St. Louis Birthday dinner for 10?!?

[chocolate pants]

Hey I was asked to find a place that is fun and not wallet breaking. I'm thinking something fun for sharing...something with dessert..and something I haven't been to. Not Barcelona, not miso, not mosaic, not mango, not cyrano's. I haven't been to many places on the hill...but suggestions all around town are appreciated!

[p.j.]

Are you interested in ethnic food? Good place to share, and then you can go to La Dolce Via, Cravings, or Ted Drewes for dessert!
We have had a lot of fun with large group meals at Wonton King, Royal Chinese BBQ (although my husband and I were very disappointed when we were there in June), the King & I (I know some ChowHounds hate the place), Rasoi, & House of Wong in Clayton.
Riddles in the Loop is good, but has a fairly high noise level.
Happy Birthday, p.j.

[Rare Meat]

Boogaloo in Maplewood is really good.

[Phaedrus]

Boogaloo's is a great fun package. The decor is funky, the service people are eclectic and interesting. The food is above average but nothing to swoon over, so a birthday bash is perfect for the place unless it is a group of food snobs.

[jberendzen]

Cravings is tiny - dinner for 10 would swamp the place. The food is good though. It has an odd "open for business" thing going though - I think maybe it's only open when nearby events (Rep Theater) are open.

[bobzemuda]

it's because first and foremost it's a bakery.

[Doug]

La Dolce Via (on Arco) does dinner on Friday and Saturday. Tasty food, good prices, and lots of dessert options. I thnk they have a patio.

[p.j.]

La Dolce Via does indeed have a secluded patio with a pretty garden. The food is quite good, the desserts are amazing.

[LadyKaldi]

I've had nothing but excellent food at Cravings, have been there a half dozen times though not in the last year. Another suggestion is Trattoria Marcella.

[LadyKaldi]

Cravings might work ... it's small and definitely includes dessert.

[bobzemuda]

Sorry to stray off topic a bit, but how's dinner at Cravings? Tim is an awesome guy, and good friends with one of my former chefs. He gave us a hell of a deal on my wedding cake which turned out beautifully:
http://www.zemudaville.com/pics/cake.jpg

My groom's cake was also the best carrot cake I've ever had in my life as it had layers of rum icing between each perfectly moist carrot sheet. It's become my standard birthday request.

Also, I believe they only serve dinner on Friday and Saturday so keep that in mind if you go with that choice.

Would it be possible for you to give us an idea of what you're looking to spend? I can think of a lot of great fun places in a whole range of prices in the city. My idea of not breaking the bank could differ wildly from yours, however.

[bobzemuda]

Mangia Italiano has a large room in their basement that you can now use at no additional charge.

You can certainly find better food in the city, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better value.