A couple celebrating with guests in the brick room at Dabney & Co.
Private Events Guide

Your night,
yours to keep.

Everything you would ask us in a first conversation, gathered here so you can read it at your own pace — the room, the food, the bar, and how a night at Dabney actually comes together.

Craft Cocktails·Southern Contemporary Kitchen ·Live Music
Full Buyout
$3,500
Saturday, to 70 guests
$2,000 weeknight
Half the Room
$1,750
Saturday, to 35 guests
$1,000 weeknight
Off-Site Bar
$800from
Your venue, any night
Fridays included
Cocktail Class
$75/ guest
Eight to 12 guests, 90 minutes
Hummus included · eight minimum
Concierge
$150+ cost
Two hours of sourcing
Quoted before we buy

There's no room-rental fee. What you're committing to is a spend, not a rental — and every dollar of it goes back to your guests, as food and drink. A deposit holds the date and comes off that total. Peak Saturdays in November and December, and New Year's weekend, hold at $1,000. Most rooms like this ask you to fill out a form before they'll tell you a number. Ours is above, in full, before you've asked.

The Spaces

Book the whole night,
or just enough of it

Every space we set aside is yours alone for the night — full bar, full Southern Contemporary Kitchen, nothing shared. Saturdays run one buyout at a time, so once your date is deposited it's off the calendar for everyone else who asked. Weeknights give you more room to move. Fridays are reserved for live music, so rather than ask you to work around it, we bring the bar to you.

Guests toasting at the gold pedestal table
Up to 70 guests · 3-hour minimum

Full Buyout

Every seat, every pour, every song is yours — the whole venue set aside for a celebration, a milestone, or a reception that deserves the room.

  • The room is only yours — no other guests, no sharing the bar, no waiting for a seat to open
  • Food comes to your guests, passed through the room, so nobody steps away from a conversation to find a plate
  • A welcome cocktail for every guest, tray-passed in that first hour — included
  • One host is yours for the night, so you're never chasing a bartender for one more round — just one number to call
$3,500Saturday minimum $2,000 weeknight · $500 deposit to hold
The sectioned half of the room, set for a group
Up to 35 guests · 2-hour minimum

Half the Room

A section of the room set apart for your group — private enough to feel like your own space, open enough to keep its energy. Well suited to a cocktail reception, a shower, a mixer.

  • A reserved section of the room, set apart for your group alone
  • The same bar and the same kitchen as a full buyout — sized to your group, with nothing scaled down but the room itself
  • Run an open tab or set a hosted package — either way, your guests never see a bill
  • One host is yours, from the first pour to the last
$1,750Saturday minimum $1,000 weeknight · $250 deposit to hold
Included with every event — no rental fees
  • Tables, chairs & house linens
  • Place settings & glassware
  • Setup, teardown & a dedicated host
  • House sound system, and a mic for toasts and speeches
Available at cost
  • Specialty linens & florals
  • Projector or screen & extra AV
  • Real glassware for off-site events — $3 / guest

Hosting an open house, or a celebration where guests drift in and out? Your list can run larger than your seated count. For a come-and-go reception we keep the room moving easily and build your food around everyone who'll pass through, not just who's in the room at any one moment.

Planning something smaller — a seated dinner for 6 to 8? Ask about The Diana Ross or The BB King, our two named private rooms. Reserve one directly, the way you'd reserve a table.

Eight to 12 behind the rail · 90 min

Cocktail Class

$75/ guest

Your group comes behind the bar and builds two craft cocktails alongside our team, with black-eyed pea hummus out to keep you fed while you work. Eight guests minimum ($600); a $150 deposit holds your date and comes off the total. Fewer than eight in your party? Ask about The Diana Ross or The BB King instead.

Your venue · any night, incl. Friday

Off-Site Bar

$800from

We bring the full Dabney bar to you, anywhere across Southwest Michigan — the details are just below.

Anything your night needs · quoted first

Concierge

$150+ cost

Flowers, a cake, printing, a photographer, a car home at the end of the night — tell us what the evening needs and we'll arrange it. The $150 covers up to two hours of sourcing and one pickup run; beyond that it's $75 an hour, estimated before you commit to it. Everything we buy is billed at cost — you see the number and approve it before we spend a dollar of it.

Portrait of John Dabney, 1824–1900
John Dabney · 1824–1900
Courtesy The Valentine · Richmond
The Homage

Named for a man who paid for his own freedom.

John Dabney mastered his craft in spite of the arrangement he was born into, never because of it. He served a country that wouldn't serve him, and served it better than anyone — and the glass he poured, his catering, his cocktails, his hospitality, bought his family's freedom. The arrangement was unjust. His word was not. He is the namesake because his story survived, and he stands for the bartenders, caterers, porters, hostesses and kitchen grandmothers whose names never made the labels. We serve in their name.

The service is the debt we keep.
What a Night Looks Like

Exactly what forty guests costs

The minimum is only the floor of it. Here is how one real night added up, start to finish — a 40-guest company party that wanted the whole room to itself.

Dabney & Co.Full Buyout · 40 guests · 4 hours
Bar — craft cocktails (~4 per guest)$2,080
Food — The Spread ($36 × 40)$1,440
Custom Cocktail Menu$350
Welcome cocktailincluded, upgraded to the Sparkling Arrival$450
Service (20%)$864
Michigan sales tax (6%)$259
Total, all-in~$5,450

Want the same built around your headcount? Send us your date →

What guests say
"The cocktails were spot on, the playlist was perfect, and the food was delicious. The staff was professional and friendly — top-notch team. The vibe was intimate and cozy."
Amy K. · 5★ Google review
"I love showing my family and friends this place — literally my favorite place ever. Best cocktails you can have, and they're always so nice and friendly."
Jordan · OpenTable review
The Table

Food they are still
talking about Monday

Our Southern Contemporary Kitchen is built to be shared — black-eyed pea hummus, Grandma's collard green dip, spiced-maple chicken and cornbread, flatbreads, gourmet sandwiches, and salads, passed through the room as your event runs. Packages are priced by the guest, and naturally vegetarian-friendly throughout.

Dishes from the Southern Contemporary Kitchen
Package 01

The Social

$24per guest

Four passed selections, yours to choose — black-eyed pea hummus, Grandma's collard green dip, sweet heat fried chicken flatbread, collard green pesto flatbread, spicy fried chicken and cornbread — tray-passed through the first hour. Built for a room that arrives, has a drink, and keeps moving.

Package 02

The Spread

$36per guest

Five passed selections, chosen by you, fired in waves across two to three hours so food keeps arriving as your night does. Built for a room that settles in and stays.

Package 03

The Table

$48per guest

Six selections, gourmet sandwiches cut for sharing, and a house side — enough to be dinner in its own right.

Ask us to build a menu around your headcount →
Any item is also available as a platter (serves about 10). Bringing your own caterer is welcome — a $350 outside-catering fee applies, since our kitchen isn't the one cooking.

Bartenders working the rail at Dabney
The Bar & Experiences

The reason people remember the night

By nine the room has found its rhythm — shaker tins keeping time, a drink with your name on it in every hand. The bar runs on an open consumption tab or a hosted package, whichever you prefer. From there, add the craft that is only Dabney's:

Custom Cocktail Menu$350 Guests remember the drink named for you longer than they remember the toast. A tasting is included, so you approve it before the room does.
Signature Couple's Drinks$275 His-and-hers cocktails, named for the two of you and printed on menu cards.
Sparkling Arrival~$450 An upgrade on the welcome cocktail already included — a craft sparkling drink, poured and passed as your guests walk in.
Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Bar$9 / guest A full craft mocktail station, built with the same care as the bar beside it — so every guest has something worth holding.
Welcome CocktailIncluded with a full buyout One house cocktail per guest, tray-passed in the first hour and poured to your final guest count — not your food count. Included with every full buyout. For Half the Room or off-site it is $8 a guest. Anything guests drink after that comes off your bar credit.
Off-Site Bar & Catering

We'll bring Dabney to you

Your venue, our bar — any night of the week, Fridays included, anywhere across Southwest Michigan. Every quote is built around your headcount and hours, with roughly one bartender for every 50 guests.

Starting Minimum
$800

20-guest / 3-hour minimum.

Bartender
$95/ hr

One per ~50 guests · $200 setup & teardown.

Add-ons
$3/ guest

Real glassware · custom menu $350 · travel free ≤30 mi, then $2/mi.

Tell us about your venue and we'll send a quote →

How Booking Works

Simple to book,
easy to expense

Step 01 · Hold the date

Deposit & agreement

A signed agreement and a deposit ($250 half room / $500 buyout) lock your date in. Until then, we're still able to hold it for someone else who has asked. The deposit isn't extra — it applies straight to your minimum.

Step 02 · Halfway there

50% at 30 days

Half of the estimated total is due 30 days before your event, or at signing if you're booking inside a month. Booking more than six months out? A quarter of the estimate is due at the six-month mark — it comes off that fifty percent rather than adding to it, so it simply moves some of the money earlier.

Step 03 · Night of

Balance & final count

Balance and final headcount are due 7 days out. A card on file settles any bar or guest overages within 48 hours, so nothing lingers after the night is over.

Pay byCard, Stripe invoice, ACH, or a business check — whatever is easiest on your end.
For your finance teamA W-9 and certificate of insurance on request, an itemized invoice against your PO number, and service and tax broken out separately, so your expense report is one less thing to think about.
Service20% + tax
Final count7 days prior
CancellationYour deposit was never a separate fee — it's the first dollar of your minimum, so it's never wasted even if your plans change. Cancel more than 30 days out, and that's the only cost to you. Inside 90 days, it's 25% of the minimum; inside 30 days, 50%; inside 7 days, the full minimum. The closer we get to your date, the less chance we have of filling it — we will have turned other inquiries away to hold it for you.
Good to Know

A few questions
we always get

What nights can we book?
In-venue events run Saturdays and weeknights. Fridays belong to live music — but we're glad to bring the bar to you off-site on any Friday you like.
Can we bring our own food or décor?
Outside caterers are welcome, with a $350 fee since our kitchen isn't the one cooking. Bring your own florals, cards, and simple décor, and we'll help you set the room before your guests arrive.
How firm is the guest count?
Give us your best estimate to start. We lock the final headcount 7 days before your event, and a card on file covers anyone who shows up beyond it.
Does adding food raise my bill?
Not while you're at your minimum. Your total is the same whether we're cooking for 35 guests or 70 — adding food simply moves money from bar credit into food, it doesn't add to what you owe. Most hosts under-order the first time through and are surprised to hear this, so ask us to help you spend all of it.
What if fewer people show up than we planned?
Nothing changes. Your minimum was never tied to headcount — it's a spend on food and drink, not a per-person charge — so a smaller group just means each guest gets a little more of the night.
Where do our guests park?
We're at 344 N Rose St, on the corner of N Rose and W Kalamazoo Ave. Street parking out front on Rose is free after 5 PM, which covers most of an evening here. If Rose is full, the Arcadia Ramp 4 garage at 306 N Rose St is a short walk away, at $1.50 per half hour. Sundays and holidays it's free all day, and ride-share drops right at the front door.
How do the drink tickets work?
Whatever is left of your minimum after food and any custom cocktails becomes bar credit, and we pre-print it as drink tickets at $15 each. The whole stack comes to you when you arrive, and you hand them out however you like — we never hand them to guests at the door, and we're not keeping track of who is holding what. One ticket is one drink from the event list: our Dabney Originals, house spirits, wine by the glass, the bubbles, and the full zero-proof menu, with only a short list of top-shelf exclusions we'll name for you in advance. Once the tickets run out the bar goes to cash, and nobody is doing arithmetic in front of your guests all night.
What if we never send a final headcount?
We staff and cook to your contracted number. That's the count on your agreement, and it's what you're billed for — so if your party shrinks, tell us before the 7-day lock and we'll re-cut it for you. Silence isn't a reduction.
Is there a room-rental fee?
No. You commit to a food-and-drink minimum, and every dollar of it goes back into your night. The deposit simply holds your date until then.
The room at Dabney during live music
Reply with your date

Tell us what you're planning

One host runs your night from open to close — you take care of your guests, we take care of the room. Reply with your date and headcount, and we'll hold it while we shape a quote around you. Saturdays book first, so the sooner we hear from you, the better.

Reserve your date
events@dabneyandco.com  ·  (269) 315-0689
dabneyandco.com/private-events
344 N Rose St · Kalamazoo, MI 49007