Catering by Jonathan Byrd's

Best of Weddings (3x)

Central Indiana

About this vendor

At Catering by Jonathan Byrd’s, we want to make your big day unforgettable. Using only the freshest meats and produce—mixed with unique ingredients and seasonings—our culinary staff creates masterful dishes that are as delicious as they are artful. With fine cuisine and the kind of white glove service that comes from more than a quarter of a century of hospitality expertise, our experienced wedding specialists and trained professional staff will make your wedding day everything you’ve envisioned.

Details

Cuisine

American
BBQ
Italian
Mexican
Specialty

Dietary Options

Dairy Free
Gluten Free
Nut Free
Organic
Vegan
Vegetarian

Food & Catering

Buffet
Catering Clean Up
Catering Delivery & Setup
Chef Stations
Family Style
Menu Tastings

Awards and Affiliations

4.3

out of 5.0

41 reviews

Search reviews

11/20/2023 • Elizabeth C

Jonathan Byrd's catered our wedding last month & they did a wonderful job! They were easy & seamless to work with from the start (our initial event manager was always quick to respond & answer any questions we had), their food at both our tasting AND the wedding was fantastic for a buffet, and the staff members who worked our wedding were attentive & polite! I would definitely recommend JB's for anyone looking for a quality caterer with a variety of menu items!

6/26/2023 • Megan B

The only reason I am giving them a two star review instead of a one star review is because the food was so good. This was literally their only saving grace. Jonathan Byrd's service is lacking. The people meant to work with you are not accommodating AT ALL to people who work 9-5. I am a full time graduate student, and my (now) husband is an engineer, but JB's woudn't accommodate our schedules, and would only meet with us in the middle of the afternoon. This middle of the afternoon meeting took place a week after JB's cancelled our original appointment with less than 24 hours notice. We had pushed our meeting date back, so that we could find a time that was suitable for us (it was on a Saturday, which we had to keep asking for a weekend or weeknight meeting time). This put us very very close to our wedding date, and we still didn't have the details figured out. THEN we get our updated quote to find out it had been increased by $2000. We understand that food prices change, but $2000 is ridiculous. Apparently, they did not quote the price for appetizers in our initial quote. So, we had to find ways to bring our price back down to something we were able to afford -- based on what we had assumed we would be paying with the original quote. I know that quotes change as more information is provided, and the date gets closer to the wedding, but this was a HUGE oversight that could have been avoided if the numbers had been given to us earlier in the process. On top of this, our contact at JB's offered us a few options for bar placement, including moving bars in between locations at the venue. She informed us that this had been done before, and it was her idea to do this in the first place. A few days later, I get an email stating they cannot do this, it was never an option, and then added on an extra bar for us to pay for -- a grand total of 3 bars (each at $500 a pop), and we asked that two of those bars be removed. She kept pressuring us to have two bars at least with the amount of guests we were expecting; thankfully, we did not do this. According to our guests, there was no wait time at the bar, and few people actually drank. We also had decided, to cut costs, that we would use plasticware for our plates, but to class it up, we wanted to have real silverware and linen napkins on the tables. The guests would then pick up their plates at the buffet. This had been stated very clearly in person, and in MULTIPLE emails. (I also need to point out that the contact at JB's would constantly send us emails asking us questions about the venue which we had no answer to -- but she had been contacting the venue at this point). We get to the reception, and there is no silverware on the tables. There were linen napkins, but plastic cutlery rolled in paper napkins at the buffet. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue. However, we had made it very clear that this was important to us, and after so many problems leading up to the wedding with this vendor's service, I had had it. I will admit that the day of servers, and those who did set up and tear down did an amazing job. They were very kind, helpful, and kept things running smoothly as much as they could. Our contact at JB's had given the day of servers the wrong timeline for our reception -- again something we had sent in a previous email -- and that did take things out of order, but I do not blame the day of staff. They were following what they had been given by the person we had been in contact with.

7/15/2022 • Danielle B

Easy to work with, plenty of staff available to help and the food was great!

11/18/2021 • Amy R

The food was phenomenal! The only not-so-great thing we could say about it was that the chicken was just a little dry at our buffet but still had so much flavor. If that's the worst thing I could say about it, I'd say they were pretty perfect. Some of our guests even said it was the best wedding food they'd had! Obviously, I wish I could have taken the left overs home because of how great it all was, but that's not their fault, that's the health and safety issue of buffets. I would absolutely recommend them for catering!

10/09/2021 • Stephanie P

Food the day of was great, and the staff at my wedding did an amazing job. Day of - 5 stars for sure! The only reason I am giving 4 stars is because at times they were slow to respond to emails and because I had to book them before tasting any food. I was also planning my wedding during peak covid times (engaged Jan 2020 and married June 2021) so could have been a function of the timing. I believe they used to host on site open houses to do tastings before booking, which I would have definitely taken advantage of if I could have. But ultimately I got great food at a great price, so very happy with the result!

9/28/2021 • Lindsey H

The food was amazing, the wait staff and the bartenders were so friendly and attentive, and the price was super affordable. They were very accommodating for some requests we had to switch out a few liquors with other items and even allowing us to add beverage glitter to cocktails. The communication from their corporate staff was less than stellar. There were numerous communication issues, things not being quoted the way we asked, lack of response to our venue without me getting involved, trying to deter us from having a cake bar rather than a tall tiered cake. Unfortunately, as the bride, I had to reach out to them with less than 48 hours before our wedding because they wouldn't respond to our venue or give them the certifications they required. They also gave our venue a hard time about the required certifications.

5/23/2021 • Megan S

Jonathan Byrd’s did amazing! The food was perfect, from our cocktail hour to dinner! Everyone raved about our taco bar. I am so glad we decided to use them. I would recommend them to anyone looking for an affordable caterer!

2/16/2021 • Jennifer W

Food was average, but a good price. We had to cancel our reception due to state mandates on gathering sizes and they did not offer even a partial refund. They said we can use them at another time, but we won't be able to have 150 people together in the anytime near future. If they had already ordered the food, I could understand no refund, but we canceled well in advance. Displeased.

11/15/2020 • Mackenzie S

Jonathan Byrd's was a pleasure to work with for our wedding. We received lots of compliments from our guests regarding the food. They also served my husband and I our food first, rather than having us go through the buffet line, which was great. Would highly recommend Jonathan Byrd's.

10/20/2020 • Sierra K

All our guests loved the food! They said it was some of the best food they have had at a wedding. I also found them to be very affordable. Thanks guys!

5/26/2020 • Evonne D

We had a wonderful time working with Jonathan Bryd Catering. They have been in business for quite some time and we felt at easy after our first meeting. They worked with us on our budget and can I say the food was delicious. We had so many compliments and the staff was amazing!

11/15/2019 • Grace R

I have mixed feelings. Let’s start off with the food itself. It’s good! Our tasting went well and we loved the food, so we chose them. On our wedding day everyone raved about the food and they took the time to serve my husband and I first by bringing us our food at the head table which was super nice of them. So I would give 5 stars based on that however This is where I have my complaints. Customer service is not very good from their office team. I had multiple issues communicating my wants and needs to their event managers and had to message 2-3 different event managers during the year of planning the wedding. So each time I got different pricing/ numbers on my invoice and felt like I had to tell them multiple times that it wasn’t correct. Finally 2 weeks before the wedding the last event manager I spoke with didn’t contact me to let me know that I would have to talk to a different event manager once again to give my final guest count so once again I had issues with getting my order correct. Their receptionist cussed me over the phone saying “I have when they do this shit. They need to communicate with you better”. Super unprofessional! I hope this review helps: GREAT FOOD. BAD CUSTOMER RELATIONS.

10/15/2019 • Patricia F

Planning was easy with the knowledgeable staff. I appreciated the flexibility with menus. Service was professional and we heard many compliments on the food.

8/06/2019 • Vicki S

First the positives: The food prepared for us for the tasting was extremely good. The chicken was the best I’ve ever eaten. At the wedding the food was very good but just not as good as I remembered from the tasting. They did a wonderful job setting up the dining area and the cocktail area. Everything looked very nice. Now the negative: I told them one of the bridesmaids has a severe peanut allergy and asked if they could accommodate that. She said that they deal with that a lot and it’s no problem. Then a couple weeks before the wedding, I decided to double check about the peanut issue. I was then told in an email that “We can make sure we make the food with no peanuts however I do need to advise you we are not an allergy free kitchen. This means we have peanuts in our kitchen. If she has a severe peanut allergy we do recommend she brings her own meal.” Thank God I double checked otherwise there could have been a tragic end to the wedding day. Also, at the initial meeting when asked how many people they would be catering for, I told them the total amount of people I was inviting and that I’ve heard about 20 % of those invited don’t attend. So I said no more than 150 people and probably around 120 or so would probably be there. She had the count down as 150 which was the total number of guests invited. She didn’t advise me at that time to have her write down a lower guest count because there was a charge if I went below 20% of the estimated amount of people that would attend. She never mentioned an extra charge if the guest count was below 20%. I had read through the contract quickly and didn’t catch the sentence “This Minimum Guarantee can NOT decrease more than 20% from the guest count on the initial signed contract. *For Wedding guidelines, see below under WEDDING BOOKINGS”. Under Wedding Bookings it doesn’t mention anything about a minimum guarantee or an extra charge. They state in the contract that you can’t go below this minimum guest count but it doesn’t state what happens if you do. They charged me an extra fee of $483.00 for going below 20% of the contracted guest count! From what I understand from the wedding planner, they had at least a 2 week notice that the guest count was lower. I’m not sure if they can legally charge me an extra fee since it’s not in the contract but I felt I had no choice but to pay it. I had talked with the event manager at Jonathan Byrd and explained why I thought the charge was unfair. She seemed sympathetic and said she would pass along my concerns but I never heard anything back from upper level management. I would have thought that they would have wanted to come to a compromise on the extra charge just to keep the customer & wedding planner happy and prevent any bad will. I feel that for future clients, they need to highlight this area of the contract so that clients are more aware of this charge and how much it will be. They should also advise clients to give a lower estimate of the guests they think will come to help prevent an extra charge. Also, the waiters could have done a better job. I waited with my water glass empty for at least 10 minutes at lunch before getting up to refill it myself. I noticed a couple of other people did the same.

3/30/2019 • Paige C

Our catering experience for our wedding was absolute amazing. They worked often with our venue, Balmoral House, and knew exactly where to setup, how to setup, and handled all the communication with the venue and did not need me to mediate it. The food was absolutely amazing. We had the rosemary mustard chicken, ale braised sirloin, asparagus, chef salad, roasted red potatoes, and the four cheese macaroni. It was perfect for all our guests, kids, non-meat eaters, and adults. We had our meal served buffet style and the staff released the table at our reception on their own and offered personal drink service at each table. They had my husband & I's plates already made and after my father prayed, they immediately brought us our own plates, which was very nice. Absolutely amazing experience!

10/27/2018 • Abby R

Jonathan Byrd's is fantastic, and I thoroughly enjoyed working with Jennifer. They are on-time, responsive, and super helpful. Not only did they do our reception food (we have gotten so many compliments on the food, especially the mac n cheese!), they also coordinated a delicious Italian meal for our rehearsal dinner. Amazing food that's affordable, and a company that's well-run and supports the community. We couldn't have asked for a better caterer!

9/17/2018 • Amber B

Jonathan Byrd’s was the best! We chose a buffet for a more affordable option, but still recieved so many compliments on how delicious the food was! The bartenders were great, friendly, and attentive to everyone.

6/25/2018 • Ann V

We used Jonathan Byrd's for our wedding and I was a little disappointed. I'll start with the good things first though. The planning process was efficient. The food is amazing and it's a good value as well. I think it'd be difficult to find something better around Indy. Here are my grievances.. We paid additional for a full bar and paid to extend the serving time. They ran out of beer with 3 hours left on our bar and no one has contacted me from the company to apologize. We paid for a full open bar, but we did not have a full open bar.

6/11/2018 • Amy C

Working with Jonathan Byrd's was an INCREDIBLE experience. We had a wedding of about 175 with a buffet. They dismissed tables and everyone went through smoothly and quickly. Guests were raving about the food, and I even had a couple people come up to me and thank me for using JB's. They were easy to work with, responsive to e-mails, and seemed very knowledgeable in the wedding industry. I would have given them 5 stars except they ran out of A LOT of booze more than an hour before our reception was over.

5/15/2018 • Aimee B

I’m happy that I used this caterer. They were great! Very accommodating as I kept changing things up until the last couple of days. They work really well with you and they keep you informed about anything changes that may need to be made. There was just a little thing that wasn’t worth 5 stars and that’s just that they didn’t set any plates or anything next to the appetizers during the cocktail hour. But I had a guest ask about plates and they brought them out. But other than that it was great and the food was really good and appealing.

1/23/2018 • David P

Fantastic experience from beginning to end. We live in Chicago, but our wedding was in Indy, and we couldn't get to town for the scheduled tastings. They were able to set up a tasting for us on a day we were in town (not the normal procedure), and were very accommodating. At the reception, the food was exactly like what we tasted, which I honestly did not expect. We got a bunch of compliments on the quality of the food from people who I wouldn't expect to compliment catered food. My mother-in-law has severe food allergies, and Jonathan Byrd's brought a meal especially for her. The service was great too. I literally didn't have to do a thing, which allowed me and my wife to enjoy the evening. I would highly recommend Jonathan Byrd's, not just for the service and quality of the meal, but the price as well. Fantastic value here.

11/19/2017 • Rebecca B

We did the buffet and basic open bar. We also used their linens and did the fine china option. The guests felt there was enough food at the buffet and thought everything tasted outstanding. We had their famous fried chicken and pork chops that were tasty. Jennifer and Amanda were wonderful to work with, always pleasant and understanding. The table linens and napkins were beautiful. It was definitely worth paying extra for floor length linens. Jennifer thought of everything down to asking me to put a smiley face on the 3 kid escort cards so the staff would know who to deliver the kids meals to. Jennifer also helped me arrange adding a cloth for our unity candle last minute. Our DJ took our order and the Jonathan Byrd's staff members delivered our plates right to us so that we had more time to eat. All the staff members were smiling and many family members and friends commented on how nice and helpful the bartender was all night. My husband and I enjoyed the group tasting that was offered a couple months before the wedding that confirmed we were making an excellent catering choice. The only thing that did not go as planned was they arrived slightly later than expected, but were quick to unload and have all the linens in place so we could finish our decorating.

11/11/2017 • Lauren E

BEST WEDDING FOOD EVER!!! Jonathan Byrd's was the perfect choice for our wedding on 9.30.17. I can't tell you how many compliments I have gotten on this food ya'll - people old and young, from the area and from states all over the U.S. - every guest we've spoken to said they've never had better! Jennifer was awesome to work with (even when my parents bugged her about every detail!) she gave us everything we wanted and it all turned out perfectly! Thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of our hearts, it was amazing!

10/07/2017 • Taylor V

Jonathan Byrd's was the only caterer we tasted before choosing them for our wedding. We were impressed with the food at the group tasting we attended- way better quality than any weddings we had been to! Staff were very helpful along the way in settling all the details of our package. The day of the wedding, the food was just as wonderful and we received lots of compliments. Staff did a great job of making sure we always had drinks throughout the night and saved us some hors doeuvres since we were taking photos during cocktail hour. We did have some minor issues such as staff closing the bar prior to our contract time and throwing away all of our remaining cake. When I contacted them via email afterwards, it felt like my concerns were dismissed with no offer to repair or refund these mistakes. Overall we still recommend Jonathan Byrd's and we're very happy with the food, but wish the customer service following the event was improved.

9/16/2017 • jennifer S

During the process to find a caterer I liked and that would bring food to my venue I found Jonathan Byrd Catering. They were nice to work with and spent time with me going over details of my big day. When the day finally came, none of the details I had specified were put into place. I had asked for a separate plate for my sister with severe food allergies and it was left on the truck and she did not get it until after I hunted someone down to get it. After we cut our cake, we had to walk across our entire venue to tell the team to start cutting the rest of the cake. They were to cut the whole cake as each tier was a different flavor and one was for a certain guest at our wedding. They only cut the middle tier and served that, they cut all of the icing off the bottom tier and maybe a half inch of cake and served that. It left the rest of the bottom of the cake as a big lump with no icing. And then they boxed up the top tier. They also set the buffet table inside the venue when it was specifically stated to be outside under the tent. When I asked why the champagne hadnt been poured for any toasts my maid of honor told her that the wait staff said the bride (myself) asked that we wait to pour it, which had never happened. All of these things were written down on a banquet order that I signed my name to and took time away from my job to go over with the JB event staff. When I asked the onsite manager the night of my wedding why none of this was followed, he replied with "oh I'm sorry, we didn't know". I then contacted the caterer after all this had occurred and it took them a day to respond saying my concerns were being forwarded to the general manager and the operations manager. A week later they emailed me and issued a half hearted apology and promised it would never happen again. They did not ask any further questions and it felt like none of my concerns were actually addressed. We paid good money for not only the food, but the service and we did not get what we paid for. I would not recommend them to any friends or family. The only good thing they provided was food, as there was no problems with it and it was exactly what I had expected.

6/14/2017 • Jordan J

This catering place is absolutely wonderful! Jennifer Steffey was so attentive and awesome. She always answered your questions right away and looked out to make sure that you got the best deal possible. The entire staff was very attentive at the wedding the food was to die for. You can do a tasting before your wedding day and from then on I knew we would have full bellied by the end of the night. The linens were done to a tee and did i mention how good the food was? I'm a food snob and it exceeded my expectations. Thank you again for such a great food experience and for making my day that much more enjoyable.

6/30/2014 • Katie K

All of our guests have RAVED about our food for weeks! Everyone said it was the BEST wedding food they had ever had! Our wedding was in Greenfield, IN, and even coming from Greenwood- the food was absolutely delicious! They did a wonderful job with the set up and they provide more than enough food for your guests! For apps, we had shrimp cocktail shooters, salsa station, and mini pizzas- all super yummy! For dinner we went with Italian salad, glazed carrots, southern style green beans, red potatoes, mac'n'cheese, lemon pepper chicken, and roast beef au jus. Everything was amazing!! We would highly recommend Jonathan Byrd's and all of the food we chose!!

10/29/2013 • alaina R

The food was amazing. We got so many compliments! I loved the "home cooked" feel to the food and everyone was stuffed!

7/29/2013 • Marissa M

Jonathan Byrd's did an excellent job of making our day beautiful and special. I never had to worry about anything being taken care of-- they set up everything exactly as I asked and invisioned. The staff is very friendly and VERY experienced. This is a very affordable, elegant venue and many of our guests said they were surprised with how nice and DELICIOUS the food was!!

5/07/2013 • Cindy B

One of the most important parts of my reception was to have great food. I found it here. The cost per head for what you get is superb. I also held my reception in their reception hall. A class act.

9/19/2012 • adrien s

food and service excellent

6/18/2012 • Susan S

The food was absolutely everything we wished for and then some. However, they did damage the cake getting it out of the truck. They tried to fix it the best they could, but it was still messed up. Also the cake had wavey lines on it and it looked like a 5 year old did it. Wished they would have told me it was not working out so well so I could have changed it to something they could have done better.

6/04/2012 • Abby G

We had a great experience with Jonathan Byrd's as our caterer..the food was great and was still HOT by the time everyone had arrived at the reception. My only qualm with our caterer was that some of our information was "lost" after an employee left the company...which put us in a bind about two weeks before the wedding (the only reason why I gave them 4 stars).

1/03/2012 • Elizabeth B

I hadn't heard of many receptions at this venue, but once I went to tour, I was in love. Their banquet hall is tucked away in the back of the building, with its own separate entrance and beautiful entry way with fireplace. It worked perfect for our wedding of approx. 250 people. The staff was wonderful to work with and the night was perfect!

12/01/2011 • Michelle C

Jonathan Byrd's catering and staff were fantastic. The food was delicious, and the staff even stayed longer than they were originally supposed to since dinner service started later than expected. We had full china service and a buffet style dinner. Their prices are pretty reasonable for the amount of food and service we received. I would definitely recommend Jonathan Byrd's for anyone who is needing catering services.

11/02/2011 • Ginger A

Loved it!!

10/23/2011 • Jessica B

We had so many food choices for our guest! The food was so good! Yummy!

10/15/2011 • Lisa N

Food wasn't bad but it wasn't hot when we were served. We were just a little late getting to the reception but not more than 20 mins. They also didn't clean up the hall after the reception was over like they were supposed to. My family and bridal party had to.

9/28/2011 • Keri O

We fed 130 people for under $1000.00 with tons and tons of food and drink left over. There were six weddings already booked for the day of our wedding, but they worked with us and were able to make the food for pick-up and cut our costs more than the already low price. We would use them over and over again. We had people talking about our food weeks and weeks after the wedding!

5/31/2011 • Jeff M

Loved Jonathan Byrd's as our caterer! They really worked with us to get our price down to a minimum and made some exceptions that they didn't have to make. We are so glad their staff is professional and the food is great! The cake was awesome too!

5/27/2011 • Jen R

We loved our food Jonathan Byrds! It was fantastic. They did our cake too and it was the best cake ever! We had tons left over too! Everyone raved about our food.