Foodie group of 15 ppl needs a place to drink on a Saturday night

[Mikiko]

A group of 15 foodies from Boston are heading to NYC to celebrate a birthday in two weeks. We need a fun place to gather on Saturday night. We're looking for a lower price point but a place with a lot of character to mesh with our personalities!
Please help!

[Monica]

How about Japanese Izakaya like Village Yokoho and Sake bar Hagi. Cheap Japanese beer and cheap but great food.

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Hagi
152 W 49th St, New York, NY 10019

Village Yokocho
8 Stuyvesant St, New York, NY 10003

[small h]

I would not recommend walking into either place on a Saturday night with 15 people and expecting to be seated in a timely fashion.

[eeee]

Look into Spitzer's Corner or the Smith. The latter is more of a pubby restaurant but you can order wine by the carafe, make a reservation for 15 and they won't care if everyone eats or not.

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Spitzer's Corner
101 Rivington St, New York, NY 10002

[kathryn]

Note that both are pretty loud. Spitzer's especially, on a weekend night.

[Hey19]

Jimmys 43?
Cool beer bar, interesting food.
Mayahuel?
good tequila drinks, cool scene, good mexican.
Pulinos?
good drinks good beer, pizza, keith mcnally,

Pulinos is prob my best pick I really like their drink menu, and have some cheap beers, and have a good range of prices on the food menu. Maybe would be tough w 15, come to think of it...

man all those will be tough w 15... Pulinos maybe the easiest.

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Mayahuel
304 E 6th St, New York, NY 10003

Pulino's
282 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

[starvomarvo]

Anyplace in Manhattan will be tough for 15 on a Sat, but those are all good ideas, especially if your group can get to them early. I would also add Lani Kai, Summit Bar, and Keg 229 to the mix of options; all of them will take a group reservation if you call or email ahead.

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Lani Kai
525 Broome St, New York, NY 10012

[kathryn]

I love Lani Kai's cocktails and food. But the food is really pricey. I think my husband and I racked up a $130 bill with a few drinks and a few rounds of food each. The poke is $15 but only 3-4 oz of fish. The sliders? $4. Each.

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Lani Kai
525 Broome St, New York, NY 10012

[ug123]

Hi Kathryn, I'm thinking of having a big group dinner at Lani Kai. I was wondering if you've tried the entrees there before and if you could comment on what the atmosphere is like on a weekend night. I'm looking for somewhere fun with good food, drinks and music. Thanks!

[kathryn]

The menu has changed a bit with the new chef so I can't comment on the entrees. But is it pretty loud and fun on a weekend night.

[kathryn]

Jimmy's No 43 would be a great pick. Hopefully they can take a reservation for a big group.

Mayahuel is a great place but I'm guessing there's at least one person of the 15 who doesn't like tequila (or says they don't like because they had a single bad experience in college). Also, it's not exactly cheap, some may balk at the price tag for cocktails.

Pulino's is insanely loud even on weekdays, so I wouldn't go there, especially on a Saturday night.

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Mayahuel
304 E 6th St, New York, NY 10003

[starvomarvo]

Are you looking for a restaurant, or a bar with food? Also, when you say lower price point, what range do you have in mind?

[Mikiko]

We are looking for a bar that offers food. I said lower price point because we have some struggling musicians in the party, but we also have some cocktail aficianados in the party too. I'm trying to make an eclectic group happy!