Weddingbee boards

Hi,

I'm getting married in Center City Philly in October. My fiance is from Philly but I don't know the city too well.

Any recommendation for a place to have a rehearsal dinner for a group of 40-50 people in center city? Some place chill and affordable.

I'm also looking for a place to go for an after party. Our reception is ending at 11 PM but we're definitely going to party more. A place with good music (hip hop), maybe with table service?

Thank you!

I would suggest Cuba Libre for the rehearsal dinner.

For that many people, you will probably have to reserve a private room.  A good alternative to that is renting out a BYOB for the evening (Philly has tons of yummy ones).  It would help if you had an idea of the type of cuisine you want, and what "affordable" means to you.

Most of my favorite places are too small, but offhand, I could suggest trying either La Viola (15th between Spruce and Locust; cash only; BYOB) or La Fontana DellaCitta (corner of 17th and Spruce; BYOB) for Italian.  Caribou Cafe serves casual French food and is pretty good, and I *think* they have space upstairs for large parties but it's been awhile since I was there (Walnut between 11th and 12th).  Estia is a decent Greek restaurant and I'm sure it could seat 50 (Locust between Broad and 15th).  People tend to like the Stephen Starr restaurants (Jones, Continental Midtown, El Vez, Alma de Cuba, Buddakahn, Tangerine, etc.) but some are very pricey and most are too "scene-y" for me, although I do like the newest one, Parc (corner of 18th and Locust).  The Stephen Starr website does have a phone number to call for large group reservations, though, which could be helpful if you decide to go that route.  There are also a couple of chain restaurants, like Maggianos, The Melting Pot, and Buca di Beppo.

As for after-partying, I have no idea...hopefully someone who goes out more than I do will chime in!

Thank you! this is so helpful. I love BYOB.

Where is your reception located? I'm trying to plan an afterparty as well, but I think I'm going to pick a place close to our Hotel blocks.  Maybe the Walnut Room or JSullivans. 

I was just looking at JL Sullivan, too, and checking out the Apothecary -- although I'm not sure if these places play music. Walnut Room looks really nice, but it might be a bit far from our reception site, which is just south of the City Hall.