The Resy Guide to Excellent Private Dining Rooms in New York

For Smaller Gatherings of Up to 20 Guests

If you’re going to splurge, you might as well go all out with a private room at Michelin-starred Joji. It’s a traditional omakase experience, made only that much better in a private group of up to 10 people. You’ll get your own curated menu and wine experience, with a dedicated chef and sommelier. Full buyouts of the restaurant are also possible, too; submit an inquiry here.

Make yourself even more at home inside The Golden Swan’s historic townhouse space with their completely private dining room, aptly named The Swan Room. It can fit up to 12 seated guests for dinner, where hopefully you can order their salad Lyonnaise, crescent duck, and salmon rillettes that are so beloved in the dining room.

If you’ve been having trouble scoring a reservation for chef Kwame Onwuachi’s buzzy NYC restaurant (trust us, you’re not alone), maybe consider hosting a private event instead. Their intimate dining room features a long wooden table that can seat up to 14 guests. You’ll want to get the short rib pastrami suya for everyone and the bodega special “cosmic brownie” for dessert. Submit an inquiry here.

Yes, we know that even years after Don Angie first opened, it’s still one of the toughest tables to score in the city. But hear us out: Why not consider hosting your own private party there instead? Their next-door private dining room, Don’s Next Door, has its own private bar and can seat up to 18. That means plenty of stuffed garlic flatbread, chrysanthemums salad, and lasagna to go around. More info here.

The New York city restaurant that put Indian fine dining in the spotlight years ago when it earned a Michelin star for eight years straight (2010 to 2018) also has an intimate 20-seat private dining room with a front-row seat to their impressive wine cellar. P.S. Junoon’s sister restaurant, Jazba, located in the East Village, also has a vibrant, decidedly more colorful private dining room that seats up to 35.

Put your event into the practiced hands of the storied duo behind Atomix and Atoboy. Make Naro’s minimal private dining room your own with their many food and drink options, including optional additional passed canapes and sit-down bites as well as a variety of beverage packages. The space can seat 20 diners for a three-hour event. Inquire here.

Private dining at Essential by Christophe offers exactly what you’d expect from this glam Upper West Side spot. Their space, which seats up to 20 underneath their main dining room, is luxe and intimate. Choose from three- or four-course menus with dishes like madeira-soaked mushroom carpaccio, spiced duck with agave turnips and black sesame, and caramelized pineapple rice pudding. Learn more here.

For panoramic city views in a leather and wine adorned room, Peak’s Sky Cellar at The Edge is your clear choice. The private dining experience is available for up to 16 seated guests under a Lasvit chandelier and the seasonally driven menus from chef Rose Noel never disappoint. Enjoy the floor-to-ceiling windows while listening to the sweet sounds of your own A/V system. Learn more here.

If you’re looking for an impressive Art Deco setting for your next private event, look no further than this stunner from the Frenchette team located at Rockefeller Center. Le Rock’s private dining room accommodates up to 16 seated guests and it feels like your own special space, complete with mirrored walls, dim lighting, and dark woods.

At Chinese Tuxedo’s sister restaurant, The Tyger, the cuisine is more focused on Southeast Asia. Think banh xeo and kabocha masala, or Singaporean chili crab fried rice. There’s an intimate private dining room just off the main dining room where they can host up to 12 diners around an impressive eight-foot-long brass dining table.

El Quijote is the rare revamp that, dare we say, improves on the original: Sunday Hospitality founder Jaime Young and the kitchen team have put forth a menu that pays homage to the historic restaurant, but also updates the food to be more in line with contemporary Spanish cooking, too. The Cervantes Room, one of the remaining party spaces of El Quijote, seats up to 10, and serves a prix-fixe that features all the fan favorites from the El Quijote menu. A full buyout accommodates up to 60 guests.

When superstar Mexican chef Enrique Olvera opened Cosme in the Flatiron District back in 2014, it quickly became one of the city’s most sought-after dining experiences centered on contemporary Mexican cooking. Cosme’s signature dishes include an impossibly tender duck carnitas for two, served with freshly made tortillas, which has a reputation all on its own. You can enjoy it all in the sleek, black-walled private dining room, which serves a set menu on a long wooden table that can host up to 14 seated guests. Just don’t forget to taste a few selections from the list of standout tequila and mezcals. Learn more here.

In-the-know diners in New York City in search of a memorable dinner in Koreatown keep Miss Korea at the top of their lists. Within the multi-floor space, guests choose their proteins and cook them on table grills — marinated kalbi beef, spicy pork belly, vegetables, and more. The restaurant also does a standout hotpot and other classics like japchae noodles and bibimbap served while still cooking in a hot stone bowl. Miss Korea has several private dining rooms with their own table grills finished in attractive blond wood tones; they’re bookable for parties of up to 20.

This West Village favorite made a name for itself with its standout pastas (pancetta and tomato-laced bucatini; ricotta and mushroom garganelli) and other bel paese inspired dishes (wagyu carpaccio; lemon and honey-infused branzino). While the attractive, two-level dining room is plenty inviting, there’s something cozy and magical about sharing some of the city’s best Italian food with your favorite people in a more intimate setting. Book the 14-seat table in the sleek wine cellar, which is lined with more than 2,000 bottles of Italian wine encased in glass. Learn more here.

For Slightly Larger Parties of Up to 40 Guests

Embedded within the Roman and Williams Guild furniture store, the cool-hued La Mercerie Café is a feast for the eyes, with attention-grabbing floral arrangements. Near the dining area are the latest creations of Roman and Williams cofounders Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch, along with other pieces the couple hand selected around the world. Parisian chef Marie-Aude Rose’s menu of French classics range from buckwheat crepes with ham and cheese for lunch to boeuf bourguignon for dinner. Her talent is also on display downstairs in the private venue, the 24-seat House of Bowls. Email the restaurant at special.eventsnyc@starr-restaurants.com for private dining inquiries.

You’ve got choices when it comes to private dining at 53. Their dinner menu features a variety of Asian dishes, with lots of seafood options like their king prawns, eel club, and lobster fried rice. Go for a semi-private experience in their Dome space, which features an arched ceiling and room for 32 seated guests. Or go for the fully private dining room for a group of up to 22, which also happens to feature a stunning light installation by artist Jorge Pardo. You’ll also have control over the sound in that space, so plan accordingly. For more information, head here.

This Hong Kong diner-style pop-up turned sit down restaurant from Wilson Tang (Nom Wah) and John McDonald (Bar Tulix, Lure Fishbar) serves a menu with a long list of dishes, like crystal shrimp or pork dumplings, Cantonese roast duck sliders, and pineapple bun ice cream sandwiches. Small groups can choose the cozy private dining room, which seats as many as 32 people, or a semi-private mezzanine that can accommodate up to 14 guests. Inquire here.

Enjoy bold bites in a secluded private room for up to 18 seated guests and 30 standing at Comodo, located on the ground floor of the Freehand New York hotel. The room is available for lunch, brunch, and dinner, with a family-style five-course menu available for dinner and a pre-fixe for brunch or lunch. Munch on options like their sobre masa tacos and a variety of drinks. More information can be found here.

Underneath Williamsburg’s undisputed titan of classic French fare, Le Crocodile, you’ll find an intimate private dining and event space called the Cellar, which can host parties of anywhere from seven to 40 guests. What makes it really unique is the décor, with vaulted ceilings, exposed brick walls, and antique crystal chandeliers, all while maintaining the historic architecture of the Wythe Hotel building, which dates back 120 years as a former factory. An added bonus? Choosing from a menu of hits that could include Le Crocodile’s stellar roast chicken and frites or standout mushroom pâté with black truffle.

Chinese Tuxedo, located on Doyers Street in Chinatown, is known for its exquisite Chinese food and beautiful space, and it’s also got plenty of room for hosting private gatherings, too. Hidden behind the main bar is the Moon Room, a versatile private dining space named for the moon door that leads into it. The Moon Room can hold up to 28 guests for a sit-down meal or for standing room. Bonus: It’s got its own audio/visual system, so you can play your own music, too.

If you’re looking for a modern look and feel for your gathering, along with some of Brooklyn’s best Japanese cuisine, you’ll want to consider Rule of Thirds in Greenpoint. The restaurant has a total of three indoor private dining rooms, all of which range in being able to host anywhere from 10 to 30 diners. The very zen Outdoor Pavilion, with four private bungalows, is ideal for outdoor gatherings: Two bungalows seat up to eight guests, while the other two seat up to 10; any two bungalows can be also be combined to seat up to 20. For private gatherings, the restaurant offers a prix-fixe menu.

After New York City chef Frank DeCarlo opened Peasant in 1999, it quickly became a favorite of chef and restaurateur Marc Forgione. When DeCarlo retired in 2020, Forgione took over the restaurant with DeCarlo’s blessing, where he now oversees a menu of seasonal Italian dishes, including appetizers like Piedmont steak tartare, handmade pastas like gnocchi alla romana with rotisserie lamb ragu, and wood-fired items like greenwalk trout with smoked roe. Pro tip: Consider ordering the whole suckling pig dinner which includes antipasti, pizza, cacio e pepe, desserts, and yes, a whole pig smeared in salsa verde. Peasant’s cozy private dining room, with its rustic wooden tables and stone floors, is located in the wine cellar below the restaurant, and seats 25 guests. Contact the restaurant here for more information.

The brief second home of the legendary Four Seasons Restaurant in Midtown is now the site of Fasano, the first Italian restaurant in the U.S. from the renowned Brazilian restaurateurs and hoteliers Fasano Group. The team brought in longtime collaborator Isay Weinfeld, the Brazilian Modernist architect, to design the warm, neutral-toned interiors. The restaurant’s Florentine chef, Nicola Fedeli, emphasizes northern Italian-inspired flavors in such dishes as saffron-infused risotto alla Milanese with ossobuco. Meanwhile, an Osteria in the front room serves hearty Italian classics like pappardelle al ragú Toscano. Try a sampling of Fedeli’s cooking by booking the more intimate second-floor private dining room, a sleek space with dark wood accents that accommodates 28 seated guests. Inquire here.

Part of noted restaurateur Danny Meyer’s New York-centric Union Square Hospitality Group, Gramercy Tavern remains a mainstay for hyper seasonal, regional produce in Manhattan that executive chef Michael Anthony turns into dishes such as pork tortellini with bok choy, celery, lemon, and thyme, and roasted duck breast  and confit with lentils, rhubarb, and snow peas. Gramercy Tavern’s 22-seat private dining venue off the main dining area offers a more intimate way to enjoy his creations. In the center of the room, surrounding a collection of American antiques, is a polished wooden table made by Greg Lipton, an artisan from Maine, while a chandelier made by Celeste Gainey hangs from the wood-beam ceiling. Explore your options for private dining here.

Read more about Gramercy Tavern’s enduring legacy as one of the city’s best restaurants here.

A beloved restaurant in DUMBO since 2008, Vinegar Hill House is the gold standard of neighborhood restaurants. In a rustic, wood-floored dining room, diners feast on seasonally-inspired dishes that might start out with charred octopus or chicken liver mousse, move onto a pecorino-topped lamb ragu or cast iron chicken, and end with a Guinness chocolate cake. The restaurant has a private dining space in a restored old carriage house, complete with its own fireplace for colder nights; it’s bookable for parties ranging from nine to 32 guests. Contact the restaurant here for more information.

For Grand Fêtes of 40 or More Guests

The options are about as close to unlimited as you can get at John Doherty’s Blackbarn, located right by Madison Square Park. Choose from private dining areas like a wood-paneled loft, a chef’s table right in the kitchen, or the cellar on the bottom floor, which seat 80, 20, and 32 diners, respectively. In addition to the private room of your choosing, the restaurant also offers a variety of experiences for groups, too, like a soufflé making experience, a world leader menu composed of dishes Doherty served to a variety of politicians and leaders over his long tenure as the executive chef of New York’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel, and a whiskey tasting. Find more information here.

Consider booking the back room at Winona’s, a Bed-Stuy favorite with an award-winning wine list, for your next large party. It’s beautifully decorated, with minimal clutter and a focus on the gorgeous overhead skylight. The back room accommodates up to 58 seated guests or 74 people for a standing cocktail reception. Hopefully, you can include their buttermilk rolls, smoked trout dip, and half chicken with chip shop curry on whatever menu you and the team devise for your gathering. Submit an inquiry by emailing backroom@winonasbk.com.

New York’s oldest restaurant has multiple private event spaces from which to choose, but the newly revamped Wonder Room is one to keep in mind for gatherings of up to 125 guests. Formerly known as the Dickens Alcove (and so named for the famous author, Charles Dickens), the room pays homage to the restaurant’s many iconic guests, ranging from Kevin Bacon and Adam Sandler to Elizabeth Taylor and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Find more information here.

Acclaimed chef and restaurateur Michael Mina’s New York City debut does not disappoint. His restaurant inside the JW Marriott Essex House is a romantic ideal of an American steakhouse. All of the cuts are local when possible and premium always, best enjoyed alongside a glass of that titular spirit. There are two options here for private dining, each with their own bar and working vintage fireplace, which seat up to 12 or 24 people individually and 40 people when combined. If they’re available, don’t skip the bacon-wrapped scallops, whole roasted Hudson Valley foie gras, and Maine lobster pot pie. It’s a party, after all.

Enjoy the wonderful wood-fired dishes at Heritage Grand Bakery in your own private dining room with room for 40 seated or 60 standing guests. They’ve got four- and five-course menus, passed hors d’oeuvres, and a full-screen monitor and sound system for all your audio-visual needs. It’s a gorgeous, white-stuccoed room with plenty of exposed stone and a long, rectangular table.   

This sprawling, lush multi-level space that serves up a unique blend of Spanish, Caribbean, and Latin American cuisines also has ample private dining room space for parties of many sizes. The downstairs wine cellar can seat up to 55 guests, and up to 65 with standing room, but it can also be combined with another lounge room to hold even more guests — up to 200 total standing. Whatever you and party decide, do not sleep on the paella or any of Tasca’s excellent seafood dishes. 

This multi-level bar and lounge just off of Rockefeller Center has a variety of private dining spaces for you to choose from, including a top-floor space that’s got a “secret” entrance through Rock Center. Johnny’s, as it’s called, can suit up to 50 guests and has a true lounge-like feel. You can also book out Pebble Bar’s third floor, which has a 32-seat dining room, or there’s also the second floor, which you can buy out for a party of up to 50. While Pebble Bar is most known for its drinks (you can’t go wrong with whatever you order, but we’re partial to the Green River), the food is just as exceptional; think lots of shareable bites, from lobster rolls and oysters dressed in yuzu kosho to chips and dip and steak tartare sandwiches topped with caviar.

The gorgeous Fifth Avenue spot from famed chef Marc Forgione can seat up to 45 guests in their rustic private dining room called The Mews. Menu highlights include their signature Roman-style pizzas and bucatini carbonara. Learn more here.

For a completely self-contained private dining room, the Off The Record room at The Spaniard is hard to beat. There’s a private bar, private bathrooms, and the option to play your own music (even on a record player) or hire a DJ for up to 40 guests. For a bigger party (up to 80) go for the Side Bar room, which includes all of the same amenities. Both spots share the sultry, comfortable ambiance of the main dining room. Inquire here.

For cool, lounge-style private event dining with a menu to match, Piggyback has you covered. They can accommodate up to 60 seated guests in their speaker-lined Wayback Room space that includes a separate audio system (hello, aux cord!), DJ booth, disco ball, and private entrance. Choose from passed bites, family style, or pre-fixe menus to suit your needs, with dishes like kimchi arancini, lumpia, and Korean honey butter chicken. Learn more here.

Whisk your guests away to the Italian coast with a private room at Alba Accanto. Up to 60 seated diners can indulge in family-style delicacies like their artichokes alla giudia and branzino. You know, maybe getting a Vespa isn’t such a crazy idea after all … Inquire here.

Above Le Jardinier in Midtown, there are a number of different private dining rooms that you can host your own party, serving Le Jardinier’s signature elegant French fare. The small upstairs private dining room seats up to 10, while a larger room seats up to 14, and each room offers a three-course prix-fixe or a five-course seasonal tasting menu. There’s also an upstairs bar, Bar Bastion, that can accommodate up to 70 guests, serving a menu of passed canapés. And in the space that used to be home to Shun, there’s room for 60 seated guests and up to 100 guests for a cocktail reception.

Sunday in Brooklyn, the neighborhood spot that took over Williamsburg (and now London, too) with its tower of fluffy pancakes drenched in brown butter and hazelnut maple pralines, is also an ideal location for celebrations, with plenty of options and spaces for gatherings. A private dining room on the restaurant’s third floor seats up to 16 people, while a second-floor covered garden seats up to 24. The second-floor Sun Room seats up to 50. Outdoors, the restaurant’s greenhouse seats up to 20. And should you choose, you can even buy out the whole restaurant to entertain up to 120 seated guests. For events, the restaurant offers crowd-pleasing prix-fixe family-style menus for brunch and for dinner. Think hot chicken sandwiches and smoked lox plates for brunch, and seasonal gnocchi and wood-roasted brussels sprouts for dinner. And yes, you can add on those Sunday pancakes for brunch, too.

Gabriel Kreuther’s namesake restaurant in Midtown feels like a wonderful escape from the outside world, and the food — reflecting Kreuther’s French training and Alsatian heritage — is always on point. The elegant restaurant has two different private dining rooms from which to choose — the Stork Room and the Grace Room — each hosting up to 20 to 40 seated guests; the Grace Room also has its own bar. Need more room? Combine the two for a space that seats 40 to 80. The restaurant easily accommodates standing receptions as well as breakfast, lunch, and dinner prix-fixe menus, too.

Barbuto 2.0, the second iteration of chef Jonathan Waxman’s beloved West Village classic has a private dining room space that can seat up to 40 for a family-style menu and up to 75 guests for a cocktail reception. The room also has its own music system and bar and, we hope, the chance to try that highly desirable and delicious roast chicken for which Barbuto (and Waxman) are known.

From the folks who gave New York City Charlie Bird and Pasquale Jones, and Bar Pasquale, Legacy Records features the Italian coast-inspired cooking of chef Ryan Hardy. Here, he serves whole dorade with Amalfi lemons and diver scallops in brown butter in a sumptuous, wood-floored dining room designed by San Francisco-based Ken Fulk. On the second floor, which is accessible via private elevator, there are several options for private gatherings. The 1160-square-foot, Hudson River-facing private dining wing includes the Test Kitchen Room and the sage-walled Drawing Room, which can be booked separately or together. The Test Kitchen Room seats up to 30 guests on custom designed teak tables, which face a state-of-the-art kitchen. The adjacent Drawing Room offers a cocktail and reception space, and seats up to 14 guests. For cocktail events, high-ceilinged Ada’s Place is a second-floor bar with 20 seats and two connecting lounge rooms. The main restaurant and bar downstairs are also available for private buyouts. Contact the restaurant here for more information.

In 2004, a neglected space at the end of an alley off the Bowery was transformed by owners William Tigertt and Taavo Somer into a charming, two-story restaurant with rustic wood plank floors. Freemans remains a go-to spot for New Yorkers for its relaxed tavern ambience and a menu centered on American comfort food dishes such as bone-in New York strip and creamy artichoke dip. The second story is composed of a series of private dining rooms, including the Red Room, the Blue Room, and the Drawing Room, with mahogany furnishings, botanical prints, taxidermy animals, and walls of vintage books. Combined, the rooms can hold up to 100 guests for a cocktail reception, but they can also be rented separately for more intimate gatherings. More information here.

Located in the 1980’s-inspired Ludlow Hotel, Dirty French was masterminded by the team behind Major Food Group (Carbone, ZZ’s Clam Bar) and channels a neighborhood French bistro — think gilded mirrors and wine-red booths, and dishes like lamb carpaccio. The private dining room, which guests access through a separate entrance on the second floor of the hotel, serves the same menu by chef de cuisine Jordan Terry. The venue seats 50 guests in 900 square feet of light-filled space, but smaller parties will also feel right at home within the rustic-chic interiors, with its wooden floors, copper ceilings, and its own built-in bar with private coat check. Learn more here.

This splurge of a venue in Midtown is one of the city’s most celebrated temples to fish and seafood. Here, French chef Éric Ripert, who opened Le Bernardin in 1986, works his magic on carefully sourced dishes ranging from barely-cooked Faroe Islands salmon to tagliatelle with black truffles sourced from Périgord. Les Salons Bernardin, which has its own entrance and a separate kitchen, can seat as many as 60 people in an elegant, light-filled space clad in light woods. Celebrating something bigger? The newer Le Bernardin Privé is located in a separate building nearby, and has two private dining rooms that can be combined to seat up to 150 people.