My sister lives in NYC and will be getting married in October. We want to have a nice shower for her - either a nice lunch or dinner/bachelorette party for her. I am planning this from DC and don't know what would work.

It will be 10-15 ladies between the ages of 34-45, so we are looking for a restaurant or hotel with a party room that serves wonderful drinks and delicious food for about $50-75 per person.

The bride is 40, so we are thinking low key and elegant.

Any suggestions?

I'm not sure what the cost will be, ut check out the Garden Room at Le Madeleine. We've seen many similar-type functions there. It's located on West 43rd Street, just west of 9th Avenue (212-246-2993).

Pick a neighborhood. Where does your sister live?

UNION SQUARE

That area has dozens of wonderful restaurants. Eleven Madison Park is one place with private dining rooms.
http://www.elevenmadisonpark.com/private_dining.php

Menupages.com is a great resource for finding restaurants, looking at menus and reviews. You can pick a neighborhood, then arrange places by how they rated or by cuisine. Here's a link to the restaurants in that area by rating.
http://menupages.com/restaurants.asp...odid=16&sort=2

The only thing it won't tell you is whether they have a private dining room. Here's a list of places with private dining rooms (from NY Magazine) in order of rating (on food)
http://tinyurl.com/mm2db

A few other places to consider

Payard Bistro
PRune
Spice Market

Prune does not have a private dining room; EMPark does but my question is whether or not you will be able to arrange something here within your budget..$50-$75 including wine is not going to get you a private room in a top-tier place (low-key, elegant) in that neighborhood, I don't think.

Here is a lovely place in Tribeca that might fit your needs.....if you can do lunch instead of dinner wherever you choose, you will save some money. http://www.capsoutofreres.com/

Another idea is Water's Edge in Long Island city..they have a free boat that takes you across the River to the restaurant and there is a fabulous view of Manhattan from the rooms. They are a very popular party space that might suit you.

I am posting this to help others who are planning a shower in NYC:

Everyone was very helpful on this site but I ended up having the bridal shower at a restaurant called Highline in the Meatpacking District. Check it out at: http://www.nychighline.com

We paid about $50 per person with an app, entree and dessert plus wine, beer, sodas and champagne!!! It was afternoon so noone went overboard with drinking but everyone had at least 2 drinks.

The food was excellent (especially the dessert!) and I was very happy since I planned this from DC. My sister LOVED it and all of her friends said it was one of the best showers they had been to.

Anyone interested in planning an event at this restaurant should contact Yatch. He was awesome.

Great info Tango. Did you have a private room?

What about a high tea instead of lunch or dinner? I know that there are some tea rooms in Manhattan that have private rooms. Lady Mendl's comes to mind.

Mclaurie - they have a private room but said since it was during the day in September it might be too hot. We ate in the main restaurant and were pretty much the only people there! And they let us stay all afternoon long. No pressure!


Lisettemac -

We already had the shower but my sister's wedding is at Lady Mendl's!

Sorry about that -- I clearly didn't see that you were the same poster who posted information about a shower. DUH. Glad it was a great time.

Lisettemac -

no problem. You're just enthusiastic!