Child only area in restaurant- discriminatory?

[Buyalot]

I’ve returned from a carvery lunch with DH and DD (14 months).

On arrival, despite there being a lot of seats spare in every area, we were told we had to be seated in the dedicated children’s area - an
absolute racket with soft play etc.

AIBU to find this ridiculous?

You had a child with you so no. Hopefully everyone else without them could enjoy their meal further away from the soft play.

Actually I think thats a really good idea.

Not discriminatory at all. It's a licensed premises I presume which can legally discriminate on age in multiple ways.

What an excellent idea. Which restaurant is this? Sounds perfect.

Sounds like they are trying to find a balance to keep as many of their diners as possible happy. Personally I think it's fine to allocate an area to groups eating with young children, with facilities that appeal to many of them.

Sounds like an excellent idea to me.

This is quiet usual OP.

Have you not been out much so far with your DC? Why wouldn't you want to sit with the other kids where they can see /behave more relaxed without having to worry about diners without children resenting you?

Fantastic idea

I don't understand - you have a 14-month old 🫤

If you had a quiet 14-year old who didn't want to be with the younger noisy children I would maybe understand.

Yes it's discrimination but completely lawful discrimination. They are presumably licensed with a bar, so restricting areas is common and correct.

Ridiculous. Of course it isn't discriminatory.

I'm not personally a fan of adult only spaces/segregating children from normal society, but if you choose to take a child to a restaurant which has separate child-friendly/adult only spaces, then you should expect to be seated in the child-friendly area. That's just common sense.

If you don't like it, choose somewhere else next time.

Sounds like an excellent idea to me.

Don’t worry, at some point your kid will be ‘the racket’

thats why we have those areas, so those without children can eat in peace 😂

I initially agreed as being with a 14yr old seems to be taking it a bit far. Then I saw it was 14 months! YABU.

Sounds like a good idea.

Sounds absolutely spot on to me.

It's becsuse of entitled parents like you.

It'll become the normal.
When my DC were small there was a local restaurant that was split with a family area, we enjoyed going, just a few toys and colouring area.

You had a child with you? And you wanted to sit somewhere without children?

Sounds fine to me. It's a carvery so hardly somewhere you go with your children for an ambient setting? Very casual dining is what I would expect there. So I'm not sure why being near the softplay made it so awful for you. Obviously, if you don't like it, you could always not eat there.

Wish more places did it.

It's highly likely to be a licencing condition that children are only allowed in certain areas of the pub.

Fantastic idea!

I can understand wanting to be away from the soft play. When we took DS out for a meal when he was younger, we would teach him to sit quietly with some colouring. We might take him for a short walk outside if he was getting restless. Having to sit next to the soft play would make that harder, because he would wonder why he couldn’t run around, and make my meal less pleasant with children running past and shouting.

Having a separate adult only area is fine, but I wouldn’t go there if the only choice was to sit next to the soft play.

I think it's a 'vote with your feet' situation - don't go back if you don't like it.

I'm childfree and I don't mind sitting near children in restaurants as long as they're not screaming and shouting. I suppose having a dedicated children's area removes any need to feel awkward if they do start making a proper racket.