DancingBearMD

Looking for suggestions for restaurants that could handle a group of 20 middle-aged adults on a Friday and Saturday night in April. We can split up into 2 or 3 tables on Friday night but much prefer to be all together on Saturday. Preference would be casual on Friday and more upscale on Saturday. Considering the following but any suggestions welcome:

Broussard's
Emeril's
Deannie's
Cochon
Commander's Palace

bachslunch

Here's my NOLA restaurant report from last year:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...experience.cfm

Plenty of ideas here, including my experiences at Deanie's in the FQ (just okay) and Commander's Palace (mixed but terrific at its best). I'd consider researching the places you want and then calling to see if they can accommodate your size party. Upscale dinner places I especially liked that are not on your list (all Cajun/Creole) include Mr. B's, K-Paul's, Galatoire's, and Arnaud's. Also liked Irene's and Mandina's, both Italian spots at a somewhat smaller price point.

SusanCS

Have you eaten at Deannie's? We hosted a party there several years ago, and were really disappointed with their food.

Commander's Palace is one of my favorite restaurants but we love their brunch so much we haven't eaten dinner there for a while. They have so many rooms (at least they did before the hurricane) that I'd be surprised if they didn't have one about the size to host your party.

BlueSwimmer

We've had a group of 12 at Acme Oyster House. We had to wait a bit but they pushed tables together for us. Cochon is fabulous if they will seat you all. Commanders would be great too. We've also been with a biggish group to Emeril's Delmonico.

Or think about/search online for places where locals have wedding rehearsal dinners. For example, the chef and owners of Gabrielle (a fabulous restaurant that closed after Katrina) have a beautiful historic home in the Garden District that used to be a wedding venue (I got married there so I've watched it's progress) it's an intimate space with a lovely small ballroom and a beautiful courtyard. They've been blocked from having an actual restaurant there by the city council but they do catering- maybe it wouldn't be more expensive to have two amazing chefs (their crawfish pie is one of the best things I've ever eaten) do a catered dinner for twenty. http://www.theuptowner.net/

Good luck!

starrs

I've hosted big groups at Commander's Palace and it was good, but noisy and we were in the middle of the dining room. Hard to have conversation with others at the table.

I'd recommend one of the many private rooms at Antoine's.

SusanCS

starrs - I can imagine that CP wouldn't be good for a group of 20 in the middle of a dining room. I'm not real fond of the dining rooms at all. But we've eaten at rooms upstairs that only had 4 or 5 tables for 4, and that's more the atmosphere I was thinking of. But again, that was before Katrina, so I'm not sure that the upstairs configuration is the same.

starrs

Susan, I'm not sure. We were there for a conference and we were hosting VIPs. The other rooms may have been already reserved. We were glad to be at CP but it really wasn't a great experience for a really big table.

jawsdds200

Try Tommy,s on746 Tchoupitoulas, excellent food plenty of private dining rooms ...S ome will accomodate a group of 20 easily. www.tommysneworleans.com

bachslunch

Re Antoine's: yes, it's a good choice from the standpoint of accommodating this size group. I'm less enthusiastic about their food, though, compared to several other options at this price point.

DancingBearMD

Thanks for the input!

sf7307

The food at Emeril's is outstanding (my favorite -- we liked it more than CP, Bayona, Mila, and we liked all of those a lot). But unless there's a private room, I wouldn't choose it, because the noise level is *****. We were only a party of six and had to raise our voices quite a bit to be heard across the table.

notbob

Something to consider for your casual Friday would be Mandina's. It's a neighborhood creole/italian place on Canal in Midcity. food is excellent. They would probably be able to take care of you. The website says call for 15+ parties

http://www.mandinasrestaurant.com/