory but I need not have worried. Sandra came a few days before to evaluate the site and set up and was able to reassure me that all would be well. She made some excellent recommendations to ensure success and went way out of her way to make it all work, finding outdoor heating fixtures that we could safely use on my outdoor porch to expand the usable space for the party. When a rental place didn't have what we needed, she scoured Northern Virginia to find just the right thing. Sandra suggested the menu and was willing to work with me on final selection. As it turned out, the food was delicious and quite a few of my guests commented on the quality. Quantity was more than sufficient. Matt the bartender was a great asset in insuring that everything ran smoothly. As noted by other clients in their reviews, its terrific to be able to enjoy your own party instead of worrying about food and clean up. I had only one minor quibble which was that the size of the crowd and the menu resulted in the food being served quite a bit later than anticipated. In the future, I would try to walk through timing with Sandra and her crew so everyone knows exactly what to expect. Sandra was appropriately responsive when I pointed this out to her, and I do believe she works diligently to make each event special and successful. I would definitely hire Sidestreet for future events and recommend them highly.

It was the most amazing party I ever had. Everyone raved about it! Elegant presentation, wonderful food, great bar, cheerful staff.

My experience with Side Street Catering went smoothly from start to finish. Sandra DeVaux sent me a list of her dinner buffet options and I chose what I liked and thought would please my guests. Sandra and I consulted and we made a few tweaks. The presentation of the food was elegant and contemporary, completely suited to the occasion. Sandra and her assistant were efficient and unobtrusive, and they left my kitchen and dining room immaculate when they were done. I felt I got good value for the money and I'd hire Side Street Catering again in a flash!

From my initial inquiry to the final cleanup and checkwriting, everything was superb. The owner was friendly, prompt and courteous. Every item was planned to a "t". She arrived before the party, prepared the food, set up an amazing display for the savory items, and I had many wonderful comments about the foot. We have an annual fund raising event in the spring, and everyone was already encouraging me to hire Sidestreet to cater that event. The owner sent me a vast list of items to choose from, and it was hard to decide because everything sounded so good. The prices were comparable to some other bids I received, but the choices were much broader. After we decided on the menu, the owner contacted the venue for our party and made a short visit to scout out the situation. She showed up about an hour and a half before the event and set to work immediately preparing the food. When all was ready, we called the participants to the spread. There were "oohs" and "ahs" from all, and the taste was as amazing as the items looked. We paused from our enjoyment of the food to have a short presentation while the owner set up the special dessert items which were superb! Individual banana puddings were the highlight, but each and every item stood out in its own right. I had rented dishes and wine glasses for the event and planned to wash them before taking them home, but when I came into the kitchen, the dishes were already washed and stacked for drying. That's certainly more than I expected and just another sign of the level of quality and customer service provided by Sidestreet Catering. I was thrilled with our event's success which was made possible by the exceptional catering provided by Sidestreet Catering, and I would recommend this firm to everyone.

It all went beautifully! We could not have been happier with Side Street Catering and Sandra DeVaux and her staff.

The whole experience went very well. The staff is very nice and professional and did a great job from beginning to end.

The entire experience was FANTASTIC. They made our special day even more special. The food was amazing, The service was attentive without being intrusive, and the bartender was delightful. They packaged the leftovers (Delicious), and cleaned up everything. This was, by far, the best encounter with a caterer that I have ever had!

Excellent - each and every time. She has done large parties for us 250+ people, small cocktail parties and even private dinner parties. Every time is a treat for the guest and for me the hostess. Side Street Catering takes care of everything!!