RD Dinner suggestions

Kershnic

I'm getting married on November 6th, and I'm looking for some suggestions for rehearsal dinner locations.  Our RD will probably have about 30 people at it, and we're looking to spend under $1500 including food and wine.  We definitely want a private room or some sort of space that is seperate from the rest of the diners.  We really like Italian food, but are open to other options if they meet our other requirements.  I keep finding places with rooms that are larger than we need and therefore have high minimums....  Please help! 

cltk12

What area in the metro are you looking for?

hkiesling

We spent WAY under $1500 for about 40 people at PINZ bowling alley, and that included renting three lanes of bowling for an hour.  The food was really good, too, and it was nice being able to really mingle with people for several hours and relax the night before.

Kershnic

Thanks for the suggestion Heather!  I'm going to check it out, although I fear my mom will want something slightly more formal.

Our ceremony and therefore rehearsal is in Fridley, but we're pretty open to traveling.  We haven't picked a hotel yet, but might go for something near our reception site in Minneapolis.  Either a northern suburb or downtown St. Paul or Minneapolis would be great. 

hkiesling

I will say that we had SO many compliments on the bowling alley idea.  There's a private room off of the "10 pin alley" lanes where we had the food and the older relatives hung out.  Since so many had travelled to get there, it was really nice for everyone to be able sit and chat for a long time, with no rush to leave at all.  Plus the kids were entertained so they weren't bugging the adults to leave early.  Pinz also has a laser tag area, full restaurant, and arcade.  I just posted some pictures from our RD under photography - pro pics in my bio. 

izzyjenni

We are having ours at Old Spaghettti Factory.   They are REALLY inexpensive (like 9-15 dollars a person) and they have a private room free of charge.  No deposit is required.  It was where I went to dinner on my 16th birthday during a birthday trip and the first time I had been to Minneapolis from Wisconsin.  I highly recommend them!  Italian too!  We also looked into Stephano's Italian restaurant in Burnsville. A little $ but still under $16-20 a person.  We went here for dinner once and it was fantastic.  Here's both websites:
http://stephanosbistro.com/
http://www.osf.com/

Good luck!

Kershnic

I was told by Old Spaghetti Factory that they won't do a private event for only 30 poeple at dinner time on a Friday.   

I'll check out Stephano's, and am looking at PINZ.  Thanks!

cswaldon

We changed our RD plans from a backyard BBQ. Now, we're doing our RD for 35-40 people at Palomino in DT Mpls.

They have a separate private room in a different part of the building from the restaurant. The F&B minimum is $1500 for a Friday night, but the lady we spoke with seemed VERY willing to be flexible. The best part is that their corkage fee for wine is only $10 - that's the lowest I've seen!

Also, Palomino's food is SO delicious and they have GREAT dishes available for their private dining menu.

Good luck!

leggwilliams

Buca Di Beppos has delicious Italian food at a pretty reasonable price!