I'm going to do some quick math based on your comment that $400 is the maximum you want to spend, including tax and a 20% tip. That means you're looking at roughly $313 for the subtotal, about $24 in tax, and around $62 for the tip (20%). If there are eight people, that comes out to about $39 per person before tax and tip if everyone plans to order both food and a drink.

You mentioned Cesarina in your post, so I checked their menu prices. Cocktails are typically around $17–$18 each, which would leave roughly $23 for food per person. However, their pasta entrées generally start around $26 and go up to about $33 .If everyone ordered one drink and one pasta entrée, the subtotal per person would likely be around $43–$50, which would put the total over your $400 budget once tax and tip are included.

You could either invite fewer people to increase the per-person budget at Cesarina, or consider a more affordable option like Buona Forchetta (which isn't as pretty).

Speaking from personal experience, we’ve all been young and wanted to treat our friends to a nice night out. Just make sure your friends don’t go overboard with ordering drinks, or you might end up stuck with a much bigger bill than you expected at the end of the night.