Urban Collective: Urban Catering & Urban Hall

The food they brought tasted good, however not everything that was agreed on in the menu came. I have a long list of emails backing all this. Problem 1: The feta bruscetta says it is served on pita triagles. It was served with Rit's crackers. After the event I was told this is chef's discretion, no where on the menu options does it say this nor was I told, and I was very disappointed with that discretion. Problem 2: We choose Taco Bar from a menu emailed to me. Served with rice and nachos is written in this menu however it was not brought to serve. After questioning this I am told it does not come with it even though it says it does with the menu they gave me to choose from. Problem 3: Chicken and beef are served with the taco, I added Cod for an extra charge for friends and family that don't eat chicken and beef. Cod was not brought or served and at the time of the event it was denied that cod was even ordered. After the event, they admitted this mistake (this was also the only mistake they admitted for all the problems) and after arguing, agreed to pay me back a fraction of the extra money I paid extra for the cod. Problem 4: Is in how they dealt with this after the event. I was blamed for not understanding the chef's discretion. I was blamed for not knowing that the rice and nachos were not coming (I still have the emailed menu I ordered this from that includes rice and nachos though and nor did I receive anything else stating otherwise). When they realized the cod mistake, they tried to say, but everyone enjoyed the food and we brought people to serve it for you. I can guarantee the people that only ate fish did not enjoy the food. As for the servers it was agreed they not bring them (because I had my own) and then they tried to use this as compensation for the mistakes they made. This is very unprofessional. In the end, greatly disappointed in the food they brought, mostly because of what was not brought and the changes they made without communicating this to me. It very much angered me how they dealt with everything after, blaming me for not knowing. After reviewing all the emails, none of their excuses were ever communicated. I still only have the one menu for taco bar stating the rice and nachos (that they left out). The fact of the excuses angered me the most, just be professional and accept responsibility for your work. If you had, I probably wouldn't have been inclined to write this review 6 months later.

My wedding was recently catered by urban collective - we actually booked our special day through the Greek hall-We were assure they would honour the contract and provide us exactly what we already signed up for! Well- it wasn’t long that we were forwarded the new menu- with the new prices- new hall rental fee (which was double)- and told they would not offer us a per person open bar rate- qnd simply told “too bad- u can have ur deposit back if you would rather” (not an option 6 months before my day) well- I’m going to assume another bride was also unhappy with this- as I received an email by mistake to another bride claiming a lawyer was involved- and that they would honour the original contract- so I also was assured they would again honour the contract. So we went in a met with shawneen (who is the nicest person) picked out our new menu and late night snack ect- worked out the details to sign a new contract! So- short time until the wedding- I received yet another email- saying they due to liquor license- they can’t give us the open bar rate because it wouldn’t allow- but they could run a tab! That was a lie- after I spoke with the alcohol and gaming commission and found that out! the prime rib was indeed delicious... everything else- meh... the chicken was soooo dry and cold I couldn’t even eat it- I just picked out the stuffing - (all the guests I spoke with said the same thing)- I had an open bar scheduled from 7-12... well dinner ran late serving and took almost 2 hours to feed 130people (more servers needed 100%- to avoid us sitting around waiting for the next course) so the open bar didn’t get open until 8pm(limited to certain agreed types) Welllll- by 9pm they were out of 2 kinds of beer and rye! So instead of simply charging the difference for premium beer- they were charging full price to my guests! It was a beautiful day 23degeee and cooled down to 15 by the evening- inside the hall was 28!!! Apparently the air was on! - but this worked in their favour- over half of my guests left by 9pm because it was so damn hot in there!- so the venue didn’t have to provide already paid for alcohol to them! A toilet flooded into the main entrance walk way... (unpreventable I know- but still awful) The poutine bar for a late night snack- that was only open for a half hour and my father in law to a rough count of how many people were in line- a whopping 34 people got to enjoy the midnight snack!!! None of which over served! And half of those people did not get gravy as it has run out and not replenished - despite me entering the kitchen to request more!! Within a Half an hour- it was cleaned up and gone! Now let’s talk about Tim(owner) And his extreme unprofessionalism!!! He approached me in a beyond rude manner while wagging his finger in my face on my special day telling me I had better thank the venue and acknowledge the staff (which I had just done in my speech) ... umm wow!!! I was in tear on my wedding day- and not the good kind!! Thanks Tim Then... after all said and done... I received a final bill.... 100$ for chair set up! I paid a lot of money for my decorator (who was my saving grace) to decorate- wel apparently tim volunteered to help bring in chairs with the decorating team- he was told “ohhh you don’t have to- but thank you” as he helped moved the chairs- how gutsy- to then try and charge me for “chair set up”!! And 100$$$!!!! And then a bill for wine- wine- wow.. I am realllllly pissed about this! As it was agreed to have the wine served to the tables (it’s an open bar- open bottles on the table would just be wasted) this was agreed and confirmed prior to the day! When I left at midnight (with very few guests left) nearly every table had full jugs of wine that just went to waste- which I did NOT want- and knew would happen with an open bar! So not only do I not get to return the bottles of wine for $$ that they have wasted -$ out of my pocket- but now they want to charge me corkage fee for those wasted bottles!

In Response to Richard Meaney's review of Urban Herb Catering's SHOCKING RESPONSE: Some of the things that Richard forgot to mention about the evening: First: We sent out one of our staff to purchase (out of our own pocket) a key component of their signature drink, which was forgotten by their wedding planner. We gave up our staff for about an hour without asking for any reimbursement for the time or product (about $45) . Second: The two dishwashers worked tirelessly from 4:30pm to 12:00am, with the help of the entire team (8 people in total) to facilitate the dishwashing process. We were only contracted until 11:30 but we all stayed the extra half hour to try to catch up.I explained all of this to the bride and groom before we left. They asked for a full refund on the two dishwashers, in that case insinuating to me that they felt the two dishwashers held no value. Even though they got more than 2 dishwasher's worth and extra hours, without our being paid or reimbursed for the extra time and money we spent ensuring their wedding planner was not embarrassed and that their night went as smoothly as possible.. And Lastly, They also forgot to mention that I, Sharon, personally plunged two toilets for them and got down on my hands and knees to clean up vomit, so that they could enjoy their wedding without incident. This certainly was not part of the contract. I never said the bride vomited, just that I had cleaned up someone's vomit. They also asked the venue for a refund for something they had been given for free. So, with that knowledge, and knowing that my entire team including myself, did more than should have been expected and certainly more than what was paid for, I refused under the threat of a bad review to issue them a refund. This is a DIY venue, and we were contracted for set hours, and anything beyond those hours was not our responsibility. The fact that I had to get involved should not have occurred at all. Our manager kindly listened to their concerns, gave our side of the story and expressed that they received more services than what they paid for, and yet they were still demanding a refund for the dishwashers. This was not constructive feedback. It was an unrealistic expectation. There was no physical way to finish the dishes in the time that we were hired as people were still eating and drinking at midnight. And I cleaned up their puke.

Thanks to Tim and Sharon for doing an amazing job supplying Ice Cream from Nice Ice Baby for our New Years Eve Celebration at The Empire Theatre. Your group and the other downtown restaurants that supplied the food and goodies really knock it out of the park that night as we had 600 smiling faces rocking' in 2017! Looking forward to doing more with Urban Herb and Nice Ice Baby in the future.

We planned to provide a higher rating of Urban Herb Catering. The food and service throughout the night was very good, yet the way they handled feedback and a dispute a few days following the event was actually shocking. We are very honest and reasonable people, and this will be reflected in our review. On our wedding day the food provided by Urban Herb was great. The Peking duck appetizer was a hit, and all the mains (fried chicken, lamb pops, and salmon) were excellent. The homemade ice cream and late night snacks (poutine and sliders) were enjoyed by all. Many of our guests commented very positively on the quality and taste of the food. The staff during the night worked very hard, were kind to guests, and made our evening run very well. Our one area of feedback in which we had a dispute was with regards to the dish washing. It was a DIY venue, and we understood that the venue washing area was not ideal. The caterer had worked the venue before and recommended we hire two dishwashers from them (which we did) to handle the volume. Being reasonable people, understood that not all glassware would be completed before they ended that evening (midnight). Yet the next day there was more unwashed cutlery and dishes than we expected. We didn’t expect them all to be done, but we had some concerns. We reached out to the company via email to discuss the dishwashing and the amount we paid for dishwashing. Our first conversation with Shawnee was pleasant enough, but we felt we didn’t get to the root of our inquiry. We asked to speak to the owner, and THIS IS WHERE WE WERE SHOCKED. We received a follow up call from Sharon (one of the owners). We briefly and calmly explained our feedback and position in the email (we had asked for some reimbursement for the dishwashing work). Rather than being professional and having a calm discussion, she began right away by insulting us with “you were probably too drunk to remember…” - which btw my wife had ½ a shot the whole night and was sober throughout - and continued to go on an uncontrollable rant for over 5 minutes about all the hard work they did and how insulted they were about our feedback and wanting to discuss reimbursement. When we tried to calm her down, she jumped on our words and was combative not letting us speak. What should have been a 5 minute professional call, ended up being over 20 minutes consisting of Sharon essentially yelling at us and stating lies - like ‘your wife was drunk and vomited in the bathroom’ (AGAIN. She didn’t drink and definitely didn’t vomit). By the end of the call, we just didn’t want to hear her tirade anymore. To close, the food is really good, the staff during the night will work hard and be professional. Just be warned if you have any constructive feedback or dispute, it may not be pleasant. I hope in the future Urban Herb approaches disputes more professionally and calmly.

My husband and I participated in one of Urban Herb's pop-up dinners in November. The food was superb, the service impeccable and we topped dinner off with some outstanding handmade Ice Cream. If you get the chance, give the pop-up dinner a try!! Thanks Tim and Sharon.

Fantastic food and customer service! I had Tim cater a company picnic a couple of years ago and it was a hit! I also recently attended pop-up events at Nice Ice Baby (their café/ice cream shop) with friends and everyone was raving about the delicious food. I would recommend Urban Herb Catering to anyone looking for a professional, talented and friendly team to make your event a memorable one!

Hands down best catering I have had! The staff are great and so involved, all with smiles. Tim is so down to earth and fantastic! Build your own burger bar made me try things I never would have, GOAT CHEESE on a burger, who knew it would be so delicious............never having another without!!!!! All my wedding guests loved their meal and we got compliments on the choice and food all night! Thanks for making my day so special!