Bayard's occupies an elegant mansion off Wall Street.

Avra
141 E. 48th St., near Lexington Ave.
212-759-8550
avrany.com
This festive Greek restaurant is known for its fresh Mediterranean fish. The rustic private room, decorated with ceramic vases, racks of wine, and stone-washed walls, holds 50 to 80 for dinner, at a cost of $45 per person on weekdays, $85 on weekends. Try charcoal-grilled octopus or Greek salad to start, followed by grilled loup de mer or sirloin.

AZ
21 W. 17 St., near Sixth Ave.
212-691-8888
aznyc.com
AZ serves innovative American cuisine with Asian influences in a sensual, softly lit setting. The second-floor private room has a waterfall (which actually begins on the third floor and falls down to the first) and seats 25 to 65 guests. The $145-to-$200 menus include appetizers like seared tuna with avocado-and-lime sauce and entrées like grilled gulf prawns.

Baldoria
249 W. 49th St., near Eighth Ave.
212-582-0460
baldoriamo.com
It’s nearly impossible to score a table at Rao’s, but it’s a cinch to take 80 or so of your friends to dinner at Baldoria, Rao’s theater-district offshoot. The private room on the second floor seats 80 to 90; bring 130 to 170, and they’ll lend you the entire restaurant. Three menus ($55, $65, and $85 per person) feature Italian comfort food, served family-style. A buffet dinner starts at $45 per person for up to 80 people, and the cost of the raw bar depends on how many oysters and clams you eat.

Bambou
243 E. 14th St., near Second Ave.
212-358-0012
bambounyc.com
A Caribbean-fusion spot styled like a plantation house, Bambou is decorated with wooden ceiling fans, birds of paradise, palms, and lithographs from the early 1900s. For $50 a person, start with tropical salad and follow with pineapple-glazed pork chops. Desserts include a house bread pudding with sauce à l’orange.

Barbetta
321 W. 46th St., near Eighth Ave.
212-246-9171
barbettarestaurant.com
This restaurant, set in four 1874 townhouses, has an impressive garden that will hold 80 guests for a seated dinner. The largest private room seats 135 and showcases antiques dating from 1775. The $55 dinner includes agnolotti, Maine diver scallops with Yukon Gold–potato crust, and dessert.

Bayard's
1 Hanover Sq., at Stone St.
212-514-9454
bayards.com
Chef Eberhard Müller began at Le Bernardin, took over Lutèce, and now oversees this free-standing Wall Street mansion. Model ships and maritime oil paintings decorate nine private rooms, which accommodate as few as 6 and as many as 300 for cocktails (200 for dinner). Dinner is $60 to $90 per person, $95 to $125 with liquor. Menu standouts: lobster salad, fillet of beef, and a chocolate dome dessert.

Beacon Restaurant-Bar
25 W. 56th St., near Fifth Ave.
212-332-0500
beaconnyc.com
At Beacon, where everything is cooked in an open wood fire, chef Waldy Malouf serves up dishes like wood-roasted trout and oysters, grilled ranch-grazed rib eye, and brandy-laced roasted-lobster soup. The classy spot features wood floors, leather banquettes, and plenty of classic cocktails. Three-course meals start at $70 a person. The second-floor glass-enclosed room seats up to 100.

Blue Water Grill
31 Union Square West, at 16th St.
212-675-9500
brguestrestaurants.com
Plush blue velvet curtains warm up the vault room in this cavernous old bank. Up to 35 people can dine on entrées like herb-crusted tuna, roasted mahi-mahi, or filet mignon. Choose from four appetizers, five entrées, and three desserts for $58 per person; for a bit more, you can add passed hors d’oeuvre or sushi and raw-bar platters. The larger jazz room holds 110 for sit-down, 150 for buffet-style.

Bridgewaters
11 Fulton St., at South Street Seaport
212-608-7400
bridgewatersnyc.com
Enjoy a view of Wall Street’s landmarked buildings from the giant windows at this banquet space. In the summer months, chefs barbecue on the terrace overlooking the East River. The $125 menu, available for a minimum of 40 guests, includes mango margaritas, petit filet mignon, Moroccan-style chicken, softshell crab, and more. The Terrace Room can seat up to 200.

Café St. Bart’s
109 E. 50th St., at Park Ave.
212-888-2664
sageamericankitchen.com
You can follow a rehearsal in St. Bart’s chapel with an elegant torch-lit dinner for 20 to 40 in the church’s flower-filled tiled cloister garden. Or, host up to 200 guests on a section of the church’s terrace, which overlooks Park Avenue. They’ll work with brides to customize a menu; standouts include the mushroom ravioli, rack of lamb, and chicken and wild mushrooms en croute. A four-course meal with open bar is $150.

Charlie Palmer Events at Astra
Decoration & Design Building, 979 Third Ave., near 58th St., 14th Fl.
212-644-9394
charliepalmer.com
The man behind Aureole brings that same complex cuisine to the restaurant’s events-only venue, where up to 300 guests for cocktails or 140 for dinner (100 if they’re dancing) can choose from a limited selection of Aureole favorites like balsamic-glazed quail and truffle-crusted salmon with polenta. Everything is cooked to order (they don’t cart it in from Aureole), and a three-course meal with open bar runs $150 per person every day except Saturday, when it costs $175.

Chez Josephine
414 W. 42nd St., near Ninth Ave.
212-594-1925
The lighting is kind in this twenties-style salon, with a zinc-topped bar, vintage red-upholstered chairs, and piano entertainment. Fifty-five dollars will get you Maryland crab cakes, followed by black American sea bass or filet mignon au poivre. Salad and dessert, too. The private Salon Marrakech seats 45; the whole place can be yours with 100 to 120 guests.

Compass
208 W. 70th St., at Amsterdam Ave.
212-875-8600
compassrestaurant.com
Chef Neil Annis’s latest foray on the Upper West Side includes three private rooms: a 40-person chef’s room with kitchen viewing, a 30-person semi-private (elevated and curtained-off) lounge with its own bar, and a 16-person glass-enclosed wine room. Feast on eclectic New American delights like saffron-risotto fritters, organic calf’s liver, and softshell-crab tempura for $80 to $150 per person.

Daniel
60 E. 65th St., near Park Ave.
212-288-0033
danielnyc.com
Gourmand guests treated to a rehearsal dinner by chef Daniel Boulud will be talking about it for a long time. The spring menu features chilled pea soup with rosemary cream, asparagus-and-lobster risotto, and raspberry vacherin with verbena ice cream. Petits fours and madeleines follow. The Bellecour room, with gold-leafed sconces and taffeta curtains, seats 30 to 80 guests. You’ll pay $100 per person for food, plus $500 for the room.

Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Ave.
212-889-0905
The mezzanine-level private rooms here overlook the restaurant’s Deco-style main dining room and historic Madison Square Park. Invite 10 to 53 guests to dine on wild-mushroom soup followed by pan-seared arctic char with salsify and truffle oil, or côte de boeuf with potato-fennel gratin. Prices are $85 to $130 per person, depending on the number of courses and which entrées you choose.

Eugene
27 W. 24th St., near Sixth Ave.
212-462-0999
eugenenyc.com
At this grand club with black lacquer tables and a dining room that accommodates 50 to 120 guests, guests can munch on hors d’oeuvre like mini seafood tacos and buffalo wings with blue-cheese fondue. The sit-down dinner consists of salad, vegetable plates, and cheese platters followed by shrimp cocktail or oysters, filet mignon, roasted chicken, or couscous-crusted salmon. With dessert and open bar, the price is $100 per person.

Italian newcomer Fiamma is a great spot for a Soho rehearsal dinner.

Fiamma
206 Spring St., near Sixth Ave.
212-653-0100
brguestrestaurants.com
You can show childhood footage of the bride and groom on the plasma screen in the private dining room of this new Italian spot. Soft, golden Venetian-plaster walls, mahogany accents, and parchment-shaded floor lamps add warmth. In the banquet room, parties of up to 70 can feast on a four-course menu; options include sea scallops with crispy artichoke, handmade tortelli with asparagus, and veal chop scented with sage (from $95 per person).

The Four Seasons
99 E. 52nd St., near Park Ave.
212-754-9494
fourseasonsrestaurant.com
The famed Pool Room in this Philip Johnson–designed restaurant has a private indoor terrace that overlooks a white marble reflecting pool and has a giant Larry Rivers painting on one wall. For 40 to 100 people, you can create a set menu (no choices) for $100 per person. Seviche of bay scallops, black bass and maya shrimp with ginger and coriander, and wild boar with pappardelle pasta are among the appetizers; Dover sole, breast of pheasant, and rack of lamb are entrée selections.

Ilo
Bryant Park Hotel, 40 W. 40th St., near Sixth Ave.
212-642-2255
ilorestaurant.com
Former River Café chef Rick Laakkonen’s menu features an impressive selection of wines and cheeses as well as exotic offerings like ragout of octopus and Manila clams, and pan-roasted rabbit with olives and oregano. A customized menu for twelve or more starts at $100 per person. Renting out the entire restaurant, which seats 125 people, is subject to negotiation. The hotel also rents out its Cellar Bar for cocktail hours or dancing after the rehearsal ($5,000 to $10,000 a night, or $90 per person for 150 to 170 guests, including open bar and hors d’oeuvre for three hours).

La Petite Auberge
116 Lexington Ave., at 28th St.
212-689-5003
A great deal is offered at this charming 25-year-old bistro, which is filled with paintings from Brittany. Kick off with classics like onion soup or leeks vinaigrette, move on to fillet of sole or veal chasseur, and finish with chocolate mousse or crème caramel—all for $23.95 per head. The wood-paneled private room has a fireplace and seats from 15 to 50 people.

Le Bernardin
155 W. 51 St., near Sixth Ave.
212-554-1107
le-bernardin.com
There’s a new private room with etched-glass walls and a coffered wood ceiling at this legendary seafood restaurant. Start with lime-coconut-marinated peekytoe crab or yellowfin-tuna carpaccio, then move on to pan-roasted red snapper on creamy jasmine-coriander rice. Finish with yuzu-lemon tart and ginger parfait with a thin caramel tuile. Ten to 90 diners can enjoy a three-course menu of your choice, starting at $130 per person.

Lut�ce
249 E. 50th St., near Second Ave.
212-752-2225
lutece.com
This luxe ladies-who-lunch favorite will thrill your out-of-town guests. The private Grand Salon, decorated with an antique gold mirror and sage Ultrasuede walls, has a balcony overlooking the main dining hall. You can take it over and serve 40 guests seasonal-menu delicacies like foie gras terrine, lobster velouté with vegetables, sautéed duck breast, and dark-chocolate-and-peanut-butter fondant with pear sorbet (prices start at $90 per person).

Maloney & Porcelli
37 E. 50th St., near Park Ave.
646-277-2335
maloneyandporcelli.com
This refined steakhouse transforms into a relaxed spot for rehearsal-dinner parties, where a feast of lamb, garlicky chicken, or onion-crusted salmon steak, plus hors d’oeuvre and open bar, starts at about $100 a person. An upstairs room with a gas fireplace and three large skylights fits 40 to 125 people (up to 150 for a buffet).

The Manhattan Ocean Club
57 W. 58th St., near Sixth Ave.
212-371-7777
manhattanoceanclub.com
Owned by the folks behind Smith & Wollensky, this midtowner delivers fresh seafood in a casual setting. A glass-enclosed room surrounded by rare reproductions of Picasso ceramics fits 28 (the whole restaurant seats 220). Party menus feature dishes like clam chowder, baked oysters in morel cream, and sauteed tuna with fois gras butter and fingerling potatoes. The four-course, open-bar extravaganza costs $150 a head, or go for the non-shellfish version at $130 a person.

Morton's, the Steakhouse
551 Fifth Ave., at 45th St.
212-972-3315
mortons.com
Morton’s prime steakhouse fare in a clubby setting should satisfy almost any carnivore; its private “boardrooms,” with parquet floors, Oriental rugs, and Leroy Neiman lithographs on mahogany walls, seat from 10 to 100 guests. A menu of salad, sirloin, vegetable, potato, dessert, and coffee is a bargain at $61.95; $55.95 gets you melt-in-your-mouth broiled, center-cut swordfish.

Nino’s
1354 First Ave., near 73rd St.
212-988-0002
ninosnyc.com
Fans of no-fuss comfort food flock to this quiet, quality Italian eatery for a slice of Tuscany. Part of the restaurant can be curtained off for groups of 20 to 80, and the whole space can be rented for up to 165 people. The party menu ($65 per person) is a reduced version of their regular offerings, but they’ll also accommodate off-menu requests for dishes like duck risotto, lobster fra diavolo, or Caesar salad made fresh at your table.

Opia
130 E. 57th St., at Lexington Ave., second fl.
212-688-3939
opiarestaurant.com
This lively restaurant and nightspot has two beautiful back rooms—one with eggplant-colored walls seating 50 and another with space for 100 to 120—that can be combined for up to 170 people; both have velvet chairs and large arched windows. Prices are $40 to $80 per person (extra for drinks), and the customized menus can include hors d’oeuvre plus main dishes like cannelloni of lobster, tuna tartare, lamb couscous, or striped bass with celery-root purée. Among the desserts: dulce de leche flan and passion-fruit Pavlova with fresh berries.

The Post House
Lowell Hotel, 28 E. 63rd St., near Madison Ave.
212-935-2888
theposthouse.com
With a menu that includes grilled chicken breast with jalapeño ginger sauce, filet mignon carpaccio, and Cajun ribsteak, the polished spot with parquet floors and leather armchairs is the U.N. of steakhouses. It has no private room, so your best bet is to invite 30 or fewer guests, who can fit comfortably on the platformed section in the back of the restaurant. Guests order à la carte from a selection picked by the host; about $70 per person.

Sel et Poivre
853 Lexington Ave, near 64th St.
212-517-5780
seletpoivrenyc.com
Bring 60 to 65 people to this small, cozy French bistro and you can own the place for a night. For $3,000 and up, you can get a full bar and three courses selected from a menu that includes savory roasted chicken, steak-frites, leg of lamb, and grilled salmon fillet. Smaller parties of 25 to 35 can be seated at long tables with the regular dinner crowd.

Smith & Wollensky
797 Third Ave., at 49th St.
646-277-2335
smithandwollensky.com
A home base for surf and turf, this midtown steakhouse has three upstairs dining rooms with skylights and wood floors that can accommodate groups from 20 to 180 people. A selection of lobster and various cuts of beef, dry-aged in house for over 28 days, starts at $110 per head.

Trattoria Dell'Arte
900 Seventh Ave., near 57th St.
212-245-9800
trattoriadellarte.com
Styled after a Tuscan country villa, with stone-tiled floors and fireplaces, the connecting Bomarzo and Candle rooms on the lower level of this restaurant can fit 20 to 80 guests combined. The 80-seat Il Naso room, with paintings and sculptures of famous Italian noses, is another option. The menu, which starts at $85, includes an antipasti bar, a pasta course, and a choice of fish, veal, or chicken. Add filet mignon or lobster at an additional charge.

Trattoria Dopo Teatro
125 W. 44th St., near Sixth Ave.
212-869-2849
dopoteatro.com
This theater-district Italian eatery, with private rooms for 10 to 120 guests, mixes country décor and exposed brick with Broadway-themed paintings and mementos like a Phantom of the Opera mask. Start with a mesclun salad, move on to a pasta course like farfalle with diced tomato and asparagus, then an entrée such as slowly braised veal with rosemary and mushrooms, and finish with a homemade dessert, all for $55.

Union Square Ballroom
27 Union Square West, near 16th St.
212-645-1802
unionsquareballroom.com
Bring a band or D.J. and dance the night away on the ballroom’s mahogany floor. This place is a deal at $75 a person for 60 to 180 guests. The price includes passed hors d’oeuvre—mini croque monsieur, summer rolls—and a three-course meal starting with salad, continuing with grilled salmon or chicken breast, and ending with a mocha soufflé.

Water's Edge
The East River and 44th Dr., Queens
718-482-0033
watersedgenyc.com
Watch the Manhattan skyline from a prime seat on the deck of this barge-restaurant. For $90 per person, 20 to 45 guests can start with cocktails and hors d’oeuvre outside then dine in the mirrored, Baroque semi-private room. Options include lobster raviolini, filet mignon, and Chilean sea bass. For dessert, try the apple tart.

World Yacht
Pier 81, Twelfth Ave. at 41st St.
212-630-8800
worldyacht.com
As you cruise around Manhattan, you’ll catch exquisite views, including the illuminated Statue of Liberty. Each of World Yacht’s five ships are decorated in a unique style, and for about $90 per person, 15 to 50 guests can enjoy appetizers like English pea soup with roasted quail and entrées such as filet mignon with mushroom sauce or roasted loin of veal.

 Photos by Kenneth Chen.