Group of 20 West LA Dinner
Looking for suggestions! I have a group of about 20 for dinner on Saturday. I'd like to find a place in the West LA vicinity (WLA, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Century City, Venice, BH, etc) for under $40/person.
Preferences:
-- not Italian (we have Italians from Italy with us... better not to challenge them!)
-- low or no corkage fee (not a deal breaker)
-- all of us can sit together
-- nice, but not pretentious
Otherwise, the field is open.
I got excited when I read about Gulfstream, but their largest table is for 7, and they don't take reservations for more than 5!
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U-Zen was great! One of my Japanese colleagues was with us, and he actually goes there quite often, I learned. I let him order! We ended up having 12 people. We got a nice mix of sashimi, nigiri, rolls, tempura, and a wonderful beef sukiyaki. All of the fish was fresh and tasty, with the right texture. Total including tax and gratuity came to $330, no alcohol. Not bad!
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Emme
Jun 21, 2007 01:44 PM
If you're willing to consider going to an ethnic restaurant, I'd consider Shamshiri for Persian.
You could also call over to any of the Ethiopian restaurants on Fairfax (Meals, Messob, Rahel)
I'd look into Dar Maghreb or Mouns of Tunis (though these as well aren't in West LA proper)
Gosh, I'm heading even farther away but perhaps Thousand Cranes for Japanese
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Try Typhoon in the Santa Monica Airport. They are great with groups, the space is really nice, especially early evenings in the summer, food is fine and easy to share...You can easily fit within your budget and if you call them up they will probably make you a deal on the corkage if not a whole menu...
Or maybe Border Grill in Santa Monica? Or one of those upscale VIP Harbor Seafood type Chinese places?
None is as upscale as Upstairs, but if it's Thursday and you are planning a Saturday night dinner for 20 on the biggest graduation weekend of the year, you could do a lot worse...
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re: bromion
I've never been with a large group but there is one very large (communal type) table right up front. I would call to make sure, but I think you could easily seat 20 there. They also have a table in the back that would easily seat 10 or so (there was a large family there last time we were there). The menu is quite varied and has more than the usual teriyaki and tempura for non-sushi eaters. The cooked food is quite good, and the sushi as well. I've only had the traditional sushi and sashimi, but they do have elaborate rolls as well. It's not blow your mind sushi (although I have had some really amazing tuna there--it's always very good but only sometimes swoon-inducing), but it's very good and well-priced. I have no idea about corkage.
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goodhealthgourmet
Jun 21, 2007 11:52 AM
skip gulfstream even if they can accommodate you. food is very uneven there, and some of us have had bad experiences recently.
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re: bromion
gomagoma
Jun 21, 2007 11:54 AM
Upstairs 2 immediately came to my mind as well, but they are very busy on Saturdays, so you might want to call them right away (the 3 times I've been, all Saturdays, with no open tables). I've seen other restaurants with a higher mark up (I didn't roll my eyes like when I did at Patina....) so I wouldn't worry too much although getting there before the Wine House closes is the best way to do it!
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re: bromion
gomagoma
Jun 21, 2007 12:23 PM
I know what you mean....the pricer the wine you bring, the less expensive it feels for another $10, but not really if the bottles are $10-40 or so. FYI, the LA Wine Co. near the Marina has some great deals from time to time (Conundrum $10 less than Wine House).
I've never been to U-Zen, sorry. I just stopped by Sawtelle Kitchen and their expanded room seems like it could fit 20.
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