Hello, NYC Fodorites! I'm helping to plan a brunch on the UWS, and I live in Queens, so I'm not as familiar with restaurants in the area.

We're looking for brunch or light lunch, for about 25 people. Budget is around $12 per person.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Are you looking for catering or to eat in an actual restaurant?

If it's a restaurant, and your budget doesn't include tax, tip, or drinks, then I recoommend:
Isabella's - slightly upscale
Sarabeth's (not sure if they take ressies)
Fred's - casual, good for kids
Artie's - very casual, good for kids
EJ's - like Arties

All of these places are between 84th and 74th, Columbus, and Amsterdam

Oh, I'm sorry- I completely didn't finish that thought, did I? I'm looking for a restaurant to cater (or for large-scale takeout).

You'll have a problem finding a place with a $12-per-person budget. You can't get much for that whether in a restaurant or having it catered.

Oh, and just so you all know- we do have the standard backup (pizza!) but I'm interested in exploring other options first.

Zabars and Fairway both do catering and are especially good for brunch

DEFINITELY Artie's!
http://arties.com/catering.asp

H&H Bagels, Lenny's or Le Pain Quotidien are all bakeries/bagel places that might be able to do something for your party.

I was just going to recommend Fairway's catering - they'll probably be able to put together a nice bagels/lox/salads/coldcuts for that price - good quality food and very nice presentation.

freshdirect.com does pretty good catering trays. Not exactly an indigenous offering (to the UWS), but an option nonetheless

Despite the $12/person budget (weird number, no?) there are plenty of options. You have to decide what you want to serve though. Barney Greengrass does smoked fish, bagels etc. Fairway and Zabar's do everything. Ottomanelli's is another idea. Have a look on menupages.com

I know you said you wanted brunch or light lunch but an idea I had was Dallas BBQ or Brother Jimmys BBQ. Or Ben's Deli.

Thanks so much for the suggestions! These are all fantastic. We do a monthly brunch (it's a young adult church group) so I can never have too many It's nice to have something different each time.

The $12 per person comes out of an approximate budget of $300, for about 25 people We never know exactly how many, but it's a ballpark.

You may want to consider Whole Foods in the Time Warner Building. They make up trays of sandwiches, etc. and they deliver.

Hello! Just wanted to report back and let you know what we finally chose.

We went with Mary Ann's (mexican) on Broadway and 91st. They did a great spread of tacos, quesadillas, rice & beans, and chips & salsa for $10pp, no delivery fee. They couldn't have been easier to work with, and the food was delicious.

I'm storing all of these suggestions away for future brunches- I know they'll come in handy! Thanks so much for your help.