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

No to play areas, I don't like to be stood watching DS or having DH watch him when we are out for a meal. Crayons and colouring in sheets are great though.
Portion control on kids meals, they always seem so be tiny or massive, the best ones are the 'smaller appetite kids' 'larger appetite kids' ones, DS who is 5 has a huge appetite.
Fresh fruit juice rather that fruit shoots, I'm not precious but fruit shoots are like crack to DS.
Kids meal served with starters if no kids starter or at least some picky stiff like carrot sticks served for kids with adult starters.
We eat our 4/5 times a month and are yet to find our perfect place!

Some outdoor space, it doesn't need to be a play area but somewhere to sit outside/wander around.

A menu with the option to have smaller portions of the adult meals.

A variety of activity sheets so that you don't have to do the same puzzles/word search every single time.

Child-size cutlery.

A combo type menu would be great for kids, so they could mix and match food. I hate the faff of having to ask for changes in the menu (e.g can we swap beans for peas?etc), it makes me feel like an awkward customer!! So a restaurant with a choice of meat/veggie main, then choice of sides would be a winner for me. Same setup for ice creams would be ace too!

And fast service would be the clincher for me. Hate the total pain-in-the-arsery of keeping hungry kids quietly entertained while waiting for orders to be taken/food to be served/bill to be paid. Not talking fast food speed, but speed of service can be the make or break of a meal out.

A selection of food available in small sizes - and no restrictions on who is allowed to order the small meals.

(Clean) highchairs

Adequate (& clean) baby changing facilities

Outside play area would be good but not essential (don't always get the weather for it anyway!)

Colouring / drawing equipment (that looks as unused as possible!)

Healthy children's menu - please not just chicken nuggets or burger & chips!

Enough space to manoeuvre & park a pram

Big enough tables to fit everyone / everything on!

Child friendly / understanding staff

Free parking

Good family atmosphere, no TV's, no fruit machines. ..

(Don't ask for much huh?! Ha!)

Inside - a soft play area away from the main tables to parents don't have to worry about noisy children disturbing other people, a kids' menu that has healthy food, drawing/activity sheets appropriate for different age groups and changing facilities which are accessible to males and females.

Outside - a good , safe place with a climbing frame, slide etc a designated no-smoking area for families and non-smokers.

Some of these sound like family eateries, not pubs - they don't sound like somewhere you'd also go without kids, which is what I'd like in a pub. I want a pub to be somewhere I'd meet childless friends for a drink, not just somewhere families eat out.

I'd like the place to have baby change space accessible to both men and women, to have high chairs, and to be generally friendly to children. A space where children can play would be nice, but it's not always possible in the city centre, so just being okay with children being children would do.

DD1 loved going to a pub which has a cat inside! Not everyone would enjoy eating their meal with a feline audience I suppose, but we enjoyed the unusual entertainment.

I don't think children should be anywhere near pubs!

A warm welcome from the staff. Plenty of room inside and outside to play and baby changing facilities.

Good food of course, not just a basic menu. It's important to have facilities to change your baby and have a breastfeeding room if not comfortable in public. Lots of things for the kids to occupy themselves, such as colouring, indoor and outdoor play. Generally feeling relaxed with your family and not feeling guilty for a bit of noise!!

Child friendly loos, decent changing area, somewhere outside to play, relaxed attitude to breast feeding and for me they must allow dogs because our dog is a very important part of the family.

That would be a nice play area inside and out, friendly waitresses/waiters. lots of high chairs, milk warming facilities, and finally nice colouring packs for the children to do while waiting for the food.

Indoor and outdoor play areas. Plenty of space between tables and designated family areas. Children's menu and a changing room. Facilities to heat baby food and child friendly cuttelry/plates etc.

Good beer. Good food. Good atmosphere.
Children welcome but not to the exclusion of those who come without kids.

Somewhere for the kids to play floor level in the actual pub. Somewhere with highchairs and a kids menu

Outside play area, children's menus and comfy seating

Good seating areas, no music or good music and a nice menu at good prices.

We went to a "family friendly" pub once. It was soulless and awful. It felt like the aliens from "the stepford wives" had read that we humans like to spend time in pubs and had tried ever so hard to make a simulation of one. Setting out to be a "family friendly pub" is not the way to go.

On the other hand, we have at least three local pubs that are brilliant. Typically with a first priority to be a great pub. excellent real ales, simple but delicious food, battered but serviceable furniture and cozy fires in winter. They are all lovely. They are also welcoming to families - all that's needed is a stack of high chairs, a box of toys in the corner and a baby change table (one that either a dad or a mum can use without feeling that the pub is assuming that mum deals with babies thank you). A bonus would be being open to doing food at a half-portion for half-price for kids, and flexible to allow any adaptions that might be needed for fussy eaters.

But if you're not focusing on being a great pub to start with, serving excellent well-kept real beers (and bringing variety with interesting guest ales) to everyone whether or not they have kids, then none of these things will make the place into an actually nice place to be.

Somewhere where you can be relaxed and the service is friendly. A menu which caters for children.

Most importantly-Other families! Also understanding staff that like children and lots of toilets and tissues.

Space for the children to play outside

Clean tables and floors!! Surely it only takes two minutes to wipe a table and sweep under the table.

And please don't show off by adding a rocket and pea shoot salad to my child's meals - they don't want it!! Stick to food they like - cooked well.