I can see both sides but I feel bad for the kids who love the food there. They’ll have to settle for takeaway their parents bring home if they do that sort of thing!

As a parent of kids under 10 I completely understand!

I get both sides to this article.

Interesting. I see parts to both sides of this.
While children should be free to be children there are time and environments in which they must have boundaries

The restaurant is entitled to attract the clientele they want. I don’t see a problem with this.

Plenty of places you can take the kids. If the venue does not want children then so be it. This will suit many patrons who want a quiet dinner.

Yes what a brilliant idea love it

I can understand the restaurant coming to this decision. On the plus side, having 4 kids, it is sometimes nice to have a meal with just your partner and not be chasing/checking/parenting and to just eat and enjoy.

Totally agree with the managements decision
As stated they haven’t taken this stances lightly and are fully aware it’s going to effort their bottom line
If family’s don’t want to miss out see if there’s a take out option
Kids in a group setting can be a handful (believe. Me) and yes iI have 3 and they are NOT always behaved
Their new policy is to look after their business ,reputation and the majority of their clients
At the end of the day noone would like to see restaurant effected/ close down over a law suit

Yeah we’ve just stopped eating out. We have 4 kids under 6 and they can be a handful. I wouldn’t want to subject others to their behaviour, even though they are fairly well behaved. In saying that I feel more places need a family area that’s seperate to everyone else?

Eating out with children with additional needs can make it even harder, even when they passed this age mark

I am not opposed to this. Sure, you need to take kids out in order to them how to behave while eating out, but that doesn’t mean that every venue is suitable. If they believe it’s becoming a danger, then it’s the right thing to do for their business.

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  • • Ellen replied
    • 25 Feb 2023 , 7:14 am

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  True, not every venue is suitable

I love eating out with my kids, but it is hard work sometimes and I completely agree some places are not for children – I would hate to dine out in a lovely restaurant and have kids spilling red sauce everywhere.

I totally agree with the businesses decision to ban children. This wouldn’t have had to come about if the parents of the children kept an eye on them. I wouldn’t want to go there all dressed up and have a child throw their food at me or be screaming in my ear all the time. The only time we went out with our boys we had 2 rules:- Sit quietly and eat their meal. They knew if they misbehaved they would have to stay home with Grandma.

Businesses have a right to choose what they want to do. I personally know that my child won’t sit still and can be a bit messy sometimes as she learns to feed herself. I don’t take my daughter to restaurants for this reason, I plan to wait until she is a bit older.

You do what you feel right for your business. As a mum, i love dining out with my children as they are all behaved and have never caused us trouble but yes, i do get annoyed when other children don’t in formal spaces where you tend to relax and eat

Toddlers and spaghetti in a restaurant is probably a recipe for disaster haha but seriously the owners need to do what’s right for their restaurant. There are some kids under ten that are probably better behaved than some teenagers I know but I guess they had to draw a line somewhere.

As an ex hospo worker and a new mum I agree that some places should be child free and to be honest I feel better at child friendly restaurants now with open areas so we can lay mats out and have space etc. I will return to the more fancier dining options when bubs is a bit older and we can get someone to look after her but for now I am enjoying the season of going to different venues that I wouldn’t pre baby! And lots of big cider houses and breweries/winearies are usually great for bubs! So much space.

I’m all for it. The lack of respect people now have for those dining, for those working in the restaurants we visit, etc. is just out of control. Parents need to control or manage their children’s behaviour and there is a serious lack of this these days. I’m all for everyone going out for dinner, but it needs to be a good experience for everyone. There are many family-friendly restaurants, I’ve done my time in them. But now my son is a young adult, hubby and I can finally enjoy dining out when and where we want and I cringe when I’m interrupted by screaming kids, kids running around the restaurant, on loud screens, etc. I’ve been there, done that and now it’s my time for enjoyable dining.

Yeh I absolutely back the restaurant on this one. With the rising cost of living, eating out is an absolute treat these days. I’d be peeved if I’d organised a nice dinner out and it was ruined by other peoples kids chucking tantrums/ ruining the vibe.
There are plenty of other restaurants more geared towards kids/ family dining so I don’t think anyone misses out.