Rehersal Dinner in Newport, RI

I will be hosting a rehersal dinner for my son%26#39;s wedding in early November in Newport. I%26#39;m looking for a place that can accommodate approx. 50 people and where I won%26#39;t have to ';break the bank'; to pay for it. Since the wedding will be a very formal event the next day, I would prefer to have a more ';casual'; affair. Good food is important. Thanks for your advice....

Rehersal Dinner in Newport, RI

Not sure how big your ';bank'; is to break, but the Brick Alley has a nice function room up stairs if there are over 50 people.....or downstairs for under 50.

It%26#39;s a local and tourist favorite...casual, and good food.

www.brickalley.com

Some other ideas,

Sardellas for Italian:

www.sardellas.com

Red Parrot (Casual) www.redparrotrestaurant.com

The Mooring:

www.mooringrestaurant.com

Rehersal Dinner in Newport, RI

Private rooms that will not break the bank

Brick Alley Pub, 2nd floor 401.849.6334

GasLamp, 2nd floor 401.845.9300

Sardella%26#39;s, 2nd floor or other private rooms available 401.849.6312

check out www.GoNewport.com %26amp; www.YourNewportWedding.com

Thanks so much for your suggestions....I%26#39;ll get busy on the web and check them out..........

Sala%26#39;s Restaurant is a reasonably priced family style Newport institution. The food is hardly gourmet but they have good basic seafood and Italian. You can get good steamers there. Portobello%26#39;s is an Itallian Deli with a really nice atmosphere and a huge selection. They have a ';dinner'; there on the weekends with white table cloths. You might give them a call to see if they could set aside 1/3 or 1/2 of the tables for you. Some of the BYOB places might be an option like Puerini%26#39;s. You could have Bliss Cafe cater the dinner. You could pick it up there and take it somehwere or maybe have it there. They have a great cafe with nice atmosphere that they usually close at 7PM but you might be able to reserve the whole place for your dinner. They have seating both inside and out. It is usually a takeout gourmet food place with a section that is a mostly organic market.

There are so many places in Newport but most of them especially in the summer are overpriced and over-rated and the food is only so-so. They know the tourists will come whether they do a good job or not. I think at any of these places you%26#39;ll get decent food without breaking the bank. I would speak to the owners of Portobello%26#39;s and Bliss and the manager of Puerini%26#39;s and tell them what you are thinking of and see what they come up with. With Bliss you might luck out and get upscale gourmet at very reasonable prices. Sometimes their food is priced well and sometimes not as well - but is is ALWAYS good (better than the others I think, but the others have a better venue for dining).

If you were looking to spend a little more, maybe $20 - $30 per person, I%26#39;d say the Atlantic Beach Club in Middletown at the Newport line right on First BEach. Their prices are reasonable and food is pretty consistent with a big menu, a great lobster salad plate (with lots of other selections priced lower) and a nice more formal atmosphere with linen table cloths.

I hope this helps. It is hard to know what to suggest without knowing what you want to spend.

thanks so much for your very thoughtful input.....i will definetly call those places you mentioned.....re price I was thinking in the $20 / $25 range for dinner ....and add%26#39;l cost for beverages....so, if I could find a BYOB place that would really be great! That tends to keep the cost down a bit.....ciao for now.............

Oh, well if that is the price range, I know Salas and I think Atlantic Beach club certainly have entrees for in the $9 to $12 range with, in the case of the Atlantic Beach club, a few in the $20 range. Perhaps if you called them and told them how many you were, they could provide a prix fix menu of a few entrees and have you all sit in one section of the dining room which is HUGE. That way you could be sure some of the guests would not go too wild ordering the most expensive items and you%26#39;d be well within your budget and would save you the time and hassle of planning everything separately to try to keep costs down.

I might just check www.superpages.com and do a search in Newport, RI for restaurants, catering, Bed and Breakfasts, Inns and just start calling and asking questions. Maybe you%26#39;d luck out and get something at one of the restaurants that have private rooms, but they are mostly in the $$$+ price range.

Some of the smaller Inns and larger B%26amp;B%26#39;s promote their facility for business meetings and functions. They could help you have something nice catered and only charge a nominal fee for the room that you%26#39;d use. Yankee Peddlar Inn on the Harbor in right across from where Christy%26#39;s used to be on the waterfront and they might be someone to contact about that. They have other Inns as well. This options requires more planning though.

Good luck.

IMO the food at the Atlantic Beach Club is pretty mediocre; if you are accustomed to eating finer food. Though the view and location are great.

I agree the food isn%26#39;t outstanding but I didn%26#39;t say it was. (It will never be a Black Pearl or The Place or White Horse Tavern) but you aren%26#39;t paying those prices and when you consider the surroundings and the price of the food, its very reasonable. It is certainly better than the Brick Alley Pub (lol). It is at least on a par with Zelda%26#39;s, Yesterday%26#39;s and Sardellas and the atmoshpere is nicer than those three and up until at least the beginning of last year (which was the last time I think it was that I had it),The ATlantic Beach club had to hae had the best lobster salad plate in Newport.