What makes a family friendly pub? Share and you could win £100 NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

As part of the Mumsnet Family Friendly Programme we'd love to know what you think makes a family friendly pub and to name any pubs in your local area which you believe have a great family friendly environment.

Here's what Carrie Longton, co-founder of Mumsnet says "we all know you can have a great family time in your local - but also that it can often be disappointing. We'd love to know what's good and not so good in your local pub - or even about one you discovered on holiday!"

So how do you think pubs could be more family friendly? Should they include a nutritious family friendly menu? Maybe there should be adequate baby changing facilities in the bathrooms? Perhaps slot machines should be replaced with a toy chest for younger children? How about older children - how would you like to see them catered for in pubs? What about customer service - how important is this? Would well-insulated outdoor areas do it for you? What do you NOT want to see?

We'd also love to hear what local pubs you think have a really good family friendly environment. Please state their name, and location (town or village) where they're situated.

Add your views (and pubs!) and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £100 Amazon voucher!

Click here to learn more about companies who are working to make the UK a more family friendly place

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&C apply

Nice enclosed outdoor play area
Selection of indoor toys/drawing activities
A salad bar or similar so they can be busy with that whilst the main meal us cooked
No children's menu of just x, y, and z with chips. Mine would prefer a smaller portion of the full menu choices
We have one very fussy eater and it can spoil a family meal out if she won't eat anything on the menu. A few very basic choices like cheese on toast, boiled egg and soldiers etc would give her a familiar choice.

We like those that have a good decent menu for children and a relaxed and laidback atmosphere for children. Colouring sheets or something to play with is a bonus. One of our local family pubs has a little play area, it's always very busy in there.

We like a pub where there is space for the kids to be entertained; whether outdoor with some decent play equipment, a small soft-play area or some colouring books and pencils. I also appreciate tolerance towards kid-related noise! I do try to ensure my DDs are always well-behaved when we are out for a meal, but it's not always possible to keep them absolutely quiet - there's nothing worse than hearing people tut or mutter because your child's let out a loud squeal!

Clean toilets are a must and my children prefer quiet hand driers or paper towels rather than real noisy blasters! Yes, baby changing in unisex areas rather than just the ladies toilets.

Regular kids eat free or kids eat for £1 offers are great-especially those pubs that let two children eat on the offer price for each adult.

Some sort of vegetable option with the meal and cordial offered rather than fruit shoots please.

I don't mind the meals that include desserts, especially desserts you can take home. For example, our local fayre and square pub, Thornton Lodge in Thornton, Lancashire offers small pots of ice cream as the dessert on the meal deal. This is great for when we're in a rush and we can just take the desserts home!)

Play areas are great. Free play areas please! Outdoor play areas are good but indoor soft play areas are much better- whatever the weather they can be used!!! Especially good around here when it's always too cold/windy/rainy!

Forgot to say, food served quickly is always best, children can be impatient if hungry sometimes. The option of colouring/stickers is good if there is no play area or else a salad bar which helps to take up time before the main course arrives.

A good family friendly pub requires good changing facilities, friendly staff who provide activity packs for kids if required, if there is a garden that has swings and slides then that is a bonus. The interior should be spacious and the menu should be flexible with lots of kids options.

We also like going to pubs that have play centres in them so the kids can go and run off the food after eating.

We went to a great pub after a day out at longleat - no play area or anything like that, but the staff talked directly to my then 7 year old, asking about her day, taking her order. They took time to treat her like a customer and she loved it. The food came quickly, was delicious and reasonably priced. That was worth 10x a pub that calls itself family friendly by having a slide in the garden.

We go somewhere locally which is cheap and cheerful but ticks a lot of boxes with indoor and outdoor play, jugs of squash and plastic glasses and a good kids menu. With younger kids good changing facilities are a must, as are plenty of high chairs. I can forgive a lot from somewhere which has friendly and pleasant staff.

Decent beer garden, baby change facilities in both the women's and men's loos. More kids menu options than the standard 'golden brown' (fish fingers, sausage, burger and CHIPS etc). Quick service, the last pub we went to as a family we waited 90 minutes for our food, the kids were hungry, bored and tired when it arrived. We won't be going there again in a hurry.

Play areas, a good kids menu, plastic drinks glasses and cheery staff with friendly clientele.

somewhere with lots of space around the tables for prams, a nice garden area with swings and simple food catered to fussy eaters

inside or outside play area with seating near by to be able to watch the kids

A good selection of food that comes quickly

Personally I find the staff to be the most important aspect. Like they either make or fail the experience.

Space to move! I like a place where tables aren't crammed together and you can move around without knocking into other people. Also places that have activities to entertain the kids like puzzles/colouring etc. I get annoyed when child friendly pubs have them toy grabbing machines.

We like to see great food options, ideally smaller portions of adult dishes rather than nuggets or burgers etc. Also a good, enclosed outside space so that children can play safely. If it has some play equipment, even better. A section of the indoor space set aside for families and some colouring pictures and crayons also helps.

I think you need several things to have a family friendly pub. You need to have the correct facilities for a start. Baby changing facilities, an outdoor/indoor play area or both. The menu needs to not be complex just a few kids options as young kids find it difficult to make decisions sometimes. For older kids maybe a arcade section/pool table/ table tennis area. Always keeps them happy when they're occupied.

Clean highchairs
Shorter waiting times for food/ willingness to bring kids food out first
Comfortable seating for breastfeeding
Baby change facilities
Availability of small food portions/ flexibility to adapt meals to suit kids
Some sort of entertainment eg colouring books and crayons, or a small play area

A garden with play area, clean toilets, activity sheets like colouring, and a landlord that doesnt hate children.

As well as the obvious things like changing rooms,play areas etc, I think flexibility is really important. If you're going out for a family meal, then the pub may have to cater for many different tastes. Eg our family group often consists of elderly grandparents, middle aged adults, teenagers and children of assorted ages, so traditional meals and more modern cuisine needs to be available (including a vegetarian selection for two of us). If the veggie option is either missing or not very good, then the pub will lose out on a massive sale, as the whole party of us will go elsewhere.

Thanks for all the tips and comments - snowgirl1 wins the £100 voucher. Well done.

Always have smaller portions of the adult menu available, instead of processed rubbish on the kids menu.

Designated family areas, with much more space between tables. Activity packs for all children too

A kids menu with healthy options and ideally a play corner

For me a good family pub has a good childrens menu - that isnt just junk food. Childrens activities such as colouring items is a bonus. A nice play area is a benefit in summer. However the most important factor is the staff and clientele. I have been to a few family pubs that have the above but are still not a place I would like to spend time with family.

For me a play area would be perfect but as long as there's good staff I would say that's the most important thing - you dont want to b waiting half hour to order with grumpy children, and I love when there's a good range on the children's menu