Family friendly pubs and restaurants

[crunchymint]

AIBU to think all pubs that serve meals and restaurants are family friendly these days?

This is in answer to those saying if you don't want kids running about screaming, don't go to a family friendly pub. I literally can not think of one place where I live that serves food, that is not family friendly. These must be very rare. I enjoy going out for Sunday lunch, so this means going to a family friendly pub or restaurant.

Can you give me names of the kinds of places you mean then?

Family-friendly shouldn't mean kids can run around and cause havoc. Lots of places have children's menus/play areas/colouring stuff and that's fine so long as the kids sit nicely and their parents don't allow them to misbehave.

However I'm very grateful that we have a lot of affordable, adult-orientated restaurants and pubs around here. £20 for a meal for two including drinks, but no chance of having to deal with screaming children or tantrums.

Availability of cheap/affordable adult-orientated venues must depend on where you live?

And I go out for Sunday lunch. Actually you have to go out late in the evening to avoid kids.

Can you give me names of the kinds of places you mean then?

I think a lot of cheaper, non-child friendly places will be local independents as opposed to chains. All the chain restaurants here have kids menus, colouring etc, whereas the independents are much more geared to adults and older children.

Jamie's italian is shit and overpriced for what it is anyway.

Well as I said, clearly it depends where you live, so unless you live near me I’m not sure what help it is. But sure,

An Indian restaurant called Anoki. I went to a Vietnamese cocktail bar serving food called Coco Tang a few weeks ago. Nada Budaya (Malaysian). No children in the Bell Inn (pub) in evenings (maybe day, I don’t know?).

But you need to know your independents. They are so much more likely to not having children than the boring Zizzi/Presto/Bella Italia rubbish.

We have few independents here, they have been pushed out by chains. Those that are here are either expensive or have kids menus. The exception is one very cheap chinese place where lots of chinese people eat that is bolt food and go. An indian place where the food is awful and seems to be mainly people going there who are drunk, and anither chinese place where the food is firmly stuck in the 70s and it is bring your own drink. Again lots of students getting drunk in there. Not the kind of places I want to go.
There did used to be a wonderful vegetarian place that was cheap with home made food and no children's menu, but sadly the owner/chef died.
The last place that was independent that we used to go to, closed last year and has been taken over by a chain. Rates are high here as it is a well off area and basically cheaper places are chains, with well off middle class people going to expensive places that I can not afford.
And yes I get pissed off because IME it is always very posh families that let their kids run riot as they do not see these places as real restaurants but as playgrounds. They are selfish entitled idiots.

Brilliant chain of pubs I know is more upmarket but has huge stash of games in every pub.. Etch sketch!! Domino's.. Scrabble. My four year old couldn't understand a single one but they kept her quiet and occupied until food arrived!

hi OP

yes, I'm still waiting for someone to tell me where is over 18s only during the day.

the expensive places don't actually have a rule either. I don't eat out much but my lovely sister treated me to a chef posh place for my birthday - except we had to leave before dessert because there was a baby that wouldn't stop crying - not baby's fault, I'm sure she'd have preferred to be at home! - and the staff tried to offer it for free, but I just couldn't listen to it any more.

It depends on a lot of factors - location, time of term/day and sometimes it's just luck of the draw in any given day. We go to plenty of places that have a children's menu and avoid plenty of places too despite their children's menu. Hungry horse being one of them, I've only been to one thanks to a friend arranging a meet up there but it was a loud, filthy place, it's cheap for good reason. Other branches may be different but I don't fancy trying it again, I wouldn't take my children into whetherspoons either. The only pubs I can think of that are non child friendly tend to be old fashioned boozers with just old men and men going in.

WonderLime "Move away from rubbish chain restaurants, go out in the evenings and research your local area."

why do people always say this? We've tried EVERYTHING. and also "go out in the evening" - bit unfair that you have to head out for the 10pm - 2am slot to avoid kids.

surely there are some parents who would like a childfree place to go?

DH and I don't take our DD to more expensive restaurants. They don't tend to be child friendly, as there tends to be a much longer wait for the food and between courses. This does make it tricky with DCs. They also don't have kids' menus, so finding something our DDs would actually like can be a pain.

I love going to expensive restaurants occasionally with my DH or with friends. We only go there with our DDs when we've been invited to a family function.

Family friendly, for me, means that crayons and colouring materials are provided and there's a kids' menu. Preferably there is also a playground or soft play. Or where we can easily take them outside for a walk whilst waiting for food.

There are people who take their kids to more expensive restaurants, the only way to avoid it is to go later in the evening.

I have worked in posh restaurants and they are family friendly, people just choose not to take their kids as it’s expensive but many times I have seen young children come in (usually Sunday lunch time or for a family celebration). I think almost everywhere welcomes children.

I wouldn’t let my kids run around being noisy in any restaurant, pub or cafe (or even McDonald’s) as they should be taught to respect other people.

Wonderlime Just looked that up. Coco Tang is a nightclub, so of course kids would not be in there. I would not want to go to a nightclub either.
And in fairness Indian restaurants here do not have kids menus, but they do kids portions - basically half portions.
But I can also tell you live in a big City with a LOT of restaurants. We do not all live in places with 316 restaurants on Trip Advisor. That is a lot of places to choose from. Please appreciate we do not all live in places with as much choice.

I've never been somewhere to eat where kids are not welcome.
Even much more expensive restaurants that dont offer crayons etc or dont have a specific kids menu I have never been turned away with my children.
Presumably if they were misbheaving we would be asked to leave but I would be leaving already if they ever did.

A lot of places are child-friendly because that's what brings in the money, unfortunately. Lots of cafes/restaurants etc. will host baby groups or parent/toddler meet-ups because that's where a lot of their mid-week custom comes from.

I think (as a general rule) if you want somewhere that's not family/child friendly, you have to be willing/able to pay a little extra, or travel to a slightly more rural location. I'm in rural Cumbria and most places are adult-only - not because there's a rule, just because they don't serve children's food, there's no garden/play area and a lot are off the beaten track - so designed more for walkers or couples on romantic getaways.

The chains (though few and far between here) are always packed with families, as are the big chain-run pubs.

*why do people always say this? We've tried EVERYTHING. and also "go out in the evening" - bit unfair that you have to head out for the 10pm - 2am slot to avoid kids.

surely there are some parents who would like a childfree place to go?*

Again, you need to know your local area. Chain restaurants are great at what they do - family orientated cheap food. But they are clearly not the places you want to frequent if you want to be away from children.

I’ve listed a few places I go to in my local area - I’ve put the time in to research these places and that’s why I know they exist. Evening doesn’t mean 10pm - I’ve never had a problem finding someone quiet after work (6-7pm).

You absolutely need to know your local area. Childfree restaurants do exist. They are nearly always independents. You need to put the research in the find them.

I actually think the majority of children do behave well, or at least that's my experience. But you don't tend to notice well behaved children because they're just there. There's a minority that are very badly behaved (I see them at soft play more than anywhere else) and they're the ones that stick in your minds.

SpringNow Yes I strongly suspect that parents who say this are well off parents who don't give a stuff about poorer diners.
I would not go to a pub like Wacky Warehouse without kids. If that was what was meant by family friendly that would be fine. But it is not. It basically means cheaper places with kids menus. Bloody selfish people.

We live in a world kids live in. I guess restaurants and cafes recognise that the family friendly penny is pretty lucrative.

The problem is the places you like, parents also like.

I agree that unruly behaviour should be discouraged but you won’t find businesses turning people away.

crunchymint It’s a nightclub downstairs after whatever time - on the ground floor it’s actually a coffee house in the day and a cocktail bar serving Vietnamese food in the evenings.

I would not have know this if I didn’t go in. I have no interest in nightclubs either.

Wonder "They are nearly always independents. You need to put the research in the find them."

I'VE LIVED HERE FOR FIFTEEN YEARS.

there aren't any. Honestly, I keep up to date, I'm in local groups, I volunteer locally. I think if someone opened a no-children place here, they would know to notify me IMMEDIATELY as I would do all their marketing for them free of charge.

and I suspect you don't mean childfree anyway. You mean places that don't have bloody crayons. That's not the same as over18s only.

Even Soho is full of children. I miss the druggies and drunks, frankly.