Skip to main content
Weddings
ARE YOU A VENDOR?

The Good Fork Reviews

The Good Fork

The Good Fork

Independence, OH
View more information

Reviews

3.4 out of 5 rating
3.4 out of 5 rating
13 Reviews
69% recommend it
Write a review
  • Quality of service
    3.4 out of 5 rating
  • Average response time
    3.3 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    3.4 out of 5 rating
  • Value
    3.7 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    3.4 out of 5 rating
Write a review
  • User2426298 Sent on 11/14/2015
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    We've had the chance to eat meals prepared by Chef Mary and The Good Fork on a couple occasions. Chef Mary is truly an artist with food.. to see them prepare a meal and set it on the table; it looks so amazing, I even took a picture. I never knew what a caper berry was until I ate with The Good Fork, and now they are one of my favorite ingredients. really a joy, thanks Chef!
  • M
    Melissa Sent on 07/22/2013
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    WOW! If you are looking for a delicious, fresh and evervescent menu; an amazingly friendly, courteous and detail-oriented catering staff; and a creative, inspired & talented Chef, then you have found the right place!

    Chef Mary Wills and her staff prepared and delivered an amazing 50th Wedding Annivsary Party meal for 40 guests.

    From "soup to nuts" The Good Fork made our party planning process so easy and enjoyable!
  • C
    Christina Sent on 07/17/2013
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    Chef Mary catered my rehearsal and wedding dinners. She was absolutely the best vendor I worked with! She even made the wedding party a beautiful breakfast for the day of. Everyone loved the food! It's definitely not your typical wedding food. She serves fresh, light, and unique dishes. All of my guests thought she was friendly, fun and professional. I wouldn't go with anyone else! Absolutely loved her, her husband, and her assistant! :)

    The Good Fork's reply:

    A BIG Thank you Christina! What a wonderful experience working with you all! All our Best! ~The Good Fork
    • illustration stars

    Are you interested?

    Send a message
  • W
    Wendy Sent on 03/04/2016
    4.9 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      4.5 out of 5 rating
    We hired Chef Mary Wills and the Good Fork Catering for a December 2015 wedding reception in Kirtland Hills. She and her staff were friendly and very professional! I love her use of local farms; specifically Red Basket Farm in Kinsman..we live close by there and are thankful of her support of the farm to table movement. The assistant event planner, Cathy, was pivotal in planning this wedding reception from out of state! Always very knowledgable and available for phone conference, we appreciated the effortless open communication. We loved the Verterra Dinner Plates that Chef Mary suggested made from fallen leaves for the event also---these were just stunning and added so much to the lovely atmosphere this company created for us. I will recommend The Good Fork for any upscale event and am encouraging all of my friends and family in the area to contact them as well. We truly could not have asked for a better caterer.
  • J
    Joe Sent on 07/03/2013
    4.9 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      4.5 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    Chef Mary was very thorough and made sure we had everything we wanted on a budget we could afford. And the food was excellent.

    The Good Fork's reply:

    Thank you, Joe! It was great working with you! We absolutely respect clients working within a budget and were happy to provide you with excellent service! Best to you and your new wife! ~The Good Fork
  • User1174966 Sent on 05/26/2013
    4.8 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    The food was very fresh and well prepared and received many good comments from guests. I was most impressed with the quality of the staff that worked during the reception itself. They were professional yet very friendly and quite efficient at what they do.

    The Good Fork's reply:

    Thank you! We are very attentive to the highest level of local quality ingredients as well as the whistle while we work service staff we hire for your event! Thank you again, we are glad that we could be apart of your first meal together as a married couple! Best, The Good Fork
  • A
    Amanda Sent on 09/24/2013
    4.6 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    chef mary & her team executed everything we had arranged with ease. the food was great and the service was quick and friendly. i would recommend her to any of my friends!
  • T
    Tiffany Sent on 11/06/2015
    4.1 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      3.5 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      3.5 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      4.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      4.5 out of 5 rating
    We wanted a locally grown, organic meal for our wedding reception, but were very constricted on budget. Thankfully, we found Chef Mary! She worked with us on a menu and everything turned out fantastic! The food was delicious, and most of our guests gave us several compliments on choices which were varied enough to meet all dietary needs. The staff was friendly and courteous and made sure that my husband and I were taken care of. Negatives: Some things on our contract were left out and other things were brought that we asked to not be used. We had some difficulty getting a hold of someone at The Good Fork to answer questions in the months leading up to the day. Overall, the food was exactly what we wanted and that was the most important thing for us in a caterer. Everyone had something to eat and there were no major issues.
  • User2401261 Sent on 10/30/2015
    2.4 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      2.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      3.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      3.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      3.0 out of 5 rating
    I initially had high hopes because I thought I was getting a great catering service for the money. We had 116 guests so it came out to a reasonable price. However, we were told it would be a "whimsical" buffet, but on the day of the wedding there were only serving platters on the table without decorations. It looked so bad :( A white table cloth and dishes basically. We were also suppose to have 2 lines at the buffet, but the caterer made it so there was only 1. That delayed guests in getting their dinner promptly. Also, the chicken was dry. We were promised ciabatta bread service, ice tea, and lemonade. None of that was there. They also left a lot of items we had to pick up afterwards: coffee maker, mason jars and utensils. Overall disappointed. Would recommend spending a little more money because you get what you pay for.
  • S
    Staci Sent on 05/12/2017
    1 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    STAY AWAY! This caterer ruined a beautiful wedding a few weeks ago. Didn't serve all the tables food, left before desert, didn't bring desert plates and didn't clean up. She refuses to make good on the contract. Horrible shame. My sister is the contract holder.
  • R
    Rachel Sent on 05/15/2017
    1 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    I decided to hire The Good Fork because I was looking for something "different" for my wedding day. We wanted farm- to -table style with really simple but delicious food. When we first began researching, The Good Fork had good reviews, reasonable cost, and seemed to offer just that, so we signed a contract. Our wedding was 150 people.
    Once our contract was signed, things started to fall apart. Communication was very difficult. Emails would be responded to VERY slowly and often did not address half the questions we asked. Sometimes the Chef would respond, sometimes her business partner, and the two never seemed to communicate with eachother. When it came time for our tasting, it was canceled the day before- meaning our families, who were traveling from out of town, could no longer attend. Our "contract" was copy and pasted in emails with no consistency- when we reviewed the contract to make our final payment, half of the items were missing and had to be re-discussed. Communication got so bad that I started to doubt the Good Fork's ability to pull my wedding off. I even had a "back up plan" in case they didn't even show up!
    Unfortunately all the issues we had on the actual wedding day do not fit in this space, but there were problems with food service, bar service, food quality/quantity, etc. The result of all of this was a bride crying on her wedding night. When all the issues were brought up, we were offered a very small refund, the amount did not even account for all the money we lost in alcohol, rentals, and desserts not being served. Chef Mary knows how to cook well, but The Good Fork could not execute a wedding. I really regret hiring the Good Fork and wish I had shopped around more before signing the contract.
  • J
    Jessica Sent on 06/18/2017
    1 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      0.5 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      0.5 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      0.5 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      3.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      0.5 out of 5 rating
    This company was horrible. My wedding was May ‘15 and I am still remembering the awful experience that I had. I thought I had struck gold when I found The Good Fork. The menu that was put together was exactly what I was looking for, and reasonable in price. I should have reconsidered when no contract or paperwork was mentioned, but this was one of my first vendors I had any experience with. Several months before the wedding, I got an email from The Good Fork, which alluded they had never received my deposit. When I responded and told them I had for a fact paid, I was asked to provide proof of my check for payment. After a trip to my bank, and providing proof to them, they replied "Oh yes, we found that you in fact paid." WHAT?!? You can't keep track that I paid you thousands of dollars and made me prove I had in fact paid you?! After that debacle, when asked for the remaining balance before the wedding, I pulled together my own contract from emails we had exchanged. When I asked Chef Mary to meet me to exchange the final deposit amount instead of mailing and to sign my contract, I was told by Chef Mary that this was extremely unusual, and no one had ever asked this of her. On the day of my wedding, I was worried that The Good Fork would even show up. They showed up, but there were no shortage of problems. The plates that I had paid extra for (wooden, recycled plates), were warped, I had paid for hor d'oeuvres, which didn’t even have any plates for guests to serve themselves, and guests were told to put hummus on their napkins. When pressed how I liked everything, and I told Chef that I was disappointed, she then proceeded to tell me my grandfather "assaulted" her by putting his hands on her shoulders. Never any follow up or apology for the complete unprofessional behavior or the many issues that occurred on my wedding day.
  • M
    Megan Sent on 07/14/2017
    0.8 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      0.5 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      0.5 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      1.5 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      0.5 out of 5 rating
    When it comes to food, Chef Mary knows her stuff. I was looking for something different for my wedding and I found it. The ingredients were fresh, the plates were creative and I appreciated the passion she has for her work and growing business. The planning and communication process leading up to my wedding is where I struggled the most. The emails were slow, really slow and when I would get responses, only half of my requests would be addressed or they would be done so incorrectly. I had to piece together my own contract and constantly read line by line to ensure the correct items were updated. In one e-mail a catering manager would respond and in another, Chef would respond and it seemed as though they were not communicating with each other in the process. When I called, Chef Mary always answered, which left me to wonder if the "catering manager" was even a real person. It was all very bizarre and it made planning VERY stressful. My tasting that was confirmed after the chef previously cancelled the day of, was missed a 2nd time because 'they wrote down the wrong day'. They did address and remedy the situation but it did make me question the organization of the business and my decision to use them for my big day. On the day of the wedding, the food was delicious and our guests enjoyed the food but my "whimsical horderve display" was compromised of items they were lucky my venue had on hand and they cleared the plates and silverware before my cake was cut. My guests were left to napkin their desserts and eat with their fingers due to lack of plates and utensils. They left one girl to clear all 20 tables and collect whatever items the rest of the team left behind. The venue security officer felt so bad, he ended up helping her carry the large items that she had to pack into her personal vehicle at the end of the night. I would never work with them again and would steer those who are looking away.