looking for any recommendations for places in San Francisco to have group dinners for our family reunion at the beginning of July 2017, Saturday and Monday nights. We’ll have around 30 people, all adults. Best if we can have a private room. We’ll be staying near Yerba Buena.
Since most of us are chinese or part-chinese, an obvious choice is three tables of cantonese banquet menu. But I confess that I haven’t been to one of these in SF for decades, and have no idea where is good and has the right kind of space.
I also thought of Hakkasan and Mr Jiu’s; but not sure if everyone in the group would appreciate the quality and fusion-y touches for the high price points.
Interesting non-chinese options also very welcome, probably don’t want chinese for both dinners!
One other thought, ideas for non-restaurant venues where we could have dinner catered?
This might help with your non-Chinese evening. Note these are just lists of what’s available; the determination of quality of food vs price is for you to research:
Private Rooms low cost…and not
10 Spots to Host Holiday Parties on a Shoestring
by Renee Frojo Nov 28, 2016, Eater SF
BoneAppetite, thanks for the R&G Lounge suggestion, certainly a good option.
they have private spaces for:
maximum 30 people ($1200 minimum, 2 tables, 200 deposit)
maximum 80 people ($450/table minimum, 8 tables)
I came across this 2015 item by Jonathan Kauffman for nine chinese new year menus,they might be candidates. Anyone been to a banquet at any of them and have a comment?
felice, wow, Boulettes Larder is indeed a dream option!
beautifully decorated, and with a view onto The Bay Lights, as they mention.
But sounds like it is slightly too small for us, they say it is for groups up to 24. http://www.bouletteslarder.com/events.html
It’s the Year of the Rooster, and R&G makes whole fried chicken with sticky rice stuffing that has to be ordered in advance anyway. R&G came to mind because your family is staying in walking distance around Yerba Buena. If you have ten rooms at the same hotel and its food and beverage service is satisfactory for your crowd, the meetings manager will probably discuss better group room rates and a no-rent party room.
The “private dining rooms” link from Eater was incomplete, I think you meant this one:
Most of the places in both links are too small and/or outdoors (probably not great in July for the older folks). But these seem like possibilities, in case anyone has a comment:
Hi BoneAppetite, the fried chicken with sticky rice stuffing at R&G sounds great! Yes, R&G seems a very good option as it is close enough for some to walk.
But I’m also curious generally about the chinese banquet scene in SF, so would like to hear any other comments.
And certainly we are considering doing a meal at the hotel, certainly would be very convenient. But their menus, while not bad, aren’t very inspiring and not great value-for-money. Perhaps it is negotiable though, I have no experience with this?
My Christmas party for work has been at R&G for the last few years. We get the upstairs room that has two big tables. The food is great! Love the crab! Last year my boss ordered extra crab because everyone ate so much. My two complaints are 1) It feels a little rushed. I know they’re trying to turn tables. This is a party for a restaurant staff, so we know turning tables, but they are REALLY fast. 2) There was only one server assigned to our group of almost 30 to take drink orders. As I said, this is a restaurant staff, so your drinking habits may not be the same. But they really needed another person. Otherwise, I recommend it.
It’s been too long since the last banquet of the sort you are arranging to suggest any other Cantonese room. As for hotel negotiations, someone else has always looked after them. Weekends are probably relatively quiet for Yerba Buena hotels built for convention and business trade, so that path could be budget-friendly for your family.
The Peterson Room & Garden at the Asian Art Museum is a nice space for 30 seated diners. You can have food prepared by the museum’s Cafe Asia or have it catered. The dotcom boom has spurred a robust catering industry hereabouts. I can personally recommend a Malaysian or a Peruvian option.
M.Y. China has a room for up to 64 diners. I don’t think there is a fee, just a minimum commitment. . Perhaps you could snag it for a smaller group on a Monday night.
followup on R&G Lounge as a banquet venue:
unfortunately they have no elevator to the upstairs private rooms, which probably rules it out due to some of our elderly guests.
Maybe give Teo a call? Teochew food 3 blocks away. I know they have a private room. I don’t know how big it is. If it is not big enough, the restaurant itself is big enough that they can easily assemble an area for you and its not crowded. Comfortable seating. Street level. 3 blocks away.
thanks BoneAppetite, Souperman, and sck for the suggestions of Fang, Canton Tea House, and Teo.
I had come across Fang, and it seemed a good candidate, but the yelp reviews seem mixed. Anyone able to vouch for the food/setting/service there?
I will also follow up on CTH and Teo; same question though, anyone have experience with dining there?
thanks!
something I came across that might be useful to others:
OpenTable has a listing for “San Francisco Bay Area Private Dining”; you can do some crude filtering by event size, neighborhood, cuisine, price. The handy thing is that when you click through to an individual restaurant page, it shows the different rooms and their capacities.
