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Original poster

Have I just discovered the secret to enjoying a dinner out!

131 replies

Thingcanonlygetbetter · 16/08/2026 22:19

Just back from a fabulous family dinner out. No stress, fab food and good service. Restaurant we went to for the first time seems very popular and we could only get a table at 8pm. Which we would deem to be a bit late. We would normally be a 7pm
booking.
We have just chatted about why was this soo good and think we have hit the jackpot! No kids on bloody iPads with the volume turned up, that just kills the atmosphere and grinds me and my families gears. We went out last Sunday night at 6pm to a different restaurant, good food and good service. BUT not one, not two but three kids on the table next to us were all watching /using iPads with the volume up and it was torture and really spoiled the experience. So in future if I go out I am going to go late when the little people and their IPADS have gone to bed. They all need to put a set of headphones on their Santa list!!

OP posts:
Original poster
Thingcanonlygetbetter · 16/08/2026 23:01

Mmmm19 · 16/08/2026 22:28

Where do you eat normally? I do sometimes see kids on them but not the volume up. We are also no devices at dinner family (but we have our own difficulties with other things so I try not to judge)

Not chains as we don’t have many of them near us. It’s nearly like I have a magnet to attract the most awful people near me that don’t give a flying f@@k about anyone around them.

OP posts:
Original poster
Thingcanonlygetbetter · 16/08/2026 22:58

Choux · 16/08/2026 22:37

You were very unreasonable not to put a stop last week to 3 kids using iPads without headphones in a restaurant! Either a polite request to the parents or, if you didn’t feel able to, a request to the staff to do something about it.

We all have to do our bit to teach people that headphones are needed in public. I sweetly ask anyone who does it near me (usually on trains) ‘excuse me, have you got headphones? We don’t all want to listen to that’

It was the village pub, daughter’s friends are staff she would have killed me for saying anything. Always would be afraid of these things escalating

OP posts:
PeriAndBright · 16/08/2026 22:45

Sadly it’s not just kids doing this so no 100% guarantee. I went out for a nice dinner, late time, so definitely an adults only atmosphere, and as we were finishing up, a bloke who had just come in started watching YouTube videos or sports or whatever on his phone at full blast. His female companion was opposite him, reading on her phone. I was glad we were leaving! Some people either have no self awareness or just don’t care.

Choux · 16/08/2026 22:37

You were very unreasonable not to put a stop last week to 3 kids using iPads without headphones in a restaurant! Either a polite request to the parents or, if you didn’t feel able to, a request to the staff to do something about it.

We all have to do our bit to teach people that headphones are needed in public. I sweetly ask anyone who does it near me (usually on trains) ‘excuse me, have you got headphones? We don’t all want to listen to that’

Mmmm19 · 16/08/2026 22:28

Where do you eat normally? I do sometimes see kids on them but not the volume up. We are also no devices at dinner family (but we have our own difficulties with other things so I try not to judge)

NotAnotherScarf · 16/08/2026 22:25

Why didn't you say something like "I'm sorry but I can't hear myself think, don't you have earphones?"

Then "this is an adult space really, it's really annoying to hear Peppa pig on full volume... please either turn it off or turn off the volume"

We sat next to 3 kids in spoons on Saturday afternoon... headphones, well behaved and wanted to watch what they were watching