help me, seattle

[georgejas]

I need to make a dinner reservation on a friday night for 20 people, somewhere north of N 45th st, and south of Edmonds, on the mainland (bellevue's out, for example.)

Would prefer northwest-ish cuisine, but really, at this point, I'm open to any ideas for places that can take a reservation for 20 on a friday evening.

EDIT - got lots of good

Comments

[glaucon]

if it were me and I had two days notice, I'd go with Romio's in Greenwood.

they're not awesome or anything, but they have a nice range of menu items beyond just pizza and the atmosphere isn't as awful as you'd find at a lot of other places able to accommodate a group of 20 on such short notice.

they have a few locations, but they're strictly local and thus you get to avoid the suckiness of the national chains.

the suggestion someone else made about ray's is a great idea for a somewhat higher end experience. they may not be able to take a party that large on such short notice, but they have a lot of room and the economy is slow so it's not totally out of the question. you will end up spending a ludicrous amount of money for a party of 20 there (the price of dinner for two there could just about feed a party of 20 at taco bell), but it's largely worth it. the food, service, and atmosphere are great.

louie's chinese in ballard is another good option. pretty much standard chinese, but a really large and diverse menu, decently prepared, enormous amounts of seating including private rooms for private parties, and vaguely mafia-like atmospherics.

there's a place called the District in the U District that is very slick and nice without being ostentatious or overpriced. they seem to have a private party room which would accommodate 20, but I don't know their policy or prices w/r/t renting it out. food there is great, service less so, atmosphere awesome. cheaper than ray's, but more costly than louie's or romio's.

[georgejas]

We've got reservations for Ray's already on the day AFTER for the same party of 20. :-)

Also will try Romio's at some point - we'll have a lot of people hanging around for a couple of days, so maybe we can just ship them over there if they're looking for food. I'm thinking Romio's burned down, but perhaps there are two, or you're referring to a rebuilt version of it? I think the ex-Romio's is on 15th ave ne, north of 145th somewheres.

Thanks!

[glaucon]

there are a few romio's around - one in the udistrict on the south side of the university bridge, one in greenwood around 85th, and another one somewhere else or other.

I think the udist one is the one that had a fire at one point but has since been repaired, but it's a vague memory so I wouldn't bank on it being right.

[dr4b]

I used to live pretty much right over the Romio's in Greenwood and I hated it, but I'm picky and from the east coast and all, and their seattle-italian just didn't do it for me. I went there from time to time when people were over at my place... usually got calzones which were not bad.

I was actually going to suggest of all places, the Maple Leaf Grill or Snappy Dragon or somewhere like that. They're not huge places but do have separate dining rooms for groups I think...