Dining With Children – What To Look for In a Restaurant

Depending on the restaurant, eating out as a family with young children can either be a joy or an experience you’d rather not repeat. But it doesn’t have to be the latter.

With a little forethought and proper planning, dining out with your children can be an extremely rewarding experience and can even give them a head start in developing positive social skills. Just follow these simple tips on how to choose a restaurant that caters to the needs of your little ones.

A Children’s Menu is a Must
Trying new and exotic foods always makes for an exciting dining experience. While children can be notorious for being finicky eaters, a well thought out children’s menu can allow them to join in on the fun without overwhelming their little taste buds.

Broadening your child’s culinary horizons from a young age can be tricky, but when you find a children’s menu with favourites such as chicken souvlakia, calamari and passtisio, you know you’re onto a winner.

Additionally, the smaller portions featured on children’s menus allows for less waste and saves you money.

A Restaurant with High Chairs Cares
This one is simple, but a necessity. High chairs keep your children safe and secure and help to prevent unnecessary and dangerous tumbles. They also make it much easier for to assist your child with their meal of choice, if they haven’t mastered the art of cutlery just yet.

Eat at Off Peak Hours
If you have young children, you have probably already made the shift to an earlier dining routine. Restaurants that offer an early dinner service allow you to maintain your child’s dining habits. Plus, before 7pm restaurants are often less busy, meaning you can enjoy your dining experience without the hustle and bustle of large crowds and food service will generally be much quicker. Hooray!

Find the Element of Fun
Generally, children aren’t known for their long lasting attention spans, particularly at the dinner table. Find a restaurant that provides children’s activity packs to help keep your little ones entertained and allow you to enjoy your night out. Not all activity packs are made equally, so make sure you find a restaurant that has a good range of activities to keep your child entertained for the duration of the meal.

Just a Spoonful of Sugar
It’s no secret that kids love sweets. The smile on their faces when they see that bowl of ice cream coming towards them is second to none. Find a restaurant that offers a complimentary dessert as part of the children’s menu.

Posted in