Contract Dining Services

Glendale Dining Services is an industry leading provider of comprehensive contract dining services for three distinct types of residential institutions throughout the eastern U.S.:

• Senior Living Communities
• Residential Care Communities
• Residential Special Schools

For each unique site, our restaurant-inspired food service programs and dining management expertise enhance the overall experiences of residents, clients, students, visitors and staff.

Our customers gain innovative culinary programs and catering services that embody their community values, delight their residents, guests and employees, and promote fiscal accountability.

Your Local Contract Dining Services Resource

As an experienced local team of dining management experts, we serve as your culinary hospitality partner.

We listen to learn your goals and customize menus and dining programs specific to your unique community.
We then passionately deliver restaurant-style service and experiences that fit your facility’s culture, demographics, and budget.

You gain a quality team of dining managers, operations experts, professional chefs, registered dietitians, and hospitality specialists who create fresh, flavorful cuisine that meets the diverse needs and preferences of everyone under your roof.

Unlike the national food service companies, our operations are scaled to optimize customer service and cost. We are big enough to cost-effectively source food and products. But we’re also flexible enough to implement innovative ideas and dining experiences that delight your community and add real value to your organization.

Local accountability is a key benefit of engaging Glendale for comprehensive contract dining services. Our team is encouraged to share their ideas for continuous improvement, and empowered to make local decisions. They report directly to accessible regional executives who deeply value customer service and support.

Residential Food Service Management Benefits

How can YOUR institution benefit from quality residential contract food service management?
Glendale Dining Services offers contract dining services and programs that enable your organization to:

• Focus on your primary obligations to residents, instead of managing a full-service restaurant 24 x 7
• Provide positive dining experiences for everyone under your roof (residents, students, staff)
• Fulfill your business mission and achieve your company’s goals
• Reflect your brand personality by serving fresh, appetizing cuisine
• Impact people in a positive way with Glendale’s signature resident-centered hospitality
• Gain clear pricing and complete cost transparency with a single detailed monthly invoice

Learn about our expertise and proven performance with contract food services in our service listing below.

Comprehensive Contract Dining Services

Custom Dining Services

All Glendale Dining Services food service programs are strategically crafted to enrich people’s experiences beyond the dining room.

Our proven business model is a holistic approach to supporting your institution’s purpose and goals.

Your staff will appreciate how our inclusive approach complements and enhances their efforts. Your residents and guests will benefit from gourmet inspired services that fit their needs and lifestyles.

We support residential institutions in these dedicated for-profit and not-for-profit market segments:

Senior Living Communities & Support:

• Independent Living 
• Assisted Living
• Skilled Nursing
• Memory Care
• Congregate Care Retirement Communities

Residential Care Communities:

• Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation
• Centers for youth emotional or behavior issue recovery
• Residential care centers for addiction recovery   
• Residential care programs for eating disorder recovery 

Residential Special Schools:

• Alternate Learning Methods
• Boarding School Options
• Emotional Supports
• Holistic Care 
• Individualized Lesson Plans
• Integrated Instruction
• Preparatory Programs
• Special Education
• Transition to Mainstream

Glendale Dining Services Custom Contract Services Include:

• Alternative Dining 
• Custom Catering
• Micro Markets
• Management Support
• Kitchen Design
• Dietitian Support
• Disaster and Emergency Response

Alternative Dining 

A key quality of life for your residents and guests is the freedom to choose when and where they eat.

Glendale Dining Services is proud to create memorable culinary experiences both inside and outside of your main dining room.  

Our alternative dining venues are designed to serve residents whenever and wherever they wish.

Some days, that means enjoying a beverage and half-sandwich in the bistro while hosting a visitor. 

Other days, it means enjoying breakfast at 2 p.m. on the outdoor patio while chatting with a neighbor. 

And sometimes it means the opportunity for residents to nourish their bodies and lift their spirits with delicious home-style comfort food delivered to their personal living quarters.

We will collaborate with you to create unique, resident-centered dining areas that feature a variety of delicious made-from-scratch menu options. 

These proven concepts for on-premise alternative dining venues are thoughtfully crafted to meet your community’s needs and interests, and to fit your space and your budget.

Bistro Dining

Bistro dining is one of the most popular concepts in contemporary residential living. It enables residents to dine throughout the day in casual venues located outside of the main dining room.

A bistro provides several benefits for your organization:

• It relieves congestion in the main dining room by providing additional options for when and where to eat.
• It offers a flexible menu of freshly-prepared items (such as a cup of soup, a half sandwich, etc.) that people can enjoy while they socialize in the bistro’s casual atmosphere.
• It enables residents to invite family members to join them for a relaxed meal in a more intimate, less structured environment than their personal room or the formal dining area.
• It supports the routine of residents who regularly use the dining room. As another venue for people to visit with guests, the bistro ensures that those guests don’t displace a resident from his or her “usual seat” in the dining room on any given day.

Flexible bistro dining payment options include cash, resident folio debit, or credit card via user-friendly contactless point of sale (POS) systems.  Bistros vary by community, and their hours of operation reflect residents’ meal plans.  A typical bistro is open for breakfast and lunch, with dinner an available option.

All-Day Dining  

All-day dining is a popular service concept that provides fresh homestyle food from breakfast-time through dinner-time. It provides your residential community with a casual, flexible alternative to structured meals.  It enables people to enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner at their convenience during off-peak hours, typically from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Themed Dining Events and Interactive Events

A popular signature program of Glendale Dining Services (GDS) is our series of themed dining events we produce for our clients throughout the year. 

We typically produce one major event per month, based on holiday or seasonal themes.

Examples of popular themed events include:

• Chinese New Year
• Super Bowl 
• February Beach Party 
• Mardi Gras
• Easter
• Mother’s Day and Father’s Day
• BBQs and Clambakes
• Independence Day
• Veteran’s Day
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas

We also serve as a provider of interactive events such as food-preparation demonstrations.  For example, during Old Fashioned Ice Cream Making Days, residents learn to make ice cream with our professional chefs. The ice cream is then freshly-served for dessert that day. 

Our creative chefs often introduce new food items and products via alternative dining. 

This is one example of how we fulfill our mission to keep menus fresh and relevant for residents.  For example, during Diner Days we may feature a dish such as fried clams, to assess its popularity before adding it to the regular menu.

Limited Time Offers 

Another GDS program that residents and staff highly anticipate is our limited time offers, or LTOs, on market-available items. It starts with our food-sourcing specialists securing special purchases of quality entrée items such as meats and seafood.  Then our professional chefs embrace the opportunity to use various cooking techniques and develop special recipes and side dishes that give residents a restaurant-quality experience with new or favorite foods.

Examples of Popular Limited Time Offer Items include:

• Strip Steaks
• Faroe Island Salmon 
• Burgers
• Signature Sandwiches

Custom Catering

As a highly experienced provider of comprehensive catering services, Glendale Dining Services (GDS) is a vital resource for senior living, residential care communities and special school communities.

Our customers value our expertise and familiarity with truly turnkey production of custom catered events that honor and celebrate their community’s special occasions.

Our in-house full-service custom catering program can make any occasion extraordinary.

Whether your events are on-site or off-site, indoors or outdoors, 50 guests or 500+, we are your in-house catering expert.

From delicious finger foods to well-presented buffets to elegant plated dinners with five-star white glove service, you can count on GDS for all the conveniences and special touches that suit your theme, guests, and budget.

Unlike some providers who claim to offer catering services, we have years of proven catering success. Beyond providing gourmet inspired dining experiences on your terms, we coordinate and manage staffing, rentals, special equipment, transportation logistics, and dining-related aspects of your events.

Our dedicated Director of Culinary works closely with our managers and clients to produce special catered experiences. This enables us to understand the ideas and goals behind each event initiative.

We value each catering request as an exciting opportunity to empower you to offer memorable events for your residents, guests and staff. Because we’re locally-based, everyone on our team supports your success – including our highly-involved managers – to ensure as much dedicated support you need.

Examples of Custom Catered Events include:

• Facility or Organization Anniversaries (100^th Anniversary, etc.)
• Holiday-themed parties
• Family-themed parties for specific groups of residents
• Special recognition celebrations
• Milestone recognition celebrations

Micro Markets 

A micro market is a cost-effective way to provide residents, guests and staff with 24/7 access to a variety of freshly-prepared food options for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  It also provides sundry and personal convenience products; as well as takeout food and beverages such as microwave-ready soups and entrees, fresh salads and sandwiches, ice cream novelties and brand-name snacks.

Our secure, contactless and cashless micromarkets are monitored 24/7 by motion-operated security cameras and accessible only to authorized users via advanced door-card technology. 

We work with you to design a micro market that suits your décor and space requirements, and benefits all of your residents and employees with access to practical necessities and valued perks.

Let Glendale Dining Services customize a micro market for your community that offers:

• Cashless contactless purchasing of barcoded products via credit card or payroll debit
• Reliable Energy Star-rated equipment and appliances (microwave ovens, coffee kiosks, etc.)
• Dependable 24/7 maintenance
• Wide selection of services and sundry items such as dry cleaning, newspapers and magazines, greeting cards, health and beauty products, phone batteries, and more 
• Your choice of fresh soups, salads, sandwiches and entrees, plus branded hot and cold entrees, beverages and snacks

Management Support

Glendale Dining Services understands that resident satisfaction results in consistent positive outcomes for both your residents and your bottom line.  Our innovative food service management support systems and programs are designed to maximize your operational efficiency and enable you to devote more time to improving resident satisfaction and wellbeing. 

Our comprehensive management support includes national-level pricing for local purchases, corporate accountability systems, and robust technology tools.

Examples of robust technology tools and practices GDS uses include:

Time and Attendance Controls

• Technology solutions such as biometric time clocks and geo-fencing applications provide your managers with the detailed data they need to make effective staffing decisions.

Cost Accountability and Transparency

• We maintain comprehensive backup documentation for every product, service or other expense related to your monthly invoice.  This complete audit trail of every penny we spend on your behalf supports financial transparency and avoids the risk of hidden costs. Glendale Dining Services programs ensure that you are accurately and fairly charged for all services you receive. 

Local and Regional Food Sourcing

• Other companies may talk about local sustainability, but Glendale Dining Services is committed to sustainable local food sourcing. We allocate 15-20% of our overall purchasing to support local vendors. The result is an overall positive impact for your residential community and your bottom line. You gain fresh, local products, cost savings and a reduced carbon footprint.

Kitchen Design and Dining Area Design

Whether you seek to build, renovate or enhance your existing dining area, Glendale Dining Services can support you from the ground up. Our network of architectural and interior design professionals has the experience and resources to help you achieve your goals, within your timeframe and budget. 

We consult with you to understand your needs and concepts and then work with our trusted design partners to discuss key components that drive kitchen design.  These include the type and layout of equipment that best maximizes kitchen organization, productivity, and environment.

Our kitchen design expertise includes:

• Green design and construction
• Traffic flow
• Appliance, equipment and utensil selection and procurement
• Interior design
• Equipment code compliance assurance
• Local health department liaison services

Collaborate with Glendale Dining Services to gain quality designs for your community’s kitchen, dining, and living areas. 

Dietitians

Dietitians play a vital role in the health, safety, and overall satisfaction of your community members.

Glendale Dining Services offers clients essential access to a network of qualified registered dietitians.  

These professionals work with your site to ensure compliance with all regulations, and to maximize nutrition, taste and variety for residents. 

Our dietitians and chefs thoroughly understand the dining needs and preferences of your audiences. 

All of our menus are thoroughly reviewed and approved by a registered dietitian in collaboration with our professional chefs.

From senior living, to residential care, to special school communities, we know from experience that each type of residential audience has unique foodservice requirements.  These needs range from therapeutic diets to modifications based on state and federal guidelines and regulations.   

For example, foodservice for memory care residents incorporates color combinations that safely support and guide their food choices.

Disaster & Emergency Response

Disaster and emergency response protocols are a critical aspect of what Glendale Dining Services offers to residential communities for senior living, residential care and special schooling.

A comprehensive and systematic approach to managing emergencies, disasters, power outages, weather turmoil and other unplanned events such as the COVID-19 pandemic is critical in any residential dining community.

The Glendale Dining Services (GDS) emergency response plan is designed specifically for food service operations. It is also easily integrated with your own emergency response procedures. We work directly with facility owners, location managers, and other relevant parties to craft a reliable and compliant plan that meets the unique safety needs of your community.

Our specific disaster response arrangements and emergency protocols ensure uninterrupted food service for each location that GDS operates.  For every conceivable aspect of your residential dining program, you can rest assured that we’ve already arranged “Plan B”, and will seamlessly deploy it whenever “Plan A” is not an option.

Contract Dining Services for Senior Living Communities  

Glendale Dining Services pioneered senior living food service management.  As our customers consistently attest, our turnkey service for senior living communities takes this critical responsibility off their plate.

Senior living facilities gain our full-service expertise and management of their dining program, including:

• Food sourcing, buying, preparation, serving, and cleanup
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner for residents and staff, 365 days a year, without interruption
• Staff onboarding, training, scheduling, payroll and benefits administration
• Complete compliance with meal service regulations for each specialized dining environment 
• Documentation of all expenses, for full transparency as to how the funds were invested
• A single, transparent, understandable invoice once per month

Contract Dining Services for Residential Care Communities

Glendale Dining Services is a leader in food service management for residential care communities such as centers for drug and alcohol rehabilitation, youth emotional or behavior issues, addiction recovery, and eating disorder recovery. Learn how our turnkey contract dining services take the critical responsibility of feeding your residents, guests and staff off your plate, and enable you to focus on your core mission and responsibilities.

Contract Dining Services for Special Schools

Glendale Dining Services understands the specific role of food service management for residential education facilities.  Learn how our turnkey contract dining services for special schools enable you to focus on your primary responsibilities of educating your students and maintaining your teachers and staff.