Grub Street

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Grub Street,

Any suggestions for a fun place downtown for a birthday dinner for eleven? These days it seems like all the new places are teeny or gargantuan!

Thanks,
Kerri

Dear Kerri,

We suggest an old (and admittedly pricey) place: Sammy's Roumanian Steak House, on Chrystie Street. Think drunken bar mitzvah: a guy playing cheesy sixties music on an electric piano, whole vodka bottles sunk in blocks of ice, and deliciously garlicky skirt steaks so long that their ends hang off the edges of the plate. (Not to mention syrup dispensers filled with chicken fat.) If your party includes vegetarians or heart patients, well … you may want to disinvite them.