Eating out with kids – what makes a restaurant truly family-friendly? Share to win a £100 family meal.

[geemumsnet]

Parents, we’ve all been there - keeping DCs entertained, avoiding meltdowns, and maybe even enjoying a meal ourselves! But what really makes a restaurant great for families?

What are your non-negotiables: a brilliant kid's menu, welcoming staff or the little extras that make all the difference? Maybe you’ve had a standout dining experience you’d love to share. We’d also love to hear your top tips to make dining out with kids easier?

Tell us in the comments and vote in the poll for a chance to win a £100 gift card for Toby Carvery, Harvester or Stonehouse Pizza & Carvery. Enter by Monday 5th May. T&Cs apply.

For child friendly dining with three under 10’s we always look for places that feel welcoming. Places where the tables aren’t already set with adult cutlery and wine glasses asking for little hands to knock them over or put them in their mouths the minute we take a seat. Places that we can pre- book a high chair and it is ready at the table when we arrive. Buffet style dining where the children can almost immediately get some food to prevent the complaints about when food is arriving. Places with both adult and child friendly menu’s to keep everyone happy. But most importantly, places where I’ve cream is on offer for dessert!

A play area I can see from my table

Easy to read kid menu, for kids to choose themselves.
a kids pack, crayons, colouring etc to be occupied in between family chat.
booths or family comfy seating.
friendly service, with actually people taking an interest.
Thanks

Definitely a good kids menu…hopefully not excessively processed.

clean high chairs, crayons and colouring.

Agree with somewhere for kids to play/be taken for a walk while waiting for the food and somewhere where kids are obviously catered for and welcomed, with highchairs etc. TBH, we find IKEA and Pizza Hut are reliable 'go-to's'.

i Would happily go anywhere that has something my child would eat on the menu. It doesn’t have to be a kids menu. Our local Thai restaurant has chicken satay on the starter and my DD has that for her main

Also, although kids are older now when they were in nappies I avoided a couple of local restaurants because we learnt the hard way that they didn’t have changing tables in the toilets!!

colouring or activities to keep the kids busy is a bonus but not essential as we try to take something with us. I really dislike it when they hand out new packs of crayons to everyone, so much waste.

We usually chose places with an interesting kids menu. Generally I go out to eat food I don't make at home so look for Thai, Tapas, Japanese type meals as they always do excellent children's real food options. I am aware I may sound pretentious with these choices but chicken nuggets are reserved for when we need a quick, easy option on a busy day

Thoughtful kids menus - especially with vegetarian options that isn’t just tomato pasta. Option of fruit and vegetables as well as the treats. Nando’s do this well. Love it when you can order a half size of an adult main. Children seem to like an activity sheet.

When my child was a couple of years younger I used to make a beeline for places that had a little children’s play area or outdoor playground if it was a pub. We had a lovely converted barn restaurant near us with a gated play area for under 7s in a corner of the restaurant, which was great if you had kids and great if you didn’t, as you could be seated a good 20 metres away from the hullabaloo!

High chairs that actually meet the table
Childrens cutlery
But its the menu is the absolute must for us, food that isn't just something with chips, and a decent allergens menu! One of my dc has cows milk protine allergy. And doesn't particularly like chips but seems to be all that most places have to offer on a children's menu that doesn't contain milk. it would be nice to have mash as an option for example.
Fruit as a pudding option, or again dairy free options. Often my older one goes without pudding as there isn't a dairy free alternatives for the youngest. Or if there is it's adult sized and he is under 5!

There is a little family run cafe in our town that are amazing with this. And will make any meal dairy free for my little one, and don't charge extra for the privilege!

Quick service, good menu.

Went out recently with the kids aged 4 and 10. I'd say speedy service is a priority for me...had some upset hungry children who waited 1.5 hours for food... Not good. Also, something to keep them entertained eg, colouring or play area and then thirdly, a wide range of choice on the menu.

Fantastic service- if I’m out with my kid I don’t want to get food, drinks etc

Its something they would eat - and a play gym within - or at least a play area where they could let off steam before we sat down to eat. Decent food is essential - I have been to far too many places where I have paid quite a bit for what it seems are own brand chicken nuggets and own brand fries - costing very little - with a huge mark up

We have four children, two with serious allergies, two without. We are always going to pick restaurants that cater well for the two out of the six of us with allergies. This means

• clean and hygienic (food hygiene and allergy hygiene are really the same thing)
• a really good and clear allergen menu and details of all the ingredients (some of my son's allergens are not "too 14" allergens)
• vegan ice cream or even better a range of good vegan and nut free puddings - nothing worse than a crap lolly/sorbet as the only safe option
• staff who take allergies really seriously (the best venues get the manager to take the order) but also don't act like they wish we hadn't come.

Nb. Our local harvester is on the list of places we will eat

Oh , also easy and quick starters meant a lot to us when the children were tiny as it wasn't easy to keep them waiting

And colouring or paper mats with puzzles are good. But I don't really like lots of toys as it means getting up and down all meal

Proper food, not just sausages and chips
Outdoor playground or similar
Fast service

A comfortable, clean environment
Good, nutritious food made fun
Team engagement with the children - the kids love to feel included when ordering
Activities for kids while we wait for meals to be prepared

Quick service. Clean table. High chair available if needed. Space to put the pushchair. Not too noisy or too busy. Outdoor eating area. Safe enclosed area, e.g. I'd avoid eating next to a canal, busy road etc. Toilets which have paper towels. Sink in toilets which is a little lower than usual. Colouring in pens. Pictures of food on the menu. Big windows to watch the world go by.

Proper food for kids - not just nuggets and chips with beans! Plus kids can range in appetite so maybe a small kids plate and a large kids plate option.
My kids always enjoyed those colour in paper placemats with puzzles on them.
Staff that recognise kids are people, though I don’t recall any staff not being kind.
Recognise that children have limited ‘sitting still’ tolerance so speeding up the food always welcome.

We don't have as much money as we used to, so when we eat out it's for birthdays only, so we need to pick a place where the staff are really engaged with the children, and will allow us to have a birthday cake at the table.
We love Toby's midweek when it is quieter and less expensive than the weekends, we have also had good experiences at Harvester where there are good meal deals for the children.

We would look at the website - and feedback for the place, it's a special occasion when we eat out as a family, so it had to have a varied menu and good childrens menu (mine are good eaters and like a curry or chilli - so we have asked for small adults portions and they have reduced the price for us)
We would go somewhere where there is a play area, and ice cream is a must for dessert (miss the pizza hut days with unlimited ice cream with sweet toppings)

Good food options that go beyond chicken nuggets! Some form of basic colouring in and pencils that work is a good way to keep them occupied. I want it to be clean and inviting, and also not too noisy as it’s distracting.

If taking children out I think the kids menu would swing it for me. It’s a bit bleak to just have nuggets and chips as their only options. I love when places do small versions of adult meals.

Also I think little extras like offers (kids dessert and drink included etc) or a toy/crayons would persuade me to go there, and show that kids are valued there.

Menu options that are healthy as well as kid-friendly

Space for kids to move - dedicated soft play area or outdoor swings and slide

Space inside for buggies to be manoeuvred and parked up with ease. Plenty of room for high chairs.

Acoustics that don't amplify shrieks and screams

Strong wifi