Hamby Catering & Events — Local services in Charleston

Clearly Hamby’s (2.0) Market is not what an old Charlestonian expects from one of its city’s iconic culinary delights. The Cliff note version: Best success is handled by a customer’s advance planning and ordering, and avoid the shrimp salad 2.0 sandwiches. In fairness to the Hamby’s organization, Mrs. Candice Hudnall was incredibly polite and gracious, and swift to respond to my complaint about the rigid structure of the “market’s” product availability, cold service, and absence of customer accommodation. She was also very adamant about their having “remained true to the original iteration from Mrs. Hamby” qualifying that some elements have changes citing the bread from Piggly Wiggly. Confidently knowing that my taste buds had not betrayed me, I pulled out Mrs. Hamby’s book, Catering to Charleston, and prepared the recipe for the shrimp tea sandwiches nestled within its pages. I dare not share the recipe (copyright infringement) and encourage you to seek out the recipe within its pages. Some words of caution – the recipes portrayed on the Internet are not the same as in Mrs. Hamby’s book. When directly ask if the book recipe was the recipe to which they “remained true,” Mrs. Hudnall offered no response. Taste testing results. A few friends and family compared the sandwiches; the ones I prepared to that which I purchased at Hamby’s market in a blind test. We could only assume that Mrs. Hudnall had been misinformed by her staff – or the original recipe was modified from that of Mrs. Patrick’s Shrimp Paste fearing they would have to expend royalties to others. In short, my suggestions for ordering… most everything (except the shrimp) is awesome. Order “double stuffed,” but order (24 hours) in advance because this is NOT offered in the Market when making an impromptu purchase. In the “Market” be prepared for the structured corporate responses; uncharacteristic of Southern hospitality and...

I recently had the privilege of partnering with Hamby Catering Events for a reception and dinner in my capacity as Venue Manager at an exclusive destination wedding venue. From the moment they arrived for set-up, I was highly impressed by their planning and attention to detail in all aspects of their culinary and service expertise for this formal reception and plated dinner. The entire Hamby staff was both highly trained and well supervised throughout the evening. Communication & cooperation between culinary staff and service staff was continuous and always focused on anticipating guest needs, rather than reacting to them. Quality of food presentation for the reception was impeccable, and that followed by a seamless plate-up and service of a plated dinner that was truly stellar. This was later evidenced by the numerous glowing accolades I received from guests at the end of the evening with regards to their catering experience at this formal wedding event. Hamby's proficiency in accommodating all guest needs throughout the evening was also very noteworthy and I deeply appreciated the positive and polite "can do" attitudes of their entire staff. My decades of experience in the hospitality sector have taught me that this is not simply a result of extensive training by Hamby Catering & Events, it is the result of fostering and maintaining a great culture of excellence with their entire team. Hamby's culture of exceeding guest expectations at all levels at this wedding reception & dinner is truly worthy of this genuine "Congrats and Kudos" accolade. I sincerely look forward to the opportunity to partner together with the Hamby team often...

Hamby caters weddings better than anyone else as far as I'm concerned. After being impressed with their menus, price quotes, presentation and portfolio; we decided to sign the contract with them last summer when we began planning our wedding. Hamby went out of their way to guide us and help us in this complicated process over the past year. The food and wine tasting event was very informative and a special meal in itself. On our specific wedding date of Saturday May 5th (Cinco de Mayo!), Hamby arrived very early and well staffed to set up for the amazing occasion. The food at the reception was even better than it was at our tasting session. Plus, they wisely spread out the food stations and had servers rotating throughout the crowd. They absolutely did an amazing job and our guests are still talking about how great the food was. My wife and I, as well as Toni our wedding planner were all completely dazzled by Hamby and everything they brought to our...