Restaurant bans children under 5.

[ruby59]

https://www.aol.com/article/finance...increase-in-sales-after-banning-chi/22030496/

I think this is a great idea for those of us who are tired of paying $$$ for a meal only to have a small child behind you touching your hair and back or kicking your seat, having a temper tantrum because he cannot have his desert first.

Mother at one table fed her baby which promptly threw up afterwards. That killed the meal for everyone around them.

I wish they would do it with some movies shown during the evening. Last time the kid behind me screamed for half an hour because he had to go to the bathroom but neither parent felt like taking him because they would miss that part of the movie. Well, people in my area could not hear it either, thank you.

 

[monarch64]

LOL. What's the debate/scandal here? It's a fine dining restaurant that doesn't open until 5. Everyone knows children shouldn't be seen after 5 when one is donning cocktail attire and going out for a "classy" (word choice of the restaurant used to describe itself within website) evening! Plus parents shouldn't be drinking wine around their children; it's unseemly and unsafe. Keep those little seersuckered kiddos with their nannies, please!

ETA: also I hope they spend some of that increase in sales $$$ on a better website, more than 3 pics in their "gallery," and a more extensive and better wine list.

Seriously, though, is this supposed to incite some sort of debate? I would never take my daughter to a similar restaurant I went to last week. I know the owner, who has three children under 8, and can assure you his kids never eat at daddy's place, either. If this was, say, Olive Garden? Maybe an issue. But it's not. So what's the big deal?

Lastly, I would like to use this opportunity to say that people past a certain age, maybe 70? should have to give up their driver's licenses. The rest of us on the road don't appreciate driving behind grandpa who seems to have no idea where he is most of the time.

 

[ruby59]

LOL. What's the debate/scandal here? It's a fine dining restaurant that doesn't open until 5. Everyone knows children shouldn't be seen after 5 when one is donning cocktail attire and going out for a "classy" (word choice of the restaurant used to describe itself within website) evening! Plus parents shouldn't be drinking wine around their children; it's unseemly and unsafe. Keep those little seersuckered kiddos with their nannies, please!

Seriously, though, is this supposed to incite some sort of debate? I would never take my daughter to a similar restaurant I went to last week. I know the owner, who has three children under 8, and can assure you his kids never eat at daddy's place, either. If this was, say, Olive Garden? Maybe an issue. But it's not. So what's the big deal?

Lastly, I would like to use this opportunity to say that people past a certain age, maybe 70? should have to give up their driver's licenses. The rest of us on the road don't appreciate driving behind grandpa who seems to have no idea where he is most of the time.

Is that a bad thing?

I am 57 and I doubt you would want to drive behind me either. I am the blue haired lady, whose seat is very close up to the steering wheel, driving way below the speed limit.

I help prepare and package the food for meals on wheels, but they will not let me drive because they claim the food would be cold once I got there.

I would give up my license in a minute if I could get someone to drive me.

 

[kenny]

The driver's licenses they take from the 70+ yr olds should be given to the under 5 yr olds so they can drive around while their parents are dining out.

Seriously, Monie, the debate/scandal is being seen as anti-kid.
To many people kids are sacred, especially the always-charming darlings carrying THEIR SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE DNA into the future.

 

[AGBF]

Lastly, I would like to use this opportunity to say that people past a certain age, maybe 70? should have to give up their driver's licenses. The rest of us on the road don't appreciate driving behind grandpa who seems to have no idea where he is most of the time.

I am not yet 70, but I am heading there and I would challenge you to a driving test. My vehicle is not meant for high speeds; it would flip over on curves. However, I have driven up and down the northeast corridor in the "fast lane" keeping up with traffic for the past ten years, putting 200,000 miles on two Jeeps. I can also maneuver in and out of spaces that most younger drivers seem unable to manage. I look at them and think, "amateurs!"

Deb

 

[monarch64]

Damn it Kenny FIX THAT SPELLING ERROR. I am anti-misspellings!

 

[kenny]

What spelling error?

 

[monarch64]

I am not yet 70, but I am heading there and I would challenge you to a driving test. My vehicle is not meant for high speeds; it would flip over on curves. However, I have driven up and down the northeast corridor in the "fast lane" keeping up with traffic for the past ten years, putting 200,000 miles on two Jeeps. I can also maneuver in and out of spaces that most younger drivers seem unable to manage. I look at them and think, "amateurs!"

Deb

Deb, obviously I was talking about men over 70. DF probably drives like a snail, for example. Oh wait, is he 70 yet? I digress...
How fortunate we are to live in a society in which our greatest worries are next to whom we dine...
I'm going outside now. Beautiful day!

 

[ruby59]

Monarch, I will start another thread on my feelings for kid leashes, for when you come back.

 

[AGBF]

Is that a bad thing?

I am 57 and I doubt you would want to drive behind me either. I am the blue haired lady, whose seat is very close up to the steering wheel, driving way below the speed limit.

I help prepare and package the food for meals on wheels, but they will not let me drive because they claim the food would be cold once I got there.

I would give up my license in a minute if I could get someone to drive me.

They could pair us together, ruby. I'll be over to pick you up with the food you packaged as soon as i've whacked Monnie up the side of the head for for the disrespect!

Deb

 

[telephone89]

Lol I wish we had more restaurants like this. I used to frequent a pub near my house but they started allowing kids until a certain hour (7? 8?) and it's annoying.

Add me to the list of folks who'd prefer a driver lol. When my husband and I fantasize about winning the lottery he thinks about all the cars he'd buy. I'd keep my car and hire a driver lol.

 

[Calliecake]

Call me crazy but I would hope most people would be considerate to other diners and not bring a small child to an upscale restaurant. That's what Olive Garden's are for. They are many kid friendly restaurants. If you what to go out to an upscale restaurant, leave your children with a sitter.

I can not see me ever wanting to give up my drivers license. I can't get to a good clothing sale quick enough! I've also always had long driving commutes for work. I'm happiest driving on an expressway.

 

[ruby59]

Call me crazy but I would hope most people would be considerate to other diners and not bring a small child to an upscale restaurant. That's what Olive Garden's are for. They are many kid friendly restaurants. If you what to go out to an upscale restaurant, leave your children with a sitter.

I can not see me ever wanting to give up my drivers license. I can't get to a good clothing sale quick enough! I've also always had long driving commutes for work. I'm happiest driving on an expressway.

If that were true, then restaurants could have left it up to their good judgment rather than having to ban them.

My husband and I do not go out to an expensive restaurant often, but when we do it always for a 8 PM reservation hoping the late hour will not be kid friendly.. And even at that time, you have young restless kids running around their table and yours or screaming because they are tired and their parents are taking too long.

Once we had to move from our seating because of rambunctious kids almost knocking things off our table as they ran by it.

 

[Jambalaya]

What about children sitting at bars? I've seen this a couple of times. The last time was a few weeks ago, I was at a cosy inn that's a hotel and has a fine dining restaurant, and then an ordinary restaurant set up like an Irish pub. There was a bar in the pub. Sitting at the bar was a grandfather, a father, and two kids, who were about age 9 and 11, at a guess. They weren't noisy, but I found it very jarring to see children sitting at a bar. The other time, the kid was about four and just sat at the bar with his dad, and the bartender was OK with it. Again, the kid was well-behaved. Maybe I'm just old, but four seems on the young side to be sitting at a bar!!

 

[Jambalaya]

It's not just kids who ruin meals. I was with a group once and I had to drive one member home because the screeching woman on the other side of the room had brought on one of his migraines. And I had a birthday meal completely destroyed by the woman next to my table. She was absolutely tiny, can't have weighed more than 100 pounds, but you would not believe the big noise this small person produced. I have never heard an adult scream so much. I wanted to kill her!

I want to make a T-shirt for my next restaurant visit: "It's not just kids who ruin meals. Adults scream their heads off, too."

 

[ruby59]

I am getting some very conflicting answers but in some jurisdictions that would not be allowed either by law or because of an astute bartender.

At some casinos anyone under 21 is not even allowed on the gaming room floor because alcohol is being served to patrons.

I wonder would have happened if the police had cause to enter that establishment and saw it.

 

[Jambalaya]

I am getting some very conflicting answers but in some jurisdictions that would not be allowed either by law or because of an astute bartender.

At some casinos anyone under 21 is not even allowed on the gaming room floor because alcohol is being served to patrons.

I wonder would have happened if the police had cause to enter that establishment and saw it.

I wondered the same thing, Ruby. IMO children sitting at bars is wrong on so many levels. Actually, it enraged me as I see bars as one of the last bastions of peace where you can get away from kids if you want to eat and drink in peace. I had half a mind to call the police myself - although I didn't, of course. There are virtually no public spaces for adults-only, but I thought bars were a guarantee...seems not. That's what made me angry - that bars are so obviously unsuitable for kids, that I can't believe anyone would take a child to one. (I mean, actually sitting at the bar counter, not at a table in the same room as a bar.)

 

[monarch64]

Yesterday I was at Target with my daughter and returned to my car only to find I couldn't get in it. (Mine is the blue one on the left.) We had to climb in through the passenger side, I had to fold my driver's side mirror in and back out VERY carefully--after making several semi-circles around my vehicle to strategize the best way to maneuver the car out of the spot without scraping the white van next to me. We emerged unscathed thanks to my expert driving skills, but I was pretty angry about it...for five minutes.

And then I got over it, and thought about what life must be like for the person driving that van. They had a series of stickers on their back windshield denoting that they are a family of four with two small children, and a dog. I came to the conclusion in my mind that the mother or father of the children must have needed an hour alone away from the chaos of family life at Target and was so harried and worn out that they parked shoddily and without consideration of others--but they probably spend every other hour of their days considering others over and above themselves. I forgave, and I will forget. No one else has the power to control my emotions or thoughts and I won't let them by deciding they've ruined my day or my dinner or whatever.

A kid throwing up in a restaurant? Big deal. A person with a high pitched voice in a restaurant? Eh, ok, annoying but easy enough to tune out. If I let every little thing like that bother me I would walk around in a very angry state of mind, something I watched my father do constantly over the years. What a sad existence. I cannot even imagine living in that state of mind and refuse to do so.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Monnie, you have a great perspective and how lucky for your daughter to learn that.

The state I live in allows children to sit at the bar with their parents. I guess they feel that decision is a parenting one, not legal one. I admit it is jarring to see a young child sitting at the bar.

 

[ruby59]

We had to climb in through the passenger side, I had to fold my driver's side mirror in and back out VERY carefully--after making several semi-circles around my vehicle to strategize the best way to maneuver the car out of the spot without scraping the white van next to me. We (said Monarch)

________________________________________________________________________________

LOL Monarch. With my driving skills I would have left the car there and taken an Uber home.

If I had attempted that it would have been a demolition derby.

 

[AGBF]

Yesterday I was at Target with my daughter and returned to my car only to find I couldn't get in it. (Mine is the blue one on the left.) We had to climb in through the passenger side, I had to fold my driver's side mirror in and back out VERY carefully--after making several semi-circles around my vehicle to strategize the best way to maneuver the car out of the spot without scraping the white van next to me. We emerged unscathed thanks to my expert driving skills, but I was pretty angry about it...for five minutes.

And then I got over it, and thought about what life must be like for the person driving that van.

Good save, Monnie. I look at these situations as challenges. They seem to happen frequently. One occurred at a Starbucks about a month ago. I was steaming at first. At the other driver's arrogance. I then I decided to take getting in the driver's or passenger's side door and behind the wheel as a challenge of how thin or agile I was. I had to squeeze through an impossibly (truly impossible) narrow space on the driver's side or get into my Jeep on the passenger's side and do gymnastics in my winter gear and climb over the console to get behind the wheel. She was too close for any human to enter on the driver's side. Luckily I am very limber, so I did the latter, despite the heavy clothing and the coffee. When the stupid woman came out and moved her car as I was settling into the driver's seat I was almost disappointed that I had not had to complete my maneuvers before she arrived. Of course, by then, I wasn't going to enter via the driver's side door.

Deb

 

[kenny]

Monie, NO NO NO.
You did it all wrong.

You should have followed Yvonne Criddle's advice.

 

[AGBF]

kenny-

That was really wonderful. I had to bring my father's aide, Derrick, into my office to see the video as soon as I had seen it. If I found it funny, he found it even funnier. He was laughing out loud again and again as the video played!

Deb

 

[kenny]

Daniele Gaither, the actress who portrays Yvonne Criddle, is a genius!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She nailed the entitlement problem so rampant today in America.
I love her.

I love cutting edge comedy, especially Louis C.K., that holds up a mirror and drags us forward as a society.

It says, "Hey! Look how you actually suck!".


....... another classic ......

The sexist pervy man is actually played by the actress, Nicole Randall Johnson.
Who, better than a woman, knows how creepy men actually can be?

 

[Dancing Fire]

Deb, obviously I was talking about men over 70. DF probably drives like a snail, for example. Oh wait, is he 70 yet? I digress...
How fortunate we are to live in a society in which our greatest worries are next to whom we dine...
I'm going outside now. Beautiful day!

I usually drive 5 MPH over the speed limit...

 

[Kbell]

What about children sitting at bars? I've seen this a couple of times. The last time was a few weeks ago, I was at a cosy inn that's a hotel and has a fine dining restaurant, and then an ordinary restaurant set up like an Irish pub. There was a bar in the pub. Sitting at the bar was a grandfather, a father, and two kids, who were about age 9 and 11, at a guess. They weren't noisy, but I found it very jarring to see children sitting at a bar. The other time, the kid was about four and just sat at the bar with his dad, and the bartender was OK with it. Again, the kid was well-behaved. Maybe I'm just old, but four seems on the young side to be sitting at a bar!!

I've seen children in bars... usually where they serve a full menu of food - meaning it's not just a bar. A restaurant with a bar in it - like any 99, Applebees, Chili's, etc etc. like what you've described, I do not consider a "bar". Even if the theme is Irish Pub it's still a restaurant. I personally wouldn't seat children AT the bar area but if the establishment allows it I wouldn't complain unless I was trying to sit at said bar for drinks & there weren't any more seats but there were open tables. Were there TVs behind the bar? Maybe they were trying to watch sports.

 

[Jambalaya]

To me, a bar is a bar - they're all long things with stools where lots of alcohol is served and where the conversation is often very adult, too. I was very surprised when I saw a four-year-old sitting at a bar, but perhaps that's just me.

 

[arkieb1]

A lot of hotels, bars, restaurants etc don't permit children in them for the sake of the childless that don't like noise and grumpy old people who don't like kids.

I used to hate flying on planes on long haul flights with lots of crying and whinging kids until I had a child then I became more tolerant. That being said I still hate the kid or the adult that insists on kicking the back of my seat the whole way I have a bad back so that usually makes me want to punch someone.....

 

[Kbell]

To me, a bar is a bar - they're all long things with stools where lots of alcohol is served and where the conversation is often very adult, too. I was very surprised when I saw a four-year-old sitting at a bar, but perhaps that's just me.

I agree about the adult convo. If it were a busy bar area it's probably a very bad idea for a responsible parent. If it was a quiet time with hardly anyone at the bar I don't judge especially if they were well behaved and not bothering anyone.

 

[monarch64]

Monnie, you have a great perspective and how lucky for your daughter to learn that.

The state I live in allows children to sit at the bar with their parents. I guess they feel that decision is a parenting one, not legal one. I admit it is jarring to see a young child sitting at the bar.