What do you think about birthday parties at fast food restaurants? (McDonalds, Chick Fil A, etc...)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vegetarian PP here. I did not know about Roy Rogers and the mac and cheese - filing that away. Sometimes we get side orders at KFC if we're desperate. We have done the cheese sandwich thing at every fast food place. They always look at us like we're nuts. Oh well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are vegetarians and there's not much except fries and shakes for my kids to eat at most fast food restaurants (except Taco Bell). So probably not, but I guess it would depend on the situation.

We are veggie too - taco bell, subway, roy rogers (they have mac and cheese), and a few others are fine. My kid if desperate will get a cheese sandwich.

Roy Rogers does but the small is really small so you may need two or a large (no kids meal). Noodles and Co is very veggie friendly and their mac and cheese is one of the better ones. Panera has good mac and cheese too.

I love how all you people turn your nose up at "fast food" without realizing that Noodles and Co. and Panera is "fast food" and their highly processed Mac and Cheese (the second-highest caloric item on the menu, BTW, with 1040 calories is somehow more virtuous than chicken nuggets. It always amuses me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had parties like this all.the.time when I was growing up. One year Shakey's (yes, I am dating myself!), another year McDonald's, another year the ice cream spot. We LOVED it as kids. Especially because we only ate fast food as a treat back then. House parties were hot dogs, grape koolaid, chips, cake & Ice cream. Nowadays kids parties involve bouncy houses and characters. Such a waste when all kids want is to hang out with their friends and eat until they get sick!

The ice cream spot wasn't Farrell's, was it? Because I had an AWESOME party there as a kid!

YESSSSS!!!!! So many good memories at Farrell's! I loved that place!

Farrell's went out of business, but now has reopened a few locations in California:

http://albanykid.com/2012/07/11/farrells-the-funnest-ice-cream-parlor-in-the-world-is-back/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vegetarian PP here. I did not know about Roy Rogers and the mac and cheese - filing that away. Sometimes we get side orders at KFC if we're desperate. We have done the cheese sandwich thing at every fast food place. They always look at us like we're nuts. Oh well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are vegetarians and there's not much except fries and shakes for my kids to eat at most fast food restaurants (except Taco Bell). So probably not, but I guess it would depend on the situation.

We are veggie too - taco bell, subway, roy rogers (they have mac and cheese), and a few others are fine. My kid if desperate will get a cheese sandwich.

Roy Rogers does but the small is really small so you may need two or a large (no kids meal). Noodles and Co is very veggie friendly and their mac and cheese is one of the better ones. Panera has good mac and cheese too.

I love how all you people turn your nose up at "fast food" without realizing that Noodles and Co. and Panera is "fast food" and their highly processed Mac and Cheese (the second-highest caloric item on the menu, BTW, with 1040 calories is somehow more virtuous than chicken nuggets. It always amuses me.

Its not the fast food issue - its having something your child can eat. A vegetarian child does not eat chicken nuggets. I don't care about the calories my child takes in. He is active and maintains a reasonable weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vegetarian PP here. I did not know about Roy Rogers and the mac and cheese - filing that away. Sometimes we get side orders at KFC if we're desperate. We have done the cheese sandwich thing at every fast food place. They always look at us like we're nuts. Oh well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are vegetarians and there's not much except fries and shakes for my kids to eat at most fast food restaurants (except Taco Bell). So probably not, but I guess it would depend on the situation.

We are veggie too - taco bell, subway, roy rogers (they have mac and cheese), and a few others are fine. My kid if desperate will get a cheese sandwich.

Roy Rogers does but the small is really small so you may need two or a large (no kids meal). Noodles and Co is very veggie friendly and their mac and cheese is one of the better ones. Panera has good mac and cheese too.

I love how all you people turn your nose up at "fast food" without realizing that Noodles and Co. and Panera is "fast food" and their highly processed Mac and Cheese (the second-highest caloric item on the menu, BTW, with 1040 calories is somehow more virtuous than chicken nuggets. It always amuses me.

Its not the fast food issue - its having something your child can eat. A vegetarian child does not eat chicken nuggets. I don't care about the calories my child takes in. He is active and maintains a reasonable weight.

Could he eat a few fries? Or not really eat anything, but have a drink and enjoy being with his friends? Parties are not really about the food that is served are they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We would only go if the child was good friends. I don't like the play areas as they rarely get cleaned and are small. Depending on where, my child would not eat the food. Noodles and Co and a few others would be great, but he does not like McDonalds, Chick Fil A, etc. as he does not eat meat and very particular about his fries.

Aren't picky eaters the worst? You need to nip that in the bud.

I also don't eat meat (because I'm a vegetarian) and am also very particular about my fries -- there is no sense in eating bad French fries. I'm not going to waste my French-fry-eating on bad French fries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS favorite place to eat is McD, which we only go to on road trips. He would LOVE to have a birthday party there, but his friend's parents are so sanctimonious and judgmental about food ("is that organic? We only eat local or at least organic") that we could never have one there.

Life would be much easier if we lived somewhere between the two coasts!

So true.

Said by people who've obviously never lived there. There are plenty of places on both coasts where parents are less judgmental. And there are plenty of very judgmental communities in the middle parts of the country. As a born-and-raised midwesterner (now coastal resident), why is it okay for people on the coasts to constantly mock us?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eh, not a big deal. It's a party. Kids have fun at those places. We don't frequent fast food joints, but once in a blue moon it isn't going to hurt anybody.

We are vegetarian too, like a few PPs; like always, I just have my son eat something before we head out. If he decides he wants to try something with meat (extremely unlikely), that is his decision to make -- not mine.

+1, exactly. The point of the party isn't the food, but to be a gracious guest. If you think or know you can't eat the food, eat before going to the party. It's not a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We would only go if the child was good friends. I don't like the play areas as they rarely get cleaned and are small. Depending on where, my child would not eat the food. Noodles and Co and a few others would be great, but he does not like McDonalds, Chick Fil A, etc. as he does not eat meat and very particular about his fries.

Aren't picky eaters the worst? You need to nip that in the bud.

I also don't eat meat (because I'm a vegetarian) and am also very particular about my fries -- there is no sense in eating bad French fries. I'm not going to waste my French-fry-eating on bad French fries.

I've eaten a lot of "fancy" fries in my day, and Mickey D's is still one of the best around, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We would only go if the child was good friends. I don't like the play areas as they rarely get cleaned and are small. Depending on where, my child would not eat the food. Noodles and Co and a few others would be great, but he does not like McDonalds, Chick Fil A, etc. as he does not eat meat and very particular about his fries.

Aren't picky eaters the worst? You need to nip that in the bud.

He isn't a picky eater. He is a vegetarian and we generally watch what he eats. He would eat the raw broccoli, carrots, green beans and much more over chips, nuggets, fries, etc. I'd far rather have a kid like he is vs. a kid who is obsessed with junk food and demands McDonalds all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, not a big deal. It's a party. Kids have fun at those places. We don't frequent fast food joints, but once in a blue moon it isn't going to hurt anybody.

We are vegetarian too, like a few PPs; like always, I just have my son eat something before we head out. If he decides he wants to try something with meat (extremely unlikely), that is his decision to make -- not mine.

+1, exactly. The point of the party isn't the food, but to be a gracious guest. If you think or know you can't eat the food, eat before going to the party. It's not a big deal.

If the party is sitting at a restaurant watching other kids eat, that is no fun for our child. A gracious host is concerned about a child having something to eat. Of course, we eat before we go, but then just to sit there serves no point for my child. Fortunately no parent we know would do this option and has always had a mix of foods to please everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, not a big deal. It's a party. Kids have fun at those places. We don't frequent fast food joints, but once in a blue moon it isn't going to hurt anybody.

We are vegetarian too, like a few PPs; like always, I just have my son eat something before we head out. If he decides he wants to try something with meat (extremely unlikely), that is his decision to make -- not mine.

+1, exactly. The point of the party isn't the food, but to be a gracious guest. If you think or know you can't eat the food, eat before going to the party. It's not a big deal.

I grew up vegetarian and didn't have a single friend who was also vegetarian. Every party was burgers, hot dogs, nuggets, etc. My parents would just have me eat before, snack on a bun while everyone else was eating burgers, and then chow down on the cake and ice cream. As a kid, all anyone cared about was the dessert anyway. Good memories....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, not a big deal. It's a party. Kids have fun at those places. We don't frequent fast food joints, but once in a blue moon it isn't going to hurt anybody.

We are vegetarian too, like a few PPs; like always, I just have my son eat something before we head out. If he decides he wants to try something with meat (extremely unlikely), that is his decision to make -- not mine.

+1, exactly. The point of the party isn't the food, but to be a gracious guest. If you think or know you can't eat the food, eat before going to the party. It's not a big deal.

If the party is sitting at a restaurant watching other kids eat, that is no fun for our child. A gracious host is concerned about a child having something to eat. Of course, we eat before we go, but then just to sit there serves no point for my child. Fortunately no parent we know would do this option and has always had a mix of foods to please everyone.

Please with the drama. Every fast food place these days has a salad. Your kid could at least pick at one of those. To not teach your kid this skill only hurts your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We would only go if the child was good friends. I don't like the play areas as they rarely get cleaned and are small. Depending on where, my child would not eat the food. Noodles and Co and a few others would be great, but he does not like McDonalds, Chick Fil A, etc. as he does not eat meat and very particular about his fries.

Aren't picky eaters the worst? You need to nip that in the bud.

I also don't eat meat (because I'm a vegetarian) and am also very particular about my fries -- there is no sense in eating bad French fries. I'm not going to waste my French-fry-eating on bad French fries.

I've eaten a lot of "fancy" fries in my day, and Mickey D's is still one of the best around, IMO.

I agree that McDonald's fries are French-fry-eating-worthy. I've never eaten Chick-fil-a French fries. I remember Wendy's fries as being not French-fry-eating-worthy.

[Anonymous]

If my child wanted to attend that child's birthday, then we'd absolutely go. It's about the child, not the venue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS favorite place to eat is McD, which we only go to on road trips. He would LOVE to have a birthday party there, but his friend's parents are so sanctimonious and judgmental about food ("is that organic? We only eat local or at least organic") that we could never have one there.

Life would be much easier if we lived somewhere between the two coasts!

So true.

Said by people who've obviously never lived there. There are plenty of places on both coasts where parents are less judgmental. And there are plenty of very judgmental communities in the middle parts of the country. As a born-and-raised midwesterner (now coastal resident), why is it okay for people on the coasts to constantly mock us?

Because, come on, as a lot you're very provincial.