A graduation party venue 10 minutes from Palatine for high school, college, and advanced-degree celebrations. Up to 150 guests, in-house Italian kitchen, family-style buffets, free parking. International Banquet, family-owned since 2008.
Graduation parties peak in a six-week window from mid-May through June. Every Palatine family with a senior is trying to lock in a Saturday afternoon or Sunday brunch. Our space handles several grad parties a weekend during peak — but each one feels like it's the only one in the room. For the full venue overview, see our banquet hall near Palatine page.
Graduation parties used to be a backyard cookout. Some still are. But more families are moving them indoors — for the weather guarantee, the food quality, and the parking.
Guests arrive over a window, eat when they want, leave when they want. No formal seating chart.
Plated lunch or family-style. More formal — works for advanced-degree graduations and tighter family-only events.
Two graduates, one party. Splits the cost between families and avoids two weekends of planning.
Older graduates (college, grad school, professional school). Later start, more celebration energy than daytime.
Round tables for sit-down parties, or buffet layout for open houses. Free parking matters here specifically because graduates' grandparents are coming.
Three steps. Most events lock in within one conversation.
Graduation date, expected guest count, school colors, party format (open house vs sit-down vs evening). Peak-season Saturdays book first.
Menu confirmation (Buffet Style for open house, Family Style for sit-down), school-color décor coordination, slideshow setup, dietary restrictions.
Walk into a decorated room. Graduate gets photos with grandparents. Buffet stays warm for the open-house window. Cleanup handled by us.
Open-house graduation parties typically book Buffet Style ($34/person) — guests can come and go without being tied to a seated meal. Sit-down formats use Family Style ($29/person) or Individual Luncheon ($25/person). Evening parties for college and grad-school graduations may use the Plated Dinner package.
Includes Italian bread, parmesan cheese & butter. Italian House Salad served individually. Each guest chooses one entrée: Lasagna, Chicken Parmigiana, Grilled Pork Chop, or Crusted Barramundi.
Includes Italian bread, parmesan cheese & butter. Italian Salad served individually, Chicken Vesuvio (pan-roasted in garlic & olive oil with white wine, herbs, and Vesuvio potatoes), Roasted Potatoes, and Rigatoni Vodka in creamy tomato sauce with vodka and Parmesan.
Includes Italian bread, parmesan cheese & butter, coffee & soft drinks. Caesar Salad, Chicken Limon (pan-roasted in a delicate lemon sauce), Roasted Potatoes, and Rigatoni in Creamy Marinara Sauce. Food is not available for take-out.
Includes Italian bread, parmesan, butter, coffee & soft drinks. 3-hour open bar with premium liquor, beer, red & white wine & mimosas. Italian House Salad served individually. Host selects 3 entrées from: Filet Mignon, Lamb Shank, NY Strip Steak, Chilean Seabass, Salmon Grigliata, or Chicken Francese.
All packages include Italian bread, parmesan cheese & butter. Event minimums: lunch events (until 4 PM) $1,500 · Sunday–Thursday evenings $2,000 · Friday & Saturday $3,000. Custom multi-cultural menus available by request.
View Full MenuThe May/June peak season is brutal for venue availability. Every Palatine family with a senior is trying to lock in a Saturday or Sunday between the second week of May and the third week of June. Saturday afternoons book first. If you're flexible on date (a Friday evening, a Sunday brunch, a late-June Saturday), you'll have more options.
Open-house format saves money and energy. Buffet Style ($34/person) with a 3-hour window — guests come and go — typically costs less than a sit-down format for the same guest count, because the kitchen isn't running multiple plated services. It also accommodates guests with conflicting graduation parties to attend the same day.
Joint sibling or cousin parties are underused. If two graduates in the family are graduating the same season (high school senior + college senior, or two cousins in the same Communion-then-graduation pattern), combining the party splits the cost between families and creates one stronger event instead of two thinner ones.
My son's high school graduation party — open house format. School colors on every table. Three sets of grandparents showed up and none of them had to walk far from the parking lot.
Two daughters, one graduation party — they finished college and law school the same May. Combined event, two families, seamless.
My MBA graduation — evening party, mostly adult colleagues and family. Felt like a real celebration instead of a kids' party.
Questions parents ask before locking the May date.
Saturday and Sunday afternoons in late May through mid-June fill aggressively — start the conversation in February or March if possible. Late June, weekday parties, and Friday evening events usually have availability closer to the date.
We can host more than one graduation party in the same weekend in separated time blocks — your party feels like the only one. We stagger arrival times and kitchen pacing so families don't overlap.
Yes — and it usually saves money versus two separate parties. Two graduates, one menu, one room, splits the cost between families. Most-booked for siblings graduating high school and college the same season.
Yes. Bring centerpieces, banners, balloon arches in the school colors — our team sets everything up before guests arrive. Bring a Pinterest board if you have one.
Buffet Style ($34/person) — guests can come and go over a 3-hour window without being tied to a seated meal. It also handles 100+ guests cycling through more efficiently than plated service.
Yes. Family Style ($29/person) for traditional sit-down, Individual Luncheon ($25/person) for plated. Sit-down works better for smaller guest lists (60–80) and advanced-degree graduations.
Yes — WiFi is available throughout the event.
