La Mila Catering & Events

La Mila Testimonial: May 21, 2023

At 3:30am one morning, in total frustration after trying unsuccessfully for over six weeks to plan a Bar Mitzvah for our grandson who lives out of state, I googled “Top Event Planners in New Jersey” which led me to Bark. com. That’s how I found La Mila Catering and Event Planning. By 8 the next morning I had a proposal from owner Elie Hanna and we began talking and emailing several times a day. His first task was to find a unique venue to accommodate the 75 guests we thought would be attending. He found a charming place on the edge of a lake that I didn’t even know existed. Over time he also led us to additional remarkable key players: An award-winning professional Master of Ceremonies, DJ, photographer, hotel where out of town guests could stay over the weekend, etc., etc., etc.

As it turned out, to both our horror and delight, 130 people RSVP’d yes vs. the expected 75. I think everyone was tired of being cooped up because of Covid and only having an opportunity to gather for sad occasions, of which our family had recently experienced more than its fair share. Given that we had rented a smaller venue, this meant that Elie had to go into creative overdrive to devise a plan to keep guests occupied and happy outside after the ceremony while the interior, where the service was held, could quickly be transformed into “party city.” We lucked out with beautiful weather, but Elie was prepared, nonetheless, having attractively tented the adjoining porch where the cocktail party was to be held.

He also volunteered to arrive early the day of the Bar Mitzvah to powerwash the driveway and steam clean the entry carpets. In my opinion, both of these definitely fall under the category of “Service Well Above and Beyond Expectation.”

In addition, Elie personalized the “Kids’ Table” using our grandson’s name, added food items to the agreed upon menu at no extra charge (including one that was exceptionally pricey), and gave us all the leftovers at the end of the evening. And his Viennese dessert table literally hit it out of the ball park! You knew something special was happening as soon as you saw dry ice smoke wafting its way across the dance floor. It was coming from a rolling cart carrying a variety of frozen delights. This was followed by an attractively arranged, multi-layered table, topped with supervised orange flames our grandson and his friends could use to enjoy roasted marshmallows.

To put all this in context, Elie managed to pull all this off during the same month that he was building out a new location for his restaurant and had a full calendar of other catering commitments.

For anyone seriously considering engaging his services, it might be helpful to know that Elie even has a user-friendly online system which gently reminds you when payments are due and allows you to take care of your obligations simply and efficiently. Having the ability to spread out installments was appreciated, and the pricing was more than fair.

Debbie S More...

I placed a last minute order (24hrs) with La Mila and they were kind enough to take care of me and my 29 guests. The menu was great, the food was delicious, stellar communication from beginning to end. My food was delivered with complimentary warmers which helped a great deal. Thanks for everything, I highly recommend!! More...

Elie and his team did an amazing job with a celebration of life event that we planned. He was extremely courteous and very professional throughout the process. The food was tasty and divine and many people from the event loved the food that he had prepared. Food was healthy and tasty and the service was excellent. I highly recommend La Mila catering for their high quality food, exquisite taste, great customer service and professionalism. More...

La Mila and staff worked very hard and did an excellent job on our memorial service, made it memorable.
We hired La Mila about 2 months ago to set up the event. La Mila is very trustful, reliable, they always respond to our phone calls, text messages, they satisfied all our requests. They will do everything for you. They are attentive, caring, they have lots of energy, they get excited with your event, they set up your event like set up their own event. During the 2 months working with La Mila, I did not have any anxiety, because they always answer my calls and gave update on time. It was great working with La Mila. I will hire them again next time I have event. More...

La Mila Catering & Events is an awesome experience. Elie was so helpful and professional. The food and event was special and memorable. They went far beyond out of their way to make sure our event was successful. We'll work with them again and recommend them to any of our colleagues. if you want great food and drinks with an reliable and honest Catering Company look no further. They also can help with live entertainment. More...