Any tips for taking a young child to a restaurant for the first time?
I have fond memories of my mom and dad occasionally taking my siblings and me to restaurants, where we not only learned how to order off menus, but interact with servers and fellow diners. The reward for the promise of our good behavior: chocolate milk with dinner! Similarly, when my nephew was young, I tasked him with reviewing restaurant’s Roy Rogers when we dined out. (The more cherries in the drink, it turned out, the better the restaurant.) The point is, a meal away from home can be fun.
Chatters Who Have Been There weighed in with great suggestions for easing pint-size diners into restaurants.
- Dining early is better than later, for instance, and in cases where kids are cranky or hangry, adults should ask to have their food come out first.
- Start with a casual restaurant before working up to sophisticated places, parents wrote, and set expectations ahead of time: “We’re going to a fancy restaurant. You will need to sit nicely in your chair the entire time,” one reader offered up as a script.
- Before ordering, coach kids on how to order: Look the server in the eye and say, “May I please have the salmon?”
As a courtesy to fellow diners, noisy or flashy electronic devices are best left behind. Restaurants are a chance for learning how to have pleasant conversation, after all. In the event a distraction is necessary, however, rely on coloring books or small games. Restaurants with open kitchens, where diners can watch the cooks, offer another diversion.
You know it’s time to exit — for everyone’s sake — when a child gets fussy or won’t stay seated. While one parent wrangles the kid outside, the other can wrap uneaten food and take care of the bill.
“Be careful what you wish for,” one parent warned. “If all this works out and you get a foodie kid, it gets expensive fast! They’re not happy to stick to appetizers or share your plate for long.”
More dining out tips:
- How to complain in a restaurant without sounding like a jerk
- Diners lose ‘everything you can imagine’ in restaurants — even kids
- 5 great places to eat in London, from Sunday roast to afternoon tea
- The Fall Dining Guide: best bargains, family-friendly spots and date night destinations in the D.C. region
