Chef Michael Napolitano: Four Decades of Las Vegas Catering
Chef Michael Napolitano took ownership of Renaissance Catering in 2001, inheriting a company that Fayle Paulsen had founded in 1985 to serve the designer end of the Las Vegas catering industry. Over the twenty-five years since that transition, Napolitano has built Renaissance into one of the most recognized names in Southern Nevada event catering — a full-service, off-premise operation running out of 4001 South Decatur Boulevard in Las Vegas, NV 89103, near the Decatur and Flamingo corridor on the west side of the valley. Renaissance is a Best of Las Vegas winner and has catered hundreds of events ranging from corporate galas and nonprofit fundraisers to weddings, holiday parties, and private dinners. The company’s longevity — more than forty years of continuous operation under two owners — places it among the longest-running caterers in a city where the events industry churns through vendors at a pace that mirrors the hospitality sector’s broader turnover.
Renaissance Catering operates as a full-service off-premise caterer, meaning the company brings everything to the client’s venue rather than operating from a fixed event space. Services include custom menu design, full bar and liquor service, staffing, rentals coordination, and event planning support. Chef Napolitano builds menus tailored to each event — from plated multi-course dinners to buffet stations, passed hors d’oeuvres, and food truck-style service for casual corporate events. The kitchen accommodates vegan, vegetarian, kosher-style, and allergen-conscious menus, and the company has developed particular expertise in large-scale events that require logistical coordination beyond what a restaurant catering department can manage. With 136 reviews on Yelp, 258 photos, and a client list built through four decades of repeat business, Renaissance Catering operates on reputation rather than advertising spend.
Renaissance Catering in the Las Vegas Valley
The Las Vegas catering market is shaped by the city’s two economies: the Strip-centered hospitality industry, which handles its events in-house through hotel and casino catering departments, and the local economy — corporate offices, nonprofits, schools, religious institutions, and private residents — which relies on independent caterers for events that happen outside the resort corridor. Renaissance Catering has served that local economy since 1985, outlasting dozens of competitors who entered the market during boom periods and exited during contractions. Chef Napolitano’s operation is built on the kind of trade knowledge that accumulates only over decades: knowing which venues have adequate kitchen access, which rental companies deliver on time, and how to scale a menu from thirty guests to three hundred without compromising the food. That depth of local experience is what separates a forty-year caterer from a startup with a commercial kitchen lease.
- Owner
- Chef Michael Napolitano
- Founded
- 1985
- Address
- 4001 S Decatur Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89103
- Phone
- (702) 367-2277
- Website
- renaissance-catering.com