Dinner out with a group of friends and family is one of life’s true pleasures.
Choose the right restaurant—one with a prix fixe menu optimized for abundance—and you’ll get all of the joy and none of the pain of bartering over which dishes to order at the start and figuring out how exactly to divvy up the bill at the end. (If Susan only ordered a salad and water, you know you’re in for complicated math that will end with someone throwing in an extra $20 just so you can all go home.)
These aren’t your standard, stuffy tasting menus; they’re an opportunity to leave the decisions to the pros so you can focus on the fun of sharing a meal with the people you love.
Mister Jiu's
(Courtesy of @misterjius)
If you’ve got a party of six to eight, you’ve got a golden ticket to a longstanding Chinatown tradition. Mister Jiu’s only recently added the banquet menu to their offerings, a joy-inducing meal revolving lazy-Susan-style around chef Brandon Jew’s Liberty Farms Peking-style roast duck.
In addition to the savory pancakes and duck liver mousse that come with the main course, they’ll stack your table with a dozen other seasonal dishes such as pan-fried turnip cakes, scallion milk bread, and mandarin chiffon cake for dessert. Be sure to select the banquet menu choice when you make a reservation; it’s $125/person and there’s an optional three-pour wine progression for an additional $55/person.
// 28 Waverly Pl. (Chinatown), misterjius.com
Besharam
(Courtesy of Besharam)
The meaning behind the name of chef Heena Patel’s Besharam, ”shameless,” says everything you need to know about the vibe at this restaurant tucked inside the Minnesota Street Project. Patel, an alumna and now board member of La Cocina’s incubator program, makes no apologies for her bold take on regional Gujarati cuisine, an intensely flavorful, delightfully creative perspective for which we should all be grateful.
Stationed in a lively industrial gallery space gussied up with brightly colored pop-art murals and motifs, Patel’s seasonally rotating tasting menu gives you a taste of more than half a dozen dishes, from bright croquettes with jaggery-kissed coconut to fiery paneer korma with smoked cardamom sauce to satisfying dum biryani with caramelized onions. Only one decision is required: which of three main courses to try (protip: get them all and share). The tasting menu is $85/person for a mountain of food, and wine pairings are available for $49/person.
// 1275 Minnesota St. (Dogpatch), besharamrestaurant.com
Abacá
(Courtesy of Abacá)
One of the most fun group dinners in the whole Bay Area has to be the kamayan feast. A Filipino tradition that originated as a way to quickly feed soldiers, it’s a literal smorgasbord which, at Abacá, includes everything from snacks like fish kinilaw and pork lumpia, to meaty mains like five spice chicken and pork belly humba with sides of kiyuning turmeric rice, sauces, and veggies all served on a compostable banana leaf tablecloth. The only thing that doesn’t come with the experience is utensils: This is an eat-with-your-hands, get-messy-and-like-it kind of celebration.
The key to the feast is making a reservation at least 48 hours in advance. You don’t need a ton of people but you do need to let them know how many are coming at a cost of $95/person (or $125/person if you want to splurge on the “premium” version, which comes with special extras like truffle wagyu and Tsar Nicolai caviar).
// 2700 Jones St. (Ghiradelli Square), restaurantabaca.com
La Mar Cebicheria
(Courtesy of La Mar)
The recently refurbished bayfront digs of Lima-born cebicheria La Mar are a prime location for a memorable meal. And, with last month’s debut of the Whole Fish Experience, you and your crew are in for a doozy.
The dinner is built around an entire five-pound fish (either halibut or kampachi) prepared six, count ‘em, six different ways, from raw crudo to a dramatic collar-topped finale ($360-380). The tableside-presented courses—as much culinary theater as edible indulgence—are paired with sauces and flavors from the kitchen of chef Gastón Acurio such as nigiri chifa topped with pachikay sauce and fried and pickled garlic, and fish tail and head grilled and baked with aji amarillo and kabocha squash sauce.
// Pier 1 1/2, The Embarcadero (Embarcadero), lamarcebicheria.com
Prubechu
(Courtesy of @prubechusf)
A little over a decade ago, a couple of island boys created a restaurant that’s as genuinely delicious as it is genuinely jubilant. Prubechu brings the flavor and vibe of Guamanian Chamorro culture to the Mission, with a festive back patio built for fun.
Groups of any size can get in on their family-style tasting menu, the Fiesta Table. Exactly what it includes on any given night is up to the chef, but you can be fairly certain it will involve a style of kelaguen (similar to ceviche), skewers of barbecued meat, and achiote-seasoned red rice, along with a variety of other dishes. The Fiesta Table doesn’t need to be specifically selected in advance, (though reserving a table is essential) but everyone at the table must participate for $96/person.
// 2224 Mission St. (Mission), prubechu.com
