Frequently Asked Questions

Cater Nation is designed to be one of the simplest (Web-based) meal ordering services for corporations and sales representatives who frequently arrange delivered and pick up/take-out catered meals. Our site features the best caterers and restaurants -- both your favorite national chains as well as your local favorites -- in each market. The entire process is backed by an industry-leading Customer Care team that is in constant contact with you and your order, from the time it is placed, until the time it is delivered. And did we mention our Cater Nation Rewards program? Check it out here.

This is an easy one. There is no difference. Period. Our "in store" pricing means that you pay the same published menu prices as if you went directly to the restaurant-no hidden markups or confusion about tax, tips, or delivery fees. It's that simple. If you find a discrepancy, we will happily refund the difference and more, just point it out to us.

Yes. Many of our restaurants and caterers have included a suggested tip. But our system allows you to "override" the suggested tip. For instance, if your company has a global tip policy, your account can be set-up to override the suggested tip. If you want to increase or decrease the suggested tip level, you can do that. Again, our goal is to allow you to adhere to your company's policies on these issues and help you better control your spending. And because you include your tip while ordering online, there is no need for petty cash to tip the delivery person when they arrive.

Quite simply, we are paid a commission fee by the restaurants in exchange for promoting and driving business to them. In addition, the manner in which we formed the company eliminates many of the overhead costs you find with other on-line ordering companies. We have no external investors, which helps keep money going to quality and service.

We'd be disappointed if you didn't! Cater Nation has offerings in over 300 markets, with comprehensive service in the District of Columbia and many cities in the states of Florida, Maryland, Michigan and Virginia.

In most cases, our restaurant/catering partners do their own deliveries. Cater Nation is not a Restaurant Delivery Service (RDS); we simply manage the ordering process and for some partners we also coordinate the scheduling of third-party drivers. Thus, some of our partners do rely on third-party delivery services, often scheduled by Cater Nation but not always. While these services usually provide catering-certified drivers, setup is not guaranteed. These drivers are often not permitted to light heating elements.

Once you've placed an order, we do the following:

• Email you a confirmation.
• We confirm and get acceptance from the restaurant/caterer on your order.
• Once inside 24 hours of your scheduled delivery time, we place two confirmation calls:
• First call is to the caterer to reconfirm your order and to remind them of any special instructions.
• Second call to you to let you know everything is on schedule.
• Changes, problems, questions are handled and tracked by Customer Care. If we schedule third-party delivery, we usually are able to bring timing problems to your attention ahead of time.

An on-time delivery is no more than 15 minutes prior to the stated delivery time and no more than 5 minutes after that delivery time. Note: In the Washington D.C. metro market, that delivery window is 30 minutes prior and no more than 5 minutes after.

Absolutely! Just call or text our Customer Care Team (1-888-760-7627) to leave a message or email us at info@caternation.com and one of our Customer Care representatives will be immediately notified. Our site is available 24/7 for order placement. Time sensitive issues will be responded to as quickly as possible, or no later than the next business day.

Call Cater Nation Customer Care (1-888-760-7627) ASAP and report your issue. Customer Care and/or a local contact will work with the caterer to resolve your situation to your satisfaction. Our goal is total customer satisfaction. We take care of our customers!

Cater Nation has taken the same professional approach to catering as your caterer.... except we have expanded it to include the following:

• More variety. Of course, we have the standard fare (breakfast, sandwich platters, box lunches, hot buffet items, etc.), but we have much more to include all types of ethnic cuisines.
• Like your caterer, it's easy to order! Either online (24 x 7) or by phone. No playing phone tag with us!
• We demand that our caterers be on time. Period.
• The overwhelming majority of our caterers provide paper products and set up meals. That's right, set up the meal.
• We do confirmation calls to the caterer and to you within 24 hours of the delivery. Our Customer Care team reviews any special instructions with the caterer. We want the meal to be right and not forgotten!
• All orders are saved online so you can print them at anytime.
• We only recruit the best restaurants and caterers in the area so you're guaranteed a quality meal.
• Once we get a caterer online, we monitor/manage them to make sure they are doing a good job.
• Your accounting department will love Cater Nation, because now you can order from multiple places but only get one bill.

We understand that this is an important part of your job and that people are counting on you to make sure everything goes smoothly. We do this for hundreds of corporate and institutional customers every day, so you can count on us to do a good job! We'd like you to consider us as an option for something different for your colleagues and guests. Variety is the spice of life! Your colleagues and guests would probably welcome the change and love you for it!! Let us take care of the details and make this part of your job easier. Give us a try; you'll be glad you did.

Cater Nation offers a wide variety of food through multiple restaurants and caterers. We work with your favorite local restaurants and caterers, as well as national chains, to offer you the best selection, convenience, and reliability. Our most popular items include appetizer platters, box lunches and buffets. We will gladly arrange anything from the basic to the most exotic presentations for your events.

Yes. Orders you place through Cater Nation are backed by an on-time delivery guarantee and 'real people' Customer Care to ensure your satisfaction with every order.

No. Just like at a restaurant, the first thing you want to do is look at the menu. Right from our homepage, you can begin browsing menus available in your area. Once you decide to place an order, we will ask you for basic contact information so that we can send you an e-mail confirmation of your order and give you a courtesy call once we're inside of 24 hours of your order being delivered to let you know your delivery is on schedule. This information is kept confidential and used only for communicating with you.

It's simple! Go to www.caternation.com and click on "Begin Your Order." That begins the process of matching you with the best caterers and restaurants in your area.

No problem. You can select a different delivery location for each order. We will store all of your delivery locations for even faster ordering on future orders.

Absolutely! We understand that some people are more comfortable doing this and we made it an instrumental component of our site. Please note that the pick-up option may not be available for all menus.

Sure. If you are the coordinator in your office, our site allows you to e-mail a menu to your attendees (i.e. attendees can be people in your office or at various locations) allowing them to select the items they would like. Our system then consolidates the order into a single order before submitting it to the restaurant/caterer.

Click on My Account and you can change any of your profile information online. If you have any questions, also feel free to contact us at 1-888-760-7627.

Absolutely! Our system stores all your previous orders, allowing you to access them or quickly print out receipts. If you'd like to duplicate a previous order, simply call us at 1-888-760-7627 and we'll take care of it for you.

Cater Nation's 'real people' Customer Care team works hard to ensure your satisfaction with every order. They can be reached via the toll free phone number 1-888-760-7627 or via e-mail at info@caternation.com for any changes or questions about your order.

No mayo? No problem! You can add special instructions to every order and even to specific menu items within that order. You can even assign names and individual requests to your box lunch orders.

As far as a policy, we defer to the applicable catering partner's policy. If you have applied payment, call 1-888-760-7627 and speak to a Customer Care Representative who will assist you. Because our restaurants and caterers have to plan ahead to fill your order, there may be costs incurred depending on the time of your cancellation. Our Customer Care team will work with you and the restaurant to handle each situation on a case-by-case basis. The rule of thumb here is the earlier the better. The closer to the event, the more likely there are already costs incurred. Again, we will work hard on your behalf.

Absolutely! Click here to find out more about Cater Nation Rewards.

Why not? Just send an email to billing@caternation.com to begin the process. Or click here for the credit application.

Your payment and personal information is always safe. Our Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software is the industry standard and among the best software available today for secure commerce transactions. It encrypts all of your personal information, including credit card number, name, and address, so that it cannot be read over the Internet.

As we are the broker of the catering transaction between the client and the restaurant/caterer, we default to the catering partner's refund policy. However, we will always work diligently to resolve all issues to your satisfaction as part of our value-added service.