Emily's Café & Catering — Restaurant in Pennington

I called Emily’s cafe and catering only a month out when the number of people who were RSVP-ing for my daughter’s engagement party began to quickly surpass what I had expected. I spoke with Lauren, the catering manager, and thankfully (probably because it was February in the dead of winter), they had the day available which immediately put my mind at ease. Working with Lauren was incredibly easy. She not only chose the completely Gluten Free menu for me (including passed hors d’oeuvres, buffet dinner and dessert), she also arranged for a heated tent to be connected to my house for additional space, all the rentals needed (tables, chairs, linens, flatware, china, glassware, etc) as well as made arrangements with ShopRite liquors to deliver the bar beverages on the morning of. I literally didn’t have to do anything other than make small flower bouquets for the tables and decorate. For reference, the party was for approximately 65 people in my home.

On the day of the party, Emily’s crew of 5 (3 servers including Lauren, chef and bartender) arrived right on time. It would be an understatement to say they worked together like a “well oiled machine”. Chef Robert quickly got acquainted with my kitchen and went right to work with food prep, Justin set up the bar in the tent, and Lauren, Jill and Jack began setting up what they needed for the buffet and dessert tables. They began walking around with the hors d’oeuvres as soon as the first guests arrived and about an hour later, just before dinner was to be served, Lauren gave me the nod that it would be a good time for the “toast”.

The food was outstanding! It’s hard to say which passed hors d’oeuvre was the favorite as they were all delicious - 4 types of skewers (Flank Steak, baby lamb chop, marinated chicken and sweet chili shrimp) as well as endives with dates and goat cheese. The buffet dinner was just as good and no one left hungry as they had a choice of chicken marsala, rosemary salmon, roasted veggies, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, risotto cakes and candied pecan salad. I appreciated that Lauren and chef Robert reached out to me 2 days before the party to confirm that the entire menu was GF, including the mini red velvet cupcakes for dessert.

I would highly recommend Emily’s without hesitation to anyone looking for a caterer. They have a large menu of food choices to select from (including GF), are professional with lots of connections, patient, friendly, easy to work with and the food is exceptional. After the night was over, they cleaned up so well that one could barely tell there had been a party. I even found the left over food packed nicely in my refrigerator which my family appreciated and enjoyed the next day.

Thank you to the staff of Emily’s who catered my event. You helped make my daughter’s and her fiancé’s engagement party perfect! I couldn’t have been happier at the end of the night and I am still getting compliments from people who...

This review is for their catering services...

I don't even know where to start - they have been WONDERFUL every step of the way! We used them for our wedding weekend last weekend at the Mountain Lakes House in Princeton (and for our rehearsal dinner). First off, they hosted an amazing tasting when we tried them out over a year ago. Then, over the course of the year, their events manager, Sam, worked with me via email to patiently answer all my questions and work with our rental vendors to make sure everything went smoothly. Though at times I was months away from my wedding, she would answer my questions with as much haste as if I were having my wedding tomorrow.

Then when it came to the day of the entire staff was INCREDIBLE! I was running over an hour late but they worked on setting everything up based on previous email directions and when I finally got there everything looked stunning and perfect as if I would have done it myself (and I was very picky on the decor!) They were super kind with working with us and for us, putting out about 60 luminaries on a walk way and telling our bridal party they didn't need to move a finger. The staff was timely, professional and extremely considerate all night. And the team worked really well with a stressed bride - they knew just what to say and do :-) They made their own spreads absolutely beautiful, bringing in their own flowers/leaves for decor that complimented my own. When we forgot to put out the dessert menu that my friend worked hard on, they worked as a quick team to put it out under the desserts while guests were vying for slices of cake and did so in such a beautiful and kind fashion.

I truly can't say enough about this company's kindness, professionalism, work ethic, patience and overall style. If you are in the area and getting married, you will likely be sorry if you don't hire Emily's to cater your event. They are simply the best.

And with all of that, you might think that the food would be so-so. Its not. The food itself was what originally sold us on Emily's. Everything has such unique, well-blended flavors but for the average person. We had a coffee BBQ brisket that was to die for and for the rehearsal the chef made us some lavender chicken and a eggplant napoleon that everyone was raving about. Outside of raving about the staff and hospitality, we had so many guests come up to us and tell us how good the food was. And of course our reply was...

I want to begin by saying this is long overdue. My husband and I went with Emily’s Cafe and Catering for our intimate wedding at my parent’s house in September and everything was absolutely spectacular. Aside from photography and music, Emily’s was my ONLY vendor because they literally offered everything and it was so convenient: Food, bar, servers, and all rentals.

Lauren was our event coordinator and I cannot say enough amazing things about her. She is professional, kind, responsive, and it was clear that making our day perfect was her priority. Lauren assisted us with the menu, all rentals (they coordinate with a tent vendor which was such a weight lifted off of us), tasting, alcohol selection. She was even present on my wedding day and was kind enough to communicate with my father who was anxious about hosting 65 people.

The day of my wedding it rained and the staff went above and beyond for me. They wiped water off chairs so I could still get the ceremony I wanted, ran around lighting candles, filling water glasses. At the of the night, they cleaned up so quickly and efficiently, you would never know there had just been a wedding.

I could write a whole essay on the chefs and the food. The chefs were extremely clean and respectful of my parent’s kitchen. They even packaged up the leftovers for us and left it in the refrigerator. We had numerous passed hors d’ourves ( mini quesadillas, mini pulled pork sandwiches, veg and vegan options, shrimp skewers) and chose a buffet style dinner of short ribs, lemon chicken, fall gnocchi, vegetables, 2 types of mashed potatoes, and a salad. I am still dreaming about my menu.

My husband and I decided we would take an annual trip to Emily’s every September to relive our wedding night. I don’t even think this review does them justice because they are THAT AWESOME. Thank you everyone from the bottom of our hearts. We love...