Reception Venues - Chinese Banquet

The very first thing I did, before buying a wedding dress and before booking any vendors, was reserve my wedding reception location. Once you book your wedding reception venue, you can set your wedding date.

I will cover different venues and options through a series of articles. First we have the Chinese banquet.

I am Chinese and many of my friends and family have had Chinese banquets. Commonly held at Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, Chinese banquets are generally lower in cost. Why? Most don't have alcohol and bar tabs to contend with. At Chinese banquets, drinks are usually set up at each guest table. A bottle of 7 up, apple cider, Hennessy, and a pot of hot tea for guests to serve themselves, are standard fare at each guest table. Some Chinese restaurants also don't charge for room rental or corkage fees. Food charges are based on a banquet menu, complete with 9 courses served family style (appetizer, soup, entrees), that you choose from and are charged by the table. Let's say you choose a menu that is $380 per table. The charge per person, for a table of 10 is $38. However, the charge is by the table and not by the number of people so if you had less than 10 people at a table, the charge would still be $380 per table. There are a few drawbacks for having a Chinese banquet. The tables are placed closely together to fit as many tables in a room as possible, leaving little room for guests to walk through. Decor options are also limited. Chinese banquets are ideal for large weddings, say 300 plus guests. If you have a smaller guest list, some Chinese restaurants make you share the room with other wedding parties!

If a Chinese banquet is what you are interested in, I suggest checking out the following restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Far East Cafe in San Francisco Chinatown features a private banquet room on the top floor. Their modern decor includes a hardwood dance floor and multiple TV screens for slideshows or videos. They also have a bar available. Far East Cafe is located on Grant Ave., between California and Sacramento St.

Another Chinese restaurant to check out is Gold Mountain Restaurant, also in San Francisco Chinatown on Broadway St., between Powell and Stockton St. They have 2 private banquet rooms, on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Weddings can also be held on the ground floor, but they use a partition to divide the room from the rest of the restaurant. Their food is good and they don't charge for room rental or corkage.

A fairly popular place to have a Chinese banquet in the East Bay is Hong Kong East Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Emeryville. Located on the edge of the water, East Ocean has panoramic views of the Bay. They have a main dining room that seats up to 500, a private dining room on the lobby level that seatsup to 100, and a private dining room on the 3rd level that seats up to 50. East Ocean also has their own parking lot.