Caterers & Banquet Hall Ratings

           Over the years I have D.J.ed many receptions and events, I have worked with many Caterers, Reception Halls and Banquet facilities and have had many experiences most good but some bad.  An experience not shared is lost.  I feel that it is my duty to share these experiences with you.  Please remember that these are my unbiased opinions; my only wish is that you keep these in mind when planning your special day.  

       Rating Scale:  (5) Best,   (3) Neutral,   (1) worst

              -Access to Independence Hall, Rootstown OH.  Rating (2)

           A nice hall for the people looking to save money, this hall has a bar area and kitchen area but you need to bring in your own food and drinks as well as bartenders.  The hall was clean as were the bathrooms.  A few of the light bulbs on the wall lights were burnt out.  They provide the tables and chairs but you will need to provide the table clothes and skirts.

              -Ali Baba Grotto, Warren, Ohio. Rating (2)

              This is a Shiner's hall that is just off Rt. 5, the hall itself is large enough to seat close to 175 people and has a nice large dance floor area.  There is a kitchen but your food will have to be catered in, the catering company that I dealt with at for this venue was the Buena Vista Cafe,(see their rating below),  If  you are looking for an inexpensive hall then this might be an option for you.  For events during the warmer months, there was a nice roofed patio area next to the hall and a nice big open yard / field next to the parking lot.

              -Antone's Banquet Hall, Boardman OH,  Rating (3)

                   A very nice full service hall, large room that was remodeled just s few years ago.  The room can be split into two separate banquet rooms with a dividing wall but you can still hear what is going on in the other room.  You may want to make sure that if there are two events going on and they divide the room that they turn of the overhead PA to your room so that you don't hear people talking on the microphone during your reception. The full service kitchen and cooks provided a very nice  presentation as well as the food being very good.  If you are using the whole room have them place the stage so that the middle post is not placed in front of the stage causing major echo from D.J. speakers.  D.J.s have to offset their systems on the stage to avoid the echo.  The staff is pleasant and easy to work with but for some reason  they do recommend that the Bride, Groom and bridal party eat before any of the guests arrive, ( not very traditional, but I guess this is how they do things in the Youngstown area  ). 

              -Atwood lake Lodge, Atwood Lake State Park, OH.  Rating (4)

                    A beautiful resort and banquet center, many different sized rooms for different needs.  Full service kitchen with chefs food is very good, supplied bars and bartenders provided.  Carpeted rooms with working fireplaces and wood dance floors, great view from main room of the lake.  Staff is very pleasant and easy to work with.

              -Aurora Inn, Aurora OH.  Rating (4)

                    A very elegant facility for smaller parties up to 130 or so people, full service kitchen with chefs that serve excellent food as well as stocked bars and bartenders.   The staff was very accommodating and easy to get along with .  Carpeted seating area,  large wood dance floor area, not to mention many rooms so that your guests don't have to travel and honeymoon suites.  They also put on a great New Years eve party and dinner that is open to the public with reservation.

             -The Bertrum, Aurora, OH. Rating (5)

                    This facility can handle all of your party, fundraising, or reception needs.  With multiple banquet rooms, one capable of holding over 700 guests, and a kitchen staffed with multiple chefs the bertrum can handle 2-3 events at once without a flaw.  The food from my recent night at the races fundraiser was excellent and very well presented.  The staff was very easy to work with and seemed to willing to help the guests and myself with whatever was needed.  Plenty of parking was available and was within a short walking distance of the entrance.  Overall this facility presented the guests with a great evening.

             -Birch view Banquet Center, Northfield, OH.  Rating (4)

                    This facility is capable of taking care of all your wedding day needs.  The hall has a full service kitchen with excellent cooks that served a very good tasting meal, they also have full service bars and bartenders.  The hall can be divided into two rooms for two separate events or you can have your wedding ceremony on one side and your reception on the other.  The room has a elevated stage in the corner of the room for the D.J. and a dance floor directly in front of the stage.  The staff was very easy to get along with and very accommodating to the guests.

              -Byzantine at the Grove, Youngstown, OH. Rating (4)

                   One of the better facilities in the Youngstown area, this facility is full service and has a full kitchen and bars to be able to cater to two receptions at one time or they can do one large reception removing the wall between the two rooms.  Andy is the banquet manager and is very easy to work with, he and his staff work well together and put on a great presentation for the guests.  The food is better than average for banquet food.  This facility does provide security for its events as well.  The only real issue is that they have made a stage for the DJ that is too high and not convenient to set up on, I have asked them to move this so that I may just set up on the floor.

              -Dugan's, Aurora OH.  Rating (2)

                    Dugan's is a sports bar that has a banquet room in the back of the facility.  This room is for smaller parties of maybe a 100 or so.  The staff was not very prepared to handle a wedding reception, they did not even realize that a D.J. needs a table and had to go outside to get plastic tables off their patio to accommodate me, because the had no more tables.  The host is young and not very familiar with what events take place in a wedding reception.  The guests have to walk through a noisy bar area to get to the banquet room.  The kitchen is mostly younger cooks, the food was ok but the kitchen staff had to be asked by me to turn their radio down so the guests in the banquet room did not hear the hip hop music and could hear the dinner music I was playing.  The dance floor was very small and the head table had to be set up on the dance floor because the size of the room and then had to be taken down after dinner so people could dance.

             -Embassy Suites, Independence, OH. Rating (5)

              -Firestone Country Club, Akron OH.  Rating (3)

                    Firestone CC has an incredible banquet room, the staff is a bit difficult to work with as they seem to look down at you.  The room set up could have been designed better since the put the dance floor in the middle of the room, it is a wood dance floor but they commit the one major sin when it comes to set up, the D.J. is put in the corner of the room and they set tables between the D.J. and the dance floor, then they sat older couples at those tables.  Even during dinner those couples were complaining that the dinner music was too loud, it was turned down for them but the head table and the parents on the other side of the room were then unable to hear any of the music through dinner.  The food was prepared by chefs in the full service kitchen and was very good.  The windows all around the banquet room show a beautiful view of the golf course, overall the ambiance is nice but the room setup and somewhat difficult staff should be much better with the money you are spending. 

              -Guy's Party Center, Akron OH.  Rating (4)

                     Guy's party center is a nice full service facility located just off  77 in Akron, it features 2 full sized banquet rooms with bars, stages and dance floors.   The food is prepared by multiple cooks in the kitchen and has been very good at all of the events that I have done there.  I have had events in both rooms and prefer the south room mainly for the reason of the stage being in the center of the room and the Dance floor is directly in front of the stage.  The north room has the stage is in the corner of the room and the dance floor is in the center of the room, the last event that I had in the north room, the staff had set tables up between me and the dance floor causing a few guests to be upset at the noise level later on.  The staff is easy to work with and the hall is very clean, they even have security in the parking lot to keep your cars safe.

             -Hilton of Twinsburg, Twinsburg, OH. Rating (4)

                    The Twinsburg Hilton is a the place if you want a BIG fancy event, the main banquet room (Wilcox Ballroom) is very spacious and can seat over 300 comfortably.  The food was plated, presented and tasted wonderful, prepared by chefs in the kitchen.  Outside the ballroom is a nice big area that can be used for your cocktail time, they also can set up the bar in this area.  An added bonus is that your guests can stay there for the night.  Just like many other Big Fancy establishments, they tend to overlook a few of the smaller things, such as putting a plate and napkin on the cake table, I had to remind them 3 times about this, the also were set on cutting the cake before dinner "so it could be cut during dinner and served for desert"  but I had to ask them to remove it from the center of the dance floor so that  the bride could toss her bouquet, about 15 minutes after the guest were done eating.  The staff was ok to work with but they tended to look down and talk down to me and a few of the guests. 

              -The HippoDrome, Warren, OH. Rating (4)

                                        A great new venue in downtown Warren that mad a very good first impression.  This venue is located in a 3 story building with the banquet room on the third floor and a cocktail / desert area on the second floor.  There is an elevator as well as stairs for your guests at this facility.  The wedding reception that I did here in 2009 was the second reception that had been done here but you sure could not tell.  The food and the staff were great to work with and showed no signs of being beginners at this whatsoever.  The Catering and staff for this venue is provided by the Mocha House.  Bill who managed and catered the event was great, he was very easy to work with and treated the guest and myself very well.  The guests started out on the second floor for cocktails and Hors D'oeuvres then went up to the banquet room for dinner then an incredible desert selection was offered back on the second floor after dinner.

              -Hudson Country Club, Hudson OH,  Rating: (5)

                      I might have to say that the Hudson Country club is the best facility that I have played at.  The staff went way out of its way for me and the guest to make sure the night was perfect.  A beautiful banquet room prepared very elegantly, a full service bar that is all brass and oak style, a full service kitchen with chefs that have prepared the best meal that I have had in my 16 years of D.J.ing, (both my wife and I have been to cooking school so that compliment does not come lightly).  Off of the dinning room is a large covered patio that over looks the beautiful 18th green of the golf course, The D.J. usually sets up outside under the patio roof which gives your guest plenty of dancing space.  This is a great facility to not only have your reception but to have your ceremony as well.

              -Kent American Legion (Underwood Hall),  Rating: (3)

                      The Kent American Legion hall is a great full service facility for the bigger parties or receptions.  This hall easily seats over 400 with plenty of room to dance and mingle.  The food is prepared by Special Moments catering out of Streetsboro but the Legion uses them as the sole food preparer for hall events, you cannot bring in your own caterer.  The owner of special moments catering is also the gentleman that you call to book the hall, though his food has always been  great his personality as well as that of some of his employees leaves a little to be desired.  The hall has a beautiful big room that faces a stage that was placed at the head of the room and centered to meet the acoustical needs of all the guests in the room and for some reason He likes to set the head table up on the stage instead of the DJ, this makes the bride walk up and down stairs with her train multiple times during the reception, he also chooses to put the DJ off in the corner instead of on the stage where the architects of the building designed the entertainment to be.  He sets up the buffet dinner line on the dance floor and refuses to tear it down until all the guest have eaten and all the tables have been bussed, delaying the after dinner events such as the bouquet & garter toss and the dances by as much as 20 to 30 minutes leaving your guests bored.  Though I have done many events at this hall and other venues where his company has catered, the food has always been great but he  just does not seem to be to flexible.

              -Kent State Student Center, Kent, OH.  (4)

                     Kent State University Student center has three different options for your party of event.  The ballroom is its biggest room for parties of over 300, the cafeteria for your medium sized parties and Room 360 for your smaller sized parties.  All rooms are very clean with dance floors and full service facilities.  The kitchen prepares meals for all three of these rooms and is capable of doing such all at the same time.  The staff is very easy to work with and the food is very good

             -Lakewood Country Club, Westlake, OH. Rating (5)

                    If you are on the west side of Cleveland and looking for a VERY nice place to have your reception, please look into the Lakewood Country Club.  With a very nice banquet room that can hold as many as 300 but can be partitioned for parties that are smaller, a cocktail area that provides elegant couches, chairs and a fireplace as well as a Baby Grand piano.  The food was excellent and prepared by chefs in the kitchen.  The staff was easy to work with and treated me and the guest very well., they even had a valet to park cars for you and your guests.  Overall one of the better places that I have D.J.ed at.

             -Links at Firestone, Columbiana, OH. Rating (4)

                    The Links at Firestone is a newer Clubhouse type of  building that overlooks the golf course.  It offers a nice big banquet room with seating for around 300 guests.  A nice large wood dance floor is located in the center of the room so all can see the festivities.  There is a nice large entry way / foyer for guests to mingle and to set up the bridal party for a grand entrance.  The full service kitchen adjoins the banquet room and is managed by a chef and cook staff.  The room overall was very nice with big window to see out over the golf course and double glass doors that go out onto a balcony area.  There was a full service bar located in the room as well.  The food was good and there seemed to be no complaints from me or the guests, it was set up with a very nice presentation on a double sided buffet style table.  There were also multiple desert and cookie tables as well.  The staff seemed very easy to work with and were very pleasant to the guests.

              -Mahoning Country Club, Girard, OH. Rating (3)

                                         The Mahoning Country Club gives you more of the feeling of a banquet facility then a country club.  The facility is nice and offers three large rooms to have events in but the facility is older and they seem to no longer pay attention to detail like keeping bathrooms clean, replacing stained ceiling tiles and carpet.  There are two adjoining rooms that are divided by a folding curtain wall that id too thin and sound from the other room carries right through especially the music since they have the DJs in each room facing that wall.  The food was ok, prepared by cooks in the kitchen, the staff was alright to work with but did not go out of their way to help with special considerations.  If you do decide to have your event here, try to get the banquet room to the left when you walk in, so that you will not have to hear the music bleed through the walls from the other rooms.

                        -Mapleside Farms, Brunswick, OH. Rating (4)

                                    Mapleside Famrs offers you the ability to have your wedding and reception outdoors or indoors.  Located on a beautiful hillside, the farm has much to offer your guests in the form of shops and a restaurant.  The downstairs banquet room has seating for around 200 guests and has a active working fireplace as well as a wood dance floor located to the side of the room.  Though the room is small that atmosphere give it a homey, country feeling.  The food is prepared in the kitchen from the restaurant by cooks and is served buffet style.  The food is good but keep in mind it is a country style restaurant with country style food.  The staff seemed pretty easy to work with as well.

                        - NEOUCOM, Rootstown, OH. Rating (4)

                                WWith a full conference center, NEOUCOM has plenty to offer you.  An Atrium with seating room of 150 for a wedding ceremony, an outside courtyard that you may have a wedding ceremony as well.  Inside they have multiple room for your use, the largest seating up to 300 guests.  The cooks in the kitchen can prepare and present a wide variety of good tasting foods and full service bars can be placed in the rooms as well.  The big conference room has 2 large projection screens that roll down from the ceiling for your slide shows.  Dawn, the banquet manager was very easy to work with and was eager to help the guests as well as myself with whatever was needed.  

              -North Canton Civic Center, N. Canton, OH.  Rating (3)

                     If you live close to Canton the North Canton civic center might be the venue for you.  The hall itself has a nice large room to hold around 200 guests, and has offset rooms for a bar and buffet line.  You will need to bring in your own caterer, alcohol and bartender to this facility as well.  There is a beautiful large gazebo outside for a wedding ceremony and plenty of room close by for guest seating.  After the ceremony its a quick walk to the reception hall, once inside there is a nice lobby for your receiving line.  The facility was clean inside but did smell a bit  causing members of the brides family to purchase air spray so that the smell was gone by the time the guests arrived.

              -The Oaks Lakeside, Chippewa, OH. Rating (3)

                                       This is a smaller venue located in a beautiful lake in Chippewa, most of the guest seating was located on a balcony above the main room.  They are able to have events outside as well with large tents that let your guests walk around the grounds.  The food was good prepared by chefs and cooks in the kitchen, there is a public bar and restaurant in the building as well.  The one downfall is that the building is not ADA (American's with Disabilities Act) compliant.  The event that I did, one of the guests was in a wheel chair and the kitchen staff had to come out and lift him up the stairs and back down every time he had to go to the bathroom.  Overall this was a nice place for a smaller guest list.

              -Occasions  Party Center, Clinton, OH.  Rating: (5)

                     Occasions is a beautiful party center located in Clinton, not only can you have your reception but they also have a beautiful outside area with gazebo to have your wedding ceremony as well.  Inside is a very well planned banquet room with full service bar and kitchen.  The dance floor is set lower than the dinning area giving your guests a better view for the events that occur in the dancing area.  The food was presented very well and was equally good.  The staff goes well out of their way to make sure you have the perfect day.  The last event that I had there, the guests kept requesting a specific type of alcohol at the bar that the bride and groom had not accounted for, a staff member left the reception and went to the liquor store to make sure the guest had what they wanted.

             -Old Oak Bible Church, Middleburg Hts. OH.  Rating (2)

                     Old Oak Bible Church can perform your wedding in there chapel and then it is just a walk down the hall into their banquet room.  If you are having a wedding with 150 or less guests and you are on the west side then you might want to have a look.  The staff said the hall can seat 220 but I don't see how, the recent reception I did there was set up for 140 and that seemed to be just enough.  Donna is the gal that you would contact and also is one of the cooks in the kitchen, she seemed to be a bit difficult to work with at first but was very nice to the guests.  While I was setting up the groom and his son came in the banquet hall to talk to me, they were told by another member of the kitchen staff that nobody was to be in the hall yet, this is not something that you tell to the person that is paying you or to his son.....Other than having a bit of an attitude the staff treated the guest well, the food was good and was served and presented well.  They did however commit the major banquet hall sin and placed tables between the DJ setup and the dance floor causing a few of the guests to be uncomfortable.

              -Paradise Lake Country Club, Suffield OH.  Rating (4)

                    Set back in a semi-wooded area surrounded by a golf course, Paradise lakes clubhouse has a upstairs banquet hall that can be divided into 2 rooms.  When both rooms are used there is plenty of seating for around 200.   The kitchen and bar are both full service with a chef and provided by the facility.  There is a wrap around porch with sliding doors that lets you easily walk from the banquet room outdoors.  The staff has always been easy to work with and the food has been  pretty good.   This facility has been recently remodeled and looks very nice with a new wood dance floor located by the kitchen, there is not much room for the DJ to set up close to the dance floor since the also use the dance floor for the buffet line during dinner but they were able to work with me by moving a few tables so that I could angle my system towards the dance floor area.

              -Roby Lee's, Newton Falls OH.  Rating (3)

                     Roby Lee's has been the go to place for receptions and banquets in Eastern Portage County for many years.  A big banquet room with full service kitchen with cooks, the same kitchen also serves for the attached restaurant located in the same building next to the banquet hall.  The banquet room itself was remodeled a few years ago and is very appealing, a big wooden dance floor area is located in the center of the room and the D.J. sets up directly behind so that the sound will carry forward so that all your guests can hear.  The food is good and presented well in a beautiful buffet, the staff was fairly accommodating to myself and the guests but some of the staff came out and ate off the buffet line after the guest had eaten, this seemed a little out of place to me.  The back emergency exit was blocked with tables and chairs and should have been open in case there was an emergency and the electrical outlet that they have the DJ plug their equipment into was broken, I had to plug in my equipment and then tape it to the floor so my equipment did not shut off.  Overall a nice place with good food, I would recommend, if they fix the few issues.

              -Roses Run Country Club, Stow, OH.  Rating (4)

                     Located in the Clubhouse of the beautiful Rose Run Golf Course, this establishment has a beautiful, large banquet room capable of seating over 200 people.  The banquet room has a beautiful working fireplace and wooden floors.  There are large windows on three sides giving the guests a beautiful look out on the golf course and lake.  The staff have always been very accommodating to both myself and the guests.  The full service kitchen, with chefs, prepare and present elegant and great tasting meals.  There is a full service bar staffed by the facility, located in the banquet room.  As well as a  full service sports bar located down the hall and open to the public. 

              -The Rusty Nail, Kent, OH. Rating (3)

              -Silver Lake Country Club, Stow OH.  Rating (4)

                    Located on the edge of Stow in Silver Lake, right off of Route 8, is the Silver Lake Country Club.  Known for many years as being one of the areas most ritzy places.  The banquet room has beautiful ceiling to floor windows looking out to the golf course, however this could be a problem with an afternoon reception due to the glare of the sun shining through.  The staff seemed pretty easy to work with and the food was good, prepared by chefs of the full service kitchen.  The room also has a bar that is staffed by the facility. 

              -Solon Valley Party Center, Solon OH.  Rating (1) 

                    This place is actually a Knights of Columbus hall,  though the staff was nice, they lacked the knowledge of how to run a banquet center.  They have a full service bar and kitchen and provide both bartenders and cooks.  The food was ok and the service and busing was kind of slow due to almost all the staff being over the age of 60.  The bartenders did not do a very good job at turning down the overly intoxicated guest which let the reception get a little crazy. They provided no security and after the reception was over and the doors were locked, the manager unlocked the front door and let some of the drunk guest back in which created quite a problem and the police had to be called.  I do not recommend this hall to anyone....

            -Sorrentos Banquet Center, Warren, OH. Rating (4)  

                  Sorrento's has much to offer with a very large banquet room that has a large dance floor with a small stage for the DJ and a full service bar located in the room.  The room has seating for 300 plus and gives you an old Italian type of atmosphere.  From the parking lot you and your guest will walk through a large rod iron style double swinging fence gate that leads you through a small rock and flower style garden and into the foyer for the banquet room.  Mario was the manager and presented himself well and went out of his way to help the bride and groom as well as the guests through out the evening.  The food was prepared by cooks in the kitchen of the adjoining restaurant and was good.

              -Spring Lake Party Center, Springfield (Akron) OH.  Rating: (1)

                  At first glance Spring Lake Party Center is a nice all around event location, there is a beautiful gazebo that overlooks the lake for your ceremony and a nice hall with a stage to hold your reception.  Unfortunately my only event that I have D.J.ed there proved that looks can be deceiving.  The couple wanted their ceremony outside at the gazebo and due to the wind off the lake wanted to have a microphone for the preacher, there were no power outlets in the gazebo area so an extension cord had to be run to my system.  Inside, the hall staff did not have a table for the D.J. and was not very helpful in letting me know if they had an extra one.  The floor of the hall was not very sturdy, as I was brining my equipment in on a dolly I watched the cake and food displays shake.  The food was prepared there but was not very good, both the chicken and roast beef were dry and left many of the guests talking about how bad the food was.  To top all of that the staff tried to cut the evening short by a half hour saying that the bride and groom had misread their contract.  I don't make it my business to disappoint the couple that has hired me so I kept playing even after the hall staff came up to me and threatened to unplug my system. I asked them to see a copy of the couples contract which they said they did not have a copy of.  After upsetting many people the staff did let the reception continue but the damage had already been done.  I do not recommend this party center to anyone. ( After writing this review in 2007, I heard from a photographer that this hall cut short the reception of his niece in 2008 as well. )

           -St. Mary of Assumption Center, Youngstown, OH. Rating (4)  

           -St. Nicholas Hall, Mogadore OH.  Rating: (4)

                  This hall is very large, it is a L shaped room with the bar area just off of the main room.  It has a carport to bring your guests right to the doors without them getting wet if it rains, then they walk into a large nicely decorated lobby with bathrooms and a coat room.  The hall itself has a full service bar and kitchen.  All three times I have played here the food has been great and the staff has been very accommodating to me and the guests.  Even though the room is large they have built it so that the echo that you usually have with sound equipment in large rooms is not there. 

              -SYB (Stow Youth Baseball) Hall, Stow, OH.  Rating: (2)

                   The SYB ( Stow Youth Baseball ) hall is a full service hall that has a nice large banquet room, a smaller banquet room, a big lobby area, full kitchen with cooks and a bar area with bartenders.  The banquet room is very large and well decorated, it has a dance floor that is centered in the room.  They have elevated platforms that you can have your head table on that is usually centered in the room in front of the dance floor.  The food is average, I have D.J.ed 5 weddings and 2 fundraisers here and have never had a bad meal but in the same manner have never had a great one either.  The staff can be somewhat difficult at times and has been known to stretch the truth a few times with its prospective clients.  This hall has its preferred D.J.s and will try to steer you away from other D.J. companies.  I was told by a couple that the staff advised them that because I charge a lower rate to D.J. a wedding reception than their preferred D.J. that I must not be as good of a D.J.  The couple stuck with me, had a great night, saved money and asked to be one of the referrals on this website. Also know that if you are having a fundraiser and need to use their PA system, it is not loud enough to be heard over the guests speaking, both fundraisers I did there, I ended up using my cordless microphones and D.J. system so their guests could hear.

              -Tracosso's Party Center, Akron, OH.  Rating (3)

                    The hall itself was nice and the food was good but the staff and manager were not easy to work with and at the end of the night were in such a hurry to get out that they, without my permission, helped me get my equipment outside before I was all packed up, just so they could lock the doors and go home.

              -Twin Lakes Country Club, Kent, OH.  Rating (3) (CLOSED)

                                        Located on the edge of the Twin Lakes Golf Course, and looking over the beautiful east lake, this facility has a large room that is semi divided for dining and dancing.  The dining room has big beautiful windows that look out over the lake, adding to the ambiance of this historic building.  The dancing portion of the room has a huge wood floor and working fireplace.  There is a full service kitchen with cooks, provide and present a wonderful tasting meal.  There is also a full service bar that is located on the same level as the banquet room, but is also open to the members of the Country Club.