Meet Sandra Lockard

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sandra Lockard. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sandra , looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

As a child I was taught to work hard and persevere in order to succeed. I’ve let this motto drive my ambition throughout my life.
Ever since I entered the work force, I gave my best, and held myself to high expectations. As I moved up in the corporate world and became a manager, I continued to live up to these expectations of myself and led by example. That meant that my team was also held to the same expectations to perform to their best and work to their full potential.

To me that is what work ethics is: leading by example and performing to the best of your abilities and holding yourself accountable.

Today, as the owner of a restaurant and catering service, I give my all to ensure that my customers get the best and exceed their expectation, from the food to the service, their meal and their events should be top notch.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I own and operate with my husband a restaurant, bar, catering service and event venue called Taza.
Taza started in 2019 as a food trailer at events, concerts and farmers markets. We quickly progressed to being a personal chef and catering service focused on small to medium-sized groups. We offer customizable dishes and a varied menu to please a wide range of palette and tastes. We are modern American fare with a Mediterranean-inspired flavor.

We quickly became known for our exceptional service, attention to detail and delicious food with generous portions. We make the host/hostess feel like a hero as guests rave about the food and great time while the host can relax and enjoy their own party.

What sets Taza apart is our versatile menu. We are:
1. A restaurant with dine-in menu
2. An event venue able to accommodate private parties with attentive service, full bar, customized menu that’s family style, buffet or plated, and there are no additional rental fees
3. Catering service for pickup, delivery and full service on-site events from cocktail party, wedding, retirement party, birthday, baby shower, business luncheons and board meetings
4. Personal chef for private parties with cooking and serving on-site for events such as friends gatherings, family reunions, bachelorette parties, birthday celebrations, anniversaries etc.

We offer gluten-free options, a wide range of vegetarian dishes, and can customize for allergies and special diets.

We recently remodeled our dining room to allow for more seats and a cozy lounge living room style section to make it more accommodating for private parties. We also work with local rental places to allow for larger group events in our outdoor area.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. PATIENCE: Hospitality and food service are among the most challenging and exhausting industries. Patience is a virtue and allows you to calm down when things get tough.
2. ATTENTION TO DETAIL: No detail is too minor. Starting with the customer’s name, to any information they gave you about their event or their family, all these details are important and allow you to customize the order to their preferences. Details also show in your presentation of the dishes, in the setup for an event, in making check lists and ensuring you pack what you need for an off-site event. Detail is what differentiates acceptable from exceptional.
3. CONSISTENCY: Ensure that your brand stays consistent, that the food quality remains exceptional and always aim to exceed your customer’s expectations. Hire staff who understand and follow your vision. Lead by example and give consistent feedback to employees until they reach the level of excellence that you expect and customers deserve.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Collaboration is a very important part of building a successful business. Taza being a locally owned catering business, we enjoy collaborating with event and hospitality small businesses. We would love to connect with event planners, event venues, event rentals, photographers, florists and other small businesses who work in the events industry. Together we would be a wealth of referrals to each other.
It’s easy for customers to go with the big companies who offer venue and services lumped all into one. But they end up paying an arm and a leg. If they instead worked with a private caterer for example, like Taza, we can refer our preferred photographer, florist, event planner and even venue if needed. Same goes if the customer started with the event planner, they would offer their list of preferred caterer, florist, venue and so on.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Taza Bistro and Catering original photos

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