Kids in Restaurants

The topic about kids in restaurants is fiercely contested and I just want to add my view on the whole kids in restaurant scenario. So before I start rambling, I wish not to offend any body personally with this.

This is a hard topic to discuss fairly, due to the different situations that are open to us. Let’s begin with a basic restaurant, one that is not too expensive and you feel at home in thongs and T-shirt. Would you expect to be able to bring children? Then lets take an expensive restaurant where you would pay upwards of $30 a main meal say, would you expect to see children?

Now that’s a tough one and I can feel the tension building already, but we’ve only just started. Anyway the question is kids or no kids?

Do you offer kids meals or not? I suppose a restaurant without any kids options you would say is not open to tolerating kids. A restaurant with a kids menu obviously does. It is truly at the discretion of the big boss.

Should a restaurant have a kids menu? This depends on the above but often children just want basic common foods like sausages, fish, chicken or pasta for example. You do get those that want salad and veg but not often. How about a smaller main meal from the alacarte menu. But at what cost, and what does the chef do with the rest if any?

I think the main problem with accepting children restaurants is the disruption that some cause. Note that I said some and not all. I do know and have experienced both good and bad kids in restaurants, but the problem begins when they start playing up.

Now what do you do if you are out for dinner in a restaurant with your kids. Lets just say that you checked prior for options for them. The restaurant is full and your kids are making a scene, what should you do? Do you stay and eat and pretend it’s not happening, do you let it continue trying to settle them or do you pay and leave? That’s a tough one eh.

I suppose that if the restaurant offers a special kids menu you would feel that they should be able to run riot. That is not so. Children should be kept under control at all times and if this is not possible then you should be repaired to leave.

I can not understand parents sitting there and just telling little Johnny to behave so politely with absolutely no effect. I understand that you have ordered dinner but do you really want to be the centre of annoying attention all night.

The best reservations are the one’s that call up for Saturday night with a request for a window table or one inside the main dinning room for 2 adults and two children, or better still the request of a high chair, I have to laugh at this one.

Again I don’t want to put all in the same hat but restaurant owners must protect there reputation for what they stand for. Then there is the lunch time venues especially Sunday lunch a traditional day out for families. Again do we need to tolerate screaming kids making a mess and running around while mummy and daddy just enjoy themselves, or make out they do?

On the other side imagine you are out for dinner with your boss, wife, girlfriend, business partner whoever. Now the last thing you want is to have an annoying child on the next or even nearby table causing a disturbance (by the way don’t us adult’s get locked up for causing a disturbance) anyway. You planned a lovely enjoyable evening paying top dollar or whatever the price only to go home disappointed. You didn’t know that it was to be expected. I might also add that sometimes it’s not just children making a scene it can just as well be a so called grown up……..

I think that there is no easy way to keep all happy with this one. As a hotel with a restaurant it can be very difficult as hotels/motels accommodate families. Often those establishments must tolerate children, maybe that’s why the worlds best restaurants are often not associated with hotels.