Are any restaurants truly child friendly?

[Anonymous]

Besides Chuck-E-Cheese (which I don't think I've ever been to)? By child friendly, I mean 17 month old crazy exploring toddler friendly.

Went to dinner tonight with a friend at a "kid friendly" place, but yikes. They were nice about dealing with our kid but really, NOT kid friendly. We were out-of-towners reading reviews on places so I am not sure why a place is judged kid friendly or not (the reasons someone would think place was escape me).

[Anonymous]

Well, when I think ofvchild-friendly, I think about whether a restaurant has high chairs, if they have a lot of high chairs, if they have a kids menu, and if there seem to be a lot of families with kids eating. Oh, and bonus points for giving out crayons or activities. and extra bonus points for getting the meal out fast...

I don't think there are any adult restaurants that are designed fir children to walk around and explore, other than chuck e cheese.

Restaurants that cater to families still expect the kids to be able to sit and eat nicely, but are prepared for meltdowns leading to abrupt meal-endings which require rapid check delivery.

[Anonymous]

I like to take my son to Thai restaurants that are huge and often not very crowded. Went to one in Old Town tonight - waitresses were so friendly and helpful, and there were very few people to bother. There's also one in downtown Silver Spring that is never crowded- last time we were there he roamed around and there was no one to bug.

[Anonymous]

Well, toddlers are different than school-aged kids, to be sure...

IMHO, a lot of non-fancy spacious restaurants are pretty toddler friendly IF you are there when it is not rushed and packed with people, so earlier side, Sun-Thurs, and not brunch hour on Sat or Sun. We go to Cafe Assorti and Astor Mediterranean pretty regularly because they are spaciously laid out and during non rush times, pretty relaxed about toddlers doing the "wander."

However, once kids are school aged, there are a lot more possibilities. Silver Diner is very focused on families, although wait service varies a lot.

[Anonymous]

We've gone to restaurants with my now 2-year old since day one and "crazy exploring" has never been on the menu. I believe that kids need to learn restaurant manners early. If you let them run amok even at a young age you'll drive the other diners mad and will teach your child bad habits to boot. Keep 'em locked down.

[Anonymous]

i've heard joe's crab shack in fairfax has a play area.

[Anonymous]

Does it have high chairs, changing tables, a buzz of ambient noise, and no white tablecloths? Then I'd take my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i've heard joe's crab shack in fairfax has a play area.

Yeah, I think the one in Fredericksburg even has a full-blown playground. I can't remember what the others have. That's a pretty child-friendly restaurant, though.

[Anonymous]

Go early, order quickly, bring snacks and make the kid learn to sit in a high chair for 30 minutes. A 17 month old can learn to do this.

[Anonymous]

Aside from Chuck E Cheese, crazy exploring is not acceptable at even the most kid friendly restaurant. Please don't be that person.

[Anonymous]

Child-friendly is relative. We bring absolutely everything we need (high chair, utensils, plastic place mat, snack, toys, sippy) in less we know they have it and its never been an issue. As soon as our child could easily stay standing, we changed standing up so no need for the nasty changing tables. Worst case, use the stroller. I don't expect anyone to provide anything out of the ordinary for our child as its our responsibility.

I do expect my child to behave and stay seated during our meal and don't allow him to roam/explore as it is disruptive to our meal and others (I hate with other peoples kids come up in the middle of our meal as they need to be sitting with their families). On the off chance they fuss, we go outside immediately (we've only had to do it twice and we eat out all the time). I don't order off the kids menu in less I prefer the food over the adult and we just share a meal.

We've found that a few Asian places we frequent are generally more aware of kids needs but they are very family oriented and we've gone enough times where they know/welcome us. We've never ever had a problem at any restaurant and have found 99% overly nice/helpful and if they weren't there were other issues, generally not child related.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aside from Chuck E Cheese, crazy exploring is not acceptable at even the most kid friendly restaurant. Please don't be that person.

I agree and we take our toddler out to eat at least three times a wk. Crazy exploring and wandering around is dangerous with wait staff carrying around large trays laden with plates, glasses and food. Throw in a toddler running around and you are asking for an accident to happen.

One of the restaurants we go to a lot is the Commissary across from Whole Foods on P St NW. Lots of toddlers, just about every table, eat here during the toddler dinner hour, 5ish. There is no crazy exploring and they sit through the meal. My DS likes to look around and he gets a tour accompanied by an adult at the start of a meal and before we leave. He Knows he has to sit in his chair for entire meal or we will leave.

[Anonymous]

Jason's Deli (or as my 3 year old calls it, Jason's Belly). They have a lot of organic, fresh food and healthier choices. It's not the greatest tasting food, but I think it's family-friendly. We go to the one in Fair Lakes and sometimes my single, childless sister is the only person in there without kids.

[Anonymous]

We've never allowed wandering around or crazy exploring in a restaurant, so no advice for you there, but I think there are lots of child friendly restaurants. Crayons are usually a decent hint, though I bring my own so I'm always prepared to keep my two year old busy. Offering any sort of a kids' special is another good sign. We live in Rockville and a number of the restaurants in Rockville Town Square do a kids eat free night - I figure any restaurant willing to do that has to be pretty welcoming to kids. We've had great luck with Austin Grill, Lebanese Taverna (though rice is pretty messy for a little kid to eat in public, so we usually do that as takeout), and Oro Pomodoro in that area.

[Anonymous]

Christ, you people are always ready to jump on any little thing. We did not allow him to wander around - he was in a chair or my lap the whole time - but is at an age where he WANTS to be exploring all the time. Get it? I was looking for places like some other people (the nice ones) on this thread suggested that have play areas, where he'd be able to have some fun.

In general he just does not like to be tied down - whether it's a high chair, a car seat, whatever. So sitting with crayons isn't an option. He is more active than that, and he's too young to rationalize with.