Best Private New York City Dining Rooms

No matter how much you love to host dining in New York, having company over always brings a certain level of stress. Will everything be as you want it when guests arrive? How many wine glasses will shatter? Will the tablecloth make it through the bolognese course? Hiring help or even a caterer can help smooth out the kinks, but hosting people outside your home (where you don’t have to worry about your dog chewing on your friends’ new heels) helps lift a huge burden. Plus, you get to go out but still have that power of hostess control. Many venues in the city cater to larger groups, but check out these private dining rooms in New York to host your next intimate dinner party — don’t even list your home address on the invite!

Charlie Bird 

The private dining room at Charlie Bird seats 12-14 people — perfectly cozy for friendly evening. The food is served family-style and the menu is entirely customizable, consisting of appetizers, one pasta course, a choice of entrée with vegetable sides, and dessert. The food & beverage minimum (not including taxes and gratuity) is $2,000 for a portion of the night (from 5:30pm to 8:30pm or 9pm to midnight) or $3,500 for the entire evening. Corkage fee is $35/bottle and $70/magnum.

Butter Midtown

This new incarnation of chef Alex Guarnaschelli’s original Butter on Lafayette Street is grander and much more sophisticated in its subterranean new home. The private dining room seats up to 20 guests, and is a great way to make this massive restaurant feel familiar and cozy. The food is always a crowd-pleaser, including shareable plates like pan-seared Branzino, classic all-natural roasted chicken and homemade squash ravioli.

Lafayette

This French eatery by chef Andrew Carmellini offers a posh Salle Privée for 10-20 guests to dine in private elegance. Enjoy a beautiful spread of seasonal bistro favorites flavored with International influences including smoked salmon tartare, spaghetti niçoise with rare tuna confit and steamed black bass with shellfish jus. Be sure to pick the perfect apertif to welcome guests and send them home with a package of pastries as a post-dinner treat.

Angus Club Steakhouse

This Midtown steakhouse opened in early 2014, retaining the charm of a classic New York restaurant while infusing some contemporary vibes into the massive restaurant. While upstairs boasts a luxurious dining room, downstairs is ideal for private parties. Groups of 8 can congregate in the chef’s room, while larger groups may prefer the leather, oak or cork rooms. Each has its own distinct personality! Along with an exemplary dinner menu include in-house aged and butchered steaks, rich but not too heavy sides like creamed spinach and steamed asparagus, is the extensive wine menu. Even though who don’t want to eat a hearty filet mignon with a side of frites with truffle oil can enjoy an extensive international menu. If you want to select the bottles before entertaining (because of course you do), take a tour through Angus Club’s custom built wine cellar which stocks over 1000 bottles.