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Home Places Meet & Eat Local Seafood Restaurants are a Great Catch for Summer Events

Local Seafood Restaurants are a Great Catch for Summer Events

By Keith Loria

If you really want to make a splash, finding a room in one of Pennsylvania’s top seafood restaurants is a great way to attract people to your event.

The signature dish at Roland’s Seafood Grill and Iron Landing in Pittsburgh is its famous hot lobster roll, a sandwich that is comprised of sautéed lobster meat in a garlic butter sauce that is thrown into a toasted Mancini’s bread roll. Roland’s has been family owned and run for 58 years, and the restaurant offers multiple rooms for meetings and events.

“Our downstairs room seats 40 people and has a private bar. It also has a little lounge area that has couches and a fireplace, flat-screen televisions and a 10-foot projection screen for business presentations,” says Matt Carrozzi, manager. “Our Iron Landing (upstairs) can accommodate 200 people for parties with enough space to seat a little over 100.” This area includes a deck for the warm seasons, 15 draft beer taps, flat-screen televisions, a projector for presentations, a double-sided bar, pool tables and an air hockey table for more casual events.

“With no room rental fee, there isn’t a better space in the city to hold your events,” Carrozzi says.

Fresh Fish Aplenty

Big Fish Grill in Glen Mills is known in the area for providing the best in service and hospitality.  “We use only the freshest ingredients possible in every homemade dish,” says Amanda Ferguson, general manager. “Customer favorites include our jumbo lump crab cakes.” Other signature items on the menu include a “flash fried” seafood combo, grilled Cape Hatteras yellowfin tuna and caramelized Scottish salmon.

Big Fish Grill’s private dining room seats up to 30 guests comfortably and it also has a semiprivate dining room that can seat up to 50 guests.  “We host anything from business meetings to casual lunch get-togethers,” Ferguson says. “Our impeccable service and hospitality make any event special. We customize each menu to fit the guests’ wants and needs, and we have someone helping them every step of the way through the planning process.  We are the hosts so the guests can relax and enjoy themselves.”

Kristen Spronz, marketing and events coordinator for Carl von Luger Steak & Seafood in Scranton, notes one of the restaurant’s most popular seafood dishes is its seafood linguini, which has scallops, shrimp, calamari, lump crab, mussels and clams sautéed with garlic, olive oil and your choice of marinara or white sauce.

For those looking to hold a meeting or event, the popular restaurant has two private dining rooms. “We cater business meetings, dinner parties, corporate events and more,” Spronz says. “We can work with your budget to plan a menu that fits your needs.” 

The Carl von Luger Steak & Seafood regularly hosts pharmaceutical and medical programs, business meetings and more.  “The Vault Room holds up to 25 guests, and the Washington Room holds up to 45,” Spronz says. “The Vault features two 40-inch flatscreen TVs and has all necessary cords so presenters can connect their laptops. Our attention to detail and our flexibility make the experience special.”

A Bit of History

With a 300-year-old building at its disposal, Brandywine Prime Seafood & Chops in Chadds Ford is an elegant restaurant perfect for that special event.

“We have private rooms available for groups from 10 to up to 100,” says Managing Partner and owner Michael Majewski. “Our building allows us many different configurations for events. Our main dining room can seat 60, our Tavern room accommodates up to 36 guests and for larger parties, the entire second floor seats 86.” There’s also a Chas Room for 36, a Mill Room for 42 and a second-floor dining area that can fit another 50.

“We are located near great attractions like the Brandywine River Museum, Winterthur and Longwood Gardens, so it’s a great place to be,” Majewski says.

Specialties of the menu include a full raw bar, grilled Faroe Island wild salmon and grilled line-caught Atlantic swordfish.

More than a Restaurant

Regardless of if you’re throwing a small meeting or holding a huge event for as many as 350 people, the Hook Seafood and Restaurant in Allentown is the ideal spot. Not only does it have two floors of restaurant space (each at 3,500 square feet and large enough to accommodate 125 each) that can be rented out for corporate events and private parties, but it also has an additional two-story, 5,000-square-foot ballroom and a two-story nightclub.

“We do the whole spectrum, from corporate events to funerals to birthday parties and weddings,” says Ed Keglovits, general manager. “Pharmaceutical companies use us for their private meetings, different board meetings are held here and it’s just a great place to host your gathering.”

The restaurant is known throughout the area for its fresh oysters, crab cakes and panseared scallops served with truffle wild mushroom risotto.

“Most establishments have basic menus for events, but we sit down and design your menu the way you want,” Keglovits says. “We don’t make people choose one item from each list; we build it the way our customers want.”

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