An open house feeds people in waves. The menu has to too.
A graduation party is not one meal, it is four hours of people arriving in groups, eating a plate, and making room for the next group. The food has to hold, the line has to restock itself, and there has to be enough at hour three for the cousins who come late. We build graduation menus around that rhythm.
Hot buffets in chafing service, taco bars and loaded potato bars, grazing tables for the standing crowd and a custom graduation cake decorated to the school colors, all from the same kitchen. Dessert cups and bars are easy to carry around a backyard.
Open house season is short and every family picks the same three weekends. Send the date as soon as the school announces commencement.
Cups, bars and brownies that survive an open house.
See more from real eventsEight high schools, two universities, and three weekends in June.
Akron Public Schools graduates from eight high schools: Buchtel, East, Ellet, Firestone, Garfield and North, plus Akron Early College and the National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM school. Add St. Vincent St. Mary, Hoban, Our Lady of the Elms and Walsh Jesuit in Cuyahoga Falls, and the open houses stack up across Ellet, Firestone Park, Goodyear Heights, West Akron and the Falls on the same Saturdays in late May and June.
The University of Akron, with about 15,000 students, sends its graduates home in May, and Kent State’s 26,000 student campus is ten miles up Route 59. College parties run a little later and a little bigger.
Backyards do most of the work. When the yard is too small, families book a shelter: Pioneer at Goodyear Heights Metro Park and Hilltop at Cascade Valley inside the city, Munroe Falls, Silver Creek in Norton and Wood Hollow in Hudson just outside. A shelter has no kitchen and sometimes no power, so tell us which one on the request form and we plan the hot food around it.
What comes with it.
The buffet
Hot entrees and sides in chafing service that hold for four hours and restock without anyone from the family leaving the party.
Taco bar or potato bar
Build your own stations that teenagers and grandparents both line up for, with the toppings staged and refilled.
The cake
A custom graduation cake in the school colors, plus dessert cups and bars that travel around a backyard.
Shelter and backyard setup
Tables, linens and serving pieces for a site with no kitchen, planned around the power and water that are actually there.
This place offers ALL of your catering needs. I don't believe there is anything she can't provide for you. I have had SO many meals and attended SO many events. The Taste of the City (Akron) she provided so many great "samples". An outdoor hibachi grill party with all the trimmings, steak, shrimp, chicken, rice, fresh vegetables also one of my favorites. The taco bar and loaded potatoes are great for staff meetings. The seafood is always top quality, the largest shrimp! The desserts made from scratch are amazing. Cakes, cheesecakes, individual desserts, it doesn't end. Give them a try! Best prices around with professional service.
Ava WalkerGoogle review, a year ago
Before you book.
How far ahead should a graduation party be booked in Akron?
As soon as the school posts the commencement date. The last two weekends of May and the first three of June book across every school at once. Two weeks is the minimum, but open house season needs more.
How much food do you plan for an open house where people come and go?
More than a sit down meal and spread across the whole window. We plan by your guest list and the length of the party, and stage a second pan behind anything that goes fast.
Can you deliver to a Metro Parks shelter or a church hall?
Yes. Shelters have no kitchen and sometimes no power, so we bring the hot food in chafing service with the tables and linens. Tell us the shelter name on the request form and we plan around what is there.
Can the cake match the school colors?
Yes. Custom cakes are made in house and decorated to the school, the year or the next school the graduate is heading to. Dessert cups and bars in the same colors are easy to add.
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.
647 E Market Street
Akron, OH 44304 330.573.2738 Tastefulexp1@gmail.com
Every request gets a reply within three to five business days.