Holiday catering in the Altoona area looks a bit different this year.

In July, The Casino at Lakemont Park and Snappy Chef Catering — long-time leaders in the area catering business — closed their doors.

The Casino closed after the retirement of chef Doug Simon, due to his financial struggles, caused partly by high debt incurred for improvements he made to the space he rented from the Lakemont Partnership, which controls the park property under a long-term lease from Blair County.

In October, officials announced The Casino at Lakemont Park would reopen under an arrangement between the management of Lakemont Park and a slate of “preferred vendors” who would provide catering services.

The reopening fulfilled a partnership goal “to keep The Casino building used and enjoyed by the community,” said Partnership President Andrea Cohen.

The reopened Casino can host wedding receptions, corporate functions, private celebrations and community events, and is available for the upcoming holidays “and well into the future,” according to Cohen.

The preferred caterers and their chefs are Alto Markets’ Travis Seymore and his mother, Marilyn, Mama Randazzo’s Paul Randazzo and Mayfield’s Maddy Martinsen, according to Cohen.

“Since the press release regarding The Casino continuing to operate as a venue location, we have seen a significant increase in individual and business event inquiries alike. Overall, organizers seem to be very pleased with our list of preferred vendors, but also know that we are working to develop new relationships with other prospective vendors as well,” said Christi Draves, Lakemont Park general manager.

Martinsen said it was very sad to see the end of such an iconic catering company (The Casino), as Simon and his establishment were impactful in the area’s hospitality space.

“We are very grateful to be listed as a preferred caterer by the management team taking over booking events at The Casino. I hope that that space can still provide the community with many memorable events,” Martinsen said.

Mama Randazzo’s has booked some events at The Casino.

“It is exciting to be able to cater at a beautiful location like the Casino, we have been working with the Casino and we are just trying to help,” said Alexa Weston, catering manager.

“We have picked up one or two groups from there. One we are catering there and another is downsizing their party to be able to do it elsewhere,” Travis Seymore said.

Optimism surrounds parties

Overall, with employee attendance and budgets trending up, the workplace holiday party is back, according to the second annual 2025 Workplace Holiday Party Trends Report released by exCater. The report reveals that 82% of employees plan to attend their company’s holiday celebration this year — a meaningful uptick from 70% attendance reported last year.

Holland Brothers Catering of Newry has experienced a significant increase with companies booking their holiday gatherings.

“Since being recognized as the Hometown Favorite caterer, we expect to be even busier than last year,” said co-owner Brock Holland.

Seymore expects his business to be up this year.

He said last year was especially busy for Alto Markets, as their holiday bookings were maxed out, but this year has been even more packed based on the past few months.

“We worked pretty hard and invested in becoming more efficient over the past 11 months, so our capacity is definitely higher this year. I also think we are better prepared this year for a busy season,” Seymore said.

Buffets remain the meal of choice for catered events.

“For the type of catering we do, buffets are the most popular,” Seymore said. “There is less labor, so it should be less expensive and the guests can pick what they want.”

Weston said buffet has been the proven favorite, but family-style dinners are also a top pick for smaller gatherings.

“We’ve explored different types of styles, but buffets are the most popular.

Family-style dinners are popular with smaller groups, it is more intimate,” he said. “It is like sitting down to your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner with your family.”

Various caterers serve different sizes of groups.

Holland Bros. serves groups ranging in size from 15 to 1,500.

“There has been no drop for us in feeding large groups of people,” Holland said.

For Mama Randazzo’s, they can accommodate parties of up to 120, and they typically have groups of 50 to 75 people in their new facility, according to Weston.

DelGrosso Foods does holiday catering on a small scale.

“We do a lot of small office-type lunches. … so we are not doing large holiday events,” spokeswoman Amy Mearkle said.

Costs on the rise

Caterers said prices are up slightly this year.

“Some of our prices are slightly higher, some are the same. It really comes down to what you are ordering. We have been able to hold our prices fairly steady because of the improvements we’ve made in our efficiency. We also use a lot of different suppliers so we can shop for the best possible prices for our food costs. We do everything possible to keep our prices fair,” Seymore said.

Martinsen said her prices have stayed the same this year, “however, I anticipate raising them in the new year as the cost of most of our products has continued to increase.”

The catering industry faces several challenges.

Holland said his biggest challenge is “not turning business away.”

Seymore said his biggest challenge “is not overextending ourselves on a given day.”

“Catering is only one facet of our business. With the market, the cafe/bakery, catering at both places, and wholesale it can quickly become extremely busy. You have to watch not only the day of the catering but the days ahead of them to make sure you have the time and staff for the prep work. It makes it exciting to say the least,” Seymore said.

Martinsen said her biggest challenge as a catering business has been communication with clients.

She operates both the Mayfield and the Pipe Room, as well as different rental spaces within the property, so she is unable to communicate efficiently and promptly with clients.

“Some folks are looking to book events quickly, so if I don’t get to my computer for a day or two, I could miss out on booking a party,” Martinsen said.

Caterers said it is not too late to book a holiday event.

“We have a lot of events booked, but there are still openings for catering deliveries (and) pickups,” Martinsen said.

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.