I would not risk taking that many people over there without a confirmed reservation. Restaurants regularly send workers home during slow periods, to save on wages. Without a confirmed reservation they would not be prepared with enough servers to devote several solely to this group.
My experience in trying to make a dinner reservation at Glenview for a group of 14 women a few months ago was this:
I called Glenview on a Thursday and asked for the Banquet Manager. They told me groups like that have to be approved/reserved by the owner only, and he would not be in until Monday. (I was calling 3 weeks in advance.)
I said, "Well can't somebody else check the banquet/party reservations book/schedule, and make a reservation for us?"
They said "No. Only the owner is allowed to book for a party that size (14), and so you will have to call back on Monday. And, if he agrees to book it, you will have to come in early, around 4:00pm, because he wants the tables open for the regulars coming for dinner hours starting at 5pm." (I thought, "Well gee....what are WE: chopped liver???")
I said "forget it". I wasn't going to delay getting plans confirmed and getting the invitations sent out for 4 more days. Nobody there wanted our business as a group, so we went elsewhere! Called Arnold Palmer and got the party organized there and it worked out well as always.
I never see the logic of 30+ people all going out for lunch or dinner all together and expecting to sit at one huge, long table. You can only talk to 4-5 at a time anyway. It's far better to break into smaller tables of 6 or 8 so the restaurant can can accommodate the people along with the regular crowd.
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