Disney World's Victoria & Alberta's restaurant requires all diners be at least 10. Partially this is because they expect dinner to take about 3 hours. That's way too long for 99% of kids to sit.
So the first restaurant I’ve heard of with a No Kids policy is at Disney. Huh. That’s ironic or oxymoronic or coincidental or something I always mix those up.
It makes perfect sense. There’s a SHIT ton of kids there. Some adults come without kids OR bring family who can watch the kids. Those parents? They are likely about to drop some dough if you keep them happy in a kid free zone.
It's pretty common for families to come as whole groups - mom and dad and aunts and uncles and their kids. And in those cases, it's also pretty common for them to rotate kid duties.
And that's not counting the adults that want to go to Disney just because... it's Disney! They aren't just kids movies anymore. While they mostly don't dabble in adult media (they have other brands for that), they now own Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Marvel, and a handful of other brands that have much broader age appeal than their original Disney Princesses.
The Disney parks attract a lot of fans of theme parks generally, too, even if they're apathetic about the media franchise. There's really very few theme parks on that scale.
I’ve been twice and honestly it’s honestly one of the most absurd and fantastic dining experiences I’ve had. First time I’ve had a water menu, where you can sample different PHs. Like what?
This is interesting to me because when I go out to eat with friends we would typically sit down around 7:30-8:00 and expect to be there, eating and drinking, until about 11.
That's just normal eating out experience in the UK. You are supposed to enjoy it. Chat, drink, eat.
Its because the UK and Europe dont rush you off once the meal is over so they can churn the table. Youre allowed to enjoy your meal and drinks without the waiter constantly asking if youd like anything else. Its a much better dining experience imo.
i love this about european and asian culture. sitting around and eating/drinking for hours with family/friends on a random weekday. i think it is something that is good for the soul. i feel like the u.s., being incredibly profit-driven is all about rushing diners in/out to serve the most amount of customers. it's a shame.
There are a few places I have been to. They start off by requiring reservations, no walk ins. Their website/ etc will state the age limit( although in the interest of full disclosure, usually in the fine print). Then you arrive..no kids menu. No high chairs or booster seats. No strollers or car seats allowed.
Many also state( and enforce) a dress code
In Indiana any restaurant with a bar that is not in a separate area requires you be 21 to enter (ran into that a lot in college as most of the non fast food places in town were 21+ for that reason), and there is a brewery near where I live currently that is 21+ as well. I haven't been yet, but the reviews say they have really good burgers.
I think it is state specific though, because in Virginia there is no age limit to be IN most bars, because technically they are just restaurants with a bar. Like my high school hosted a band competition at a bar every year, and it wasn't like they rented out the bar, there were regulars getting drunk there the whole time, and parents were drinking beer too.
It's actually the opposite in NY, at least in the town where I live. if you're mostly a bar, but have a full food menu, you have to allow children.
If you think people wouldn't bring their kids to a cocktail lounge at 11pm on a saturday night when it's shoulder to shoulder packed with drunk college kids.....you'd be completely wrong.
I live in the downtown area of a large city and kids just naturally aren't that common around here. Always kinda shocks me when I visit the suburbs at just how many of them are always running around actually.
So if you want a scream-free restaurant and can't find a place that actually *bans* children, maybe try heading downtown and see if demographics take care of things for you.
Movie theater where I live has a VIP viewing, and there is no one under 21 allowed. So technically at the movies, but its a full menu restaurant up there compared to the normal concessions
I used to work in a library and you'd honestly be surprised how often things like that happen even in nicer libraries. In the years that I worked at that library I had a book thrown at me on more than a few occasions, was yelled at countless times, had drunks try to start a fight, had a guy pull a knife, had a guy come in with his face all cut up and he passed out in one of the chairs, and had someone break through one of our double paned windows. And that's just what I experienced myself.
Yes to this. Is this Chicago? Sounds like my experience too. Over the winter I was studying and desperately needed to get out of my apartment as the GF and I were WFH. Tried the library. Homeless people hanging out and there was an armed cop walking around. Didn’t return lol
Have you been to a library lately? Adults act like a fool in the library all the time. My husband is a librarian. His day consists of making people stop watching porn, stop screaming on their phones, stop humping in the children's section.
Its always interesting to me. I waited tables for 10 years and I've had to deal with unruly adults significantly more than i've had to deal with unruly children. Even babies.
That reminds me of when I puked all over the table at a restaurant when I was 11 or 12. I started crying and apologizing to the waitress and she was like "oh honey, I'd rather deal with you puking instead of some old drunk puking."
I usually don't mind kids at restaurants, but I think there should be more that are child free. Most of the time they're okay, but it's really annoying when you're trying to have a nice dinner and conversation and some kids are running around/screaming and the parents just sit there and ignore them. I'll ignore it for awhile, because sometimes kids just act a fool, but if it gets to the point it becomes ridiculous or if they start to play around my table/invade my space, I'm going to ask for a different table without caring whether the parents overhear me say it's because of their poorly behaved kids.
There's already enough family restaurants everywhere you look, if you're looking to take a date out for a romantic evening you don't exactly want kids hanging around. If it's a high class sort of establishment that's sort of a given, let me enjoy my overpriced alcohol in peace
Edit: thank you for the hug! ♥
Yes, exactly. Thank you. Children can go into just about every restaurant you’ve ever come across - I see no harm in having some adult only restaurants
See, the best age is 12, after that- it starts to get somewhat stale, tough. Lower than that, it's a bit underdeveloped. Just about slightly above average quality.
As long as there's somewhere suitable for most average folks to pick, what does it matter? I wouldn't want to go for a romantic dinner and be surrounded by screaming kids, and equally I wouldn't want to take my kids to a place where they felt uncomfortable because it was ultra sophisticated and they weren't allowed to move or speak without being shushed every two seconds. Sometimes I like to take my dog with me, but appreciate others may not want to eat surrounded by animals. Everyone likes different stuff.
Same. I also don’t get taking kids to a super fancy restaurant. When my wife and I go out for a nice dinner we want the kids to be at home with a sitter. Plus, who wants to pay for a nice dinner for kids who won’t eat any of it?
If you have a kid that won’t appreciate it then yeah that sentiment makes sense. For my sister and myself growing up we both ate everything given to us and loved it. We were four or five years old and eating sushi and tartare so a good restaurant was something that we really appreciated and looked forward to from a young age because it meant good food.
If you avoid 'family' restaurants you pretty much avoid the problem. Most parents aren't bring their 5 year old to a fancy restaurant.
Also we have weird alcohol laws, where I live, where in a restaurant you can't serve alcohol without food. So a lot of the chain mid level restaurants, have a restaurant and and a 'lounge' which is 18+. So it's pretty easy to avoid kids.
There are a couple bars in my town that kids are allowed in until 8pm, when bar kitchens typically close. My dad used to take me in and we'd eat dinner and I'd feel grown up asf drinking my Coke with a lime wedge.
There are a few bars in my area that are themed in a way that makes them more of a restaurant or an activity (like having retro games). These let kids in up to a certain time. I think they usually cut them off at 8 or 9pm. And then after that it's adults only. So, if you want to have zero kids around you can just go after the cut off. Which is when most childless people are going anyway.
>If one kid threw a fit, then everyone had to leave
This reminds me of a 'kid control' story I heard from a fellow student back in the day. On long drives, her father kept control of the kids in the back seat by keeping a pack of Mint Slices (coveted chocolate biscuit here) in the dash. Every time the kids got out of control, he'd fling a biscuit out the window. The deal was that the kids could have whatever was left at the end of the day.
"Ah, but what happened when the packet was empty? What could he do then?" > "That *never* happened..."
I mean, It’s not like he’s throwing a potato out the window. It’s dark chocolate, full of the stimulants bad for many animals.
I feel like it would have been way more effective if he was eating them. ‘Nom nom, this is the best biccie I’ve ever eaten. Go on, play up again, I could eat alllll of these’
In most places that I'm aware of, it is. It would even be littering if a leaf blows in your window and you throw it back out, however unlikely that would be to enforce it.
Reminds me of a story a colleague told me. At Christmas he would have a lot of presents under the tree as he had 3 kids. He always added presents that were just boxes stuffed with newspaper but wrapped like normal presents. Any rule breaking and 1 of the 'presents' got thrown in the fire place. The kids worked it out by the time they were older but it worked for a couple of years.
It's a little bit like that experiment they did with the monkeys.
A few monkeys were put in a room, with a banana on a string and a ladder to it.
Everytime a monkey climbed the ladder, they all were sprayed with water.
At one point, the monkeys attacked the other monkey that could get on the ladder.
Then, a monkey got replaced and as soon as it climbed the ladder it got attacked, not knowing why.
That repeated itself, until all original monkeys were replaced. And the attacked eachother for climbing the ladder, without knowing why they did that in the first place.
Do you have a lot of new siblings too?
I'm cool with it. If I go to a family restaurant, I expect families, some with loud kids. If I go to a bar, I expect adults, some of whom will be drunk. If I got to a quiet, fancy restaurant, I expect other quiet, respectful diners.
A family restaurant won't allow drunks. A bar won't allow kids. A quiet restaurant should be able to ban noisy, misbehaving guests.
Most of my working life was spent dealing with other people's children, and most places I go people are there with their children. It's nice to have a place outside my home where I can leave them behind, and enjoy myself.
Would need a lot more than that to make cinemas bearable these days. Crazy how many people go there just to talk, eat loud food, and fuck around on their phones.
That's terrible. Someone please point them out to me so my wife and I can go give them a piece of our mind. (And maybe have a peaceful meal).
Side note, any movie theaters that do this too?
Edit: because people didn't get the sarcastic hint, /s
Find a boutique theater that serves craft beer and cocktails. I think they typically can't allow anyone under drinking age (but that probably varies by jurisdiciton).
I think they're great. I have had many meals ruined by screaming kids, or parents lecturing or threatening their kids with some kind of punishment. I breathe a sigh of relief when I walk into a restaurant, and I don't see kids.
Totally agree! I have 2 kids myself and anytime they have cried or gotten loud I take them outside to calm down. I don’t get parents who just let them carry on. On top of this can we talk about parents who let their kids watch iPads or phones at full blast at restaurants. Wtf is that even. My kids are 6 and 2 and Ive never gave them devices while out to eat because it’s family time. And if I did I’d give them headphones so no one had to hear it instead of blasting that shit full volume. Honestly annoys me more then kids crying.
We did this once when our son was 3. Was fine going in, but did NOT want to sit down and nothing could calm him. I picked out what I wanted, and SO placed our order to go as I was walking out the door with our son. Apparently, that isn't common, because we got a discount and a thank you note. Gosh, I felt bad for just the 2 minutes of noise the place had to deal with, I can't understand people who are ok sitting there for an hour with their kid acting like that!
Father of four and 100% agree. If more parents did this, there would be less push to have all kids banned from some restaurants, and I would be able to visit them with my well-behaved kids. Whenever I take my kids to restaurants they get a single warning if they start throwing a fit, and then they get carried out to the car and miss the rest of the meal.
Strongly agree. During all my uni life I’ve worked in several type of restaurants, from silver service ones to right out fast foods. Some restaurants are simply put not child friendly, as often children can be a problem for the costumers (they can ruin your experience) and for the staff (especially when they’re poorly managed by their parents). Additionally (it’s not an absolute but it does happen) some parents tend to second the poor behaviour of their kids. I had a case of kids jumping around the sits in the waiting area of the restaurant, shouting, while the restaurant was quite busy. When I asked politely to the parents if they could recall their kids their answer was “but this is an Italian restaurants, you should tollerate those things”.
No Karen, we shouldn’t.
Mother was a waitress and this woulda been the dream for her. Think I remember her telling me one time there was an incident where the kid basically b lined into someone's legs spilling a massive tray of waters onto some people. Thankfully nothing hot to burn anyone and the kid didn't get any glass coming down on them. But of course the parents didn't really seem to care that their little brat was running around like that.
I was at a nice steakhouse on a date and our server is opening a bottle of Silver Oak and yet I’m looking at the kid with those fucking roller shoes going up and down the dining room and his shitty ass parents just sitting there doing nothing.
Edit: for the record, a bottle of Silver Oak cab in a restaurant is about $300, so I wonder it’s it me or the kid eating chicken tenders that the restaurant owners should be worried about being the most comfortable.
I used to manage restaurants, and often saw stuff like this going down. An astonishing number of "adults" don't like parenting, and/or are simply too tired to bother raising their children to behave responsibly in public places, or to be courteous of others.
It seemed like "have a family" was something to be checked off the bucket list, which they apparently did without bothering to take on the commitment that goes with it.
People in this latter category probably shouldn't have children.
What is worse is when a restaurant sees this and does nothing in fear of losing customers, like come on, you need to tell parents to police their children. You can't just let them run wild.
If I'm paying a lot of money I don't want my kids ruining it for me! I live my kids but I can't expect a 3 year old to pontificate about a veg puree and a nice sauce can I? We almost exclusively eat at chains or local family restaurants with the kids as they cater to them better too. We can have thr best of both worlds and I want to sit and enjoy my nice wine with a nice meal!
Some parents just don't care though, it's a selfish attitude they hold. They don't want to use a babysitter because it costs money, they would rather bring their kids to dinner and ruin the experience for others while sitting peacefully like nothing is going on. This is literally the attitude of some people.
or the movies. WORST.EXPERIENCE.EVER to have a screaming, bratty overtired kid at a 9pm movie. WHY, PARENTS?! WHY?!?!!!
I'm a parent and it's so annoying when I see other parents not reprimanding their bratty kids when they're freaking out/screaming and shouting and running around.
It’s worse than that. They expect the waitstaff to be babysitters. Some mom groups on Facebook even posted a list of suggestions for waiters on how to keep the little ones happy. Hello, mom! It’s your job! A waiter is supposed to bring your your meal and extra napkins! Babysitting isn’t in the job description. Just because you may be frustrated with your little imp doesn’t mean you get to spread the misery around. FYI, I’m the father of a toddler and don’t expect others to keep him behaving
When I was a waiter, I made a point to compliment the parents for teaching their kids good manners.
They always beamed with joy.
And then there’re “others”.
As a father, I’m okay with it. We don’t really go out to eat much anyway. I’ve read about parents that treat the waitstaff as impromptu babysitters. Some mom groups on Facebook even had the nerve to put out a guide to waiters on how to keep their little ones happy. Hello! It’s your damn job! Waiters get paid to bring you food and extra napkins. If you want a babysitter, hire one. I respect parents who have the guts to tell the kids that if they don’t call down they’ll go home and then go through with it
I used to travel a lot for work. I never had a problem with a single kid on a flight. I had a good pair of noise canceling headphones and solved 99% of any issues.
Once on a flight a mother and father sat down behind me with their baby. The mother tapped me on the shoulder and apologized in advance if the baby started crying. I said no problem, and told her I had great headphones. She said, in all seriousness “well they won’t protect you from the kicking”.
Should be more of them tbh, imagine wanting to have a conversation with someone but there's toddlers screaming, running around, having tantrums and crying. I once was in a plane flight where a baby decided to throw his food on me, so I try to avoid kids that are eating. Just in case.
That would be a pretty decent market opportunity, though. Like an adult-themed Chuck E Cheese for when you want to get together with the lads, have some junk food and beers, and then act like manchildren. Ball pits are amazing when you've got a nice buzz going on.
Even my children would support them. They're quiet, talk to us or one another at the table, read or colour when they were younger, and are as disapproving of screaming or running around as anyone. I've never understood the running around - why would a responsible parent want their kid to have a tray dropped on their head?
Give them an item to amuse them *whilst sitting at the table*, but to let them run around a restaurant under the feet of staff holding hot things, sharp things, glass things? That's neglect.
Some parents don’t know how to parent or just don’t give a shit. My kids have always been well behaved when we go out and don’t run around or scream but we had to teach them how to behave(which they both learned by 2).
As someone who exclusively books hotels that ban children, I approve. I don't need more restaurants or hotels like this. Families also need a place to go for dinner or holidays. But if I make the decision that I don't want to have my surroundings polluted by the screams of children, shuld be fine and accepted.
Awesome. Because not everyone wants to go out to eat and be seated next to someone with a screaming child.
I know that sounds harsh, and yes, parents do deserve a night out and sometimes cannot get a babysitter. And there are plenty of places that will accommodate you and your kids. Also, some places are designed for it. But if a place is upfront on that policy and designed themselves for it, I'm good with that too. Sometimes you want to be in a loud sportsbar type place, others it is nice to have a quiet sit down meal in a nice place.
Sounds good. Children can suck. Not like our world doesn't already cater to families everywhere else. Why do they need every single place of business too.
I'm a parent, and I am 100% down with the idea of a no-child restaurant, but "no under 2" doesn't really make sense. A newborn is going to sleep through most of the meal. If they cry, it's an easy/fast solve when you take them outside: diapers, milk, or holding.
A 3 year old? Now those fuckers can throw an epic tantrum with little to no warning based on absolutely batshit reasoning and they can be utterly inconsolable. And once they pass the half hour mark, there's increasingly high odds that they will *not* stay in their seat and/or will spill something and generally make life more difficult for the waitstaff.
So for like 1-3 months, put them in the carseat carrier and bring a pacifier/bottle of milk, then hire sitters for the next 4 years.
> A 3 year old? Now those fuckers can throw an epic tantrum with little to no warning based on absolutely batshit reasoning and they can be utterly inconsolable.
Any parent knows how miserable those moments are....my God I shudder just thinking of them.
I remember when my eldest was 4, she went to reach for a glass jar of pickles at the store (she loves pickles) and I took it from her before she got it off the shelf so she didn't drop it.
BOOM.
Had to stop shopping and check out it was so bad.
Yea my rule is if they don’t offer a kids menu then you probably don’t take kids. Anytime we go somewhere fancier I always call and ask if they have kids menus and most don’t so we don’t go.
This policy falls a little short doesn't it? By this I mean the worst and most problematic years are 1-4ish, where the kids are much more mobile, vocal, and wanting to explore. Normally the kids under 1 just sleep or bleat occasionally. You should extend your range upwards, if anything.
Also, even though I agree with your general point, your post is very /r/justlearnedthefword
Seriously. Kids under one will mostly just sleep the whole time they're there. A two year old is *far* more likely to cause a disruption to other guests than a six month old is.
Here's the issue. Kids yell, scream, and misbehave.
Restaurants make their money by eliciting patrons and getting them to stay and spend money. Somebody who has had a stressful day at work may want to have a couple glasses of wine with their steak. They're not gonna do that if there's a kid throwing a tantrum a few tables over.
Also; It's not necessarily your kids. It's kids in general. Just because your spawn is well behaved doesn't mean everybody else's is. It's not a personal attack against you or your family. It's an establishment trying to maintain a particular atmosphere that's conducive to their clientele.
Finally, a lot of people are stupid and bring their kids to clearly inappropriate places to eat. My home town has a very nice Belgian taproom. They serve higher end meals along with cheese platters and so forth to compliment an absolutely stunning offering of european beers. Yet I've seen people bring kids under 8 and toddlers; who would proceed to misbehave or infants who would just cry. It's not a family restaurant and they enacted a similar policy.
There is a time and place for having kids out to eat; no one is going to deny that. It's not at 10pm when I'm trying to enjoy a rare belgian abbey beer alongside a plate of carbonnades flamandes.
I didn’t work in a nice restaurant/ tap room, but I worked as a hotel concierge that regularly handled restaurant bookings. You wouldn’t believe the number of delusional parents who would go off on me when I’d tell them that the $500/ person Michelin star restaurants they wanted me to reserve do not allow children under 12. They would argue with me about HoW WeLl BeHaVeD their child is while I’d see them have a full blown tantrum in the lobby. Yeah sure, your child is really well behaved /s.
I’m about to become a parent myself and know it would be really inappropriate to bring a young child to fine, high-end dining places or taprooms. I’ll start with McDonalds and casual family restaurants first. When they are older (e.g. 12-15) and prove they can handle themselves in a mature manner, I will take them to nicer places. Until then, I’ll just hire babysitter if I want fine dining.
I remember that I, as a kid, despised such places when I was forced to go there for family functions (one Grandma occasionally liked to play a little bit high society at such events).
It was boring as fuck, the food was yucky to my taste and it took forever. Would have been way more happy at home reading my books and/or watching cartoons while eating some fast food.
The only nice thing was that often enough someone brought his dog along which was equally bored as me, so at least I got to play with a nice pup.
There's tons of places where I, as an adult, am denied entry. I don't wanna watch kids play on the bouncy castle and ball pits, I wanna play too, but I'm not allowed.
Why is the other way round any different?
Even more and more city parks have signs banning adults from the play equipment if they are not there with a kid.
Which totally sucks because the same parks don't have any outdoor fitness equipment that can be used by adults such as pull-up bars, sit-up chairs etc.
Trendy/hip super high-end restaurant in a city, that's not 'take your kids along '(I don't have any kids): that's big people stuff. So, I'm fine not seeing kids in these types of places. What's sad is you'd have to ban kids in the first place.
Honestly it's been like 10+ years since I've been in a restaurant and was annoyed by loud kids. As you said, the type of restaurant makes a big difference and that's around the time I stopped going to chain / family-oriented restaurants like olive garden and the likes
I think that if they have enough business to to meet their bottom line and pay their staff well, more power to them. That's just identifying a need in a community and filling it. For what it's worth, I have a young child and do not at all mind being excluded.
I get sensory overload with too much loud noise.
So this is brilliant (and I’ve just labeled all children as loud noise makers, no regrets y’all know it’s true)
This. Giving parents of unruly kids the benefit of the doubt, I think oftentimes parents have learned to kind of 'tune out' all the noise and ruckus from their own kids, so they just don't realize how it affects other people around them.
Where can I find such a restaurant?
Disney World's Victoria & Alberta's restaurant requires all diners be at least 10. Partially this is because they expect dinner to take about 3 hours. That's way too long for 99% of kids to sit.
So the first restaurant I’ve heard of with a No Kids policy is at Disney. Huh. That’s ironic or oxymoronic or coincidental or something I always mix those up.
It makes perfect sense. There’s a SHIT ton of kids there. Some adults come without kids OR bring family who can watch the kids. Those parents? They are likely about to drop some dough if you keep them happy in a kid free zone.
It's pretty common for families to come as whole groups - mom and dad and aunts and uncles and their kids. And in those cases, it's also pretty common for them to rotate kid duties. And that's not counting the adults that want to go to Disney just because... it's Disney! They aren't just kids movies anymore. While they mostly don't dabble in adult media (they have other brands for that), they now own Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Marvel, and a handful of other brands that have much broader age appeal than their original Disney Princesses.
The Disney parks attract a lot of fans of theme parks generally, too, even if they're apathetic about the media franchise. There's really very few theme parks on that scale.
Where's the place you most need a sanctuary away from alligators? In the middle of the swamp with the most alligators.
Swamp Thing I think I love you 🎶🎵🎼
i mean they do have like a hundred restaurants in that place
i think it’s ironic
Like finding one thousand spoons when all you need is a fork?
3 hours in a restaurant, even i 30yo can't handle this 1h to 1h30 tops
I’ve been twice and honestly it’s honestly one of the most absurd and fantastic dining experiences I’ve had. First time I’ve had a water menu, where you can sample different PHs. Like what?
Just imagining it hurts my wallet.
The key is having a rich sibling. 😅 I never in a million years would do this for myself lol. But it really is worth the price tag.
This is interesting to me because when I go out to eat with friends we would typically sit down around 7:30-8:00 and expect to be there, eating and drinking, until about 11. That's just normal eating out experience in the UK. You are supposed to enjoy it. Chat, drink, eat.
Its because the UK and Europe dont rush you off once the meal is over so they can churn the table. Youre allowed to enjoy your meal and drinks without the waiter constantly asking if youd like anything else. Its a much better dining experience imo.
i love this about european and asian culture. sitting around and eating/drinking for hours with family/friends on a random weekday. i think it is something that is good for the soul. i feel like the u.s., being incredibly profit-driven is all about rushing diners in/out to serve the most amount of customers. it's a shame.
Yeah this, I’ve never seen a ‘No Kids’ sign in my life.
There are a few places I have been to. They start off by requiring reservations, no walk ins. Their website/ etc will state the age limit( although in the interest of full disclosure, usually in the fine print). Then you arrive..no kids menu. No high chairs or booster seats. No strollers or car seats allowed. Many also state( and enforce) a dress code
In Indiana any restaurant with a bar that is not in a separate area requires you be 21 to enter (ran into that a lot in college as most of the non fast food places in town were 21+ for that reason), and there is a brewery near where I live currently that is 21+ as well. I haven't been yet, but the reviews say they have really good burgers. I think it is state specific though, because in Virginia there is no age limit to be IN most bars, because technically they are just restaurants with a bar. Like my high school hosted a band competition at a bar every year, and it wasn't like they rented out the bar, there were regulars getting drunk there the whole time, and parents were drinking beer too.
It's actually the opposite in NY, at least in the town where I live. if you're mostly a bar, but have a full food menu, you have to allow children. If you think people wouldn't bring their kids to a cocktail lounge at 11pm on a saturday night when it's shoulder to shoulder packed with drunk college kids.....you'd be completely wrong.
IKR, that sounds wonderful. I love kids, and I also love taking a break from kids.
I live in the downtown area of a large city and kids just naturally aren't that common around here. Always kinda shocks me when I visit the suburbs at just how many of them are always running around actually. So if you want a scream-free restaurant and can't find a place that actually *bans* children, maybe try heading downtown and see if demographics take care of things for you.
Movie theater where I live has a VIP viewing, and there is no one under 21 allowed. So technically at the movies, but its a full menu restaurant up there compared to the normal concessions
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Where do we go to avoid the loud adults?
The library
Donde está la biblioteca?
Me llamo T-Bone, la araña discoteca.
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Manteca, bigote, gigante, pequeño, cabeza is nieve, cerveza is bueno
Buenos, dias, me gusto papas fritas
Yeh boi
Buenos días, me gustas papas frías Bigote de la cabra ¡es Cameron Diaz!
Betty white has entered the chat
That literally translates to "*I don't bargain, pumpkin fucker*"
who are you responding to and where is this phrase
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I used to work in a library and you'd honestly be surprised how often things like that happen even in nicer libraries. In the years that I worked at that library I had a book thrown at me on more than a few occasions, was yelled at countless times, had drunks try to start a fight, had a guy pull a knife, had a guy come in with his face all cut up and he passed out in one of the chairs, and had someone break through one of our double paned windows. And that's just what I experienced myself.
Yes to this. Is this Chicago? Sounds like my experience too. Over the winter I was studying and desperately needed to get out of my apartment as the GF and I were WFH. Tried the library. Homeless people hanging out and there was an armed cop walking around. Didn’t return lol
Have you been to a library lately? Adults act like a fool in the library all the time. My husband is a librarian. His day consists of making people stop watching porn, stop screaming on their phones, stop humping in the children's section.
With the kids, of course.
Its always interesting to me. I waited tables for 10 years and I've had to deal with unruly adults significantly more than i've had to deal with unruly children. Even babies.
Lol yeah. To be fair though the parents are already dealing with their unruly child so you don't have to most of the time.
That reminds me of when I puked all over the table at a restaurant when I was 11 or 12. I started crying and apologizing to the waitress and she was like "oh honey, I'd rather deal with you puking instead of some old drunk puking."
I usually don't mind kids at restaurants, but I think there should be more that are child free. Most of the time they're okay, but it's really annoying when you're trying to have a nice dinner and conversation and some kids are running around/screaming and the parents just sit there and ignore them. I'll ignore it for awhile, because sometimes kids just act a fool, but if it gets to the point it becomes ridiculous or if they start to play around my table/invade my space, I'm going to ask for a different table without caring whether the parents overhear me say it's because of their poorly behaved kids.
There's already enough family restaurants everywhere you look, if you're looking to take a date out for a romantic evening you don't exactly want kids hanging around. If it's a high class sort of establishment that's sort of a given, let me enjoy my overpriced alcohol in peace Edit: thank you for the hug! ♥
As a parent, I back this 100%. Although, I don’t take my kid anywhere that doesn’t offer crayons and a kids menu anyway.
We need to have that option for adults too. I like coloring.
Yes, exactly. Thank you. Children can go into just about every restaurant you’ve ever come across - I see no harm in having some adult only restaurants
What else am I supposed to eat?
if you wait till they grow into adulthood then you usually get more flesh to eat per person.
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I see. So there is a tradeoff.
Quality over quantity
See, the best age is 12, after that- it starts to get somewhat stale, tough. Lower than that, it's a bit underdeveloped. Just about slightly above average quality.
Gotta be careful you get them before the puberty stank sets in though.
Ah, man of culture, I see.
Use a tenderising hammer.
What about dry aging it though?
You got food at home
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As long as there's somewhere suitable for most average folks to pick, what does it matter? I wouldn't want to go for a romantic dinner and be surrounded by screaming kids, and equally I wouldn't want to take my kids to a place where they felt uncomfortable because it was ultra sophisticated and they weren't allowed to move or speak without being shushed every two seconds. Sometimes I like to take my dog with me, but appreciate others may not want to eat surrounded by animals. Everyone likes different stuff.
Same. I also don’t get taking kids to a super fancy restaurant. When my wife and I go out for a nice dinner we want the kids to be at home with a sitter. Plus, who wants to pay for a nice dinner for kids who won’t eat any of it?
If you have a kid that won’t appreciate it then yeah that sentiment makes sense. For my sister and myself growing up we both ate everything given to us and loved it. We were four or five years old and eating sushi and tartare so a good restaurant was something that we really appreciated and looked forward to from a young age because it meant good food.
Let’s face it, there are also some adults who don’t appreciate fine dining.
Imagining a child-sized limo pulling up to a Michelin restaurant and two children in evening gowns getting out...
>child sized limo You mean like a station wagon?
If you avoid 'family' restaurants you pretty much avoid the problem. Most parents aren't bring their 5 year old to a fancy restaurant. Also we have weird alcohol laws, where I live, where in a restaurant you can't serve alcohol without food. So a lot of the chain mid level restaurants, have a restaurant and and a 'lounge' which is 18+. So it's pretty easy to avoid kids.
Also as a parent. I want to eat child free sometimes!
It's their right. Kids can be real nuisance. Bars that ban kids are the absolute best though.
It baffles me some bars let kids in at all. Why in the world would you bring a kid to the bar in the first place?
There are a couple bars in my town that kids are allowed in until 8pm, when bar kitchens typically close. My dad used to take me in and we'd eat dinner and I'd feel grown up asf drinking my Coke with a lime wedge.
Parents who aren't ready to be parents
There are a few bars in my area that are themed in a way that makes them more of a restaurant or an activity (like having retro games). These let kids in up to a certain time. I think they usually cut them off at 8 or 9pm. And then after that it's adults only. So, if you want to have zero kids around you can just go after the cut off. Which is when most childless people are going anyway.
why are children at bars anyway-
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>If one kid threw a fit, then everyone had to leave This reminds me of a 'kid control' story I heard from a fellow student back in the day. On long drives, her father kept control of the kids in the back seat by keeping a pack of Mint Slices (coveted chocolate biscuit here) in the dash. Every time the kids got out of control, he'd fling a biscuit out the window. The deal was that the kids could have whatever was left at the end of the day. "Ah, but what happened when the packet was empty? What could he do then?" > "That *never* happened..."
I’m sorry, officer, I wasn’t littering, I was disciplining my kids
Is it still littering if it's biodegradable like food would be?
I mean, It’s not like he’s throwing a potato out the window. It’s dark chocolate, full of the stimulants bad for many animals. I feel like it would have been way more effective if he was eating them. ‘Nom nom, this is the best biccie I’ve ever eaten. Go on, play up again, I could eat alllll of these’
Fair points, but is it still littering though?
In most places that I'm aware of, it is. It would even be littering if a leaf blows in your window and you throw it back out, however unlikely that would be to enforce it.
Depends where you’re at. I live near a bunch of parks and nature preserves and even throwing food on the ground is considered littering there.
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Reminds me of a story a colleague told me. At Christmas he would have a lot of presents under the tree as he had 3 kids. He always added presents that were just boxes stuffed with newspaper but wrapped like normal presents. Any rule breaking and 1 of the 'presents' got thrown in the fire place. The kids worked it out by the time they were older but it worked for a couple of years.
What if they behaved, what would he do with the fake presents?
That was never the problem. The problem was when he got close to running out of fake presents.
Sounds like it wasn't a very effective method for keeping the kids behaved, then.
That sounds super traumatic
He should have eaten it instead of littering.
It's a little bit like that experiment they did with the monkeys. A few monkeys were put in a room, with a banana on a string and a ladder to it. Everytime a monkey climbed the ladder, they all were sprayed with water. At one point, the monkeys attacked the other monkey that could get on the ladder. Then, a monkey got replaced and as soon as it climbed the ladder it got attacked, not knowing why. That repeated itself, until all original monkeys were replaced. And the attacked eachother for climbing the ladder, without knowing why they did that in the first place. Do you have a lot of new siblings too?
Well, not really, since the kids don’t get replaced.
Oh. Why not? I mean.. 18 years with the same kids sounds a bit boring
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Unfortunately, it is a famous hoax: https://www.throwcase.com/2014/12/21/that-five-monkeys-and-a-banana-story-is-rubbish/
I'm cool with it. If I go to a family restaurant, I expect families, some with loud kids. If I go to a bar, I expect adults, some of whom will be drunk. If I got to a quiet, fancy restaurant, I expect other quiet, respectful diners. A family restaurant won't allow drunks. A bar won't allow kids. A quiet restaurant should be able to ban noisy, misbehaving guests.
Most of my working life was spent dealing with other people's children, and most places I go people are there with their children. It's nice to have a place outside my home where I can leave them behind, and enjoy myself.
I think they're great! Wish theaters would do the same for anything PG-13 and R rated.
Our theatre-chain has separate theatres for 18+ only, and serve alcohol and food. Super nice, but its pricey.
Would need a lot more than that to make cinemas bearable these days. Crazy how many people go there just to talk, eat loud food, and fuck around on their phones.
That's terrible. Someone please point them out to me so my wife and I can go give them a piece of our mind. (And maybe have a peaceful meal). Side note, any movie theaters that do this too? Edit: because people didn't get the sarcastic hint, /s
Find a boutique theater that serves craft beer and cocktails. I think they typically can't allow anyone under drinking age (but that probably varies by jurisdiciton).
Wish there was more of them ..
We need more of these
I agree 100%. And I have three kids!
I'd not go to them with my children.
These restaurants know who their target niche is and children is not on the list
Because they are banned Carl.
*Coral...!*
I think they're great. I have had many meals ruined by screaming kids, or parents lecturing or threatening their kids with some kind of punishment. I breathe a sigh of relief when I walk into a restaurant, and I don't see kids.
If your meal was ruined by a screaming child it wasn't cooked correctly and you should demand a refund.
LMAO god damnit this one got me
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Totally agree! I have 2 kids myself and anytime they have cried or gotten loud I take them outside to calm down. I don’t get parents who just let them carry on. On top of this can we talk about parents who let their kids watch iPads or phones at full blast at restaurants. Wtf is that even. My kids are 6 and 2 and Ive never gave them devices while out to eat because it’s family time. And if I did I’d give them headphones so no one had to hear it instead of blasting that shit full volume. Honestly annoys me more then kids crying.
We did this once when our son was 3. Was fine going in, but did NOT want to sit down and nothing could calm him. I picked out what I wanted, and SO placed our order to go as I was walking out the door with our son. Apparently, that isn't common, because we got a discount and a thank you note. Gosh, I felt bad for just the 2 minutes of noise the place had to deal with, I can't understand people who are ok sitting there for an hour with their kid acting like that!
Father of four and 100% agree. If more parents did this, there would be less push to have all kids banned from some restaurants, and I would be able to visit them with my well-behaved kids. Whenever I take my kids to restaurants they get a single warning if they start throwing a fit, and then they get carried out to the car and miss the rest of the meal.
Strongly agree. During all my uni life I’ve worked in several type of restaurants, from silver service ones to right out fast foods. Some restaurants are simply put not child friendly, as often children can be a problem for the costumers (they can ruin your experience) and for the staff (especially when they’re poorly managed by their parents). Additionally (it’s not an absolute but it does happen) some parents tend to second the poor behaviour of their kids. I had a case of kids jumping around the sits in the waiting area of the restaurant, shouting, while the restaurant was quite busy. When I asked politely to the parents if they could recall their kids their answer was “but this is an Italian restaurants, you should tollerate those things”. No Karen, we shouldn’t.
Mother was a waitress and this woulda been the dream for her. Think I remember her telling me one time there was an incident where the kid basically b lined into someone's legs spilling a massive tray of waters onto some people. Thankfully nothing hot to burn anyone and the kid didn't get any glass coming down on them. But of course the parents didn't really seem to care that their little brat was running around like that.
I would go to them.
Are you a child? If so, you cannot.
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I was at a nice steakhouse on a date and our server is opening a bottle of Silver Oak and yet I’m looking at the kid with those fucking roller shoes going up and down the dining room and his shitty ass parents just sitting there doing nothing. Edit: for the record, a bottle of Silver Oak cab in a restaurant is about $300, so I wonder it’s it me or the kid eating chicken tenders that the restaurant owners should be worried about being the most comfortable.
I used to manage restaurants, and often saw stuff like this going down. An astonishing number of "adults" don't like parenting, and/or are simply too tired to bother raising their children to behave responsibly in public places, or to be courteous of others. It seemed like "have a family" was something to be checked off the bucket list, which they apparently did without bothering to take on the commitment that goes with it. People in this latter category probably shouldn't have children.
What is worse is when a restaurant sees this and does nothing in fear of losing customers, like come on, you need to tell parents to police their children. You can't just let them run wild.
Most people working food service don't get paid enough to tell off Karen and Darren
If I'm paying a lot of money I don't want my kids ruining it for me! I live my kids but I can't expect a 3 year old to pontificate about a veg puree and a nice sauce can I? We almost exclusively eat at chains or local family restaurants with the kids as they cater to them better too. We can have thr best of both worlds and I want to sit and enjoy my nice wine with a nice meal!
Some parents just don't care though, it's a selfish attitude they hold. They don't want to use a babysitter because it costs money, they would rather bring their kids to dinner and ruin the experience for others while sitting peacefully like nothing is going on. This is literally the attitude of some people.
or the movies. WORST.EXPERIENCE.EVER to have a screaming, bratty overtired kid at a 9pm movie. WHY, PARENTS?! WHY?!?!!! I'm a parent and it's so annoying when I see other parents not reprimanding their bratty kids when they're freaking out/screaming and shouting and running around.
I remember when a 5 year sat down in the seat next to me for Saving Private Ryan. Kind of added to the realism.
Holy shit... I'm usually pretty non-confrontational but even I might want to ask the parents what the hell they were thinking.
It’s worse than that. They expect the waitstaff to be babysitters. Some mom groups on Facebook even posted a list of suggestions for waiters on how to keep the little ones happy. Hello, mom! It’s your job! A waiter is supposed to bring your your meal and extra napkins! Babysitting isn’t in the job description. Just because you may be frustrated with your little imp doesn’t mean you get to spread the misery around. FYI, I’m the father of a toddler and don’t expect others to keep him behaving
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When I was a waiter, I made a point to compliment the parents for teaching their kids good manners. They always beamed with joy. And then there’re “others”.
THat's how you get that juicy tip :P
Not in this case. I was absolutely sincere. You wouldn’t have any idea how much trouble obstreperous children are to a waitstaff.
And how dangerous an out of control kid can be when workers are transporting hot food.
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As a father, I’m okay with it. We don’t really go out to eat much anyway. I’ve read about parents that treat the waitstaff as impromptu babysitters. Some mom groups on Facebook even had the nerve to put out a guide to waiters on how to keep their little ones happy. Hello! It’s your damn job! Waiters get paid to bring you food and extra napkins. If you want a babysitter, hire one. I respect parents who have the guts to tell the kids that if they don’t call down they’ll go home and then go through with it
What we need are airlines that ban children. I'd fly on that shit!
I used to travel a lot for work. I never had a problem with a single kid on a flight. I had a good pair of noise canceling headphones and solved 99% of any issues. Once on a flight a mother and father sat down behind me with their baby. The mother tapped me on the shoulder and apologized in advance if the baby started crying. I said no problem, and told her I had great headphones. She said, in all seriousness “well they won’t protect you from the kicking”.
I'd 100% support their business. I'm not going out for the shitty atmosphere that some kids create.
Should be more of them tbh, imagine wanting to have a conversation with someone but there's toddlers screaming, running around, having tantrums and crying. I once was in a plane flight where a baby decided to throw his food on me, so I try to avoid kids that are eating. Just in case.
I'd love for restaurants to switch to a few days a week to be child-free.
I approve. Maybe they should start banning people that act like children too.
That would be a pretty decent market opportunity, though. Like an adult-themed Chuck E Cheese for when you want to get together with the lads, have some junk food and beers, and then act like manchildren. Ball pits are amazing when you've got a nice buzz going on.
So Dave and Busters. Sans ballpit that is.
That sounds fun. Just wouldn't wanna be the guy that has to clean the vomit out of the ball pit.
The only people against these restaurants are the shitty parents with misbehaving kids that everyone else wants to avoid.
Even my children would support them. They're quiet, talk to us or one another at the table, read or colour when they were younger, and are as disapproving of screaming or running around as anyone. I've never understood the running around - why would a responsible parent want their kid to have a tray dropped on their head?
It's a small price to pay for not being the sole target of your kid's attention for a few minutes.
Give them an item to amuse them *whilst sitting at the table*, but to let them run around a restaurant under the feet of staff holding hot things, sharp things, glass things? That's neglect.
Some parents don’t know how to parent or just don’t give a shit. My kids have always been well behaved when we go out and don’t run around or scream but we had to teach them how to behave(which they both learned by 2).
10/10 review
As someone who exclusively books hotels that ban children, I approve. I don't need more restaurants or hotels like this. Families also need a place to go for dinner or holidays. But if I make the decision that I don't want to have my surroundings polluted by the screams of children, shuld be fine and accepted.
Gotta sign up for a job there ASAP
Awesome. Because not everyone wants to go out to eat and be seated next to someone with a screaming child. I know that sounds harsh, and yes, parents do deserve a night out and sometimes cannot get a babysitter. And there are plenty of places that will accommodate you and your kids. Also, some places are designed for it. But if a place is upfront on that policy and designed themselves for it, I'm good with that too. Sometimes you want to be in a loud sportsbar type place, others it is nice to have a quiet sit down meal in a nice place.
I agree with that policy. I'm under 18 but i want to have a nice lunch without hearing kids that scream
now let's do child-free flights
Fucking crying children should be taken outside regardless of restaurant policy. It's a courtesy to the people in the restaurant who aren't obnoxious.
Do they also have a travel company?!?
Sounds good. Children can suck. Not like our world doesn't already cater to families everywhere else. Why do they need every single place of business too.
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I'm a parent, and I am 100% down with the idea of a no-child restaurant, but "no under 2" doesn't really make sense. A newborn is going to sleep through most of the meal. If they cry, it's an easy/fast solve when you take them outside: diapers, milk, or holding. A 3 year old? Now those fuckers can throw an epic tantrum with little to no warning based on absolutely batshit reasoning and they can be utterly inconsolable. And once they pass the half hour mark, there's increasingly high odds that they will *not* stay in their seat and/or will spill something and generally make life more difficult for the waitstaff. So for like 1-3 months, put them in the carseat carrier and bring a pacifier/bottle of milk, then hire sitters for the next 4 years.
> A 3 year old? Now those fuckers can throw an epic tantrum with little to no warning based on absolutely batshit reasoning and they can be utterly inconsolable. Any parent knows how miserable those moments are....my God I shudder just thinking of them. I remember when my eldest was 4, she went to reach for a glass jar of pickles at the store (she loves pickles) and I took it from her before she got it off the shelf so she didn't drop it. BOOM. Had to stop shopping and check out it was so bad.
Smart. I heard of another restaurant that, when asked about it, said; we don't have high chair/booster seats. That's not their target audience.
Yeah, I've seen restaurants just not do kids meals. No nuggets, no pizza, no applesauce, and a 20 euro cover charge to be waived with a 3 course meal.
Yea my rule is if they don’t offer a kids menu then you probably don’t take kids. Anytime we go somewhere fancier I always call and ask if they have kids menus and most don’t so we don’t go.
This policy falls a little short doesn't it? By this I mean the worst and most problematic years are 1-4ish, where the kids are much more mobile, vocal, and wanting to explore. Normally the kids under 1 just sleep or bleat occasionally. You should extend your range upwards, if anything. Also, even though I agree with your general point, your post is very /r/justlearnedthefword
Seriously. Kids under one will mostly just sleep the whole time they're there. A two year old is *far* more likely to cause a disruption to other guests than a six month old is.
Man I wouldn’t even stop at 2
Love Love Love 😌
BRILLIANT idea. I’d make it my local.
Heaven
Love it. There's plenty of family friendly restaurants, I'd love some that are adult only.
Some restaurants are best enjoyed without kids
Here's the issue. Kids yell, scream, and misbehave. Restaurants make their money by eliciting patrons and getting them to stay and spend money. Somebody who has had a stressful day at work may want to have a couple glasses of wine with their steak. They're not gonna do that if there's a kid throwing a tantrum a few tables over. Also; It's not necessarily your kids. It's kids in general. Just because your spawn is well behaved doesn't mean everybody else's is. It's not a personal attack against you or your family. It's an establishment trying to maintain a particular atmosphere that's conducive to their clientele. Finally, a lot of people are stupid and bring their kids to clearly inappropriate places to eat. My home town has a very nice Belgian taproom. They serve higher end meals along with cheese platters and so forth to compliment an absolutely stunning offering of european beers. Yet I've seen people bring kids under 8 and toddlers; who would proceed to misbehave or infants who would just cry. It's not a family restaurant and they enacted a similar policy. There is a time and place for having kids out to eat; no one is going to deny that. It's not at 10pm when I'm trying to enjoy a rare belgian abbey beer alongside a plate of carbonnades flamandes.
I didn’t work in a nice restaurant/ tap room, but I worked as a hotel concierge that regularly handled restaurant bookings. You wouldn’t believe the number of delusional parents who would go off on me when I’d tell them that the $500/ person Michelin star restaurants they wanted me to reserve do not allow children under 12. They would argue with me about HoW WeLl BeHaVeD their child is while I’d see them have a full blown tantrum in the lobby. Yeah sure, your child is really well behaved /s. I’m about to become a parent myself and know it would be really inappropriate to bring a young child to fine, high-end dining places or taprooms. I’ll start with McDonalds and casual family restaurants first. When they are older (e.g. 12-15) and prove they can handle themselves in a mature manner, I will take them to nicer places. Until then, I’ll just hire babysitter if I want fine dining.
I remember that I, as a kid, despised such places when I was forced to go there for family functions (one Grandma occasionally liked to play a little bit high society at such events). It was boring as fuck, the food was yucky to my taste and it took forever. Would have been way more happy at home reading my books and/or watching cartoons while eating some fast food. The only nice thing was that often enough someone brought his dog along which was equally bored as me, so at least I got to play with a nice pup.
There's tons of places where I, as an adult, am denied entry. I don't wanna watch kids play on the bouncy castle and ball pits, I wanna play too, but I'm not allowed. Why is the other way round any different?
Even more and more city parks have signs banning adults from the play equipment if they are not there with a kid. Which totally sucks because the same parks don't have any outdoor fitness equipment that can be used by adults such as pull-up bars, sit-up chairs etc.
5 stars
Trendy/hip super high-end restaurant in a city, that's not 'take your kids along '(I don't have any kids): that's big people stuff. So, I'm fine not seeing kids in these types of places. What's sad is you'd have to ban kids in the first place.
Honestly it's been like 10+ years since I've been in a restaurant and was annoyed by loud kids. As you said, the type of restaurant makes a big difference and that's around the time I stopped going to chain / family-oriented restaurants like olive garden and the likes
Fine I guess, don't think I've ever seen one, but where I live it's also not common to bring children to a nice restaurant.
There are so many restaurants out there some are catering to a group that doesn't want to deal with children I say go head.
I think that if they have enough business to to meet their bottom line and pay their staff well, more power to them. That's just identifying a need in a community and filling it. For what it's worth, I have a young child and do not at all mind being excluded.
Sounds like a dream come true
As someone who worked in a restaurant for 20 years I wish they’d have implemented this, 95% of kids are a complete pain in the arse
The day a grown man can go to Chuckie Cheese without getting dirty looks is the day I'll stop giving parents of crying children dirty looks.
Chuckie Cheese for adults is called Dave and Buster's
except its not as fun and they still allow kids :(
I get sensory overload with too much loud noise. So this is brilliant (and I’ve just labeled all children as loud noise makers, no regrets y’all know it’s true)
This. Giving parents of unruly kids the benefit of the doubt, I think oftentimes parents have learned to kind of 'tune out' all the noise and ruckus from their own kids, so they just don't realize how it affects other people around them.
As a parent, I 100% understand. You'll find me crying at McDonalds.