Birthday Dinner Help Please!

[foodiegirl82]

My boyfriend's birthday is coming up and wanted to take him and our friends out to dinner, somwhere nice in the city. We're not looking for anything super fancy, but do want something "trendy" I guess you could say.

For example, we've done Medjools and Thirsty Bear in the past. Aziza looks cool, as does Oohla's. Would either of these places be good for a group of 10-15 young 20-somethings? Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[ingridniel]

If you like trendy I would suggest Myth or even Frisson

[Melanie Wong]

The communal table at Piperade seats 8 to 12 (snug).

[whiner]

The big table at Piperade is a good suggestion. Not seriously trendy, but good and it fits your person requirement. If NoPa has big tables upstairs that would also work. bacar can handle big parties but I think it is a bit overpriced. Wine list is great, though.

[dinnerout]

I've not eaten up there, but there is an upstairs at Nopa - don't know if your party would be large enough to take some or all of that, but if so it would be fun. I like the restaurant a lot and you must try the Elderflower gimlet!

[foodiegirl82]

thanks pei!

any other suggestions/comments from others?

[Pei]

It would be hard to seat 10-15 people together at Oola, since all the seats are booths for 4-6 and bar seating. There's no way that I know of for them to put 10 together, but you could call and ask.

Aziza would be fun, but for large parties I believe you're required to order off the set menu which will (unless you're starving) give you too much food. But it would be a lot of fun!

Azie next to Oola has great cocktails and pretty good food--better than Thirsty Bear, at least.

We've had a great time in the upstairs area at Mezes, and they didn't charge us very much corkage. I forget if it was free, or they charged us for one bottle, or asked that we buy one bottle from them. In any case, very reasonable. The 10 or 12 of us had the entire area to ourselves and it was a great time with fantastic food. Good idea if you like seafood mezes.

Other personal favorites that might work for a large party: Fresca, Pesce, the communal table at Piperade.