Cheap LOw Carb Birthday Dinner?

HI all,

I'm a big time lurker on the site and I finally decided to "come out" of the foodie closet. I love food and as my ever expanding waistline can attest to food loves me...

Anyway a friend of mine is 9 mos pregnant and unfortunately has gestational diabetes and is on a very low carb diet... Her birthday is this Saturday and 15 of her friends and I would like to take her to dinner. NO chinese, no thai, too high in carbs. Do you have any suggestions? She can eat as much meat as she wants but price is a serious consideration. So my favorite's FOGO and the rest are probably out, right? I'm thinking like 10-20 a person but the cheaper the better.. Help me out... Thank you so much for all your help!

Happy eating.
Senam

How about Tango Sur? You wouldn't have a private room, but you'd certainly take over a big chunk of the restaurant.

Or 16-17 could fit in outdoor dining area, which might be fun for a group.

Menu with prices

I would recommend highly Turkish Cuisine and Bakery on Clark
at Bryn Mawr. Very good selection of kabobs and vegetables
(although will be a shame to miss out on their fresh baked bread
made on site). They are used to accomodating large groups and
have long tables set up for this purpose on weekends. It's also quite
a lively, young and international crowd on Fri/Sat, as there is usually
a DJ and /or belly dancer by 9-10pm.
BYOB here too, which I have noticed can mean wine, vodka or any
number of unfamiliar Eastern European liquor bottles, and shot glasses
are often set up with the place settings on many of the reserved tables.
I have been here many times, and have never had a bad meal or a
bad experience.

itsmesenam wrote:HI all,
Anyway a friend of mine is 9 mos pregnant and unfortunately has gestational diabetes and is on a very low carb diet... Her birthday is this Saturday and 15 of her friends and I would like to take her to dinner. NO chinese, no thai, too high in carbs. Do you have any suggestions? She can eat as much meat as she wants but price is a serious consideration. So my favorite's FOGO and the rest are probably out, right? I'm thinking like 10-20 a person but the cheaper the better.. Help me out... Thank you so much for all your help!

Well, one of my favorite options for large groups is Ethiopian Diamond. I have never tried eating Ethiopian without the injera, but it might work. I think I could be pretty happy just eating meat dishes and greens. I could personally just eat doro tibs until I popped and be ok with that.

I do know that they have lots of space for large groups and are very accommodating (as long as you aren't on a schedule!). When we go with groups, we usually hit right around $20/head, including beer, etc.

I haven't been to Fierros yet, but our own David Hammond describes it in a way that sounds like a lot of meat at your price point:

In the Reader, David Hammond wrote:The tenedor libre ("free fork") format of this Argentinean restaurant is in keeping with the recent spate of chomp-till-you-drop Latin American steak houses, offering limitless meat, done very well, at a bargain fixed price of $12.95.

Ethiopian Diamond
6120 N. Broadway, Chicago
(773) 338-6100

Fierros
2550 W. Addison St., Chicago
(773) 305-3333

As for Thai; it isn't all noodles and rice.

Laabs, miang, curries, soups...all can be eaten sans carb.

I suggest Korean barbeque - if your friend's objection to Asian was the reliance on rice/noodle/sauce, then Korean bbq will still pass muster.

We like Kang Nam, but you might like to look at this thread for more options:
link

Kang Nam Galbi
4849 N. Kedzie
Chicago, IL
773-539-2524

Wow all the recs have been great... I think that we will be going to Fierro's(sp) has anyone been yet? It sounds delicious... Oh I said no Thai or Chinese cause thats what she told me. She misses the noodles and rice so much she couldn't stand to watch us all grub down around her.

but one of the easiest cuisines to do low carb is Tapas...

cafe iberico can probably be done for 10-20 person... especially considering i assume you won't be getting drinks since your friend is pregnant