Hi Mark!  Thanks so much for the wonderful food and your general happy, chill, competent way of working.  You made the party great!

Karen

Corp holiday party HP

Over the top

Mark catered the memorial for my Father's can not begin to express how much I appreciated his calm demeanor. His food was wonderful and perfect for the occasion. On top of all of that he was prepared in case we had more people than we planned! We did and he handled it with class and with out a glitch. His staff was polite and filled in when and where they were needed. For an occasion that is a emotional as this was he was over the top perfect! The food..also amazing and perfect. I am still craving the meatballs, and those little artichoke crostini!! yum!
Katy King

Holiday gift ideas

WOW is all I can say here!

Chef Mark and staff are absolutely amazing!  They are professional and get the job done.

I found Mark's company randomly on the Internet.  I was looking for a caterer for my wedding and I had a budget in mind.  Mark's prices were very reasonable, his food ROCKS and the service is impeccable.  He truly made our event magical!

All our guests cannot stop talking about how AWESOME the catering staff was.

I don't write many reviews, but if you have a budget, want a GREAT Caterer that provides amazing food, as well as, excellent service, then look no further than Mark Gallagher at Affordable Chef services!

I would never hesitate to recommend him

Mark and his team recently catered my daughters wedding reception at our home in Capitola.  From beginning to end his relaxed nature + excellent execution + delicious food enabled the guests as well as the hosts to make the event memorable and relaxed at the same time.  His experience came in handy when planning the event and he took care of everything from start to finish.  My wife and I have thrown many parties over the years and this was the first where we called out for help and it was well worth it.  Thanks again to Mark and I would never hesitate to recommend him or call on him again.

Carl O

Warm and and professional

Hi Mark - I just wanted to thank you again for making our party so special.  The food was delicious, the presentation wonderful, and you and Chris were incredibly warm and and professional.  You guys were an integral part of everything yesterday.  I really hope we get the chance to work with you again.

Take care, Lynn

"above the pack"

I cant say enough how glad we were we found and chose Chef Mark to Cater for our wedding.It was clear from the first meeting how "above the pack" that they are. We had several comments from guests stating that this was the best wedding food they have had, by far.The food was only part of what made them great. The team they put together made everything happen and without worry from our side. We felt so comfortable, and didn't think about the service at all...as they handled everything delightfully.We didn't have a wedding planner/coordinator, but they certainly did more than their part to cover that area as well. They really helped us stay within budget and find creative ways to keep this up to the level of what we had hoped, for a reasonable cost

Set up done ( Fern river resort )

Not for everyone

                                           Thanks you Mark outstanding see you next year !

Cobble stone

Pain in the butt

I highly recommend Affordable Chef Services

Chef Mark and the Affordable Chef Services were a life saver.  We had our caterer back out two weeks before our event.  With less than two weeks to go Chef Mark was so accommodating to our needs.  We created a BBQ menu to feed approximately 200 people.  Not only was the food delivered on time in hot insulated food boxes, but it was delicious.  Everyone raved about the ribs.  I highly recommend Affordable Chef Services for your next event.

Great pictures

Thanks again for all you did!!

Hi Mark!

I wanted to thank you again for your service! The food was wonderful and you both were over the top! Ena really appreciated the "hands on care" at this time in her loss. We went to Big Sur and committed her husband's remains to a lovely waterfall and had lunch at Ventana's so Thanks again for all you did!!

Sabrina Dawson

Great Wedding Caterer

Chef Mark was very easy to work with and put together all of the details for our set-up/rentals and food without causing any stress! Our wedding day was fabulous and the food and service was better than we expected. Many of our guests complimented on how good the food was. Thanks Mark!

GROUPON

Hi Mark,

We all thoroughly enjoyed our dinner last night! You made it very special by showing us new techniques and dishes. Everything was beautiful and delicious. And we marvelled at how nice it was that you cleaned up so unobtrusively. You answered all our questions and served the food so beautifully. What a treat to have such an experienced and friendly chef come to our home.

To much food

This was a luxury

I had a post wedding party, for all our friends that could not travel to the actual wedding. From the planning to clean up, everything went perfectly. Chef Gallagher came out to my house ahead of time to see where the event would take place. We decided on a late afternoon/evening event. He suggested bistro tables and umbrellas which really gave our backyard a festive and classy look. He helped to with suggestions for the food and desserts. We had a station of cheese, crackers, breads, dips and suishi as well as passed appetizers. The staff who came out to my house, set up everything beautifully. The staff was friendly and professional and took care of everything from start to finish. This left me to relax beforehand and then enjoy our guests during the party. After everyone left, the staff not only cleaned up but had wrapped up all the left over food (there wasn't much)
and put it in the refrigerator. Afterwards there was nothing left for me to do, so after the party I sat down with my husband, son and his wife and we talked and laughed for a couple of hours. This was a luxury that I usually don't have after a party.

Bargetto winery wedding ...

Thank you! We are grateful for your services this weekend! Obviously, the food was a hit and the service from you and your staff was of very high quality. We are very pleased to have worked with you! Thank you for your amazing efforts & execution to help make our day truly perfect!

Again, it was a great pleasure working with you. We will email you a link to our photographs as soon as they are available. 

Many many thanks, again, to you and your staff! And best of luck with your busy wedding season ahead!

Best,

Katie Fountain

Great way to go out to dinner at home!

Had the best dinner last p.m. Chef Mark Gallagher, the Affordable Chef of Santa Cruz, came to our house & fixed dinner. Great way to go out to dinner at home! From the amazing fresh spring rolls, the baked Brie and on to the freshly picked garden salad & wonderful chicken breast stuffed with prosciutto & goat cheese, each course more delicious than the last...how could you help but be spoiled. Dessert...warm chocolate molten cakes with raspberry coulis...we were all smiling. Highly recommend that you do the same when you want to have a special moment in your home!

Mark was the best priced Private Chef

Mark is wonderful, what a gentleman he is and how responsive he was for my 50th birthday party event that he catered at my private home. Mark was the best priced Private Chef i could find; he was on time, did everything that he promised to do, was very respectful to my guests and his cooking was delicious. I loved his Belini bar specialty and his baked Salmon was a very special dish that i will remember for a long time.

When mark left my kitchen, it was cleaner than it was when he started. Everything washed and done so quietly as the party ended. My guests felt very special because of Mark and his staff.

I really recommend Mark and his staff to anyone wishing to throw a memorable party and who wished to feel like a princess all day long.

 

 

Great Job Mark

We recently held a birthday event for 50 people, catered by Affordable chef services. Mark and his staff were amazing. They took care of every detail small and large. They were at our home for 8 hours, to set up etc. When the party was over, they even "broke down" the whole thing, stacked dishes, cups, silverware back in their crates, piled all linens, stacked chairs, umbrellas, and tables, ready for the rental pick-up. I didn't expect that much help. My kitchen looked just as it did after Mark left. I would highly recommend him. The only thing I would change is to make the dishes more spicy, but other than that, wonderful!

Such a Sucess

  Hello Mark this is Cindy Henderson and you caterered Cassie and Luis's wedding this past Saturday. What a fantastic job you did everyone thought the food and everything looked fantastic and tasted great. Just wanted to let you know that when you guys left there were 2 green tubs sitting there so we put them in my husbands truck and he took them to Luis's house and when the kids arrive back from their honeymoon, I'm sure Luis will be contacting you about how to get these back to you. Just wanted you to know where they wound up and thanks again for making their wedding experience such a success kudos to you and your staff. Thanks again, Cindy Henderson...

Perfect service and hassle free

From our first meeting Mark . He offered my fiance and I a sample of his DELICIOUS menu (Crabcakes are Awesome!!!) and offered a lot of experienced advice on the colors / table layout / timeline of the wedding. As we were technically planning our wedding by ourselves, Mark acted not only as our caterer, but as a wedding planner also. He was so helpful in the preparation coming up to the wedding.

The day of the Wedding, everything went so smoothly. Many guests complimented us on the delicious food, how it was displayed.

If you are planning a wedding by yourself, and seem daunted by it….go to Mark!!!! And if you just want top quality food, perfect service and hassle free….go to Mark!!!”

Billy S.