“We had a challenging experience with Tamale Boy's wedding catering. The food and day-of service were excellent, and their pricing was very affordable, but the lack of communication was the biggest stressor of our entire wedding planning experience.
It took me from September 18 through December 4, with regular follow-ups, to get the catering booked. This should have been a warning sign, but I was persistent because I had used their catering several times for work events and had always loved the food. Once we were booked, I heard nothing from them. About a month before the wedding, I started emailing and calling to try to get the details finalized. My coordinator also reached out, and eventually I was able to speak with Luci, the catering manager, by phone the week before our wedding.
At that point, I learned about several rentals they needed us to arrange separately, including an additional table, tablecloth, and water carafes. These were things I would have happily taken care of earlier if I had known about them, but having to scramble to arrange them the week before the wedding was stressful. I also wasn't able to get contact information for the day-of staff, which made it difficult to feel confident that everything was coordinated.
That said, the day of the wedding was a completely different story. They had plenty of staff, everyone was courteous and professional, and they were helpful with the venue flip. The buffet food was hot and delicious, and our guests were very happy. The only day-of issue was that the buffet was not set up double-sided as I had requested.
Overall, I would only recommend booking them if you are a very low-maintenance, Type B couple who can tolerate minimal communication leading up to the wedding. I really want to support their business because the food is so good, the pricing is among the most affordable we found, and the day-of team did a great job. However, I strongly urge Tamale Boy to invest in additional catering management staff. The level of communication we experienced is not appropriate for a high-stakes event like a wedding, where couples need to be able to rely on their vendors and know that important details are being handled.”