San Francisco group dining ideas

[natfrac]

My DD and future DSIL are planning a San Frnacisco courthouse wedding later this fall. They'd like to take everyone out to lunch/dinner afterward and are looking for something affordable since they're on a limited budget. They estimate there might be 50 guests, so we'd need a private dining room. Does anyone have any great ideas?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

They do offer wedding packages at City Hall:

http://www.sfgsa.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=280

O can't give any specific recommendations other than to check out restaurants in walking distance and see what is available.

 

[dawnball]

My DD and future DSIL are planning a San Frnacisco courthouse wedding later this fall. They'd like to take everyone out to lunch/dinner afterward and are looking for something affordable since they're on a limited budget. They estimate there might be 50 guests, so we'd need a private dining room. Does anyone have any great ideas?

Can we get a range on what "affordable" means to them? Are you looking for something accessible? Exotic? Formal, semi-formal, casual? Lunch is going to be much more reasonably priced than dinner.

This might get you started http://www.sfpdv.com/up_to_50.html

And this should give you some idea of pricing http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/802678

 

[dawnball]

If it fits the mood of their wedding, something like a chinese banquet might work, too. Hong Kong Lounge and South Seafood Village seem to have a good reputation, but might be further than you want to travel. Great Eastern or R&G lounge would be slightly closer, and all have a good rep. R&G can seat up to 80.

Golden Gate park with a really good food truck or two seems to be common these days.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Golden Gate park with a really good food truck or two seems to be common these days.

A food truck for a wedding lunch?

 

[dawnball]

Yup. Food trucks at wedding receptions! It's kind of a bay-area foodie phenomenon. (I couldn't speak to other areas, although I have a cousin in Austin who's considering it). The trucks that are usually selected are backed by chefs with catering experience or catering businesses. So if you think of it as a caterer who brings their own heat source, it's not so irrational. Some serve regular truck-style, and some do a buffet or a farmers market style booth. You can get a blend of the above. It tends to depend on what the food lends itself to.

It doesn't really meet the "princess for a day" image most people have (the SF Private Dining Venues link is better for that) but if that isn't your image of a wedding...

It all depends on what kind of a party you want to throw.

 

[natfrac]

Thanks for all the comments.

My DD is trying to keep it under $30 per person, w/o drinks, but including tax and gratuity. She's looking for informal, but decent food. We live in Portland and have a great place called Elephant Deli that has a private room. If only we could find something like that in San Francisco...

A food truck wouldn't be such a bad idea, but it might be a bit cold for outdoor dining in November.

 

[dawnball]

Oh! I think you want this list! Sample menus are usually tucked away in there somewhere, and yelp or chowhound should have good information on them all, or google has zagat scores.

http://www.opentable.com/info/banquets.aspx?m=4#state{MetroAreadID:4|MacroID:5|NeighborhoodList:8285,9110,32,34,36,35,227,49,916,1382,38,2951,4235,40,41,780,42,3287,674,44,641,45,640,3029|PriceList:2|CapacityList:21|RequestedRegions:5}

And yeah, November isn't cold so much as that it starts to be in the rainy season, and no one wants their wedding to be rained out.

You might also consider Gordon Biersch. It's kind of a fun, party atmosphere, they do it all the time for groups, they have good logistics and the food is pretty decent, even for 50 people all at once.

Good luck!

 

[natfrac]

Thanks for all the ideas

 

[pixiewings71]

Thanks for all the comments.

My DD is trying to keep it under $30 per person, w/o drinks, but including tax and gratuity. She's looking for informal, but decent food. We live in Portland and have a great place called Elephant Deli that has a private room. If only we could find something like that in San Francisco...

A food truck wouldn't be such a bad idea, but it might be a bit cold for outdoor dining in November.

Not really cold, SF is normally a pretty standard temp all year, no matter when, but yes, rain could be a factor and will be something to keep in mind. There's a restaurant called The Stinking Rose, you may want to look at that.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

A food truck wouldn't be such a bad idea, but it might be a bit cold for outdoor dining in November.

My concern about a food truck wasn't the quality of the food, it was a question of where people would sit. I would definitely try and find a sit down restaurant in walking distance of the courthouse. It would be a lot easier not to have to drive and try and find another parking place in SF.