What was supposed to be a happy day of celebrating in Bozeman turned into something of a nightmare when a food truck hired to cater the event was a no-show.
“It was pretty emotional, you know, for me, planning this big event. And then it just wanted everything to be perfect and it wasn't,” says Erica Gerard.
Gerard wanted to celebrate her 40th birthday in a big way. She had a party bus, a venue, and a caterer—or so she thought.
“There was nothing that stuck out that was a red flag to me. He is a local food truck,” says Gerard.
Gerard says she hired Chef's Table Food Truck back in November for her March event, but on the day of her party, the caterer didn’t show.
“I emailed him. I had other people contacting him, trying to email him and call him, and then I pretty much lost it. Super emotional, super distraught, crying, you know, what am I going to do for food?” says Gerard.
In the days after her party, Gerard took legal action.
“I hired an attorney to go through a small claims process and write a demand letter,” says Gerard.
Gallatin County Justice Court says they get about 100 small claims cases a year, and about 80 to 90 percent of those are solved in mediation.
We did try calling the food truck business, but the number on the Chef’s Table Food Truck website is now connected to a different business.
I checked out social media pages for the business—those haven't been active since October 2022. There are similar reviews on Google of brides experiencing the same thing as Erica did with Chef’s Table Food Truck.
Jen and Nate Dant, a newlywed couple from Jackson say they also hired Chefs Table Food Truck for their wedding at the beginning of September. They say the owner left them high and dry on the day of their wedding and they haven't heard back since.
“You know, there's been three individuals who have contacted me via social media because they saw my review on social media saying that it happened to them,” says Gerard.
Erica and Jen say they don’t want this to happen to someone else on a day that’s supposed to be filled with joy.
“It's not fair. It's not kind. You know, these are big events and big days for people and for him to ruin it, it's kind of it's disheartening,” says Gerard.
