The Arlington - Kensington, California

Mia D.

We worked with Marc for a Spring 2025 wedding at The Brazilian Room. Really appreciated his straightforward, no-nonsense way of doing business, and his willingness to get creative with us and accommodate our unconventional bar and seating setup, all while making sure we understood the risks in advance. We wanted a lowkey, no frills approach to catering with strong execution. Overall, I'd say we got that. The food exceeded our expectations.We also appreciated Marc's transparency around cost, which was refreshing, especially in contrast to the general "wedding industrial complex" and the insane premiums / hidden fees in the fine print of the contracts of the other caterers we spoke to. Felt good to support a local small business, would recommend!

Bruna L.

We worked with Marc at The Arlington for our summer 2024 wedding at the Brazilian Room. Marc responds quickly to emails and quickly set us up with a complimentary tasting, where he kindly explained all of the catering options. What I really appreciated about Marc and the rest of The Arlington team is that they’re very straightforward, no frills people. For example, they won’t try to sell extra “things” (i.e. napkin holders, more expensive silverware), but will definitely present you with the option if that’s what you want–they are not pushy at all, which was such a breath of fresh air relative to other caterers we considered working with. They will 100% work with you to meet your needs while sticking to your budget. In terms of food on our wedding day, everything tasted great and they were able to accommodate all dietary restrictions. They did a great job setting up and breaking down the reception and ceremony space, and we had a beautiful, stress-free wedding day!

Note: we tried another vendor with our friends and family and they said they preferred the Arlington’s food, even though the other vendor was ~1.5x as expensive.

Wanda

I couldn't have been more pleased with the catering services provided by The Arlington for a Celebration of Life at Fern Cottage in July 2024. There were about 60 guests at our gathering, and there were many very favorable comments about the food. The menu included lemon pepper chicken, almond herb crust salmon, vegan veggie curry, grilled vegetables, and mini brownies, cookies & lemon bars. The salmon in particular was a big hit, and everything was very fresh. The owner/chef Marc is extremely flexible, well organized, and very responsive to special requests. I kept the menu very simple to appeal to a wide range of taste, but I'm sure Marc can cater to more sophisticated tastes. He offers tastings of possible choices. The food on the day of the event exceeded my expectations. The staff who worked that day were also super efficient, friendly, and organized. I don't think you can find a better price at another caterer for this level of quality. All in all, highly recommended!

Vanessa P.

The Arlington catered our wedding at the Brazilian Room last weekend and I cannot recommend them more highly. In addition to being a phenomenal and creative chef, Marc was gracious with our many and growing dietary requests. Our menu was 100% vegan, and free of gluten, peanuts, and garlic - our guests were stunned to hear that there was no garlic in anything. Marc's energy ahead of time was just what we needed - organized, supportive, and exuding competence. The day-of team was friendly, hard-working, and just added such a sweet flow to the day. If you are considering The Arlington, do yourself a favor - book them today! You'll cross one massive item off your event to-do list (hire the caterer) and I promise you, you will not be disappointed. Thank you Marc, Lindsay, and team!!

Elizabeth G. C.

PICK THE ARLINGTON FOR YOUR WEDDING!!!!!! Marc and his team have done hundreds of events at the Temescal Beach House where we had our wedding, and it was so wonderful to be able to trust that they knew what they were doing and let them rock the event. Marc and his team set up our venue for the ceremony and for the reception which goes above and beyond what you can typically expect from catering staff. Marc is very flexible and works with you to make sure you get what you want in terms of food and beverage options and set up. The food was great during the tasting and great during the event. The bar staff was also helpful and friendly too! I can't recommend enough. Picking The Arlington was the best choice I made for our wedding and I'd pick them again every time.

Kathryn P.

We found the Arlington through our wedding venue (the Brazilian Room) for catering and could not have been happier with how our menu turned out! They were so collaborative and the food was excellent, our guests raved about it! We also appreciated how organized they were and how well they knew our venue. Mark and Trish helped us to know our event was in good hands! The catering staff made sure to take care of all of the guests and especially the bride & groom and we had a total blast!

Madi B.

Had such a great experience with the Arlington for our wedding at the Brazilian Room! We got so many compliments on the food, and the staff was very kind, professional, and easy to work with. We are very happy we went with them and would highly recommend them to others! Thank you Marc and your team for a wonderful night!

Michael Y.

Note: this is for The Arlington catering company, which operates out of the space the restaurant used to be in (but which is no longer open to the public). Don't go here expecting a restaurant or cafe. But definitely contact them if you need a good event caterer!

Marc and his team recently catered our wedding at the Temescal Beach House, where they are on the list of city-approved caterers. The food was delicious and his staff was very experienced--you can tell they've been doing this for a while! I'm sure they provide the same excellent service and delicious food at other venues too.

The Arlington had the best price quote of all the caterers on the official list, but the food was delicious and excellent quality. So many companies gouge for anything wedding-related, especially food. But Marc's pricing was quite reasonable for everything it included...and delicious! We got lots of compliments on the food.

Early on, Marc arranged a tasting for us and explained our different options. He also explained exactly what his team would provide (pretty much everything we needed) and gave us a contract with everything itemized. He also accommodated some special meals for a few guests who were vegan, gluten-free, or children.

As the date got closer we spoke regularly to ensure everything was in place and arrange the final details, and make a few last-minute changes to the seating plan Marc had suggested. We even had a special request for our desserts, which Marc and team handled wonderfully.

For the Beach House, Marc will give you an idea of a typical schedule, and typical ceremony/reception seating, and you can use that to build out your special day. They've obviously worked the Beach House room many times before and they helped make sure everything went smoothly, from being there on time to regularly checking in with us and making sure we got appetizers and dinner so we didn't go hungry/get hangry! 😀

I definitely recommend them...set up a tasting so you can see and taste things for yourself. (The bacon-wrapped dates are delicious!)