Macon restaurants perfect holiday party locations

As a new feature of the Taste Buzz, we’ll be featuring groups of restaurants once a month for their “purpose,” rather than reviewing just one restaurant at a time, which we’ll continue to do during the other weeks.

This time, we want to share with you several local restaurants that have great spaces for private parties. Be sure to reserve them soon for the upcoming holiday season.

Fountain of Juice

Fountain of Juice has always been known for its healthy juices and sandwiches, but at its latest location at the Prado on Forsyth Road, it has added a dinner menu and a Saturday brunch. It also has a great private room that can seat up to 40 guests. Most party planners order a common appetizer or two, a choice of entrees, and a dessert, but the menu is completely up to you. From a lovely luncheon to a holiday blowout party, Fountain of Juice can set you up.

Fish ‘n’ Pig

The side room at Fish ‘n’ Pig has everything I enjoy: privacy for your group, a gorgeous view and a fireplace. The room can accommodate up to 60 people, but the restaurant can work with you if you have more. Most groups order some combination of boiled peanuts, pulled pork barbecue, cole slaw and maybe Brunswick stew, but you have a slew of other barbecue and seafood favorites to choose from, including a low country boil. Don’t forget to get chocolate walnut pie for dessert.

Kudzu Seafood

If you’ve been to a really nice party with great seafood, more than likely Kudzu catered it. Now that it also has a physical space downtown, you can skip having to clean your house — just have your party at their place. The entire space seats about 50 people, but there’s a large table in the back if you’re having a smaller gathering. They serve dinner now, so call to see if they can accommodate the date and time you want. Some of Kudzu’s best party food includes jambalaya, shrimp and grits, and crawfish boudin.

Dovetail

Featured in Southern Living magazine, Dovetail is an elegant but agrarian-focused jewel above the ever-popular Rookery restaurant. Its wine cellar can seat 24, with audio-visual equipment for any technical needs. This is the perfect place if you want to focus on locally and regionally produced food, like produce from the Little Farm and and Rags & Frass, dairy from Southern Swiss and Sweet Grass, and meats like Johnson County ham and Plantation Quail.

If any of these locations book up — along with the usual popular places — perhaps you should try something unusual like Mikata or Metropolis on Riverside Drive, Tropical Flava on Ingleside Avenue, or the newly-established Parrish in downtown.

With so many quality locally-based restaurants in Macon, there’s no need to have your big shindig at a boring chain restaurant this year.

Read more reviews of local restaurants

This story was originally published November 3, 2016 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Macon restaurants perfect holiday party locations."