Dear Alyda,

Just wanted to write a review for you based on our recent rehearsal dinner experience...

We hired Grand Lake Catering for our wedding rehearsal dinner for forty people on June 22, 2012. As parents of the groom, we were unfamiliar with the area and what our options might be. We began talking with Alyda and Jon after viewing their web page. We were told that BBQ was their specialty so we went with it...and it turned out to be a great decision. We decided on pulled pork and beef brisket and I can honestly say it was the best BBQ we have ever had - unbelievably moist and tender - truly melt in your mouth. Alyda helped us come up with some mouth watering side dishes to compliment our meal (the options were endless) and all were yummy! Our guests were very pleased with the food and overall experience as well. The venue, Western Riviera Lakeside Event Center is beautiful. It is located right on Grand Lake and through the large picture windows you look right onto the lake while you are enjoying your meal. Breathtaking view! The event center is beautiful inside (wood floors, beautiful bar area and very nice bathrooms) and the large deck made a great place for our guests to drift while enjoying cocktail hour and then again after dessert to visit. It was a very relaxing and beautiful evening. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to "impress" your guests. Thank you Jon and Alyda for making the start of our wedding weekend as memorable as the finish!
P.S. We also enjoyed taking lots of fun pictures of the bridal party on the beach and dock and our guests particularly enjoyed Alyda's bruschetta with pesto, fresh mozzarella and tomatoes - outstanding!

Steve and Sue Spahr

Grand Lake is a beautiful spot, a town fairly self contained, far from a metropolitan center, so the people they recommend as vendors must be people they trust & up to their high standards.

We couldn't have been more pleased with J.R.'s Grill Catering & the Western Riviera Event Center. At our daughter's wedding, when the bride & groom, and some of their friends went to a local bar after the wedding to continue celebrating, Alyda's son & one of Alyda's friends went to pick them up and made sure they got back to their rooms even though everything in Grand Lake is within walking distance. Professionals with a heart - you bet!

Cooks, caterers, event planners - yes, but in the end it's Alyda & J.R.'s warmth & willingness to make your event as special as it can be that shines through. That - and the food is superb.

Susie Levy
(mother of the bride)

Alyda and Jon:

Kristine and I would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making our wedding day the most amazing day of our lives. No words can describe how perfect the entire day was and how beautiful reception was it paled only in comparison to my bride's beauty that night.

We knew that the food was going to be wonderful, but we cannot even begin to tell you just how delicious it was. We have had multiple compliments about the fact that this was the best food anyone has ever had at a wedding, and Kristine and I could not agree more.

What was even more amazing than the food was the dedication you both showed after the recent deaths of your parents. In a time of such suffering you were both incredibly professional and not a soul would have known of your internal suffering that night. Your persevering to meet your promises of making our wedding the most incredible day of our lives was nothing short of selfless heroism. We only hope that our celebration of life and our new family's beginning helped to ease some of your pain.

Again thank you both for the most beautiful, wonderful, amazingly perfect day. We could not have done it without you and you will both always have a special place in our hearts.

Love,

John and Kristine Wood

My husband and I contracted with JR's Grill for catering services at our wedding reception. Our experience was fantastic!
Jon and Alyda were wonderful to work with. Attentive, available and detail-oriented, Jon and Alyda made sure that our reception was everything we'd hoped it would be! The food was delicious! After looking through the extensive menu options, we chose two meat dishes and several sides, including a strawberry & walnut salad made with local spinach that was as fresh and crisp as could be! All our guests raved about the savory ribs and tri tip steak with Alyda's special salsa that really brought the dish together.
We never felt pressured at the event. Jon and Alyda really understood that it was our big day and they let us take our time mingling with guests before we sat down for the meal. And the whole event center was gorgeous! The beautiful wood floors and wood ceiling beams provided a feeling of warmth, and the view of Grand Lake was breathtaking! I originally chose lavender and a pale yellow as our colors, but Alyda took time to discuss the colors with me and suggested that Ivory would work better with lavender, and she was right! That's the kind of detail and care I appreciated so much from JR's Grill when planning our reception there, and that's why I would recommend JR's to anyone looking for a fantastic, stress-free reception site in Grand Lake!

All the best to you,

Leslie
8/4/2011 Bride

Lauren Rae Wincott

July, 2011

J.R.’s Grill Catering Service provided the most beautiful dinner for our daughter’s wedding reception this summer. With Grand Lake, Colorado being a popular venue for destination weddings, one cannot always be assured of quality, creativity, and professionalism. Alyda and Jon Parker provided us with the service, planning detail, quality of food and outstanding presentation that I had hoped for and then more. I cannot tell you the number of guests who complimented the food and professionalism of the wait staff and bartenders. You would expect this from a 5 star restaurant and hope for it in the mountains. It was truly everything that we had hoped for and more!
I would like to recommend J.R.’s Grill and their fabulous facility, Western Riviera Lakeside Events Center, over and over to the next wedding party, reunion, meeting, and event in Grand Lake, Colorado. You will not be disappointed!
Betsy, Ryan and I would just like to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you, for everything!!! I will forever be grateful for the hard work and efforts that were put forth from the two of you and your staff to make our day the best one!! You are the best and keep up the beautiful work.
Alice Fleming

July, 2011

My son got married in Grand Lake this summer. I had the rehearsal dinner catered by JR’s Grill & Catering. The dinner was excellent, and both Alyda and Jon were a pleasure to work with. They were open to every suggestion. They are extremely knowledgeable about the area and would always present any options available, and take the time to discuss them. They were also excellent in working with whatever the budget might be.
I would highly recommend them for any occasion and the scenery is spectacular. They told me to try not to stress they would take care of everything and they did.
It was a certainly a delightful experience working with them and they are truly nice people.

Sincerely,
Sally Sabin

May, 2011

We chose the Western Riviera Lakeside Events Center for our rehearsal dinner and ceremony. We chose this location for our ceremony because of the fabulous view of Rocky Mountain National Park and Grand Lake. It just made sense to have our rehearsal dinner in the same location, so the wedding party would be familiar with the location before the big day. Working with the caterer/event coordinator, Alyda, we chose from a long list of appetizers, entrees, sides, and desserts to create a customized buffet menu which would meet the needs of our diverse list of guests. The quality and quantity of the food exceeded our high expectations, and our guests were delighted to have so many options. Before dessert, we passed out gifts to our family members and wedding parties. Well, dessert was so good that my mother casually placed her unwrapped gift - a small silver pendant wrapped in white tissue paper - on the table while she was eating and then forgot to pick up it up off the table before she left for the evening. By the time we realized what had happened, the table was empty and we could not find the hand-made pendant anywhere. When I told, she Alyda what had happened, she told me not to worry, she would find it. A couple minutes later, she came out of the kitchen with the small tissue-wrapped pendant in hand! Assuming it had been mistaken for a used napkin and ended up in the trash, Alyda had thrown on a pair of gloves and quickly rummaged through the garbage and found the precious pendant. I was so moved; I could barely believe she had cared enough to dig through the trash for us! The ceremony went smoothly the next day and our guests were so impressed with the amazing view. We are forever grateful to Alyda, Jon, and everyone else at Western Riviera for helping us to make our rehearsal dinner and ceremony go so smoothly.

I want to express my appreciation for the fabulous rehearsal luncheon that John and Alyda orchestrated for our son's wedding celebration. Their expertise in catering was magnified in the many facets of this event. Alyda was so helpful in assisting me through long distance planning - through our conversations, she provided insights in the planning that proved invaluable.

When we arrived at the site, it was set up beautifully. It was obvious countless hours had been rendered in our behalf. We have had rave reviews on the menu. Alyda fine tuned it to meet our needs, and it was absolutely delicious. It was what one might expect from a five star restaurant - the meat was succulent and the salad and dressings fresh and tantalizing.

I commend both Alyda and John for this exceptional event that will stay etched in our lifetime celebrations as one of the best ever!

With "grand" appreciation,
Claudia Miller

Hello Alyda - My friends and I had a wonderful time at your restaurant several weeks ago and really enjoyed the food. We will definitely be back!

Kind Regards,
Wendy Wildt

Our family has come to know and appreciate the natural beauty of Grand Lake over the last ten years.

Our experiences have now been greatly enhanced with the opening of the Western Riviera Lakeside Events Center where we and dozens of guests thoroughly enjoyed a wedding reception there yesterday.

This venue was the perfect place to enjoy the spectacular scenery and lakeside activities and the experience was greatly enhanced by the services provided by J.R.'s Grill Catering. What a perfect combination.

Thank you Mike and Jackie Tompkins and the J.R.'s Grill staff for growing our appreciation of Grand Lake to unexpectedly higher levels. The Western Riviera Lakeside Events Center is a perfect place to host a special for any occasion.

Best Regards,
Robert C. "Bob" Balink