Private Dining at Sarabeth's Park Avenue South

I'm not usually a fan of chain restaurants but Sarabeth's is definitely an exception. Firstly, I like the look of the restaurant - clean, full of light with wooden panel accents, contemporary. The customer service is incredibly attentive. The menu is American cuisine and from all the times I've been to the restaurant, I've never been disappointed. 

So when I had to search for a place for a private, executive dinner (near my office, of course) with a request of "Please, not another steakhouse!", I brought them here to Sarabeth's Park Avenue South. I was pleasantly surprised how smoothly the planning went, how the banquets department was willing to work with my budget while also catering to a few members of the group with special dietary needs (I had one person who just seemed to be allergic to literally everything). And I know it sounds silly, but I asked the restaurant to make the dining room as formal as possible, which they did: white tablecloths, tea light candles, and menu cards with my company's logo. I was happy that everything that night went smoothly with absolutely no complaints or criticism. My boss said to me something along the lines of, "I would not have chosen that restaurant for this group, but this is where your foodie instincts are better than mine."

Maybe it's because I like to come here with friends. Maybe because the American menu and the ambiance are a "safe bet" that clients will like it. I just felt that Sarabeth's hit all the checkmarks and with a paltable price tag to boot.

Sarabeth's Park Avenue South has two dining rooms that can be combined into one big room. Both rooms have their own separate entrance, even separate from the main dining room of the restaurant. The Conference Room can seat up to 20 guests and is equipped with a flat screen TV. The larger, private dining room can be divided into sections but can fit a maximum of 90 guests, and has a AV projector and screen in one of the breakout rooms. 

For my dinner party, I used the conference room as a reception area with the rest of the room set up for a sit-down dinner, seating everyone 6 to a table facing each other (hoping it would be a little easier for them to talk to each other, and also because we only had the rectangular tables). 

Overall, I really liked the look of the private dining area. It was definitely more toned down than the main dining room, but the I still liked the decor: the floor to ceiling windows, the modern chandeliers and again the wooden panels over the floor of rectangular white blocks. Can rectangular be a theme? My group was comfortable in this space and really enjoyed this restaurant. I would recommend this place for anyone who has a business dinner or something of that nature. 

For more information about the private dining rooms at Sarabeth's Park Avenue South, or any of the other locations in NYC, please visit: http://sarabethsrestaurants.com/park-avenue-south/events/

~T~