Downtown rehearsal dinner

darby22

Does anyone have a recommendation of a good location downtown to have a rehearsal dinner??  Any input would be appreciated.  Thanks!

DanielleD7782

We might have ours at Due Amici.

I know Martini's and Deepwood also can have large groups.

jodski

We are doing Schmidt's in German Village. You can have the entire upstairs which includes a bar. The food is great and it definitely seemed to give the most "bang for your buck" than all of the places we checked out in the downtown area.

gibsonkk

I just posted about this a couple of weeks ago - got some good suggestions. After doing some digging of my own, here are some places we found for a group of 50 with varrying costs, of course and formalities:

(just copy-pasted from the email we sent FMIL) - p.s. we ended up going w/ Happy Greek and we're using Crowne Plaza as hotel.

The Happy Greek - Great local Greek restaurant
Location: In Short North, parking is available but limited on public lots and on-street. However, close enough to use hotel shuttle or easily take a taxi. It is 0.5 mi. from the hotel
Groups: Website says they have new private party room for 50 people that could work out great!  I've been there once before and remember a lot of seafood on the menu.  However, they also have some traditional stuff. Check the link for the menu.
http://www.happygreek.com/index.htm

Burgandy Room - Intimate wine and tapas bar
Location: In Short North, parking is available but limited on public lots and on-street. However, close enough to use hotel shuttle or easily take a taxi. It is 0.5 mi. from the hotel
Groups: They do not have a private room, but they said that since that is their slow time of year (summer), there is no room charge or minimum and they would set us up in the front of the dining area (by the front windows) which we would have to ourselves. They offer a tapas menu and said many people select a few wines and set up a self serve wine bar in the dining area. The manager said the experience there lends itself to more of a mingle, tapas instead of a sit down dinner experience
http://www.burgundyroom.net/

Max & Erma's -  Local American restaurant
Location: Next door to hotel
Groups: Our contact at the Crowne Plaza said that Max & Erma's has both a private and semi-private dining option for private parties. I haven't been in the restaurant at this location, but they have good food. A little bit of everything. Great salads and interesting entrees. We just ate at one this weekend and talked about how good it was! I'm not sure about any room rental or minimum charge. Since it is affiliated with the Crowne Plaza, they may have some options for us since we're all staying at the hotel. I couldn't find a group or party menu online so not sure of their options for serving.
http://www.maxandermas.com/menu/default.aspx

The Old Nag of Nails - Pub fare, cozy, local
Location: Creekside, Gahanna - Same area as Mezzo where we took you guys when you were here. There is surface and garage parking and is a 12-15 min. drive from the hotel
Groups: They have an upstairs room that accomodates 50 in a buffet, appetizer, more casual mingling set up. It is not big enough for formal dinner seating for 50 but she said works well for something casual.
http://www.oldbagofnails.com/

Barcelona - Spanish inspired, tapas
Location: German Village - street parking is available but limited. vale parking is available. Should be close enough to utelize hotel shuttle or easy taxi ride
Groups: For private parties, they set up the back of the restaurant for traditional seated dining. On Friday/Saturday nights, there is a $4K minimum including food/beverage/wine. They strongly recommend serving meals family style.
http://www.barcelonacolumbus.com/

Schmidt's Restaurant und Sausage Haus - Very German
Location: German Village - Plenty of on site parking spaces. Should be close enough to utilize hotel shuttle or easy taxi ride
Groups: Sounds like they do mostly buffet for groups and from my understanding, they have rooms for private parties. The food is authentic German fare... brats, sourkraut, schnitzel, etc. and the atmosphere is nice but a little touristy. Its a lot of fun though! Definitely has a lot of character!
http://www.schmidthaus.com/

Whetstone Park of Roses/Catering
Location: Clintonville - Plenty of on site parking spaces. About a 15-20 min. drive from hotel
Rental: Rental from park is $65/hr - They provide tables and chairs but I don't know that they provide or offer linens, place settings, utensils or set up. These may be available through the catering service.
http://www.columbusrecparks.com/rentals/Shelterhouses/index.asp Since it is a public park, to serve alcohol, we need to use one of their approved bartenders. When I called, they said they have a list of 19 bartenders they can provide you with. Maybe beer, margaritas (friends of ours have a margarita maker they offered) and soda/water. If its not available to purchase through the bartender service, we can pick up some cases of beer and pre-made margarita jugs from Sam's Club.
Heads up for this option, it may require a lot more organization and setup than a restaurant.  We'll help all that we can but our time will be limited on the actual day of the rehearsal.

Here are some catering links:
http://guzmancuisine.com/
http://www.made-from-scratch.com/Default.aspx - We've used them before for graduation parties (fajita buffet bar)
Milo's Catering & Banquet Services
Weiland's Gourmet Market

Bartenders (for cost reference)
http://columbusbarservices.com/Services.html
http://www.gatheringguide.com/event_directory/oh_ohio/vendor_caterers_catering_2964.html

Plank's Bier Garten - German Village Pizza Joint
Location: German Village - Limited on site parking spaces. Should be close enough to utilize hotel shuttle or easy taxi ride. Street parking is available. Close to Schiller Park
Groups:  They have a semi-private area of the restaurant they have reserved for groups and they also have an outdoor patio with picnic table style seating with access to indoor bar area. Very casual, no frills, but lots of character and delicious pizza!
Yelp Review of Plank's Bier Garten

Gordon Biersch and Buca also offer great options for groups but were a little more than we wanted to spend or I didn't want to smell like garlic the next day I've also heard CapCity in Grandview will do them, depending on group size

Good luck!

roarkam

Looks like you girls have covered pretty much everything.  One thing that I didn't see mentioned was Lindey's in German Village.  We were going to have ours there but my future in laws decided to have at their house, which is fine! But they have several different room options and amazing food! We didn't get their pricing from them, but they sample menus and info online.  

abbalish

I feel like a broken record here, but check out Spaghetti Warehouse!  They have a number of private and semi-private party areas.  Prices are extremely reasonable and the planning was a snap!  Literally all I did was pick our package, preorder some bottles of wine, and show up!

darby22

Thanks for the info everyone!!