The best restaurants for Friendsgiving in NYC

The six women who opened Dinner Party in Fort Greene barely knew each other. By the end of the first month of opening, they became lifelong friends. What better venue to enjoy Friendsgiving than one that has cultivated friendship itself?

Each night at Dinner Party is different — the set menus rotate weekly with seasonal ingredients, and the intimacy in the space means you may be squeezed onto a bench with your closest friends or sat across from a stranger. The restaurant aims to evoke the feeling of dining with friends, the room candlelit and soundtracked by laughter. Hand-curated vintage furniture adds personality, and the food may surprise you in the best way (fig leaf ice cream, anyone?)

You can reserve a communal table for up to 8 guests, or book a private event for up to 22. Event packages include a rotation of the tasting menu or full buyouts with custom menus

Not to get too personal, but Sofreh reminds me of Thanksgiving at my grandma’s house – my big family piled into the dining room, surrounding a long table crowded with homemade Persian dishes on a patterned tablecloth (called a sofreh). The core of Persian gatherings is community: coming together with your loved ones, elbow to elbow at the kitchen table, sharing fragrant and herby homemade dishes.

The contemporary design is meant to balance the vibrancy of the menu, with a minimal, uncluttered interior with subtle nods to the owners’ Persian heritage. The private dining room seats 20 at two 10-person tables, and you can choose to dine a la carte or from a prix-fixe tasting menu. My recommendation would be the ghormeh sabzi (dried lime and herb beef stew), with a side of tahdig (crispy rice). Finish off with a saffron, pistachio, and rosewater ice cream sandwich.

Chambers claims to keep it down to earth. Their reservations are more like dinner party invites, and while it may be hard to maintain a neighborhood restaurant feel in the heart of Downtown NYC, they do a good job. With communal dining tables, an accessible, market-sourced menu, and a groovy playlist, you’ll forget you’re actually paying for your food (until the bill comes).

The private dining area has one long table seating 8 to 12 guests, and a prix-fixe menu is offered with dishes like chicken with sherry and thyme, fresh zucchini risotto, .and golden tilefish. Finish off with a chef’s choice for dessert, adding a personal touch to the experience. Smaller groups can order similar dishes from the a la carte menu, and either reserve in advance or come in last minute– a third of the restaurant is reserved for walk-ins.

Intimate tables, flickering candles, and exposed brick greet you like a warm hug in this cozy corner restaurant on the Upper East Side. Uva evokes the spirit of a remote Tuscan farmhouse, with rich, authentic Italian dishes served alongside a long, long list of wines. The big menu will make it hard to choose, but you should get a bunch and split them all with friends.

The menu offers standard primi dishes like balsamic burrata and grilled calamari, and secondi plates that include truffle and chive gnocchi, prosciutto and mozzarella ravioli, and eggplant parmesan. If you stay til 10, you’ll unlock a late-night menu featuring focaccia with chocolate nougat cream, brioche meatball sliders, and classic thin-crust pizza. We’d recommend heading early on Thanksgiving week for Meatball Monday, a weekly special prix-fixe menu that includes three courses and wine for only $48pp.

Uva’s private wine cellar can host up to 25 guests, and a partial restaurant buyout seats 30. Standard reservations are available for up to 6 people.

A playlist can make or break a dinner party, and Tokyo Record Bar knows this. When you sit down for a meal in this tiny basement on MacDougal Street, you (and all your fellow diners) are asked to choose one song to add to the playlist – all spun on vinyl, obviously – and you’ll listen while enjoying a seven-course tasting menu. The food is Japanese izakaya-style and rotates, but can include salmon with crispy rice, dashi-poached cobia fish, and a slice of pizza for a digestif.

The decor honors the listening bars of Tokyo, with a little added New York City vibrance. Seasonal florals adorn the ceiling, vinyl records are stacked behind the bar, and vintage manga is used as recycled wallpaper. One step inside and you’ll know this is where the cool kids go, but you won’t feel left out.

Tokyo Record Bar accommodates up to 7 diners for standalone reservations and up to 20 guests for private events. For a more casual outing, head to their sister bar, The Listening Room, just next door.