Private parties in NYC... Not my specialty

August 3, 2015 7:11 PM

So my fiancee and I are getting married outside of NYC a few months from now and are looking to throw a party a few weeks after the wedding for NYC friends who couldn't make it to the wedding. We're looking for a bar or restaurant somewhere in the lower east side or southern east village for about 40-50 people from about 5:30-8:30 (flexible) on a Saturday evening. Any recommendations?

Cost is obviously a focus, but we don't have any particular budget in mind. A private room at a bar/restaurant or a private bar as a whole would be ideal, but a secluded/cordoned area of a bar open to the public is also fine. We'd want to pay for our guest's drinks, and could do it either on a per drink basis or on an open-bar basis. We'd like there to be some light food (either passed or on a table), but not a full meal.

Thanks for any help!

posted by traveltheworld to Food & Drink (4 answers total)

Three possibilities: Headless Horseman, Revival, or Central Bar. Headless wouldn't be private, just a section of the bar, but depending on the number of people, you could get the whole back half to yourselves. Revival has an upstairs room that's separate from the rest of the bar, and a patio, but they don't have food (Ichabod's, their sister property adjacent to Headless, will cater). Central Bar has a nice private upstairs space. Headless and Revival are both a little further north than you specified (Union Square) but are super convenient to public transportation. I've done events/parties/you name it at all three and they were all great.
posted by bedhead at 7:26 PM on August 3, 2015

Opentable actually has a private party feature where you can specify what you want and area and restaurants will get back to you... If you don't have a place special to you, that might be a good start.
posted by larthegreat at 7:27 PM on August 3, 2015

There are an infinite number of options. I would suggest you ask about private rooms that can fit 50 for cocktails at places you guys like. That will absolutely be the best option for you, as otherwise you are probably looking at needing to do a full buy out of a place on a Saturday night.

I see huertas can do cocktails for 50. I'd consider that.
posted by JPD at 7:20 AM on August 4, 2015

A friend booked the back room at ten degrees bar on st marks between a and first for his 30th bday and it was quite nice. It might be too small for your purposes (I'm not sure exactly how many people he had) but it is probably worth emailing or calling to see how many it can accommodate.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:46 AM on August 4, 2015