The 12 Best New York City Restaurants for a Group
The thought of convening a large group—with their individual needs, schedules, dietary restrictions, and credit cards—for a meal can be enough to make your back tighten and your teeth clench. Nevertheless, friends come in from out of town, birthdays happen, and sometimes getting the whole squad together at a restaurant is inevitable. In the interest of making your next group hang as stress-free as possible, we've put our heads together to come up with the very best New York restaurants to host your next birthday party, reunion, girls' night, boys' night, or just about any other kind of big group gathering you can dream up.
Photo by Alex Lau1/12Wu's Won Ton King, Chinatown
I’m not going to lie—group dinners give me the heebie jeebies. There’s the whole ordering thing, the weird table dynamics, and the dreaded splitting of the bill and, oh yeah, Danny didn’t drink as much as Vineet so he’s only going to leave a 20. No thanks, I’d rather eat solo. But even I have to do the group thing once in awhile. That’s when Wu’s Wonton King on the far east side of Chinatown comes to the rescue. When the Lazy Susan is filled with fried Dungeness crab, BBQ Suckling PIg (call ahead to order that showstopper), “Famous Garlic Aromatic Crispy Chicken,” sauteed snow pea sprouts, and other Cantonese dishes, all is forgot. And perhaps best of all, Wu’s is BYOB, so those bottles of vintage Champagne I’ve been hanging onto will finally get popped. Whether I share those is still being decided. —Andrew Knowlton, deputy editor
Photo courtesy of Saraghina2/12Saraghina, Bed-Stuy
There’s always room for a day-of eight-top reservation. The lighting is good. The liter carafes of very drinkable house wine are always less than $30. And, most importantly, the simple, crowd-pleasing menu of Italian favorites—bubbly wood-fired pizzas, crisp seafood fritto misto, salumi plates and greenmarket salads—is most conducive to one person taking charge of ordering and everyone sharing. All get drunk. All get fed. And when the bill is dropped—that anxiety-inducing moment that threatens to sour even the best group dining experience—all take a peek, breathe a sigh of relief, and let the good times roll until the last carafes are drained. —Amiel Stanek, Basically editor
Photo by Alex Lau3/12Insa, Gowanus
Food business up front, party in the back. This Korean BBQ spot has a huge menu and everything is easy to share, making it a sure thing for big groups. And with a karaoke room in the back, you can avoid the dreaded question, “So… where to?” —Tommy Werner, assistant video producer
Photo by Alex Delany4/12Spicy Village, Lower East Side
Once I rented out this tiny little spot for 22 people—half Parisians, half New Yorkers—on Christmas Eve. It’s BYOB, the food is served on Styrofoam plates, and there’s nothing fancy about it. Make sure your group orders the pork sesame pancake with cilantro stems, the big-tray chicken cooked in a spicy chili broth, and the hand-pulled noodles with egg, tomato, and bok choy. It’s one of the best deals in the city. —Andy Baraghani, senior food editor
Photo by Brandon Corey5/12L&B Spumoni Gardens, Gravesend
You've never lived until you've nearly been nearly killed by the "Chef's Table" at L&B Spumoni Gardens. Served in the dining room of a Bensonhurst pizzeria known for its square slices and scoops of (of course) spumoni ice cream, the family-style menu is both a celebration of Italian-American cooking and a test of wills. Baked clams, roasted artichokes, arancini, veal cutlets, pasta in vodka sauce....It's hard to name an iconic dish that isn't served as part of this seemingly never-ending feast. The space is simple and not always crowded, so bring your own party.
—Julia Kramer, senior projects editor
Photo by Alex Lau6/12Win Son, Bushwick
Hop on the group text and invite eight of your favorite friends to meet you at the round table in the window at Win Son. Order a rack of tallboy Taiwan beers and load up the lazy Susan with eminently sharable double-orders of pork buns, fried eggplant, scallion pancakes, sloppy bao, and flys head. Good vibes; affordable, top-notch Taiwanese-American eats; impeccable service. What more could a group ask for? —Julia Black, associate web editor
Photo By Joy Asico7/12Momofuku Noodle Bar, East Village
Generally, the Momofuku empire kills it at large-format meals, but you can't beat the fried chicken lunch at Noodle Bar (runners up: the whole rotisserie duck or seven-spice brisket at Ssäm). This fried chicken is definitely my favorite in the city, likely because you're served two types: southern-style fried with buttermilk and a shatteringly crispy Korean-style triple-fried bird. Plus there's mu shu pancakes, lettuce, herbs, and lots of sauces. Also, the price is only $150 total for a party of 8. —Carey Polis, digital director
Photo by Elizabeth Jaime8/12Kiki's, Lower East Side
There are restaurants you go to with your parents on your birthday, and then there are restaurants you go to with your friends on your birthday. Kiki’s is the ultimate version of the latter. It’s a loud, dimly lit spot in Chinatown that serves up not-too-expensive-but-damn-good Greek food. Order the octopus. Order the saganaki. Order all the dips. Order the cheap wine that’s served out of a metal carafe that was most likely stolen from the set of Game of Thrones. And, best of all, there’ll be no how’d-this-get-so-expensive stress that often plagues big group dinners. —Rachel Karten, senior social media manager
Photo courtesy of Emmy Squared9/12Emmy Squared, Williamsburg
Any spot with a basement burger bar has my attention, but the Detroit-style pies at Emmy Squared are some of my favorites in New York City (second only to Emily, Matthew and Emily Hyland’s first foray into the New York pizza scene). If you’re into pizza dripping with flavor—seriously, forks and knives are welcomed here—and hip vibes, Emmy Squared is well worth the long wait. Do it right and come early (or super late) and remember that they do serve pizza downstairs at the burger hotspot. About that Burger Bar: While mainly a pizza spot, the Hylands have become famous for their decadent take on the cheeseburger. The Emmy Burger comes with a mighty bold flavor profile: Grafton Cheddar, a secret “Emmy sauce,” grilled onions, and dry-aged beef, all on a pretzel bun. Oh, and whatever you do, don’t sleep on the cheese curds. —Erika Owen, associate director of audience development
Photo by Dave Katz10/12Famous Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse, Lower East Side
This place has all the atmosphere of a low-rent rec room in a Jewish community center—and that's what I love about it. You don’t go there for the food necessarily, but the chopped chicken liver and mixed grilled meat platter are the way to go with a group. The whole thing basically turns into a Bar Mitzvah around 9:30 p.m. So if you’re on the Lower East Side and looking for somewhere to do the Horah, look no further. —Matt Duckor, executive producer
Photo by Alex Delany11/12Great New York Noodletown, Chinatown
Great New York Noodletown is the holy grail of late night group dining establishments, open until 4:00 a.m. and best enjoyed when tonight has become tomorrow. Fit eight people at one of the three large, round tables and go to town. Some advice: be confident in your order. Snag a round of Tsingtao bottles for the table. Look at the specials board. Order both pork and shrimp dumplings. Use the chili oil on the table. Order the barbecue pork. Order the sweet Chinese sausage fried rice. Add on an order of crispy, pan-fried noodles with barbecue duck, and please, I beg you: Order the shredded chicken with pea shoots (not on the printed menu). The ginger-heavy sauce makes this one of my favorite dishes on the face of the planet. And when all is said and done. Get yourself a cab, go to bed, and forget to set an alarm. It’s already tomorrow. —Alex Delany, assistant web editor
Photo by Ditte Isager12/12Lucali, Carroll Gardens
Whenever my college friends are in town, we gather the old crew at Lucali in Brooklyn. The line is treacherous and the hostess is gratuitously rude, but once you slice into that first communal calzone, you'll forget all about that. Do your best to land the farmhouse table by the window, where you'll feel like the guests of honor as you dig into some of the city's best pizza. It's B.Y.O.B., so make sure you bring enough liquid courage to grill your server on what it's like to serve Beyoncé. —Julia Black, associate web editor
