About Us
Love Food, People & Serving OthersOur Beginnings
In the early 80’s, while working for a large contractor and catering part-time, Marie “Rie” Meriwether Godsey, and her husband Eddie became convinced that they could provide what the global operators could not: personal attention, real partnership, and fabulous food. They believed that hands-on ownership, which is often found in the finest restaurants, would make a difference in contract dining. In 1985, with this ideal in mind, they launched Meriwether Godsey with two locations, an independent school, and a small college. Almost entirely by word of mouth, today we have grown to operate throughout the east coast from North Carolina to Massachusetts.
Our Beginnings
In the early 80’s, while working for a large contractor and catering part-time, Marie “Rie” Meriwether Godsey, and her husband Eddie became convinced that they could provide what the global operators could not: personal attention, real partnership, and fabulous food. They believed that hands-on ownership, which is often found in the finest restaurants, would make a difference in contract dining. In 1985, with this ideal in mind, they launched Meriwether Godsey with two locations, an independent school, and a small college. Almost entirely by word of mouth, today we have grown to operate throughout the east coast from North Carolina to Massachusetts.
Meet Our Team

















Women-led
Beginning with our founder, Rie Godsey, and continuing to this day, we have a legacy of empowering women. Our CEO, the majority of our senior leadership, the majority of our managers, and half of our Board are women. This is unique in business and especially in food services.
Also what makes Meriwether Godsey different is our commitment and capacity to create unique, customized dining experiences for each of our client communities; to set higher standards for ourselves and to meet them, and to provide more support to our teams to deliver on these promises.
Experience it once and you will understand! We are a family of talented, and dedicated — managers, chefs, and service staff — operating from North Carolina to Massachusetts.
Women-led
Beginning with our founder, Rie Godsey, and continuing to this day, we have a legacy of empowering women. Our CEO, the majority of our senior leadership, the majority of our managers, and half of our Board are women. This is unique in business and especially in food services.
Also what makes Meriwether Godsey different is our commitment and capacity to create unique, customized dining experiences for each of our client communities; to set higher standards for ourselves and to meet them, and to provide more support to our teams to deliver on these promises.
Experience it once and you will understand! We are a family of talented, and dedicated — managers, chefs, and service staff — operating from North Carolina to Massachusetts.
Our Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
We are invested in creating and maintaining a workplace in which all employees have an opportunity to participate in and contribute to the success of the business. This means fostering and protecting an inclusive environment in which all employees feel respected, are treated fairly and their viewpoints, thoughts, and ideas are encouraged and embraced, regardless of position, age, race, religion, beliefs, socio-economic background, gender, who they love, how they identify and of course, other protected statuses. We proudly support vendors, partners, and suppliers who share these values of inclusion.
Our Culture
We help our people achieve their highest personal and professional goals through steady support, coaching, and development. We set high expectations, provide ongoing training and mentorship, and cultivate an atmosphere in which we learn, grow and improve, constantly.
Tenure and Loyalty: words that go hand in hand, but are often forgotten in business today. Because of our people-focused approach, we experience very low staff turnover. This is unusual, particularly in the foodservice industry.
Our teams work to eliminate the “us and them” often found in contract relationships. We become an integral part of our client communities. Through food, our teams learn and respond to the unique preferences of our guests from students, to faculty and administration, to frequent visitors. We work with each partner to be sure our service is a bright spot in everyone’s day.

Our Culture
We help our people achieve their highest personal and professional goals through steady support, coaching, and development. We set high expectations, provide ongoing training and mentorship, and cultivate an atmosphere in which we learn, grow and improve, constantly.
Tenure and Loyalty: words that go hand in hand, but are often forgotten in business today. Because of our people-focused approach, we experience very low staff turnover. This is unusual, particularly in the foodservice industry.
Our teams work to eliminate the “us and them” often found in contract relationships. We become an integral part of our client communities. Through food, our teams learn and respond to the unique preferences of our guests from students, to faculty and administration, to frequent visitors. We work with each partner to be sure our service is a bright spot in everyone’s day.