This is the all important question. And, in an attempt to be fair and consistent, we wanted to use what amounts to a scoring guide. So, in order to judge the kid friendliness of a restaurant or brewery, here are the questions we ask of the place.
what makes a restaurant kid friendly?
- Play Area - does the restaurant have a designated area for the kids to play in? Is the play area fenced off? What type of activities are available in the play area? This one is usually the hardest to find of all of the items, but, if it's there, it's a massive bonus because it allows everyone to relax a bit more: the kid gets to run around, tire out... 🙂 and the parents get that added layer of relaxation. Double bonus points if the play area is enclosed.
- Changing Tables - have them in either a common area, like Batch, or in both male and female bathrooms. Come on, folks. What freakin' year is it?
- Seating - obvious one here is, do they have high chairs. If no high chairs, then what kind of seating? Seats with backing come in first place, benches come in second place. Unless your kid is older and can deal with either.
- Kids Menu - debated calling this simply the "Food" section, but know that a kid specific menu is important for a lot of families. We're currently in the, "everything tastes good for the most part" phase with our kid, so a specific menu isn't necessary, but it ain't just about us :). The food being good in and of itself, regardless of who it's for, is unquestionably important (which gets to the kids menu thing generally - why do we equate kids menu with, what is often, junk food like fried X, but I digress)
- Staff - either requires a bit of training (put the people with a kid/s at a bigger table) or you get lucky and your staff have their own kids and know what that entails when dining out. Toddler? Might want to get their order in and food out first. Please don't place a steaming hot plate or sharp items right in front of the kid. Would you put something you don't want your pet to mess with right in front of them?
- Events - the least important factor, in our view, but important in sum. Kid friendly events, especially if you check all the boxes above, are icing on the cake and allows the family to visit outside of merely eating. Great example of kid friendly events, or kid specific events, would be Sour Duck's weekly music event for the former or Cherrywood's kid specific music events on the weekend
What makes a brewery kid friendly?
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