Ted's Bulletin (Merrifield) is NOT kid-friendly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid-friendly has nothing to do with how long you have to wait for a table. As a PP stated above, it's about whether the restaurant makes accommodations for children, which TB does. They have high chairs, a kid's menu and pop tarts for heaven's sake. I'd be annoyed about the bad table wait estimation, but that has nothing to do with whether or not they're kid-friendly. Plus, this restaurant just opened. Give it some time to work out the kinks.

Agree!

Do you actually have children? How could a crayon possible make up for having to wait an hour??

BTW: You know where went that was totally, surprisingly kid friendly? Woodward Table for dinner on Friday at around 6:30-7:30. I was sure it was going to be a disaster with our 2 year old, but it was great. They have booths by the bar area and a lot of background noise so toddler enthusiasm is not out of place. The kid's fish meal was an incredibly fresh piece of nice fish that was pan fried. For mom and dad, a delicious Zinfandel and the burger was amazing. Duck was just meh, though. The servers certainly did not gush over our child, but there was a high chair and crayons. 5 stars.

[Anonymous]

Wait, OP -- didn't you say you called before going and they were estimating a 45-minute wait? So it sounds like you waited 15-20 minutes over the original estimate, on a weekend morning... I don't really get why you are so fired up? You expected a 45 minute wait before you arrived. Sure, it's not great that you had to wait longer than you'd planned, but sometimes these things happen. It could happen to you whether you had your kids with you or not.

I agree with the PP who suggested reservations. That's what we always do when eating at Ted's Bulletin. They're on Open Table, you can plan ahead and choose your time (and get a sense from how many times are available if they are going to be mobbed or not).

Although it sounds like you won't be going back...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Wait, OP -- didn't you say you called before going and they were estimating a 45-minute wait? So it sounds like you waited 15-20 minutes over the original estimate, on a weekend morning... I don't really get why you are so fired up? You expected a 45 minute wait before you arrived. Sure, it's not great that you had to wait longer than you'd planned, but sometimes these things happen. It could happen to you whether you had your kids with you or not.

I agree with the PP who suggested reservations. That's what we always do when eating at Ted's Bulletin. They're on Open Table, you can plan ahead and choose your time (and get a sense from how many times are available if they are going to be mobbed or not).

Although it sounds like you won't be going back...

We were seated an hour and 20 minutes after I called - so the first estimate was 35 minutes off. I was ready to hang out half an hour for a table once we got there, not over an hour. A good estimate on the time would have allowed me to make an informed decision about whether we wanted to stay or go somewhere else (especially when we got there and said 10 minutes. From then it was an hour til we were seated.)

[Anonymous]

Go early to Silver Diner next time, it's nearby and the service and food are consistently good. It's very DCUM of posters not to mention just how ridiculously expensive Ted's AND Matchbox are!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go early to Silver Diner next time, it's nearby and the service and food are consistently good. It's very DCUM of posters not to mention just how ridiculously expensive Ted's AND Matchbox are!

Silver Diner is expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go early to Silver Diner next time, it's nearby and the service and food are consistently good. It's very DCUM of posters not to mention just how ridiculously expensive Ted's AND Matchbox are!

Silver Diner is expensive.

And terrible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid-friendly has nothing to do with how long you have to wait for a table. As a PP stated above, it's about whether the restaurant makes accommodations for children, which TB does. They have high chairs, a kid's menu and pop tarts for heaven's sake. I'd be annoyed about the bad table wait estimation, but that has nothing to do with whether or not they're kid-friendly. Plus, this restaurant just opened. Give it some time to work out the kinks.

Agree!

Do you actually have children? How could a crayon possible make up for having to wait an hour??

BTW: You know where went that was totally, surprisingly kid friendly? Woodward Table for dinner on Friday at around 6:30-7:30. I was sure it was going to be a disaster with our 2 year old, but it was great. They have booths by the bar area and a lot of background noise so toddler enthusiasm is not out of place. The kid's fish meal was an incredibly fresh piece of nice fish that was pan fried. For mom and dad, a delicious Zinfandel and the burger was amazing. Duck was just meh, though. The servers certainly did not gush over our child, but there was a high chair and crayons. 5 stars.

Yes. I have a little girl who just turned 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid-friendly has nothing to do with how long you have to wait for a table. As a PP stated above, it's about whether the restaurant makes accommodations for children, which TB does. They have high chairs, a kid's menu and pop tarts for heaven's sake. I'd be annoyed about the bad table wait estimation, but that has nothing to do with whether or not they're kid-friendly. Plus, this restaurant just opened. Give it some time to work out the kinks.

Agree!

Do you actually have children? How could a crayon possible make up for having to wait an hour??

BTW: You know where went that was totally, surprisingly kid friendly? Woodward Table for dinner on Friday at around 6:30-7:30. I was sure it was going to be a disaster with our 2 year old, but it was great. They have booths by the bar area and a lot of background noise so toddler enthusiasm is not out of place. The kid's fish meal was an incredibly fresh piece of nice fish that was pan fried. For mom and dad, a delicious Zinfandel and the burger was amazing. Duck was just meh, though. The servers certainly did not gush over our child, but there was a high chair and crayons. 5 stars.

Yes. I have a little girl who just turned 1.

Oh ok, ha ha, check back in here when she is 2 and let us know how easy it is to entertain a hungry toddler in a restaurant for an hour waiting for your food. Totally different from a baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid-friendly has nothing to do with how long you have to wait for a table. As a PP stated above, it's about whether the restaurant makes accommodations for children, which TB does. They have high chairs, a kid's menu and pop tarts for heaven's sake. I'd be annoyed about the bad table wait estimation, but that has nothing to do with whether or not they're kid-friendly. Plus, this restaurant just opened. Give it some time to work out the kinks.

Agree!

Do you actually have children? How could a crayon possible make up for having to wait an hour??

BTW: You know where went that was totally, surprisingly kid friendly? Woodward Table for dinner on Friday at around 6:30-7:30. I was sure it was going to be a disaster with our 2 year old, but it was great. They have booths by the bar area and a lot of background noise so toddler enthusiasm is not out of place. The kid's fish meal was an incredibly fresh piece of nice fish that was pan fried. For mom and dad, a delicious Zinfandel and the burger was amazing. Duck was just meh, though. The servers certainly did not gush over our child, but there was a high chair and crayons. 5 stars.

Yes. I have a little girl who just turned 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an adult, I would not wait an hour for a table at a restaurant. I don't have the patience to wait that long. I would have gone to target and picked up milk, eggs, juice, bread, and gone home and made breakfast. I would be able to shop, go home, cook, eat, and clean up in the hour it would take to be seated.

+1. I would have tried my luck at one of the 18 other places in the MD before waiting nearly that long.

[Anonymous]

Ha, this was our experience at the TB on 14th in DC. I decided on a whim a year ago that our family of 4 with two young boys should all go to Saturday brunch! Bad idea. We waited over an hour with a buzzer while I wandered room and board and my hubby hoped the kids didn't break anything! It was loud and crowded and we were miserable. I think just bringing kids to trendy brunch places isn't the best idea. We have up and make family breakfasts at home on weekends. Realize not everyone can do this, but hubby has a flexible schedule so we have give a few times in a weekday morning or early afternoon, like 3 or 4 to TB on 14th and had the best time ever! It was quiet, service was friendly and relaxed, everyone was happy.

So I would argue that wait times are one of the highest factors for kid friendly! We can survive without crayons and high chairs are nice, but we just need to get seated and order right away!

[Anonymous]

Wait time absolutely doesn't play into kid friendliness or not. That's absurd. The restaurant can provide a kid friendly atmosphere, providing whatever it can to make kids and families feel welcome. If a lot of people like a certain place and the wait time is long then it's on you, the adult, to use common sense and go either at off peak times (certainly not weekend brunch!) or go somewhere without a long wait. The restaurant doesn't need to accommodate you in that regard and expecting it to is totally narcissistic.

[Anonymous]

I find Ted's to be completely overrated in every way. The food is not amazing, the service is not reliably good, and the weekend brunch no-res situation have put it on our permanent brunch blacklist.

I will say that it's kid-friendly when you finally arrive in that there is a children's menu that is full of things kids actually like. I agree with the many PPs who remind OP that "kid friendly" does not mean "takes reservations, doesn't have a long wait".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Me again. Or maybe my definition of kid friendly is different than most... 90 minute wait and crappy service in my mind is not kid friendly. We will stick with known quantities instead of following the crowd from now on.

You tried to get a table for a party of 6 during brunch. What did you expect?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait time absolutely doesn't play into kid friendliness or not. That's absurd. The restaurant can provide a kid friendly atmosphere, providing whatever it can to make kids and families feel welcome. If a lot of people like a certain place and the wait time is long then it's on you, the adult, to use common sense and go either at off peak times (certainly not weekend brunch!) or go somewhere without a long wait. The restaurant doesn't need to accommodate you in that regard and expecting it to is totally narcissistic.

OP. I will keep this in mind for the future but I guess I don't get it. In my mind, "kid-friendly" = someplace I can take my kids and have a good experience. Waiting for over an hour, especially when they say the wait will be significantly shorter, just doesn't factor in to that. For everyone that says "I would have left" - we considered it but who knew what the wait was anywhere else and we just didn't have a good feel from Ted's as to how long it was going to take. Just not enough information to make an informed decision.

And the service was not particularly kid-friendly. When we were seated, she did not bring kids menus until I asked, and then brought one menu and crayons, for two kids (had to ask for a second). No toys or games which they apparently have at other locations. She did not ask if we wanted a booster seat - I had to ask for one. The candy jar tucked into the shelf of the host stand right at pre-schooler level may be kid-friendly, but is certainly not parent-friendly (I don't need my kid begging for a lollipop before breakfast when I go to check where we are on the list). No toys, games, etc. I know they're new and working out the kinks, but it's not like they built a new concept from the ground up. Should be turnkey for them with so many other restaurants in the area.

One thing the Merrifield location has working in its favor is plenty to distract the kids outside while you wait - but that has to do with Mosaic not Ted's.