Restaurant Takes On Rowdy Kids

I congratulate the restaurant. I think it's awful the way parents let their kids behave.

Now, if you are in a Chucky Cheese, you can't complain. Kids are meant to be rowdy there. Or another family type restaurant, where you expect there to be loud kids and a little misbahaving. There has to be some tolerance when in restaurants that are geared toward the family. And those do exist. And you should expect that there will be kids sitting around you.

But I don't think you should ever have to put up with kids running around and yelling though. That's just bad parenting. If you can't control your kids.... if I ever behaved like that (and I am sure I tried) my mom would scoop me up and we'd leave. Simple as that.

0 Replies

Thank you Reyn, Mame and Aldistar.

Also Bella and Set.

I don't frequent Chuck E. Cheese since I have no kids, but if I was to go there, I know it's a kids domain. There are a few other places that cater SPECIFICALLY to children, but frankly, I don't even consider fast food places or Pizza Huts or whatever to be those types of places.

To me, if there are any adults there with the purpose of having their meal, that is NOT a place for parents to allow their children to act as they will. If they feel their child should be able to run wild, yell, etc, they need to take their children to places that are ONLY for children, the parents being secondary.

Parents being secondary?!!

Well, that's what I feel like when I go to a public place and the adults are supposed to accept that they have paid good money only to have to listen to crying, complaining, and all that other nonsence some kids get into.

Why should my wants and needs be secondary? Oh wait, I forgot...it's all about the children....

It really is a shame that some restaurants have been put in this position, since there really are kids out there who have been raised with firm guidelines and get the concept of "a time and a place."

I don't have children either, but I was one...acting up in restaurants? Are you kidding? That just did...not....happen.

And guess what, I LOVED going out to restaurants, and by the time I was 6 I could be taken to any 5 star place. I'm sure a large part of why I enjoyed it so much was that I knew what was expected of me in that environment and when I did as expected it made for a delightful experience.

0 Replies

Chai wrote:

Thank you Reyn, Mame and Aldistar.

Also Bella and Set.

I don't frequent Chuck E. Cheese since I have no kids, but if I was to go there, I know it's a kids domain. There are a few other places that cater SPECIFICALLY to children, but frankly, I don't even consider fast food places or Pizza Huts or whatever to be those types of places.

To me, if there are any adults there with the purpose of having their meal, that is NOT a place for parents to allow their children to act as they will. If they feel their child should be able to run wild, yell, etc, they need to take their children to places that are ONLY for children, the parents being secondary.

Parents being secondary?!!

Well, that's what I feel like when I go to a public place and the adults are supposed to accept that they have paid good money only to have to listen to crying, complaining, and all that other nonsence some kids get into.

Why should my wants and needs be secondary? Oh wait, I forgot...it's all about the children....

It really is a shame that some restaurants have been put in this position, since there really are kids out there who have been raised with firm guidelines and get the concept of "a time and a place."

I don't have children either, but I was one...acting up in restaurants? Are you kidding? That just did...not....happen.

And guess what, I LOVED going out to restaurants, and by the time I was 6 I could be taken to any 5 star place. I'm sure a large part of why I enjoyed it so much was that I knew what was expected of me in that environment and when I did as expected it made for a delightful experience.

My daughter (especially my older daughter) is just like how you were - she loves going out to eat - loves nice expensive restaurants - probably because she loves shrimp and lobster and likes to get dressed up. The other day she insisted we should get roses over tulips. I told her she can get roses from her boyfriend (hubby didn't like that much though).

0 Replies

I ate at Taste of Heaven -- the restaurant mentioned in the original article -- about a week ago (it's in Chicago, at the corner of Clark and Balmoral in the heart of Andersonville). First of all, it's a very small place -- there are about a dozen tables without much room for the wait staff to maneuver between them. I can only imagine that the antics of one misbehaving child would instantly affect everyone in the restaurant.

Secondly, the sign on the door is still there, but it's about at knee level (or eye level for the kiddies) so it's not very noticeable. And, in general, there's not really an anti-kid "vibe" in the place, although I didn't spot any when I was there on a Saturday morning. If anything, it was a typical yuppie/lesbian/gay mix that would be typical in any Andersonville eatery.

Thirdly, the artichoke heart and roasted red pepper omelette with provolone cheese was quite good. I recommend it.

0 Replies

Hey, thanks, Joe, for that report. It's always good to get a first-hand account of how things really are.

It sounds like to me it's all blown out of proportion to how those affected should have reacted to the owner putting the sign up.

0 Replies

This is about parenting, not rowdy children. Way too many parents who refuse to take responsibility for their kids is the problem. Teach them right from wrong, teach them to behave, or take them outside. Parents have allowed their children to gain way too much control over them from their birth. You see these parents coming into the restaurant, or getting on a plane, and they have a stroller the size of a small SUV, each carrying at least one backpack full of baby items. They take up a table for six just to seat three.

I remember taking my oldest out to eat when she was about a week old. We tucked her carseat carrier into the booth and everyone was amazed when they found out she had been there the whole time when we got up to leave. The same was true for all of our kids - until they're old enough to decide what to bring and carry it themselves, only bring what you really need.

0 Replies

Another restaurant is about to ban kids.

Quote:

If your 5-year-old has a jones for the crab cakes at McDain's Restaurant, which the menu boasts are “The Best Around — Period,” you’d best take him or her there by Friday. Or be prepared to get the food to go.

Beginning Saturday, children 6 and under are no longer welcome at the restaurant in Monroeville, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh. They’ve just become too much of a bother for the other customers. Source

I tend to think that this is a parenting issue not a kid issue so let the kids come and leave the parents at home (j/k)

3 Replies

This should take care of it Very Happy

http://thelaughingstork.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Unattended-Children2.jpg

2 Replies

@CalamityJane,

They need to add the line "Right before they walk out the door with you"

0 Replies

@JPB,

Well, not really @JPB, but @ the article...

Quote:

Not everyone, of course, agrees. Pittsburgh TV station WTAE spoke to customer Stephanie Kelley, mother of a 13-month-old, who said she eats at McDain's weekly. Or used to. “I can't believe this. I am offended. This is just an ignorant policy," Kelley said.

Thanks to WTAE for for finding, and MSNBC for providing such an informative and compelling counterpoint.

The writer really wants this to be a controversial story, but the only information here seems to be that a restraunt owner has a policy that is legal (OK, and supposedly some tasty crabcakes as well), and has opinions on child rearing.

0 Replies

@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

Oh, man. This is tough.

Last Saturday we were all out running errands and found ourselves in the area of my very favorite restraunt right around lunch time. Mr. B suggested we stop in to eat.

<sigh>

Mr. B and I used to eat there at least once a week. We've taken Mo there on special occassions but it is really a grown up place. They welcome kids but they don't cater to kids, if you know what I mean.

<sigh>

I looked in the back seat at a tired, cranky, hungry Mo and said "I don't think today is a good day to go to J's".

<sigh>

I applaud the restaurant owner's response. I don't like to eat out when kids are running rampant unless it is a place designed for kids to do so.

Mo impressed ME, as being a perfectly RATIONAL person.
When he spoke, it was with good reason.

I can hardly imagine that anyone 'd raise any objection to him,
nor can I imagine what more anyone coud require of him.
He is a dignified citizen.

David

1 Reply

@JPB,

JPB wrote:

Another restaurant is about to ban kids.

Quote:
If your 5-year-old has a jones for the crab cakes at McDain's Restaurant, which the menu boasts are “The Best Around — Period,” you’d best take him or her there by Friday. Or be prepared to get the food to go.

Beginning Saturday, children 6 and under are no longer welcome at the restaurant in Monroeville, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh. They’ve just become too much of a bother for the other customers. Source

I tend to think that this is a parenting issue not a kid issue so let the kids come and leave the parents at home (j/k)

My memory goes back to my return to NYC from Arizona, when I was 13.
I took a public NYC bus home from school each afternoon.
It was an intensely embarrassing experience: the other students,
same age, were riotous on the bus; disorderly in the extreme,
as thay screamed at each other and engaged in moch fighting,
running along the bus. The bus driver screamed and swore at them,
for good reason. I tried to act as if I knew them not.

Kids in Arizona did not act like that; thay were peaceful n quiet, calm.

David

0 Replies

@JPB,

JPB wrote:

Another restaurant is about to ban kids.

Wow, another blast-from-the-past topic!

Thanks for bumping!

0 Replies

Despite the complaint of the woman with the 13-month old child, i think the restaurant owner makes his case clearly and reasonably:

JPB's soure wrote:

“Parents have gradually diminished their cooperation,” he said, adding that the new policy is strictly in response to customer complaints.

“This is a three-part issue. One is the increasing number of small babies that can’t be controlled. They can’t be quiet and really they can’t be expected to.”

The second factor is kindergarten-aged kids who “have shown increasingly poor manners.” And lastly he blames parents, who “act like we’re the ones being offensive” when staff members ask them to calm their children down.

I don't have a problem with this guy's decision.

1 Reply

It's those kids who are about one yr., or so. Their brains are not yet developed. My youngest son used to stand up in his little seat, making noises like King Kong. Heartbreaking because, you see, you have to get up and leave. Tough when you're traveling.

0 Replies

@CalamityJane,

Hilarious sign, CJane.

Hey, there's Pemerson!

0 Replies

If I had a restaurant, there'd be no kids after 6:00 or 7:00 p.m. period. Sorry, but grown ups want a night out, away from their kids, away from squalling, away from temper tantrums, fussing, and pooh-diaper smells. That's logical. You never saw June Ward taking little Beaver out to dinner at night Smile

Get a babysitter or stay home!!!! No kids in MY establishment! Have some respect for other people (ie. grown ups) - lol

1 Reply

@OmSigDAVID,

Thank you! Mo really does have nice manners but there isn't any reason to push it when he's tired and out of sorts. He's never really caused a problem in a restaurant and I don't think he would but sometimes kid-free places are nice.

1 Reply

When I was eight years old, my family and I flew from Chicago to California and back again. Six hours total in a plane, and I can assure you I was a perfect angel. I didn't run up and down the aisles, I didn't scream or cry or fidget or kick the seat in front of me. Not because I wasn't an ordinary eight-year old, but because I knew that, if I acted up, my mother would find a way to convince the flight crew to jettison me somewhere over Omaha. And I don't recall anyone complimenting my parents on how well I acted, probably because, in those ancient times, people actually expected kids to behave themselves in public places. It wasn't some epic event that required everyone to praise the heroic parents who raised such well-behaved children. That was the minimum standard of acceptable behavior then.

2 Replies

@Mame,

Mame wrote:

If I had a restaurant, there'd be no kids after 6:00 or 7:00 p.m. period.

If I had a restaurant, I'd make up some mildly controversial policy, let some "news" organization know about it and then enjoy a week of free publicity.

0 Replies

Restaurant Takes On Rowdy Kids

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know