The best corporate venues in the East Village

Why force your team to meet in a stuffy board room, when you can discuss your next project in a beautiful French cafe? Sometimes you need a venue with a little je ne sais quois to get the creative juices flowing. From the chic furniture to the warmly lit private dining rooms, Lafayette will transport you from the streets of New York to a Parisian boulevard.

The menu inculdes decadent French classics like French onion soup and steak frites. After a productive meeting, you deserve a little sweet treat, like an indulgent chocolate mousse or profiteroles with ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce. As Lafayette is also a bakery, be sure to pick up a few croissants or the danish du jour to take back to the office for your envious colleagues.

For larger events, you can reserve the Cave Du Vin, a dimly lit wine cellar, that can host up to 150 guests. The second event space, Salle Priveé, is a private dining room ideal for intimate meetings of 20 guests.

While you might have to make your way through crowds of NYU co-eds and nepo-babies to get to this venue, the Kimmel Center is an ideal location for your next corporate event. There's no better place to encourage your team to learn a skill than a university campus. Maybe a little hopeful collegiate energy is exactly what your team needs for an inspired workshop or meeting.

From classrooms to auditoriums, there are several venues within the Kimmel Center that are perfect for any size meeting. The largest event space can accommodate up to 360 guests. However, it's important to note that the Kimmel Center is prioritized for the NYU community during the academic year, so it will be easier to book during school holidays.

From the enchanting, Narnia-esque doorway to the woodland-inspired interiors, walking into Avant Garden feels like opening a storybook. At one of the most unique restaurants in the city, you can charm your colleagues into coming up with their best ideas over a bewitching meal.

The real magic of Avant Garden is the delicious, completely vegan menu. We're not sure what alchemy they're working, but plant-based carbonara or paella really shouldn't be this good. Maybe the magic potion is in one of their signature cocktails, like the Poppy Gibson, inspired by the natural flavors of their dishes.

A full buyout is available for seated events of 48 guests, or you can host a standing cocktail party for up to 70 people.

If the world of stressful presentations and harsh deadlines is getting overwhelming, host your next meeting at a down-to-earth venue to get a refreshing change of perspective. The Sixth Street Community Center is a staple of the neighborhood, offering after-school programs, emergency services, and access to affordable food. Renting their event space helps support their important initiatives.

You won't be able to miss the Community Center, as its brightly painted entrance catches the eye from down the street. The colorful energy of the space continues inside, with rainbow stained-glass pouring vibrant sunlight into the third-floor meeting room. There is also a larger event space on the first floor, equipped with A/V technology and a kitchenette.

The first floor can accommodate up to 100 guests, while the third floor can host 50 people.

While the name might sound like somewhere you'd go to register to vote or report for jury duty, this Civic Hall is actually a huge event space just moments from Union Square. Serving as a learning hub for all things STEM, this venue specializes in tech-focused events.

From large conferences to intimate meetings, there is room for everyone at Civic Hall. The largest event space, the Craig Newmark Auditorium, can host over 500 guests for everything from keynote speeches to cocktail parties. There are also smaller board rooms suited for groups of up to 12 or classrooms for up to 50 students. Each space is equipped with Civic Hall's state of the art A/V systems to make sure your team's ideas are perfectly presented.