Dinner Catering in Akron, OH | Tasteful Expectations

Plated or buffet, the evening is the point.

Dinner is where the menu earns its keep. A plated service for a seated room means courses timed to the toasts. A hot buffet means a line that opens on cue and holds for an hour while people take their time. We write the menu around the room, the run of show and your budget per person, and then we build to it.

Entrees, sides and salads come out of the kitchen on East Market Street the afternoon of the event and travel hot. Seafood, hibachi style spreads and barbecue spreads are all on the table, and the dessert course can be a plated sweet, a dessert table or a cake from the same kitchen.

Dinner starts at $15 per person. Tell us the headcount, the venue and the serving time and we come back with a menu and a real number.

Request a Quote 330.573.2738

Evening rooms downtown, dining rooms in the Valley.

Akron’s evening events split between rented rooms and private homes. Downtown, the galleries and halls around South High and East Mill fill with award dinners and nonprofit evenings. Out along Portage Path and Merriman Road, the Valley houses host rehearsal dinners and anniversary dinners for 20 to 40 that want restaurant quality without a restaurant. Fairlawn Heights, Wallhaven and Hudson do the same in December.

A plated dinner needs a staging kitchen or at least a back room; a buffet needs a wall and an outlet. The request form asks which you have. Downtown and the near west side are ten minutes from the kitchen, Cuyahoga Falls and Stow fifteen, and Medina, Kent and Canton run on a scheduled arrival so the food lands hot.

Holiday dinners book from October. If December is on your mind, send the date now and settle the menu later.

Overhead view of a dessert table with banana pudding cups, cherry cheesecake cups, brownies and lemon bars — Dessert course, overhead

Buffet line on a teal cloth with fruit trays, sandwiches and spinach dip in a bread bowl — Buffet line, evening event

Danielle, owner of Tasteful Expectations, in a green chef coat behind a table of dessert cups at an Akron event — Danielle on service

Starting points, per person.

The per person floors behind a dinner catering quote, taken from the request form.

^$15and upDinner

^$11and upAppetizers

^$6and upDessert

Build My Menu Every menu shape we do

What comes with it.

Plated service

Courses timed to the program for seated receptions, award dinners and rehearsal dinners.

Dinner buffet

Full entrees and sides in chafing service, opened on cue and held for the length of the meal.

Appetizer hour

Passed and stationed hors d’oeuvres or a grazing table ahead of dinner, from $11 per person.

The sweet course

A plated dessert, a dessert table or a cake decorated to the occasion, all made in house.

Also from this kitchen.

What Akron says.

Rated 5.0 from 7 reviews

Read every review on Google

You and your guests will want Dani to cater your next event! Best food there is! So much great food at reasonable prices! Tasteful Expectations will have your guests praising your event and asking for their number to cater their next event! Happy 10th Anniversary! My family is enjoying your rib dinner and grilled chicken chef salad. Delicious!

Julie PaulusGoogle review, edited 6 months ago

Before you book.

Can you do a plated dinner, or only buffets?

Both. Plated service needs a staging area at the venue and a serving team, so it suits seated rooms with a program. Buffets suit rooms that want to move. We will tell you which fits your space once we see the request.

What does dinner catering cost per person?

Dinner starts at $15 per person as the floor from our request form. Appetizers add from $11 and dessert from $6. Give us your budget per person and the headcount and we build the menu to that number.

Do you cater rehearsal dinners and anniversary dinners at home?

Yes. Dinners for 20 to 40 in a private home are the kind of job we like. We bring the serving pieces, set up in your kitchen or dining room and clear when the meal is done.

How far ahead should a holiday dinner be booked?

December dates start going in October. Two weeks is the minimum for any dinner, but holiday weekends need more. Send the date as soon as you have it and the menu can follow.

All nine questions

Two ways to start.

Know your date, headcount and menu direction? Send the short form and we will call you. Prefer to give us everything at once? Use the full catering request.

Tasteful Expectations, LLC.
647 E Market Street
Akron, OH 44304 330.573.2738 Tastefulexp1@gmail.com
Every request gets a reply within three to five business days.