LA Convention Center: Dinner for 40 doctors?

[PayOrPlay]

My wife is organizing a sit down dinner for 25 – 40 physicians in connection with a meeting being held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in November. She is looking for a place that has a private room and is priced reasonably enough so as not to break the coffers of the host, a charitable organization.

Any suggestions? It must be easy walking distance from the Convention Center.

[BSW6490]

Rivera is a good choice. We did a party for a group that size and it worked well.

[Johnny L]

They have a private room as well and can accommodate if you want either a standing hors d'ouerves party or a set menu.

[ipsedixit]

How about Roy's?

[J.L.]

Ugh. Not another industry (medical, in this case) dinner at Roy's!

L.A. physicians are invited to Roy's ad nauseum these days for every frickin' event! Ask me how I know.

Now, if the docs are coming from out-of-town, and haven't tried Roy's, then Roy's might work. You may consider Palm Steakhouse also (but keep in mind it's not great food). El Cholo (on Flower) may not have a private room, but it's affordable. Also, L.A. Live has a plethora of dining options.

Sorry, ipse.

[DrBruin]

I would second J.L.'s motion of: Not Roy's.

I've been invited to way too many of these events at Roy's and I think I've tasted just about everything on the menu at this point and won't go back (Sorry, Roy!).

Given this is for a bunch of cardiologists, try and pick something heart healthy. ;)

By the way, it would be helpful to know what your budget person would be and if this includes alcohol, tax, tip, etc.

[westsidegal]

my experience has been that groups of MDs, as a whole, tend to like having the option of eating healthful food vs lard-filled-high-saturated-fat/processed food.
certainly not true of every individual MD, but when planning a meal for a group of them, it's worthwhile to have some healthful options available. . ..

[J.L.]

Many a Lipitor dinner targeting physicians have taken place at, you guessed it, steakhouses. Once you entice the MDs to come to the event, they'll generally eat whatever free food is placed at their disposal at said event (especially true for the interns and residents). We're not as picky as the public would otherwise believe. The trick is to actually get them to come to the event in the first place.

A lot of us physicians work off that rich food (yes, many of us also take our own advice and exercise!)

[westsidegal]

in my experience, this is very age-related.

older MDs are the ones that will more often limit their intake of "unhealthy" food choices: they may eat the steak, but will not cover their baked potato with a half pound of butter and sour cream AND have a thousand calorie dessert. was not saying that every single mouthful they eat is going to be healthful.

younger MDs will, more often, eat anything, especially anything that requires no work/preparation/money. they've had their fill of vending machine/cafeteria food eaten on the run, and are happy to have good-tasting food of any sort. .. .

[ilysla]

And not the Palm Steakhouse! Or has that fallen out of favor for pharma-sponsored events? And it's probably a good idea to choose a place that can easily do vegetarian (since there's not an insignificant number of MDs who have special dietary restrictions for religious reasons).

Also agree that the OP providing some type of budget would be really helpful (since the places being mentioned are ones that would be more commonly used for pharma dinners, which I assume would blow the budget of a charitable [non-profit?] organization)....

[perk]

I think Drago Centro has a private room. I'm sure they could offer a menu that would be reasonably priced. Also Chaya next door to Drago.

[Ciao Bob]

Hotel Figueroa does a great job with things like this
http://www.figueroahotel.com/

The Palm is dull, IMHO, but has private function rooms.

Depending on the night of the week Cork Bar might shut down their main room for a group.