Calihan Catering emphasizes creative cuisine, impeccable service and innovative event concepts that set the mood and spirit for memorable events. For over thirty years our clients have come to rely on our culinary expertise for intimate dinners, personalized weddings, corporate events, social fundraisers and contractual dining.
Our Chicago based company has catered events of 2-5,000 guests in a vast array of venues. We have one of Chicago's largest private catering facilities with a renovated 20,000-square-foot building - including an 8,000 square foot state-of-the-art kitchen - on Goose Island.
Our Chicago based company has catered events of 2-5,000 guests in a vast array of venues. We have one of Chicago's largest private catering facilities with a renovated 20,000-square-foot building - including an 8,000 square foot state-of-the-art kitchen - on Goose Island.
Services
Our cuisine is built from the freshest and highest quality products available. Our team of accomplished, and international culinarian's embrace traditional sensibilities while exploring new techniques, flavors and presentations. All hors d'oeuvres are hand made with care, fish and meats are smoked on the premises, butchers fabricate our meat, poultry, seafood, stocks, sauces, and soups are made daily.
From a sleek, airy, and modern event space with garage doors that open, a beautiful nature inspired space with an outdoor terrace that features a butterfly exhibit, or a raw urban space with floors and brick walls that haven't been touched in 200 years, Calihan Catering has the perfect event space for you!.
With our 30+ years of experience, we have worked with some of the best vendors in the Chicago Industry. The following have been Calihan tested and are some of our favorites to work with in Chicago. Please reach out to us if you would like professional advice on who we think you would work best with!.
Reviews (26)
Chandler W.
Dec 29, 2021
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We booked our wedding venue at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in 2019 with an anticipated wedding date in 2020. In 2020 we had to delay our wedding until 2021. During the wait, we reached out to each of our vendors to finalize a new date and make price adjustments. John not only guaranteed that nothing would change with our original contract, but also sent us a new contract with our updated date.
Fast forward to three months before our wedding when we were working with John to pay our bill according to the payment schedule in the new contract. At this time John reached out to us and gave us
Fast forward to three months before our wedding when we were working with John to pay our bill according to the payment schedule in the new contract. At this time John reached out to us and gave us
Julie Brook
Dec 08, 2019
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We had a marvelous experience working with Cate Kaczala and Emily Preston from Calihan Catering. Our daughter and her now husband selected Gallery 1028 for the location of their wedding. The wedding was Sunday morning in August 2019.
From the venue to the catering we have not one complaint, only compliments.
Cate and Emily were our contacts and they could not have been nicer to work with. They also worked smoothly with our vendors; Farrah Singh Kauffman from Simply Azure Events, Jori Foreman from Fab Flora, David Florczak from Posh Productions, Sweet Mandy Cakes, Do Rite Donuts, Big Sadie our
From the venue to the catering we have not one complaint, only compliments.
Cate and Emily were our contacts and they could not have been nicer to work with. They also worked smoothly with our vendors; Farrah Singh Kauffman from Simply Azure Events, Jori Foreman from Fab Flora, David Florczak from Posh Productions, Sweet Mandy Cakes, Do Rite Donuts, Big Sadie our
Katie A.
Nov 21, 2019
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I am currently planning a gala event with Calihan Catering and I am so impressed with how flexible they have been and patient with my host committee. Nina and Nash are AMAZING. I've thrown her some oddball requests, and Nina has accommodated them with grace. They listened to what our guests would most want from the event, and were able to put together a beautiful menu with our nonprofit budget.
I have seen many event spaces and catering kitchens during this gala planning process, and when I visited Calihan's production location I was eager to see their kitchen. It was spotless, beautiful
I have seen many event spaces and catering kitchens during this gala planning process, and when I visited Calihan's production location I was eager to see their kitchen. It was spotless, beautiful
Kelly Ferrel
Jul 14, 2019
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My husband and I cannot thank Cate and Calihan Catering enough! They were absolutely amazing from start to finish! Everyone was so professional and our guests could not stop talking about how great the food was. We even had people telling us 'this was the best food we have ever had!' We had a few tricky things to coordinate like our champagne wall and they made everything happen without hesitation or question. They catered to what we were envisioning, made the entire process seamless and made sure our families were taken care of the whole time. They truly went above and beyond. My husband and I
Kate Sampson
Apr 03, 2019
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Calihan Catering is the vendor you get when you book Gallery 1028 for an event, which we did, but no matter where you hold your event, book these guys! Let me tell you - they are total professionals. Our… evening wedding ran like a well-oiled machine. The food was amazing and our guests gushed over it all night. It is not your typical so-so, luke warm wedding food. Everything was amazing, cooked to perfection and served nice and hot! The service itself was even better! The wait staff was so attentive and professional. I so appreciated a plate of appetizers and two drinks waiting for us in
Nancy T.
Jan 24, 2019
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I called to get an estimate and asked if I could add Tequila to our package. A simple "Yes, we can add a specialty drink with tequila" would suffice. This person went on about "This is Chicago we don't do shots" all snotty about it and that they have been doing catering for years and tequila at wedding always end up being a bad wedding. I didn't ask any of that and they way it was said was very rude and he kept trying to talk over me. I am not doing business with them anytime soon after this incident his name is apparently Nash Callahan and was the worst service. If
Jared Pace
Sep 18, 2018
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We found Calihan Catering through Gallery 1028 which we chose as our wedding venue. Calihan catering was truly extraordinary. The food is absolutely delicious, and the staff is exceptional. Zach Stevens was our account executive and was wonderful to work with. Zach was extremely responsive to emails and phone calls and was very accommodating. When we went in for our food tasting we were blown away with how delicious all the food was. There was truly not one thing at our tasting that we did not like. Zach was great helping us narrow down a menu for our wedding and was even able to mix and match
Kelsey D.
Aug 09, 2018
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Calihan Catering=TOP NOTCH! I wasn't sure whether it was a good or bad thing that we had to go with Calihan due to choosing to have our reception at Gallery 1028, but it is a blessing to not have to decide on another vendor! Calihan Catering's food and service is absolutely outstanding! We went to do our tasting with them way back in March, our wedding was in June, and now in August, we're STILL raving about their food! Cate was the absolute BEST to work with! She was there to give me honest answers when I had serious questions about food choices or decor ideas and was extremely
Vi F.
Mar 12, 2018
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We chose Calihan as our wedding caterer originally because they were the exclusive catering partner for our venue (Gallery 1028). We were a bit cautious at first because we had to sign the contract before tasting any of the food. But we're so glad we went with Calihan!
First of all, the entire staff was amazing to work with! We can tell that Calihan is a very organized company because we actually worked with two different contacts. We worked with Nicole in the beginning to design our menu and then after the tasting she was no longer with Calihan, so we worked with Cate for the rest of
First of all, the entire staff was amazing to work with! We can tell that Calihan is a very organized company because we actually worked with two different contacts. We worked with Nicole in the beginning to design our menu and then after the tasting she was no longer with Calihan, so we worked with Cate for the rest of
Francie Novak
Oct 12, 2017
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Maggie H.
Sep 21, 2017
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We had our wedding 8/5/17 and used Calihan for catering. Jessie Pare, our rep was outstanding every step of the journey. Deciding on your guest's food can be overwhelming and Jessie made our experience easy, affordable and most importantly created a final menu that our guests raved about! The appetizer selections were some of the best we've ever tasted and the main dish we were able to customize based on both of our specific tastes:) I highly recommend Calihan and Jessie for any Chicago couple looking for a fun and laid back approach to catering!
Aisha Stasko
Jun 16, 2017
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My husband and I had our wedding at Gallery 1028 on 3/4/2017. To say that we had the most amazing wedding ever is an understatement, and a majority of the reason is because of the delicious food from Calihan Catering along with their incredibly superior staff. My husband and I have attended and been in a LOT of weddings prior to ours, with our fair… share of bad wedding food. Right from the beginning, we knew we wanted to prioritize food and drink and sought out the best of the best. However, we quickly found out that quality catering in Chicago comes at a high cost... Unless you work with
Rebekah N.
May 14, 2017
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Wow. I cannot say enough about Todd and Jessie (and the whole crew) from Calihan! Though our wedding was in Chicago, we live in Houston, so tasting appointments and other meetings were hard to schedule. Todd was completely accommodating every time, and our tasting was unbelievable! Todd and chef were able to accommodate every request we had: special late night snacks based on our St Louis roots, and the from-scratch pistachio cake was completely out of this world - so many people took the leftovers! One special request we had was for charcuterie boards on the tables and they were unbelievably delicious
Anwar A. Jebran
Apr 16, 2017
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Laura P.
Sep 20, 2016
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Thank you Calihan's for helping make my daughter's wedding wonderful. Everything was so perfect and so flawless!!! The service was beyond excellent!! We loved working with Todd! He was enthusiastic, creative and unflappable. The food was amazing! From the mini chicken pot pies, polenta with pulled pork and butternut squash pizzas, to the heirloom tomato caprese with brittle, then the short ribs with grits and finally the pies and cobblers. Everything was absolutely delicious. There were actual fights over the brittle in the caprese! I almost forgot the late night waffle station that
Carrie N.
Jun 08, 2016
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We cannot say enough good things about Calihan Catering! Not only was the food delicious, but the staff is incredible! Todd is truly amazing! He makes you feel very special and catered our every need. He was truly excited and happy to be working with us. Todd was always available to reply to emails very promptly, which I sent many times! The tasting was so much fun, they really roll out the red carpet for you! During our wedding, the staff was incredible and looked very professional. Many of our guests said how wonderful the food was. Todd was also able to give great recommendations. I
Cassandra Colucy Krcmar
Apr 26, 2016
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It was a month ago that we had our wedding at Gallery 1028, which means we were fortunate enough to have Calihan as our caterer. We were impressed from the get go. Working with Todd to design our wedding was a real pleasure. The day of our tasting was one of our favorite days of the whole planning process. We tasted some of the most delicious… dishes and enjoyed some wine while planning the reception details. We told Todd some of our favorite foods and drinks, and then the chefs worked their magic to create a truly unique menu. We loved every single item that was served. We are still hearing
Marion B.
Mar 21, 2016
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Calihan Catering was one of our favorite wedding vendors. We had our wedding at Gallery 1028 and worked with Todd, who had impeccable communication throughout the 18 months of planning. Todd answered any questions I had within 24 hours and was willing to make any changes we came up with, even a week before. The menu tasting was the highlight of our wedding planning. Which brings me to the most important part of this review: the food. The food was incredible and hands down the best wedding food we have ever had. If you are are any sort of food-lover/foodie and you want to serve delicious food that
Alexis C.
Jan 20, 2016
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Unfortunately I have mixed feelings about our wedding with Calihan Catering at Gallery 1028. They own the space so they were the sole caterer we could work with. Before we signed any contracts we wanted to ensure we could get the menu we wanted from Calihan.
We were put in contact with Todd who was unresponsive from day one. Our first scheduled phone call he was unavailable at the time of the call and called me back an hour later, extremely annoying when I had to leave work to take this call. He had originally sent us a plated dinner menu so I requested a buffet list as that would be our preference
We were put in contact with Todd who was unresponsive from day one. Our first scheduled phone call he was unavailable at the time of the call and called me back an hour later, extremely annoying when I had to leave work to take this call. He had originally sent us a plated dinner menu so I requested a buffet list as that would be our preference
Amy Robinson Dog Training
Aug 06, 2015
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Morgan Marie
Mar 03, 2015
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We got married at Gallery 1028 in August 2014 and couldn't have been happier about our choice from start to finish. We directly worked with Todd, and he went above and beyond to make sure the whole experience was perfect for us. From the food tasting...to the day of the wedding...and all of my millions of questions in between, Todd was available… and always eager to make the process fun and run smoothly.
We used the space for our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. The flow of the entire day ran seamlessly. They worked with us to make sure our visions for our wedding day were exactly
We used the space for our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. The flow of the entire day ran seamlessly. They worked with us to make sure our visions for our wedding day were exactly
Tasha B.
Oct 27, 2014
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There's not really much more I can say about Calihan and the team than FABULOUS! Their food is delicious, their staff is professional and easy to work with and their event staff is very attentive.
We went with Calihan to cater our wedding as they are the vendor/owner of Gallery 1028. Even before we chose to go with Gallery 1028 we were told we HAD to use Calihan for our wedding because they were the best - and that was true. There's nothing more disappointing than a bad meal at a wedding or a lack of passed hors d'oeuvres to leave you starving at your table and Calihan provides
We went with Calihan to cater our wedding as they are the vendor/owner of Gallery 1028. Even before we chose to go with Gallery 1028 we were told we HAD to use Calihan for our wedding because they were the best - and that was true. There's nothing more disappointing than a bad meal at a wedding or a lack of passed hors d'oeuvres to leave you starving at your table and Calihan provides
Jacquie T.
Sep 28, 2014
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Yvonne B.
Dec 17, 2013
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I worked with Nitin Vyas who painted a beautiful picture of our wedding. I loved how he discussed his keen attention to detail that would make a wedding planner envious. Tuxedoed servers, lighting, linens, decedent foods... Gosh! Do I love to eat. And you can only imagine how important eating is for our wedding.
Nitin asked questions about the kinds of restaurants we like so that he could assemble a menu and a quote. I was ready to sign up right then and there on the phone. If Nitin could somehow make an amalgam of my favorite restaurants and make it into my personal restaurant zeitgeist... Well
Nitin asked questions about the kinds of restaurants we like so that he could assemble a menu and a quote. I was ready to sign up right then and there on the phone. If Nitin could somehow make an amalgam of my favorite restaurants and make it into my personal restaurant zeitgeist... Well
J. P.
Oct 07, 2011
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We chose Calihan Catering for our wedding held at Cafe Brauer in June 2011 and were extremely impressed with the service we received. We worked with Nicole, who kept me on track with all the decisions (as a workaholic bride, I often lost track) and was extremely helpful even before we signed our contract! I knew that meant she and the company overall really cared about the quality of the event, especially since it was our Big Day. We even had a last minute change (I ended up wanting cake served as opposed to set out on a buffet) and she was right on it and very accommodating. I loved working with
Elaine L.
Oct 04, 2010
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I wish I could have the pleasure of reviewing Calihan's Catering service, but I have sadly not even gotten past getting a sample menu of what they offer! And that's not from lack of trying either.
I've called and talked to Nitin from Calihan and was told I'd get a proposal drafted within the next couple of days. And then... heard nothing.
I called a week later asking for Nitin's email to send a friendly reminder to send me more information... he replied he'd get back to me later that evening.
It's been over a month and I still haven't received anything
I've called and talked to Nitin from Calihan and was told I'd get a proposal drafted within the next couple of days. And then... heard nothing.
I called a week later asking for Nitin's email to send a friendly reminder to send me more information... he replied he'd get back to me later that evening.
It's been over a month and I still haven't received anything
