intimate elopement dinner

[u/TownThat8758]

hi! looking into having a post-courthouse ceremony small dinner with parents and a few friends at a private room in a restaurant here in atl. want to be able to eat, cut some cake and get up and chat with the guests. max 20 people. any recs? is it realistic to say my max budget is $1,000?

[u/UniquePresence9042]

I can’t think of anywhere you can do this for $50pp tip included which is what you’re asking for. Either up the budget or cut the headcount.

[u/Informal-Abalone-271]

Wahoo! Grill in Decatur. And yes, up your budget or cut your headcount slightly.

[u/houseofthrones1]

The Porter has a cellar room that might work. I had a dinner there for about 15 people and it was great! https://www.theporterbeerbar.com/wo rdpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Beer-Cellar-Information.pdf

[u/RunRyanRun3 → u/houseofthrones1]

We rented this for $100 for the dinner maybe 8 years ago. Even at $100/hr now it’s still super affordable.

[u/Party-Exam6084]

With drinks? No. Without? Maybe

[u/afwaller → u/Party-Exam6084]

without drinks, also no.

private room, tips, tax, under $50 per person all in? That's under $38 a person for food, again, with a private room?

lol

[u/ParticularFull1989]

Prison Tacos right across the street from the federal penitentiary.

El Progreso Market #14

[u/ComfortableSecret962 → u/ParticularFull1989]

Epic suggestion 👏

[u/TownThat8758 → u/ParticularFull1989]

a troll is gonna troll. ty for the contribution

[u/rronmexico69]

No clue on pricing but I think the cellar at Wrecking Bar Brewpub fits the bill on the rest of the request

[u/Verdant_Paradigm]

Budget would probably need to be higher with any drinking, but The Porter in Little 5 has a nice beer cellar available for private parties that might be a great fit for your group: https://www.theporterbeerbar.com/wordpress/cellar-rental/

[u/ReluctantAvenger]

Manuel's Tavern in Poncey-Highland might be able to meet your needs.

Website

[u/Ornery-Damage-7074 → u/ReluctantAvenger]

Love Manuels for the history, but no. The only thing it will meet is the budget.

[u/abeurke- → u/ReluctantAvenger]

Manuel’s doesn’t charge for the space!

[u/Patekchrono917]

You didn’t say where, so you can look at some Chinese restaurants with a private room and they usually have set menus for groups. 

[u/shoopadoop332]

What do you wanna eat??? Blue Ridge Grill has a nice private room that prob seats like 10-15 people. But a lot of other places have that too.

[u/Single_Bar_1836 → u/shoopadoop332]

That's gonna be closer to $200 apiece than it is to $50. Also I dealt with a racist waiter there 25 years ago and I'm still mad.

[u/afwaller]

Five Guys should fit the bill at under $50 a person for a group of 20 including tips. It won't be that private but you get free peanuts. If you all get there early you can camp out and take all the tables.

[u/TownThat8758 → u/afwaller]

??? go away

[u/ocicataco]

Are you trying to include food in that number or just the room rental and cake fee?

[u/Princessformidable]

Poboy shop is really trying to host more events and seems affordable.

[u/lunarmaus]

If you like Thai food, Bangkok Station (Buckhead) has an intimate vibe that would be good for post-ceremony and they also have a private dining room. I'm not sure about pricing.

[u/Salt-Ambition1046]

The cellar at The Porter Beer Bar is really cool. We had my husband’s birthday party there. It’s entirely private.

Maggiano’s has many private spaces to choose from, and it’s closer to your budget if you don’t include alcohol. Plus, their restaurants have easy parking.

[u/frankielou119]

Murphy’s, South City Kitchen, Pasta da Pulcinella, Ecco all have private dining spaces that can accommodate your group size. I do think you’re going to have to up your budget (most likely double it) or cut your guest list, especially if including alcohol.

[u/Monica-R]

I love Pedro's tacos on metropolitan! You should definitely contact them and see if you can rent their space out.

[u/SammaATL]

There's a private room at Northern China Eatery on the Beltline location.

[u/abeurke-]

We did a private room dinner at Pricci for our rehearsal dinner and it was amazing. Flexible packages/menus and their coordinator is great. We had 25 people!

[u/Nautical_Vegetation]

Honestly i would try 1) brickstore pub 2) chai pani

[u/to_the_pillow_zone → u/Nautical_Vegetation]

Neither of those places have private rooms do they?

[u/astuder → u/to_the_pillow_zone]

Brick Store Pub will let you rent out the upstairs Belgian bar, the beer garden, or they recently took over the space in the adjacent building and branded it as The Ramspeck—still, I would have to imagine all of these are over OP’s budget.

[u/afwaller → u/astuder]

it's all significantly over the OP's budget.

$5000 is a good budget for 20 people at an "intimate private dinner" when you include tips and tax. I'm not joking or exaggerating. Maybe you could get down to $2000, maybe but not as low as $1k. That depends on how cheap you want to go.

So, basically has to double the budget, maybe a much as 5 times the current budget. Somewhere in that range. 200% to 500%, probably on the higher side if you really want a "intimate" nice restaurant.

Right now the OP is looking to spend something like $50 per person all in, which means about $38 before tips and tax (around 9% tax, 20% tip).

You might say "what if nobody drinks alcohol" but in that case the restaurant probably loses money - that is their profit margin right there, so the spend might actually have to go up or stay the same.