San Jose Dream Dinners

Love love love Dream Dinners! I was getting swallowed up my work, school schedules, little league practice, basketball practice, dance… and feeling guilty/ sick of feeding the kids from the drive thru restaurants! Unfortunately I also don’t have a ton of creativity when it comes to planning out meals either (everyone was sick of my rubber chicken meals-eek) Dream dinners provides me easy and quick to make meals my family loves! They rotate their menu each month so no one gets sick of anything and they even host amazing open house events to sample their menus throughout the year! They have thought through everything and even provide grab and go breakfast options too! Love dream dinners and will continue to shout from the rooftops how great this family owned business is!

I've only dealt with San Jose Dream Dinners since Belmont Dream Dinners closed earlier this year, and San Jose Dream Dinners has been a dream to work with. They're very responsive to all of my requests and questions (they've all been thru text so far), and the ordering process is easy to work with. Their customer service is top notch! So are the meals - we've never had a Dream Dinner we didn't like. Honestly, it's like having a personal chef. So much delicious variety and so easy to get dinner on the table in about 30 minutes. With each meal coming with instructions, anyone who can read can make them. I consider them all home-cooked meals. I fill up my freezer with enough meals to last me a while and I'm so set. Thank God for Dream Dinners! If I could give them more than 5 stars, I would!

I have used Dream Dinners for 18 years and they have been a tastier, more diverse and more gourmet meal than I was preparing myself. They are fresh frozen, easy to prepare. They usually include a main course and a side. My teenagers were able to prepare them when they were at home. Now that we are retired, my husband often prepares them. They save the time of planning and shopping. Easy to follow instructions. Health conscious! Extremely grateful for Dream Dinners!

I have been a Dream Dinners customer for many years. As a person with a busy schedule who likes to eat well balanced, nutrious meals, Dream Dinners is a fantastic solution! The menu choices vary each month, the ingredients are high quality, the recipes are tasty and time to table is reasonable. All I have to do is supplement with vegetables and sides which I often do from Dream Dinners optional selections. The location on Camden Avenue in San Jose is convenient, the staff is friendly and knowledgeable. And they always have our order ready on time. I will continue to use Dream Dinners as I enjoy the experience and it makes my life easier!

The meals are fabulous! Easy prep and minimal amount of time to prepare. The staff here is wonderful! So happy to have been with them for the past two years.

Easy to prepare, delicious meals. Staff is happy and helpful. Ordering is quick and easy. Enjoy the convenience of pulling out a dinner that is already to throw together.

Everything is delicious, easy preparation. Alleviates “what’s for dinner?”

Such a great concept, I’m so glad I found this place. Now I can have home cooked meals without having to buy more ingredients than I need. The staff are all super nice people and the food options are delicious in addition to be creative and interesting.

I've been using Dream Dinners for years to fill my freezer, and it's such a great value and the meals are delicious! Order online and it's ready nearly the next day in most cases, so easy! The owners are also very nice, and pickup is a breeze. Highly recommended

Dream dinners dinner catering at Orchard community church tonight they served us key lime corn, garlic roasted broccoli, chicken and cranberry and a wonderful sauce, bread and butter and wonderful salad with a raspberry dressing for dessert we had pumpkin pie glazed cheesecake. Everything was excellent, the broccoli was to die for. The servers we're all very friendly great big smiles on their faces and very helpful too as I had two plates in my hands one for myself and one for my wife.

Dream Dinners is a lifesaver for this busy mom! I love having delicious, easy meals ready to cook whenever I'm too busy (or tired) to figure out what's for dinner! The customer service is always great and friendly.

Five stars to April and Dream Dinners! I'm a single mom with two little boys and I was sick of eating and making mac and cheese or frozen pizza for us after a long day of work. Not only am I sluggish, but the kids probably feel terrible :( I had heard of Dream Dinners a few years ago but decided to bite the bullet. For about an hour of time and 5-6 dollars per portion, I created 18 servings of dinners that look delicious, fresh and healthy. I had an AMAZING, fun, relaxing time assembling the meals too! When I arrived, April immediately showed me around and showed me my own labeled drawer and freezer for my personal belongings and food. They also had samples for next month, scones, water, tea and coffee. April showed me each step, helped me when I was making mistakes, cleaned up after my station, packed my cooler and walked me to my car. All the stations are pretty fool-proof, with the spoons colored coded and already the size/serving that you need. You create your marinades, seasonings, etc and put them in a bag with the cooking instructions, and bam! You're done with one dinner. I haven't tried my meals yet, but soooo excited to provide fresh, healthier meals for myself and my kids. Can't wait for my next appointment!

I tried their menu sampler last month, and just signed up for a similar deal. Overall, I think they do a pretty good job. I am a fairly experienced cook, so assembling everything and cooking it is pretty easy for me. Because they've done all the prep work, it does make getting a meal on the table considerably faster. The food itself is pretty good. Not great, but not bad either. We liked the White Chicken Lasagna and the Parmesan Crusted Chicken, and the Chicken with Honey, Garlic & Orange. We'll be trying the Steak w/ garlic & herb butter tonight. I find these meals most useful for the days when I don't have anything planned for dinner. You do need to plan in advance a bit, so you have it thaw out during the day in the fridge. It's also nice to have a few different things to change up our weekly menus. The folks here are super helpful and friendly. They clean up after you, and the stations & tools are always clean and ready. Price-wise, I would say it's about the same price as when I plan a week's menu and buy the raw ingredients.

We were the recipients of a sweepstakes bundle. The dinners that we've had so far have been easy to do and delicious. But beyond that, the people working there are SO kind, and even delivered our dinners when they found out we had new babies. Also, the vegetarian substitutions were super helpful and tasty. Highly, highly recommend- they deserve allllll the business coming their way.

There are few products/services sold that will change your life...but this is certainly one of them. We now have family dinners with delicious healthy food! I come in once a month and prep my family's dinners for the month. There are a variety of menu choices and each one can be crafted to the specific tastes of your family. The dinners are then stored in individual bags with all the ingredients needed for the dish. It actually saves money on groceries as you only get what you need. There is no longer the waste of an entire container of an ingredient because you only needed a tablespoon of it. The people that work there are kind, helpful, and friendly. I can't recommend this place highly enough.

I was not a believer, and I don't think that this concept would work in my two person household but it is a good concept for a certain type of family. Regardless for me, I had an absolute blast. I attending a Taste Party on a Friday night with 6 people and it was so fun and a great introduction to Dream Dinners. The concept is that you come here, prep all of your food so that you can either freeze it, or take it home and put it together with very little work. MOST of the mess stays here and it is a fun activity to do with your friends and family. A taste party consists of I believe a max of ten people, you set up what you want to prep online before the party that way they can have your station set up. Each station has an instruction card with what to mix to make your sauces, ect. You are prepping a protein for the most part so sides are there for purchase. During our party, the host was walking around helping, giving us hints about what we could do at home with our entrees and also serving up yummy appetizers. I loved the taste party - but signing up for the service isn't for me. I love coming home after work and making a mess in my kitchen. The cost also doesn't make sense. 24.99 for three pieces of a protein is way too high for a two person household. If you are exceeding that, then I'll give you some grocery shopping tips LOL.

Love this business and the people who work there. Reasonable, delicious, varied meals; easy to prepare, and employees are conscientious and helpful. They go out of their way to be helpful. Highly recommend!

I love this place...it's not really a money saver, but it's a time safer and even at times a life saver. I love that I don't have to think about what dinner I will serve my family every night of the week. I love that everything here that have tried has been absolutely great. I also love going here with my girlfriends to prepare meals and chat and have a good time. Dream Dinners just makes my life easier....and how can that be wrong?

I've been coming to Dream Dinners - specifically, this location - for about a year and a half now, and I can honestly say it has changed our lives. As a full time working mom, dinner choices were either: 1) go to freezer, get the box or 2) make reservations. With Dream Dinners we now have a variety of tasty food, quality family time, and the satisfaction of preparing our own meals at home. It truly is a dream come true. Now, about this location. Easily five stars right there. Faith and her team always make me feel welcome and have all my special requests ready and waiting for me on the night of my scheduled session. Faith especially goes above and beyond in helping me make great choices that my family will love, providing preparation tips, and just being darn helpful. I was truly out of my element the first few times, but quickly got the hang of it thanks to the staff here. Are you going to find amazing, gourmet meals here? No. But you will find easy-to-prepare, family-tested, tasty dinners that help you get through the week. I actually look forward to the next month's menu being posted so I can "plan" what our meals will be. Anyone who knows me knows that this is SO not me. Well, before Dream Dinners, anyway.

What a clean, beautiful place! I walk in, they have scones, a Keurig and a smiling staff waiting to get me started, I have been a DD customer for years, but this is the first time at this location. Night and day to my prior experiences. Everything is there, all set up and it's easy to get in and out. The sweet girl who was working even offered to walk my food out to my car! Great place.

I love doing Dream Dinners! When I don't know what to make I usually pull a DD out of my freezer. They have many kid friendly meals and my daughter enjoys helping me put them together. They have many meals to choose from each month and while putting the meals together I can not add what we don't like and sometimes I add a little more of what we do like and they still taste great! What other meal plan lets you do that? I have tried others and I have no say in what the ingredients are or they don't have many options to choose from. Dream Dinners is fun and the meals are great!

This is now the closest Dream Dinners to my home. I used to go to the one on Coleman Ave near the airport and well, that one closed since it didn't get enough traffic to keep it open. The biggest difference between that location and this one on Camden is the size. This location is almost half the size and a little bit of a tight squeeze if there is a full session of people. In theory, the Dream Dinners premise is simple and easy...assemble meals yourself without the prep or clean up by following their easy instructions at each station. Their menu always rotates and the great thing is that they have plenty of selections of things to choose like meatloaf, chicken dishes, and sometimes even lasagna. It's a decent option for families or couples who want fresh quality meals that don't feel or taste like cardboard. The food usually tastes fresh with a minimum amount of cooking or prep. Easy peasy. The downside is that there is usually a minimum amount needed for an order: 36 servings. That's 6 six serving meals or 12 three serving meals. Sometimes they have deals where the minimum isn't so high so make sure to check the store periodically for promotions. Also the meals aren't really complete meals. It's usually a protein or carb main dish with a side dish so one still may need to supplement the meal with your own veggies or sides. Dream Dinners is still worth trying at least once for decent tasting food that will not take you too long to prepare. The workers there are usually very helpful too and they have some comfy couches and chairs to relax in if you need a break from prepping.

I have been using Dream Dinners for almost 2 years. As a single working mom this service has been so helpful. The meals are easy to put together and prepare at home. I have prepared meals I probably never would have on my own. The owners and staff are so friendly and patient. Faith makes you feel right at home. One of the best parts is they clean up!! If you are a messy cook like me you'll love it. I have loved almost every meal I've made. Love them!

An update to my original review. I cannot thank the owners of Dream Dinners enough for going above and beyond to correct and make right what had happened earlier this year. Not only were the owners quite generous, but they assured me that there would be more staff training to ensure that my particular situation wouldn't happen to myself or others. It was really assuring that they admitted their error and made right what was wrong. Our request for paying at our session has been respected, and we haven't had a problem with that since, and I'm glad because I really like Dream Dinners!

Recently I had an operation on my leg and in preparation I had my dinners made for my husband at Dream Dinners on Camden Ave, San Jose. I liked it so much there that I returned again the next month. The staff is so friendly and the facility is very clean. I am especially grateful to Christine and Brandy for all their help. I had a wonderful experience and will continue to come back in the future. My husband is especially pleased now because he gets gourmet dinners nightly instead of standard baked chicken. :) Thank you for make me feel happy with your testy scones, a Keurig coffee and a smiling staff of very nice people.

I love his place. It is fun and easy to come and prepare meals that I can prepare later. The staff is great and my kids love the food.

I don't like to cook! Dream Dinners has been a godsend, allowing me to serve interesting, tasty meals with little effort on my part. Everything you need is in that dinner's package. No finding out that you're missing a special ingredient or spice. I enjoyed going there to easily prep my meals but now, for a small fee, they prep them. I order on line, choose my date for pickup, drive up at my assigned time & they put my prepped meals in the car. No contact! No shopping! They also have sides & desserts.

Dream Dinners is a fabulous idea! Spending 1.5 hours prepping 6 or more dinners so that I can have yummy, easy-to-cook meals during the week? How can you say no to that? The staff is nice. The place is clean and well organized. I have gone a couple times and have signed up for yet another time. :)

Wonderful owners, great service! I enjoy trying new recipes and having meals ready to go vs. take out on busy week nights. Recipe ingredients can be modified if you don't care for something (omit it). The prices aren't always cost effective, but my time is so limited that it's worth it for me. They have a VIP frequent buyer type rewards program too. I recommend this for anyone needing help with meal time.

Update from 1 starting 3 stars. Update below. Crazy frustrated! I bought the LivingSocial deal a few weeks ago. yesterday (Sunday) as I was prepping for my weekly grocery shopping trip my husband said "Your birthday is this week, why don't you make life easier and do your Dream Dinners thing. I'll leave work early any day you can get in." Such a sweet hubby! I immediately got online, found out how to use my LivingSocial Deal, created a Dream Dinners account, went through the LivingSocial specific class registration page, chose the 7:30pm class for tonight (Monday), signed up, picked the meals I was going to make & then submitted... Yay! All was going perfectly, no weekly grocery shopping, meal prep scheduled, time to enjoy my birthday week. :) Hubby left work early and raced home all the way from Napa to meet me & switch kiddo duty. I got to Dream Dinners at 7:15 and sat in the lobby until 7:35 when one of the girls came out from the back (I figured I was just early), she was surprised to see me and asked if she could help me. I said I was signed up for the 7:30 slot. She said there was no 7:30. I proceeded to tell her how I registered, chose my meals, confirmed, etc and she stated that the computers aren't supposed to allow you to register for a session until 5 days from when you register for DD. Well it did!! Grrrr.... I explained my story and how we had made such an effort for me to get there. I had heard terrible things about Dream Dinners being disorganized. I should have listened to my friends. I'll be expecting a refund. Now I wasted my time and my hubby's plus now we have no menu or food for the week given I held off on my weekly food prep & shopping to check out these Dream Dinner meals. So frustrated! ** Update (7/18/13) - Dream Dinners has worked out a solution and created a new session at a future date that I can attend. I appreciate that they have done this and will update this review further after the session & dinners. ** Update after eating food - the portions were small, ingredients didn't seem fresh and the flavor wasn't appealing.

I have been using meal preparation services like Dream Dinners for well over 5 years. The Dream Dinners location on Camden Ave in San Jose is, by far, the best experience I've had with meal prep stores. The staff at this location are so nice, friendly and helpful...especially Faith, Sara and Melanie. They provide great customer service and are very flexible. Also, Dream Dinners' food is awesome in terms of its quality, variety and flavor. We recently utilized several Dream Dinners meals in a food & wine pairing. Our guests were blown away at the quality of the food that we served!

I just started doing dream dinners. I purchased a living social deal and tried it out before signing up. So far I have enjoyed the meals. In an hour you can prepare 7 or 8 meals. Some of the meals don't come with sides like others have said. I try to pick a variety of just the protein meals, so I can add my own veggies and carbs and the complete meals. I also haven't picked the more expensive steak and salmon dishes. I'd rather go to the grocery store and pick out my own cuts of meat. Right now i am only using about one a week on the weekends. My husband makes them so I don't have to cook! :) At this rate I might only go every other month instead of every month. Yes, It's more expensive than cooking at home, but its nice to have more time on the weekend and not argue about what we are eating or spending $$ to eat out.

Ok, so I waited till I have had a few dinners before I posted. I attended a "taste" a couple weeks ago and took home some delicious food. The portions are great and the food was really easy to make. Since there was no way I could store the min amount of orders needed to place my own, I split it with a friend. The food has all been great. I really enjoy the breakfast omelets and the lemon bars. My only wish is that the minimum would come down. Give it a try, you won't regret it!

I LOVE Dream Dinners! You go to their store, and come out with 6 or more family dinners to take home and cook later. The food is terrific - both my hubby and kids are happy to eat these meals! And I don't spend any more days running to the grocery store at the last minute or picking up take out... I have an yummy dinner ready for me to cook in no time! I wish I had found them sooner! You go to dreamdinners.com to register for a session time. Everyone is so nice, the store is clean and organized, and making my dinners is so easy and fun! I've been a few times, and I just received a VIP gift from them - a super cute set of measuring cups! They always have fun things to thank us for coming to their store! Dream Dinners is a regular part of my month, and now I bring my sister and 2 girlfriends along too. I have been to other shops like this, and Dream Dinners is definitely my favorite!

My boyfriend and I first did their menu sampler for $75.00 and we got six meals. The whole experience was wonderful, the people working at Dream Dinners were SO nice and helpful they made us feel very comfortable being that we were newbies and didnt have a clue. We made stuffed shells, white chicken lasagna, caribbean jerk chicken, almond chicken, arroz con pollo. All you do is assemble them at dream dinners (you can add more of the ingredients you like and take out the ones you dont), they pack it up for you, bring it home and stick it in your freezer. When you want a few thing put them in the refrigerator to defrost and cook. Its so EASY and instead of fast food you have a home made meal for the same cost (about $4.71 per serving). My favorites were the almond chicken, jerk chicken and white chicken lasagna they were AMAZZZIIINNG. The stuffed shells I was NOT a fan of. Since then we've signed up again and have a freezer packed full of great food. Thank you dream dinners!

Went with a few friends, and was pleasantly surprised- we weren't sure what to expect, but the kitchen is clean and well organized. It took 1.5 hours and we made 14 dinners! My husband has enjoyed everthing I've made from DreamDinners, and he was a bit apprehensive at cooking frozen entrees vs fresh food the way we usually do. The staff is friendly and helpful, always on the go refilling ingredients, to signing people out to even carrying out their ice chests.

I bought an online deal for this place thinking this could be a great way to save a little time cooking. I guess I was just expecting a little bit more. The recipes are good and I love that you put them together yourself so you can decide how much or little of something you would like to have. At the price they are charging, I thought I would be putting together complete meals, but really it's only the protein and sometimes a side if it is mashed potatoes or something like that. It doesn't really save you a trip to the grocery store because you'll end up going there to buy vegetables to serve on the side of all these dishes. Bottom line, you'll end up saving a few minutes in prep time but it's going to cost you a pretty penny and you still don't get to skip the grocery store. It's not really worth it for someone like myself who cooks for one, I'd get a better deal going to Chipotle and it would be faster!

So far I have tried 3 of there dinners and only liked the salmon with corn relish. The Jambalaya was bland and dry. The sausage used was kielbasa and not true sausage. The shrimp did taste good but the rice was dry and tasteless. The Pecan crusted pork with mash potatoes had water, grainy mashed potatoes (maybe from being frozen) that was not eatable. The chops are very thin small pieces and the pecans would not stick. I just grabbed a hand full and put them on the pork chops. I was not impressed with any of their dinners that I prepared at dream dinners and hoped that they would taste good. . I will not be back. I still need to try the potato soup and the beef asada.

I have been coming here since attending a Dream Taste, and this is a great location. The staff is extremely helpful and friendly, and I like that I can track meals we like online for faster ordering. Unlike other meal prep services, I like that I put the meals together as it lets me adjust based on my family's tastes (they even will let you substitute in a whole wheat pasta or brown rice!). As a full time working mom I really like having a variety of dinners to complement some of our weekly standards. And on weeks when one of us is traveling, or working late, we will just pull out a full 4 or 5 meals on a Sunday and know that the whole week is taken care of with no meal planning, and whoever gets home can start dinner with minimal prep. My only complaints: I wish more of the meals came with a side (for the price it seems like more could include a veggie or rice.) Also, I REALLY wish the 36 minimum would come down a bit. We have an extra freezer in our garage but I often have trouble storing it all (and sometimes, the menu just doesn't inspire 36 servings). However, it is significantly cheaper than eating out, and healthier than eating a lot of processed frozen food, so it's been a life saver for our family.

My wife and I LOVE this place! We both work for start ups in the Silicon Valley so we don't have much time to cook dinners. Any time we tried to cook it was just ok, and didn't have much flavor! My wife discovered this place and we went in on a Saturday to build our meals. If you aren't familiar with how it works, they have all of the ingredients out for you and you basically put it all together in different zip lock bags and put it in the freezer. We made 36 servings worth of food, and every morning before work we just pull a meal out of the freezer and into the fridge! You still have to cook it, but you have the instructions and everything ready to go! Best part is that every meal is different and delicious! We would never get to eat these type of meals on our own. The two main selling points are 1) everything is fresh and ready to cook 2) the money you would spend on all of the ingredients to make these meals on your own would be WAY more expensive than to do dream dinners.