Trendy Birthday Dinner for Group of 15
Hey hounds I am looking for some suggestions for some great trendy spots for a group birthday dinner for my younger sister. She is turning 22 and her boyfriend has come to me for recommendations as I am the "foodie". However, the whole group dinner thing is not my area of expertise.
We will be a group of around 15 and are looking for something that has great food, fairly reasonable (say $50-60pp), and a really cool trendy type of atmosphere. Location is not an issue.
As far as food even though I'd love to do one of those group dinners that include a whole lamb, suckling pig, or beef 7 ways, I do not think that the other in my party (particularly the birthday girl) would be that adventurous.
After googling, searching, etc. and just based on my knowledge a few places that came to mind were Stanton Social and Buddakan. Can anyone speak to these two restaurants as to the food/overall experience quality? I was also thinking maybe Abe and Arthur's or STK but it may be too expensive and my sister isn't huge into steakhouse types. I'd also love to hear some more recommendations.
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Buddakan
75 9th Ave, New York, NY 10011
Stanton Social
99 Stanton Street, New York, NY 10002
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Go to Beauty and Essex. It is a newish restaurant on the LES opened by the owners of stanton social. It is a little pricey depending on how much food and how many drinks you order but to me it was worth it. The atmosphere is super trendy and really cool, they even have free champagne in the ladies room. I was there for a birthday dinner a few weeks ago and we all had a great time!
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It has been a while but about 3 years ago I went to a birthday party at Chinatown Brasserie. There were around 12 people in the private room which is on the main level and I think I remember that the room could accommodate 20. They did a price fixe dinner for the group and it was definitely not more than $50 per person. I can't remember all of the details but it might be worth looking into.
I just looked at the website...it is the Gold Room that can accommodate 20 people.
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Chinatown Brasserie
380 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 -
Stanton Social has the right atmosphere (at least it did the last time I was there, about six months ago). Some of the food is very good, some of it is just ok. You'll want to keep a close eye on the tab, though, to stay within your budget. Drinks aren't cheap, and the cost of those small plates adds up quickly. And if anyone in your party has an issue with noise, stay far, far away. Like, several blocks away. It's loud in there.
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re: small h
I had a question about the ordering. How does it work exactly? Because it says they continuously bring plates to your table throughout the meal. Since most of the plates are small tapas style what do you recommend ordering for a table fo 15? 2-3 of each thing? I mean I did a little math and it seems like you can get a lot of food for like $500. When splitting that between 15 people that comes to almost $35 pp which is nothing.
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re: steakrules85
i haven't been there with a group as large as yours will be, but we usually do "rounds" of ordering, so as to control what comes out when. For instance, four of us will order six dishes, which is usually enough for everyone to get a taste of each. Then we order six more, perhaps repeating one or more dishes from the first round if everyone liked them. Lather, rinse, repeat. I've found this to be a good strategy as it 1) extends the meal, which is nice for a birthday, 2) guards against over-ordering and 3) lowers the risk of getting too much of something lousy.
$35/pp for food is indeed reasonable, but much depends on the alcohol consumption of your party. With two drinks apiece, you're now up to $61/pp, and that's before tax & tip.
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