Hubby is turning 70 and two kids are graduating from college (D & nephew). Any suggestions on a nice place we can have dinner to celebrate these special events? Was thinking of doing something more special for the 70th, but this probably will work the best with everyone's schedule & travel restrictions, since folks are fairly scattered & coming together for these events.

Welcoming suggestions, with a brief description of what makes the place perfect for a special event. Thanks!

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...os-angeles.cfm

It's quite popular and has been around forever. We threw my parent's 80th there with 70 people and a hired band. They're used to large numbers. We did the buffet which is always very good. Happy Travels!

Ignore the above link. It was meant for another thread. Here's the link to Luminarias which is what I was talking about above. Sorry.

http://www.luminariasrestaurant.com/luminarias/

Happy Travels!

Luminaria's is mass market Mexican food that is very popular for retirement parties, etc. I don't know if it is "special" but it's reasonable.

Without knowing your budget< location or food preferences it's a bit hard to make a recommendation. Actually the "mistake" link isn't a bad place to browse.

For a more upscale group lunch downtown I'd recommend Cafe Pinot, they have a California Cuisine menu and some areas that can be set aside for groups, as well as a pleasant ambience. They serve more of the "SUIT" crowd as opposed to Luminaria's.

www.cafepinot.com

We have gone to Yamashiro for several celebratory occasions. The food is good, the ambiance is interesting and unusual (a historic Japanese mountain palace) and the view overlooking the lights of Los Angeles is stunning. http://www.yamashirorestaurant.com/photos/

Thanks--Yamashiro does sound LOVELY! Hubby is not a fan of Mexican, French or Italian. He is lactose intolerant & all of those tend to have a significant amount of lactose. We are thinking maybe up to $50-70/person or less, all inclusive.

You really should give a better idea as to where you are from, your budget and where you will be staying since LA is so sprawling. But, since you don't, I'm going to guess that you are all converging on LA and might arrive at LAX and stay somewhere on the West Side. So, for such a special occasion I would suggest Casa Del Mar or Shutters in Santa Monica and time your dinner to begin prior to sunset. Ask for an ocean view table. These are expensive places. Another idea, also pricy, is Geoffrey's in Malibu.

I'd recommend that you call the restaurant ahead and discuss if it's easy to do a modified dish for your husband, it may be as simple as not putting a dollop of butter in a sauce. Of course stay away from the cheesy old school Italian, but actually I usually find "Mediterranean" or Cal-Med is a good choice since there are many dishes that use olive oil instead of butter.

I have been to a number of family dinners at Matisse at the Ayers Hotel near the airport. Although there is not a view, they have some private rooms and the decor says "special". The "Spain" menu has some good lactose-free choices. But it's always best to call the chef in advance and discuss what he can do for your husband.

Yamashiro is beautiful but the food is just okay, also be aware that the "new style" rolls often have cream cheese, mayo or other suspect ingredients.

Sorry forgot the link for Matisse!

http://theculinarygroup.com/metisse-...#spain-entrees

Where in LA, and how many people? If not Mexican, French and Italian, what kind of food WILL work?

FWIW, $50-70 pp inclusive (and alcohol?) is about $40-58 before tax and tip.

Sorry, just saw in the title that the group is 15 people...

We will be in town for the USC graduation, so will be converging around there, near midtown LA. Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Pacific Rim, maybe seafood, Greek,(without goat or other cheese or lactose). Butter is OK but milk & cream sauces not so good. Italian doesn't work for at least one other guest either--highly allergic to oregano & other seasonings.

We're somewhat flexible about the budget and could go upwards to maybe $100/person if it's REALLY special. Don't really care if there is alcohol or no alcohol.

Greek cuisine use a lot of oregano too. Anyways I think you are being overly restrictive as nearly any restaurant now has several dishes that are dairy free ( I know since I have a dairy allergy, which is more severe than just lactose intolerance).

What about Traxx in Union Station? It's really beautiful and the parking isn't that expensive.

I don't know if your group is large enough for a private event but they also do those at about $50 pp.

Ok, am open to more options. Just know that some attending have allergy to shrimp & some lactose intolerance. Don't know all that many restaurants in LA. Will investigate Traxx--thanks for the suggestion. Any others?

LA is the land of people with dietary "issues"! No gluten, no shrimp, no dairy, you name it.

You don't necessarily have to have the same thing for everyone. The downtown restaurants that we used for office gatherings will give you a choice of several options for each course.

Another possibility downtown is WP24, a Wolfgang Puck Chinese restaurant. I haven't been there myself so I'm not sure if it is really worth the expense or even within your budget. They list a 3 course menu for $80 and do private groups. The old school Chinese restaurants in downtown aren't that good anymore, unfortunately.

Just FYI, the description of 'midtown' has no meaning to Angelenos. The hotels most convenient to USC are the Radisson Hotel (across the street from the campus), then the hotels in the L.A. Live area (Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Luxe, Figueroa) and finally the hotels in the downtown core (Bonaventure, Biltmore, Checkers, Intercontinental, etc.).

The Expo light rail line may be open by the time you're here. If you stayed in one of the downtown or L.A. Live area hotels, you could take the metro to USC for the graduation ceremonies. Pre-opening safety tests are still being conducted, but check at the following link in the coming weeks to see if/when service on the Expo Line will start:

http://www.metro.net/projects/exposition/

If you're planning to have this dinner after the USC grad ceremonies, you should make your reservations early. My addition to the list of suggestions so far is Roy's, located at 8th/Figueroa which is between the L.A. Live area and the downtown core. "Hawaiian fusion" with lots of fish but also steaks, ribs, etc.

http://www.roysrestaurant.com/locati...os_angeles.asp

As for Yamashiro, I think it's way overpriced and I found the food just average. If I'm going to eat average food, then it needs to at least be reasonable.

Anyhow, I recommend Cafe Bizou in Pasadena. I've been eating there for many years. When I threw my Fodors GTG weekend of two dinners and two lunches, I held the welcoming dinner there and everyone loved it. I nearly had to pull the group out of there. We stayed quite long.

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...-gtgpart-3.cfm

Cafe Bizou can hold 15 people, but a reservation would need to be made quite a bit in advance. http://cafebizou.com/

I have friends who live in The Valley, but they come to the Cafe Bizou here in Pasadena as they really like the food at this one. I've never had a bad meal there. Plus, it's located in the heart of Old Town so there's a lot of walking around that can be done before and after dinner. Old Town is alive and bustling.

Since you're 15 people, you'll need to make a reservation, wherever you go, quite a bit in advance, as L.A. County restaurants are very busy. Happy Travels!

I just read that you'll be near mid-town wherever that is. L.A. is big. What's a street name? Being from L.A. County, I don't have a problem driving, so I don't pick restaurants according to distance. I eat all over L.A. County and it's 500 square miles big.

As for people having different dietary requirements/eating philosophies, it's not a problem here in L.A. We are very flexible with things like that whether it is for medical reasons or reasons of keeping a model figure and about anything in between.

I'm allergic to dairy (except butter) and also corn and chocolate. And I haven't eaten meat/poultry since 1976 (by choice) and I don't have any problems eating here at home. Plus, there are some restaurants, even ones inside of department stores, that have written on the bottom of the menu, to let them know if you have a food allergy so that they can bring you a special menu explaining what ingredients are in the dishes. Or you can just explain it to the server or talk to the chef.

The reason that I originally recommended Luminarias is that you're a large group and also that it's reasonable. As for the food, I have eaten there many times over the years and haven't had problems with finding something to eat, even with a dairy, corn, and chocolate allergy and not eating meat/poultry. And I haven't eaten what is more typical Mexican food there as it contains ingredients that I either can't eat or don't eat. A friend just e-mailed me and we'll be doing lunch there again as it's about half way between where both of us live. Happy Travels!