50th birthday dinner / 3 couples

[AGG3]

upscale, good food, able to have conversation, looking to spend about $100/pp including drinks in early October. Many thanks.

[sgordon]

At $100/pp for food alone / $150 w/ drinks:

Haute Italian is a good bet. You can do four courses (antipasti, pasta, secondi, dolci) for under $100 at Marea ($89 prix fixe), Del Posto ($95 prix fixe), Babbo or Falai (order a la carte - you can easily do four courses for under $100 if you're not ordering the most expensive things on the menu...) As regular haunters of the board will know, I recommend Falai highly - an underrated gem, very creative. Think Mario Batali meets Wylie Dufresne.

And speaking of Wylie, you could do WD-50 on that budget as well.

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WD-50
50 Clinton Street, New York, NY 10002

Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011

Del Posto
85 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10011

Falai
68 Clinton St, New York, NY 10002

Marea
240 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019

[mommasue]

I think Il Vagabondo is fun. Neighborhood Italian place with a bocce ball court inside. Food is very good Northern Italian. Rumored to have the best chicken parm in the city. I had a fabulous osso bucco there. Large tables. Easy to talk.
351 E 62nd St
NYC, NY 10065
[phone]

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Il Vagabondo
351 E 62nd St, New York, NY 10065

[gutsofsteel]

Hearth would be perfect, as long as you don't drink expensively...

[AGG3]

Well, now that I think of it, I'll add another $50/pp for the wine :) Yes, anywhere in Manhattan.

[gutsofsteel]

Craft would be good.
Still recommend Hearth.

[mrgdess]

Anywhere in Manhattan? Assuming you aren't huge drinkers, I like Dovetail, Grammercy Tavern, and Babbo for celebratory meals.

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Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011

[kathryn]

Caveat that GT and Babbo don't have that many large tables, so they might already be committed on the night(s) you want.

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Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011