Need help picking restaurant in NYC for 13 people
 

Anyone have any suggestions on a restaurant for approximately 13 people, kids also, for late night get together. Approximately 10:30 or 11:00 at night. At this point. Upper west side fine but any suggestions appreicated at this point. Will be in NYC next weekend. This is for a Friday or Saturday night.

Help!!!!

Thanks!!!

What is your budget per head, including food, booze, tip and tax? There are many options on the UWS, but they can run the gamut from inexepensive to pricey.

Lizzie --I would say moderately priced not expensive and none of us are drinkers. Ok, per person lets say around $20-$30 or less.

These are all suggestions on the UWS:

Calle Ocho (latin), Rain West (Thai), and Ruby Foo's (Asian) are all good with large groups and serve dinner late on weekends. If your party wasn't drinking and only purchasing food, it would probably be around $30 a person.

Nice Matin is a good French restaurant within your budget.

Fred's is my favorite neighborhood place. Traditional American food (really good mac and cheese, burgers, etc.). The whole restaurant is "\dog-themed with "autographed" pictures of neighborhood dogs, which the kids might enjoy.

You can look up the menus for all of these restaurants on www.menupages.com

I think you should have a look at the actual menus of these restaurants before making reservations.

At Nice Matin for instance you might be able to get an entree for $20 - but many are more. Once you add tax and tip and even a soft drink you will have reached your $30 limit - no appetizer, no desert, no coffee - and a limited number of entress (many are more at dinner).

Even if no one drinks anything that's a very low budget - unless you go to one of the economy ethnic places - which can be very good.

But do check specifics of the latest menus (menupages.com) before reserving.

Thank you all for your great suggestions. I will definately look them up.

How about Carmine's at Broadway and 90th? Family style Italian. For your budget, you will all be stuffed -- and a major advantage is not paying through the nose for kids. If the private room is free they might even let you have that (but it actually holds a lot more than 13. Worth checking out.

Carmine's was my first thought too.

Let me third Carmines. It is a great place for friends and family!

Carmine's is a good choice on th eupper west side because on weekends it serves until midnight.

Just be sure not to order too much food. Portions are truly enormous - so 2 or 3 people can share an entree and a side dish. (Also - you will need to do this to stay within budget since non-pasta entress are all in the $25 or up range.)

Yea, but LoveHorses said between $20 and $30 a person. At Carmine's for $200 you could feed an entire army and still have leftovers!

Thank you all CARMINES is definately a Friday or Saturday night choice for us this weekend.

Also looking for a chinese restaurant for one of those days? Any suggestions?

Well, in the same general area is Ruby Foo's. They have some huge round tables that may even take 13 (not sure of that). It's fun.

The bill can really run up at Ruby Foos. But it has good food. For cheap...Ollies!

What about the new Junior's in Times Square? You won't have any trouble getting in at that hour. Also, if it is a nice night, there is seating outside. They also have huge, shareable portions.

I heard about Ruby Foos. That might be a great choice for one of the nights also.

Thanks

Ditto on Ollie's for Chinese and Carmine's for Italian. Both very laid back places, great to bring kids, and usually no problem to get into.

I was going to suggest Ollie's too. I like the food a whole lot better than Ruby Foos and it is a whole lot cheaper. (Owned by the same people as Carmine's and Virgil's by the way). But I was thinking of upper west side, and the Ollies near Lincoln center seems so cafeteria like, and I don't even recall large tables. But in the Times Square area -- Ollie's is a great bet.

Hmmm. Or there's another idea in there -- Virgil's BarBQ.

There's an Ollie's at 86th and Broadway. I can't remember how the inside looks, but it might be less "cafeteria" than the one near Lincoln Center.

Ohh, I don't know that one.