Where to Have a Fun Group Dinner for Less Than $50 Per Person

We all know the feeling of finding the perfect restaurant for five-to-eight people who have varying budgets. Whether it’s a birthday, a family dinner or a random assortment of friends, choosing an affordable option that excites everyone can get stressful. But don’t just throw in the towel and order pizza to be delivered to your tiny living room. Use this list: it has a variety of spots around Philly where you can reserve a table within a couple of days of your outing, order generously when you’re there and leave knowing everyone will be reasonably impressed with your restaurant-choosing skills.

When it comes to group dining, we’re particular fans of a set menu. That extra couple of bucks helps avoid the stress of everyone trying to decide whether to share a bunch of plates or — worst of all — the possibility of everyone skipping appetizers, going straight to mains, and heading home after a 45-minute meal.

Affordability is, of course, all in the eye of the credit card holder, but the majority of these spots will come in under $50 per person. Go forth and enjoy your big group dinner.

Perla, East Passyunk

At $50 per person, this Filipino BYOB is actually one of the pricier options on this list, but hear us out: you won’t be ordering off a menu when you’re here. You won’t even be eating off of plates. Instead, you and your friends will enjoy Perla’s Kamayan feast, which involves an entire table covered in banana leaves and stacked with rice, chicken, hunks of fried pork, lumpia, veggies, a whole fish and chocolate coconut budino for dessert. It’s the definition of a fun group meal. 1535 South 11th Street. 

Apricot Stone, Northern Liberties

You could come to this Northern Liberties Armenian restaurant and order directly off the menu. But then you’d probably end up limited only to your individual appetizer and entree. Another option is to go for the $40 Taste of Apricot Stone menu, wherein dips, salads, falafel, manti, skewers and rice pilaf are served family-style. It’s a generous amount of food that takes you through four full courses. The only catch is that you’ll need at least seven people to participate. 1040 North 2nd Street.

A Mano, Fairmount

A Mano serves delicious and approachable Italian food, like grilled branzino, gnocchi and lemon olive oil cake. In terms of ordering here, you only have two options: a three-course prix fixe or a four-course prix fixe. Go for the smaller of the two if you’re trying to keep things under $50 per person. For $48, you’ll get an antipasti, a primi and a secondi, which give you ample time to linger over your meal and make small talk with your friend’s coworker, or whoever you’re meeting at this birthday dinner. 2244 Fairmount Avenue.

Georgian Bread, Northeast Philly

Rally your crew to drive to Georgian Bread. This casual spot, located in a strip mall on Bustleton Avenue, serves cheesy adjaruli khachapuri baked in a tone oven, plus doughy, soup-filled khinkali and charcoal-grilled beef and pork kababs. You can get all of that, bring your own booze (though you should get some pear lemonade, too), and have a very good time next to a mannequin with a furry hat and a cart in tow. 10865 Bustleton Avenue.

Stina Pizzeria, Point Breeze

It’s cozy inside at Stina, but for a group of up to six, the BYOB’s cute streetery (which is heated in the winter) will accommodate. Order a selection of Mediterranean small plates for the table, or go classic wood-fire pizza all the way. Either option will please a crowd of people who are generally hard to please. 1705 Snyder Avenue.

Mole Poblano, East Passyunk

There are tons of Mexican spots in the city where you can eat a huge meal for less than $30, but Mole Poblano works especially well since the space is great for hanging out. Call ahead to make a reservation for a group larger than four, then order far and wide. You could bring wine or beer, sure, but real pros know to pre-batch margaritas. 1144 South 9th Street.

Banana Leaf, Chinatown

If you like the idea of a couple of six-packs of beer and a spread of airy-fried roti, skewers of satay, curries and noodles, this Malaysian spot in Chinatown should be exactly the right kind of casual spot for you and some friends. Bring a group of people who are happy to share everything. 1009 Arch Street. 

Picnic, Kensington

One of the newest openings in town happens to be one of the best options around for a casual group outing. Picnic, from the restaurant group behind Kalaya, Suraya and Beddia, offers flexibility in its 225-seat space that can easily be arranged to accommodate large groups. You can even reserve large tables in advance. What’s especially nice is that everyone can order for themselves via a QR code and, perhaps most importantly, individually pay for their oysters, rotisserie chicken and wine. Forget the check splitting hassle. 2421 Martha Street.

L’Angolo Ristorante, South Philly

This is the type of homey place that South Philly families go every single week for Sunday dinner, but it’s just as fitting for an affordable meal that also feels celebratory. The portions are huge, so plan to share dishes like seafood pasta, eggplant parm, mozzarella salad and other red-sauce classics. 1415 West Porter Street.

Marrakesh, Bella Vista

It’s important to know that Marrakesh has belly dancers on the weekends. How you factor that into your big group reservation is up to you, but we’d be remiss not to mention it. The other important thing to know is that their fixed-price menu costs $25 per person and includes an appetizer, a main and a dessert of fruit, Moroccan pastries and hot mint tea. 517 South Leithgow Street.

Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant, West Philly

Philly’s oldest Ethiopian restaurant, Abyssinia offers a $20 combo platter (with tender Ethiopian meats and stewed vegetarian dishes, plus injera). You can also go all vegetarian for $19. Add in a couple of beers to roll out of there for under $30 before tip. After dinner, head to the upstairs bar, which has always been a bit of a scene. 4708 Baltimore Avenue.

Dim Sum House, Center City and University City

Even those who refuse to have brunch with a big group will probably love dim sum on a Sunday. So if you’re trying to corral a bunch of people, take them to Dim Sum House (or one of the other great dim sum spots on our guide to Chinatown). There are no carts roving around the dining room here, but the menu is full of pictures, so you can still get a visual of what’s being offered that day. 1930 Chestnut Street and 3939 Chestnut Street.

Middle Child’s Thousand Island Lounge, Fishtown

Party like it’s 1999 with eight to 17 of your friends in Middle Child’s Thousand Island Lounge. $35 per person gets everyone a burger (or vegan “not chick’n” sandwich), Caesar salad, bottomless fries, access to a Nintendo 64 with classic games and two hours in the most coveted corner of the clubhouse. Drinks are an added cost, but destroying your friends in a round of GoldenEye 007 is priceless. 1232 North Front Street.

Nom Wah, Chinatown

The best way to experience Nom Wah is with a big group. With an extensive menu of dim sum classics like Shanghainese soup dumplings and roast pork buns, the more people you have at the table, the more bites you’ll be able to try. And with most of the menu going for less than $7, you won’t be spending that much either. 218 North 13th Street.

---