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5 Reviews 2 Complaints
- 3 out of 5
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Cater Nation overview
Cater Nation is a national catering marketplace catering to administrative, sales, and other professionals with drop-off catering needs. Founded in October 2009, Cater Nation has roots that trace back to 2003, when online catering was in its early stages of development.
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Cater Nation is a national catering marketplace catering to administrative, sales, and other professionals with drop-off ...Read more
Address
14241 Midlothian Turnpike # 247 Midlothian, VA 23113
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833
The staff are always friendly and helpful. They genuinely want to make sure you have a good experience. If any issues come up, I’m confident they’ll sort it out. When vendors mess up, the Cater Nation rep follows up with both you and the vendor. Their customer service is excellent.
Great Experience
I’ve worked with Caternation for years and overall, it’s been a great experience. My only issue is that they don’t have vendors in every area—since I use them across the US for my company, that can be a limitation. Still, I’d recommend them to anyone who wants an easy ordering process and a reliable one-stop shop for catering needs.
Frustrating Online Portal
Cater Nation’s customer service is excellent—quick, helpful responses every time. But the online portal makes managing group orders harder than it should be. As an admin, it’s frustrating to have to re-enter participant info (name, email, phone) every time, instead of selecting from a saved list. There’s also no way to limit which menu sections attendees can order from. Many people didn’t know how to properly close their orders, so they weren’t logged. The running total is visible to everyone, which isn’t ideal, and the system defaults to delivery, requiring extra effort to clarify that we prefer pickup. Overall, great support team, but the platform needs serious improvements.
Great Service
This service is great. It’s convenient to have all the catering options in one place, and I love that my corporate account is saved, so I don’t have to look up account numbers every time. The only downside is that many restaurants have high minimums, which feels excessive. Also, some areas, like Detroit, should have more restaurant choices. I was surprised by the limited options for an office delivery there.
I really appreciate how easy and convenient CaterNation is to use. It’s a great concept and makes ordering food pretty simple. That said, I wish there were more vendor options available in my area—and I know that’s also the case in some smaller or more remote locations. For example, Chick-fil-A is advertised as a partner in some areas, but it’s not available where I live. Right now, I only have two vendors to choose from, even though I know there are plenty of local restaurants around. Expanding the selection would definitely improve the overall experience.
Beware of Delivery Issues and Poor Customer Support
I’ve been happy with Cater Nation until today’s disaster. My suggestion would be that if a vendor can’t handle a large order or deliver at a specific time, they should make that clear upfront. They should also remove that vendor as an option if they can’t meet those needs. I really didn’t appreciate being lectured by the customer service rep about how "the caterer is a one-man operation," "you had bad traffic," and "it was a large order," especially on the day my delivery was supposed to arrive. How about Cater Nation and the vendor take some responsibility for not being able to fulfill an order properly?
Poor Communication and Late Orders
I’ve been planning meetings successfully for years, but my experience with Cater Nation was disappointing. I found their staff unable to communicate updates and details effectively to the caterers at the restaurants. I placed two orders, and both were late because the staff failed to relay delivery details and order updates properly. There was total confusion about my contact information. I ordered from On the Border and Abe's Deli, and both drivers complained about the miscommunication when working with Cater Nation. Why use a middleman when you can deal directly with the restaurant and ensure orders are correct and delivered on time?