Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Catering all Occasions: Gunther Meyberg, 66, with his son, Steve, stand in the kitchen of Gunther's Restaurant and Catering. Meyberg has run the restaurant, located on the corners of Meridian and Hamilton avenues, for the past 31 years.
Gunther's success earned from experience and knowledge
By Jim Aquino
Families who have suffered through parties at which their caterers ran out of food don't have to worry when they've got Gunther's Restaurant & Catering on their side. Owner Gunther Meyberg, 66, makes sure every single mouth at a party is fed. He says he always makes more food than requested to prevent a shortage from happening.
"That's got to be the worst thing. I never want to be there and say, 'Hey, we're out of this or we're out of that,'" Gunther says. "To be on time and to be ready when guests come in are also important."
Gunther picked up everything he knows about catering for weddings, corporate events, birthday parties, bar mitzvahs and other special occasions from almost 20 years of working at the Concord Resort Hotel in the Catskills in upstate New York. In 1969, Gunther and his family moved to California to help his uncle out with his restaurant and catering service.
"The weather's so nice out here," says Gunther, who doesn't miss upstate New York at all. "We lived in [Monticello, N.Y.] on a hill. I got tired of shoveling snow."
After his uncle's eatery failed, Gunther started his own similar delicatessen at 1601 Meridian Ave. on Jan. 15, 1971. It's been in the same location ever since and has received acclaim in the neighborhood for its meatloaf, matzo ball soup, roasted chicken and German dishes, such as sauerbraten, rouladen and wienerschnitzel.
"A lot of people think the wienerschnitzel's a hot dog. It's not. It's breaded veal cutlets," Gunther says. "I don't know how Wienerschnitzel gets away with calling it a hot dog. People are amazed when I tell them the wienerschnitzel's definitely not a hot dog. That's kind of an insult to the item."
Gunther is assisted at the restaurant by two of his daughters, Sandy and Debbie, and his son, Steve, 29, who has been in charge of the catering end of the restaurant since 1997.
"I was pretty much born into the business," Steve says. "My dad's really built his business on the product. I just expanded a little bit on it, as far as presentation and marketing."
In 1999, Steve launched a website for Gunther's at www.guntherscatering.com.
"It's especially helped out with the corporate and wedding side of the business. We're getting a lot of people who don't know who we are because we're just an independent company," Steve says. "People come in and say, 'We saw you on the Internet. We're from back East. We're looking for a good deli or caterer.' That's how they find us."
Steve says catering has been trouble-free, although there have been occasional challenges, like when they're only given a certain amount of time to set up and they have to bring the food and catering equipment up four flights of stairs with no elevator.
"That can be fun sometimes," Steve says.
Gunther says catering is at its toughest when the business has to juggle two or three weddings at one time. He gives another example of a catering challenge.
"On May 17, we have a military school for 350 people, and at the same time, we're committed every year to take care of the San Jose Opera, and they have 300 people on Friday and Saturday," Gunther says.
Like his father, Steve has picked up several do's and don'ts about the catering business.
"Make sure you have great customer service. Make sure your customers are happy. Make sure you bring enough food. Make sure you always use the best quality," Steve says. "Communicate with the client. Find out what their needs are. I think that's the number one thing."
Gunther's Restaurant & Catering, 1601 Meridian Ave. Open Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m.-8 p.m., Friday, 7 a.m.-9 p.m. and Saturday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Closed Sunday. For more information, call 408.266.9022 or visit www.guntherscatering.com.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
