Hi all. I could use your help. I’m trying to find a place to hold a group outing for dinner and drinks on a weeknight on the westside somewhere south of the 10 (Venice?, Culver City?, El Segundo?) Our party will be about 10 in size and will be coming from all around Southern California (LA, Orange County, SD) so I would like a place that would take reservations, seat us as we arrive (without the whole group having to be there), and wouldn’t be in a rush to turn our table over. I’m thinking a bar with good food or a restaurant with a good bar program. Would like something with a lively atmosphere but not so loud that it will be difficult to talk. A good happy hour would be a bonus.
The Upper West sounds like the best fit but I’ll look into the ones that I don’t know well. I don’t really have a top end budget in mind. I think ones that would be too expensive would also get eliminated for many other non-budgetary reasons making them poor fits.
I don’t think that I probably emphasized enough that while we all would like good food and drinks, the non-food & beverage factors are more critical. This is a group of former co-workers who haven’t seen each other in 10+ years. The ability to comfortably talk and hear each other and not feel rushed is what is most important. I also expect that given that everyone is arriving separately from all over S. CA after work that we won’t arrive at the same time. Hopefully a majority of us will arrive on time or close to on time but I already know one person who will probably be at least an hour late and I expect that at least one other person will probably get held up in the office and arrive late. Getting seated before everyone is there is important as is not feeling rushed to leave. I know a lot if not most restaurants don’t want to seat groups before everyone is there and I understand why but any place too strict about that is probably not a great fit.
I love Hatchett Hall and wish I thought it was a good fit but the times that I’ve been (granted mostly on weekends), its been very loud and hard to hear each other. Scopa was really loud also the one time that I was there. I don’t see my constraints making MB Post a good fit either.
Thanks for the recommendations. I really appreciate it and will look into these places. If you think of others that are a better fit or would change your answer based on the above, let me know. Thanks!
Another vote for Upper West. Local (a bit further west on Pico in SM) could also work. Or in Venice, Zinque works well for this kind of gathering. It’s more of a wine bar / cafe than a formal restaurant, so they tend to be more flexible about gatherings where an indeterminate number of people will be coming and going at various times, art least on weeknights when they’re not as busy. You can reserve a portion of the patio.
I love Cassia. If the original poster chooses it he/she should verify that they don’t have a policy that the entire party must be there for anyone to be seated. I say this because Bryant Ng’s former restaurant, Spice Table had this policy.
Just wanted to offer a much belated thank you again to everyone who offered advice. We went with the Upper West. They originally told me that they would seat us in the private area but someone subsequently rented it out for the night so they seated us in the main dining room. Still, it worked out well. The food and drinks were excellent and everyone enjoyed themselves.
although mb post has good food,
imho, these aspects don’t seem to fit:
the noise,
the parking situation,
they DON’T’ like to seat you if your party is incomplete
everything is served “family style” with little or no effort to time the “order of service” of any of the dishes (e.g. salad can arrive after main dish)
cramped tables/seating