banning children from restaurant?

Question

What do you think about it? Personally I support it.

I'm a 27 y.o chef and I can't tell you how many times I've heard children screaming and frankly it makes ME embarrassed. Now obviously, some restaurants cater to children (mcDonald's with the playground, etc) but a child has no business being in a restaurant that has a dress code. As a former child, I can tell you that I wouldn't want seared ahi ahi tuna with asian slaw or steak au poivre, but I'd rather have grilled cheese, corn dog, mac & cheese, kid food. Actually, that sounds good right now.

It does suck for some parents who have a 10 y.o who can sit there, be quiet and follow rules, but unfortunately, one screaming brat ruins it for everyone

What do you think? I don't hate children by any means, but I've seen so many out of control kids that disturb other customers it would make me not want to come back (one time I saw a 3 y.o. run into the kitchen and lifted her skirt up and showed the whole world her disney panties. mom picked her up and just walked out. Ridiculous.

Answer 1

No, I don't support it. Why should kids who do know how to behave be penalised because of the brats?



If it was my restaurant, I'd just chuck out the ones who were being unruly and annoying people.



And, as for kids not wanting tuna or steak, unfortunately some of them do. My son was taken to restaurants a lot, ever since he could sit up at a few months old. When he was about 2/3 he no longer wanted the kids' menu, he wanted the salmon or steak, or whatever I was having. It cost me a bloody fortune!



He never once acted up in a restaurant, even as a baby or toddler. He was too busy enjoying the grub.

Answer 2

Well, if it's a more upscale place, it would make more sense. But if it's just a regular chain restaurant, that would be kind of a dumb move on their part, because they would lose a lot of business since they attract a lot of families. With those kinds of places, I guess I could see maybe having "adult only" hours later at night and banning children after 9 or 10 pm (I don't see why a child needs to be out eating at that time anyway), but again, I think banning kids completely would be a little overboard, and again, it would probably cause the restaurant to lose business.

Answer 3

And how exactly do kids learn to enjoy seared tuna and steak if all they ever eat are burgers and mac and cheese?

How do they learn to behave in public places if you never take them anywhere but McDonald's playland?



If you don't want to cater to young kids with narrow palates, don't have a kid's menu. But if I was willing to pay $50 for my daughter to eat a nice meal, why wouldn't my money be good enough for you?

Answer 4

I could see some fancy restaraunt banning children under a certain age ( maybe 10?) because people pay a lot to go to some of those restaraunts more for the experience than the food, and having children around would ruin that experience. Any place that you pay $50 or more per person, why would anyone want to bring their kids into that anyways?

Answer 5

Businesses can do as they please. It is their right to refuse to serve anyone. It is a free market and they can impose the rules that they wish. However, those places will not get my business. My kids are almost always well behaved and when in the rare occasion they are not we leave quickly. I don't care about what the workers or owners of the restaurant think about my children and their behavior. However, I will not let my kids disrupt other customers.

Answer 6

I remember this made news a year or two back. I think businesses should be able to make whatever rules they want. Some restaurants have dress codes, some restaurants don't allow anyone under 21 in the bar area, period. I see no issue.



I have children, and when we go out to eat with them we go to family-friendly places. If it's date night and we want to go somewhere nice, we get a sitter.

Answer 7

Eh, I think it's stupid. If you don't like children, go out to eat at a later hour at some fancier restaurant full of single people.

Answer 8

why on earth would you need to send out a 10-year-old who is sitting there quietly just because some other child is screaming? nobody suggests kicking out a 24-year-old who is quietly discussing literature just because some other 24-year-old who has had too much wine has gotten loud and is making a pass at the waitress.



if my kids couldn't behave at a restaurant, i'd take them out. they do behave, so i see no reason why they shouldn't be there. restaurants are free to kick somebody out for disturbing other customers, and they seem perfectly content with the profits they get from our business. (and three of my four kids have been ordering routinely off adult menus for years: I guarantee you couldn't tell which dishes my husband and I ordered and which were chosen by one of them.)

Answer 9

I get what you're saying. There are just some places that a child should not be. There are parents that will be offended but if I wanted to go out for a nice quiet evening away from my kid and then have to listen to kids screaming then yeah, it'd just ruin my meal. Even if I didn't have a child I still wouldn't want to go to a 'classy' restaraunt and deal with out of control children. Fast food places? Oh well.

Answer 10

I suppose a restaurant owner can do as s/he wishes, but they probably won't be getting my business as we take our kids out to eat with us most of the time.



Banning kids from restaurants is far from a new idea, but I've never really understood it. I can count on one hand the number of times I've witnessed a child really causing a scene in public and I go out quite frequently.



And, as a chef, I would have hoped you would see the benefits of serving kids higher quality foods, not bland, fat laden "kid food".

Answer 11

am not agree on it..children should experience the ambience and taste the food beside you open an restaurant for people to taste your food.And Children also is part of people, a liveing human existence...http://bit.ly/1iIr1EF

Answer 12

i'm for it. i hate children and im not afraid to admit it. if i ever open a restaraunt ill have a 12 year old age limit.

Answer 13

Kids can becso annoying.