I wouldn't go...simply because I now have a daughter, but I'd pay a babysitter and go there on friday evenings.

I think the age should be raised from 6, however. I was taking a plane flight, and yes, I had a 4 month old baby on a 4 hour plane flight. However, I took care of her ears for her, and she never cried during the whole flight. The woman behind me in line, who had been making snide comments on how I shouldn't be on the plane, had a 8 year old boy. Half way through the plane ride, her boy freaked out, started screaming, beating his head on the window until his nose bled, hitting his mother and the people around him with his fists and feet.

So yes, raise the age from 6, to about 10. If that's not possible, if your child misbehaves, LEAVE. I know I left restaraunts when I was a little child for acting up. Hell, sometimes I just got sent out to the truck and they stayed inside and finished supper while I watched through the windows.

 

Oh, that takes me back... "If you don't be quiet, you'll be waiting in the car while we have our supper!"

 

If we go out for a meal, we tend to go in the evenings, so there's no problem with children. I often go out for lunch, however, and again, I tend to go to places that don't have children there anyway. That's not deliberate, maybe people where I live either don't take their children out to eat, or can't afford to.

In any case, I'm an empty nester, and my son's gf is showing signs of being broody. I'm at that age where as long as the children are well behaved, I tend more to smile indulgently. Walking along the beach on holiday I've found very entertaining watching the little ones. Children aren't always biddable, and on more than one occasion I've steered a howling toddler back to the car trying to look like it's not mine

Even the best planned day can go awry when you have a child in the grip of the 'terrible twos'. If I hear a child crying nowadays I tend to tune in and work out what's going on - are they distressed, tired, stroppy? Very often I'm more inclined to blame the parents for overindulging a screaming child or not giving them clear boundaries. I'm definitely on the child's side most of the time.

I don't really have any strong feelings about the original question however, but a lot of people are highly intolerant of children; usually those who haven't had to cope with them themselves. But the restaurant are perfectly entitled to ban children if that's what they want to do. There are plenty of others who do welcome them.

 

Hell when I was a kid, children did not leave the restaurant table to run about. You sat in your seat and ate your meal, if you were extra good you might get desert. If you misbehaved you were lucky to be sent to sit in the car, hell you were even luckier if you could still sit.

 

When our kids were that young, we only took them to restaurants that were already so chaotic, nobody would noticed if ours added to it. Now that they're a little bit older, we expect them to behave, and for the most part they do. They stay at the table until we're done, they don't speak loudly, they don't catapult mashed potatoes at other patrons.

I can certainly appreciate adults wanting to dine in an atmosphere of peace and quiet, and I wouldn't hesitate to patronize a restaurant that made sure of it by excluding young children. Nothing makes me crazier than parents of small children who think everyone else should tolerate the little darlings no matter what degree of mayhem they create.

 

God yes.

Kids annoy me greatly in public places...not all kids, just the ones with parents who can't control them or have ever taught them there is a certain way you are expected to behave in public.

It's mainly kids with chav parents that drive me nuts...however that said, some of the parents are just as bad now days!

 

+1

 

I work at a casual restaurant and I would absolutely love to ban all kids under the age of 6. While some kids are well behaved and the parents have done a good job raising them, more often then not, there are kids running all over the restaurant. They scream and make a huge mess! It's so annoying and the parents rarely seem to adequately tip enough to compensate for all of this behavior. Plus, it's not my job to make sure their kids are staying out of cabinets and aren't running out of the doors or back into the kitchen.

 

You have my permission to tie up their hands and feet and put duct tape over their mouths.

 

SMASH

Sit there and laugh as their little bones crush
Whimpering screams an adrenalin rush
I don't care if they're good or bad
Whiny little kids just makes me mad
Driving my car as they walk to school
Running them over is so damn cool
Mom and Daddy cry as their little one dies
Smashing little kids a superlative high
Smash goes the heads of all the little children
Smash Smash
Smash Smash Smash
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​

 

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There are no bad children, just bad parents.

 

I concur. I understand parents are trying to "educate" their offspring in the outside world..
Huzzah..
However, they could at least practice at home first before entertaining us all with the behaviour of their brood.

Odd tangent, I once had dinner with some freinds who had a very well behaved child of about 4-6? Polite, mannerly..Parents were "neo-hippy's" as they called themselves. Vegans.. blech

Point.. yes parents are to blame, their kids, their responsibility.

 

I suspect most people are like that - in today's age, it's actually heartening to see children who are well behaved!

I am certain my parents would have reason to sympathise!

Interesting point about firm boundaries - I absolutely agree. When my sister and I were little, there was a rule: everything we like to do is a privilege, and getting to do it is entirely dependent upon how well we behaved the last time we did it.This applies from everything to getting to stay up late to eat supper with the 'adults' - parents - all the way to going out to restaurants, and everything in between.

It's a simple maxim, and one that teaches the child very quickly that if they want to be treated as old as they think they are entitled to be treated, then they have to behave accordingly.

You sound like a woman after my mother's heart - and I mean that in the kindest possible fashion!

 

Whereas not all kids under six course issues in restaurants the fact remains that some do, I would love that to happen to a few of my favourite restaurants, then we can work on how to control the hen night girls or the obnoxious drunks who turn up at the curry house at midnight.

There are plenty of issues with noise in restaurants and kids aren't the worst just easiest to solve, parental control if the child misbehaves send the whole party home.

 

Whereas not all kids under six course issues in restaurants the fact remains that some do, I would love that to happen to a few of my favourite restaurants, then we can work on how to control the hen night girls or the obnoxious drunks who turn up at the curry house at midnight.

There are plenty of issues with noise in restaurants and kids aren't the worst just easiest to solve, parental control if the child misbehaves send the whole party home.

 

I hear that, my father would tell us that if we acted up in public it would be our ass in private. The staff at whatever eatery we went woulld always comment on how well behaved we were.

 

When our kids were young, we set limits. We were as consistent as we could be in terms of giving consequences for breaking those limits. As a result, we could take them pretty much anywhere we wanted to go and know that we would get through the event with little drama.

We used to eat at a "nice" restaurant a couple of times a week. The kids stayed in their seats, used "indoor" voices, and ate with decent table manners. They were each allowed to bring a book or quiet toy to keep them occupied if they finished dinner before we did. Did they wind up in the car for an attitude correction a few times? Sure. We took care of things at the first sign of trouble. As a result, we were welcomed into the restaurant, even though the next youngest person in there was usually a teenage busboy.

The first time we went in there, our kids were 3 and 4. We got a few raised eyebrows when we walked in, but we got smiles the next time.

 

Yes i think that is the best solution. When i was younger and myself and my siblings went to a nice restaurant we saw it as a treat, and we knew we had to behave ourselves or we wouldn't get to go again. I have seen some very misbehaved children, not just at restaurants; there parents seems to be totally unware of it. However like i previously said, if all families with young children were told that should the children misbehave, they will be asked to leave, then i'm sure we wouldn't even know the children were there.

 

hmmmm

this is a very difficult one.

young kids at that age, can be a bothersome at times.

BUT, teens ( some teens ) can be far WORSE, at that. ESPECIALLY with
all the SWEARING. every other word is FUCK, SHIT, DAMMIT,
and so on.

give me a break. plus, you have parents with little one's too, who have to
hear this crap too.

i would say, BANNED THE TEENS between the hours of 12-mid to 6 am.
during the weekdays, and 12-mid to 4 am on the weekends.

if your out of town, ( SORRY, blame the sorry ass parents, for
raising a bunch of selfish & non-considerate ass brats ).

we pay these people's WAGES/SALARIES.

we deserve to eat in peace & quiet. whether alone or with a date.

WE ALSO TIP BETTER than a CHEAP ASS TEEN.

so, HELL YEAH, I WOULD GO TO THIS PLACE.