Rehearsal Dinner Help Please!

ButtercupBogey

I'd love any recommendations for a good place to hold a rehearsal dinner for 35-50 people in the Stillwater/Woodbury/St.Paul area. Most of the recommended venues on here are fancy sit-down. We're looking for something pretty casual, maybe banquet-style but still nice. We'd like to keep it at around $20 per person. 

The wedding is May 19 so we're leaning toward indoor venues because of the lovely unpredictable MN weather! 

Thanks so much!

mzamanda1

The hilton garden inn Oakdale has small banquet rooms and they let you bring in an outside caterer.  Nothing fancy, but very inexpensive!  Otherwise the Lowell Inn or afton house inn are both nice!

sndietz

The first place I thought of was Axel's Bonfire in Woodbury.

http://axelsbonfire.com/private-dining/

I haven't been to Woodbury, but I went to a nice Christmas party in Plymouth. 
Here is their "large group" take out menu; I would guess the inhouse one would be similar. 

http://axelsbonfire.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Bonfire-large-party-menu.pdf

They have live music as well. 

tpender13

The first place that came to my mind is the Machine Shed -- I think they're in Cottage Grove. I'm pretty sure that they do private parties. The food is pretty good, and it would be nice and casual.

graysquirrel

How casual are you thinking? We had ours at a Chinese buffet/hibatchi in Stillwater (can't remember the name, but it is right on the highway as you head toward the downtown) and everyone loved it! It was really laid back, pretty inexpensive, and had something for everyone including my super picky MOH and gluten-free MIL.

trixie549

The Dock Cafe in Stillwater is lovely- right on the river, and they have great food.

http://dockcafe.com

lemon912

Also look at Freight House in Stillwater, it's also right on the river.

Sscholfield

We're having our rehearsal dinner at Luna Rossa in Stillwater.  Not only do they have really neat private rooms because they're built into a cave, but they also offer discounted cave tours for large groups.  It a nice restaurant, but not super fancy.

musicalsunlight

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_rehearsal-dinner-please?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:81Discussion:3ef0bf60-f473-4ed3-94e2-569546487140Post:b68c54cb-6883-41ff-87f8-3a72dc914ea1">Re: Rehearsal Dinner Help Please!</a>:
[QUOTE]The Dock Cafe in Stillwater is lovely- right on the river, and they have great food. <a href="http://dockcafe.com" rel='nofollow'>http://dockcafe.com</a>
Posted by trixie549[/QUOTE]

The Dock Cafe IS amazing, but very expensive! Just FYI for the OP. :)

Steph0871

I'm not much help. We had RD round 1 at a campus bar, then Gopher hockey game. RD Round 2 was at Hell's Kitchen, which was a ton of fun.

Is there a Bucca's in St Paul or Woodbury? That can be fun for large groups!

Wiscisbliss

In Woodbury:
Divannis (Pizza, cheap, has a private party room)
Sunsets (Good food, should fit your budget)
Axel's Bonfire or Prestwick (Good food, might stretch your budget)
Famous Dave's (I think they can section off a pretty private section of the restaurant)

Steph - There is a Bucca in St. Paul, but it is pretty far west... almost to the airport. 

mekiakoo

We're doing ours at Buca in St. Paul but that may be a bit far away.

I agree with what the PPs said- our reception will be at Lowell Inn and it's a nice, cute place- they have few private rooms you could use. There are a lot of places in Stillwater, Oakdale, Woodbury area. I know somebody had a RD at Buffalo Wild Wings- if you want it to be very causal, it'd be a fun place to have one!

leggwilliams

We had ours at the Spaghetti Factory in MSP and it was casual but still nice and WELL under the $20/person mark. They were delicious and awesome to work with, too.

eponine03

I'd second the Machine Shed.

ButtercupBogey

Thanks so much for the info, I thought of going there as well! My fiance's supposed to be the one planning this and he still hasn't done a thing. I totally forgot I posted this question so it's great to see all these responses!

ButtercupBogey

That's where we initially thought of having it. No idea if they're still available (my fiance's supposed to be planning this and hasn't lifted a finger) but he thinks we're having it there.

ButtercupBogey

That sounds awesome! We're thinking pretty casual. I'll have to look into it. Thanks!

ButtercupBogey

That sounds awesome! I'll check it out. Thanks!

ButtercupBogey

I heard it's great there. I wanted to consider it but we're thinking it's a little far to ask all the out-of-towners to go from Stillwater to downtown. Oh well.

ButtercupBogey

Ok I just sent a bunch or responses and I thought they'd reply directly to the posts I was responding to... whew sorry for the confusion but thanks everyone for the suggestions!