Personal Chef To Go

What Personal Chef To Go is

Personal Chef To Go sells fully cooked, ready-to-eat meals that ship fresh to your door each week, built around a Mediterranean-style menu. There is nothing to cook. The homepage sums it up as "No more prepping, cooking or cleaning. Just heat & eat," and each meal comes "in a tamper proof sealed tray" that you heat in the microwave "for just 2-3 minutes."

The company calls itself "The Original Chef Prepared Meals Since 2003!" and stresses that the people cooking own the business: "We are Chef/Owners that take pride in every dish we prepare." The copyright line on the site reads Smart Meals To Go. The homepage doesn't say where the kitchen is.

How ordering works

The site recently opened up its terms. In its words: "We now have one time orders! No more commitments, no more subscriptions unless you want one." So you can buy a single order to try it, or subscribe.

Subscribing has 2 benefits the company names. First, you "save money," though the site doesn't say by how much. Second, you control the rhythm: subscribers "can choose weekly or every 2 weeks" and can "Cancel or Pause online at any time before Sunday 10pm EST." That Sunday deadline is the key date. Because every order ships the following Wednesday, a change made on Sunday evening still catches that week's batch, while one made on Monday won't.

Each week, the company sends "Reminder texts or emails" with a link to pick meals, so you choose new dishes every week rather than receiving a fixed box. The homepage describes "Family friendly menus with lots of variety" and invites you to "Eat and repeat, choose new meals each week." The site doesn't list how many meals you must order, what sizes the plans come in, or how many dishes are on a typical week's menu; those sit behind the "Get Started/See Pricing" button.

Gift cards are also available, which makes the service easy to send to someone else.

What it costs

The homepage headline on price is "Save Money, Meals start at $5.99." Read that carefully, because the same page links the $5.99 figure to family meals that are not yet available: "Family meals coming soon, starting at $5.99 per serving." So $5.99 is a starting point tied, at least in part, to a line that hasn't launched, and the site doesn't show the regular price of a single-serve meal.

Shipping is straightforward and published. "Free Shipping Nationwide, Coast to Coast," but "a small fee of $6.95 is added to each order to help pay for all E-Friendly packaging." In practice that is a flat $6.95 on every order, whatever its size, so it weighs more heavily on a small order than a large one. The site shows no introductory discount for a first order. Its case for value rests on waste rather than price: "No wasted or spoiled groceries," and "No shopping or prep work needed," with meals "delivered every week to your doorstep." For a household that regularly throws out unused groceries, that argument has some weight; for anyone who already cooks efficiently, the per-meal price will matter more, and it isn't shown up front.

The food

The menu is built on the Mediterranean diet, which the company describes as "The #1 Rated Diet in the Country!" and, in its own phrase, "the only FDA approved Diet." It adds that "The American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association both recommend a Mediterranean style Diet for continued long term health and balanced nutrition," and positions itself as "100% Fad Free." These are the company's claims about the diet; the site doesn't list specific dishes, so you can't see from the homepage how Mediterranean any given week's menu actually is.

On nutrition, the company says "Our chefs are calorie conscious when preparing meals," uses "only fresh and healthy, all-natural ingredients," and sums up its approach as "Good Fats. Good Carbs. High Protein." The homepage doesn't publish calorie counts, macros, ingredient lists or allergen information, and it doesn't mention gluten-free, vegetarian or other diet-specific options.

Storage is the standout practical detail. Meals are "delivered fresh, never frozen in special reduced oxygen containers to lock in flavor," and the company says they "stay fresh in your fridge for 10-14 days!" That is a long window for fresh food, and it means a week's delivery doesn't have to be eaten on a tight schedule. Heating is a quick 2-3 minutes in the microwave; the site doesn't give oven instructions.

Where it delivers

Personal Chef To Go ships nationwide: "Free Shipping Nationwide, Coast to Coast." The schedule is fixed. "All orders ship out on Wednesday every week and arrive at your home by Thursday or Friday depending on your location." The site doesn't name the carrier, list any excluded states, or say whether you need to be home to receive the box.

The packaging fee pays for what the company calls "E-Friendly packaging," but the homepage doesn't describe the cooler, liners or ice packs, or whether any of it can be returned or recycled.

What the site leaves open, and who it suits

For a shopper comparing services, the gaps are mostly on the menu and price side. The site doesn't show dishes, plan sizes, minimum orders, single-meal prices or nutrition facts, and its $5.99 headline leans on family meals that are "coming soon." You'll need to click through the Get Started button to see real numbers.

What it does publish is useful and clear: one-time orders without a subscription, a weekly or every-2-weeks option for subscribers, a firm Sunday 10pm EST change deadline, Wednesday dispatch with Thursday or Friday arrival, free shipping with a flat $6.95 packaging fee, and a 10-14 day fridge life. That combination suits people who want a stock of Mediterranean-style, heat-and-eat meals that keep well through the week, and who like the idea of a small, chef-owned operation rather than a large one. It suits people who need to check allergens or macros before ordering less well, at least until the menu is visible.