Restaurant bans children under 6 for noise/messy complaints from other diners
 

a restaurant has gone so far as to ban the little ones.


http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/blogs/2...=FCST_hero_hot

I am biased and will tell you I think that its a GREAT idea! most parents dont teach their children good "table manners" and they fling food, and play with their food, and rub it all over the table, the booth, the curtains. Ever sat in a diner and seen all the messy finger prints covering the window you look out of?? iCK! Most better places to eat have folks out late, and children get over tired, cranky and then LOUD! Ever sit next to a screaming child when the mom just sits and ignores it and says "oh johnny is just over tired" well DUH take him home!

They say they did it for many reasons, but that mostly other patrons are fed up with a fine establisment being treated like a McDs.

Did you teach your children table manners for going out? When we sat down to eat out, we were little ladies, and little gentlemen and if you became a monster, we went outside and calmed down. Sometimes we had to sit in the car and eat a snack, or listen to a happy tune for a few mintues till we could get control again, but we did not inflict our bad day on others. To this day I cringe when a table full of jumping, hopping, nose picking toddlers crawl into the booth behind me.

As a former waitress I can only wish they had banned some of the kids I waited on! I still don't get allowing kids to run through restaurants, stores etc. Not all kids of course but in general as I also found working in retail and health care so many parents just aren't parenting.

I think we have gone overboard with fostering good self-esteem and should in fact be embracing self-regulation skills. The sun does not rise and set on their little fannies and allowing them to think that really increases the rude awakening they will have later in life when they realize the rest of the world doesn't think they are the genius that Mommy told them they were. :D

Don't even get me started on teens not having jobs now because school is their job...

Man, I hope this becomes a nation-wide trend. My wife and I hate going out these days because there is always some table full of kids with at least one shrieking at the top of their lungs. If I had done that when I was a kid, I would have been taken out to the car and paddled with a shoe. Instead, the parents these days turn and laugh at "how cute" the kid is shrieking and disrupting all the other diners, then they turn back to their margarita and their conversation and let the kid keep shrieking.


Edit: Wow...my 500th post and I sound just like my father...

Lol don't feel bad I now sound like my father and am looking like my Grandmother. :eek:

P.S. Not that looking like my wonderful Nana is a bad thing but she was so OLD! :D

We rarely went out to restaurants with the boys when they were little. Maybe one with a playground but not the nicer ones. Besides, DH worked the night shift way back then so the time we did have together as a family was pretty much spent at home.

When oldest DS was a baby I remember going to a nice restaurant with the whole extended family. When he started crying I took him outside and walked around with him till he quieted down. I can't imagine subjecting everyone in the restaurant to his crying. I know I'm a paying customer, too, but it just seems rude.

I'm a stickler for parents to tend to their kids and make them realize that there are others who matter, too. Some kids think they are the center of the universe.....and they might be to their parents.....but teaching your child to feel that way is, IMHO, not right.

I love this idea!

I can still remember my parents taking me and my sister out for dinner when we were little. (Every saturday night, we'd go to Mr. Steak)

My sister and I were always separated from each other, because apparently we'd pick on each other and start making noise. My parents also always used to get a booth seat, and my sister and I were always on the inside of the booth, not on the outer part of the seat where we could escape easily. (I do remember crawling under the table to get to the bathroom tho)

If we made noise, or blew bubbles in our chocolate milk, my dad used his "Dad Voice", to make us stop. I dont remember ever being allowed to run like wild maniacs thru a restaurant. Even at McDonald's. (back then, I dont think they had playgrounds)

I know it's possible to make your kids behave, because I remember my parents making/teaching me how to behave. I've seen my friends raise kids that didnt feel the need to rupture the eardrums of people around them with screaming contests. If they did start to yell, my friends made their kids stop, or they'd leave and go home.

If I'm in a nice restaurant that doesnt have a playground attached to it, I dont want to hear screaming children, or have strange kids climbing up onto chairs at the table I'm at (happened yesterday) I want to be able to eat and not have to yell myself so that the person I'm with can hear me over the screeching.

Kids running and screeching is what I expect to see/hear at McDonald's (but really, they should only be running and screaming in the playground area, not out in the regular part of the dining room)

I ticked off some lady at a Chinese restaurant a while back. She came in with her screaming brats, and they were either playing "duck duck Goose" at the table, or just being allowed to run wild while other people in the restaurant were giving them the hairy eyeball. I finally turned around when one of the kids ran into my chair and made me spill my food/drink, and asked the kid (nicely) to stop. I have back pain a lot, and when that kid hit my chair, it really hurt. Which I mentioned to him when I asked him to stop (he'd run into me/hit my chair more than once).

That lady got all offended and was yelling at me about being rude to her precious little brat. The manager of the place (friend of mine) came over and asked her to leave. After she left, there were several people at other tables who said, not very quietly, "yay!!!" and "good riddance!".

It's people like that who annoy me, who think their kids have to "be kids" all the time, and shouldnt be expected to behave because they're only children.

I would love to visit that restaurant. Hope this becomes a trend at restaurants. If it doesnt, hopefully a lot of restaurant owners will grow a spine soon and at least start asking the parents of the noisemakers to get their kids to settle down, or their food will be delivered to the table in to-go boxes.

My parents would have been so embarrassed that we had to be spoken to by another adult that we would have been snatched up. Just the thought of this makes me shudder even today, lol.

I know that my DD and her DH take their brood out to eat often. They usually go to Family/kids oriented restaurants or get carryout.

I have never been with them, but I have a feeling they behave, when Dad uses his Dad voice.:eek: Mom lets 'em get by with murder, I think. Guilt trip, because she is the bread winner and away from them so much.:hug:

When we were little, my Father just had to say one more thing, after saying stop, if it didn't work. And that was "just wait until we get home":eek:

I am for it, but the problem still lies with the parents being at fault. They tune out there kits so they can have a nice meal while others suffer.

If the place is big enough the need to make a room just for the parents and there kids so they have a place they can eat at away from home to be far to everyone. Steel tables and chairs with paper plates & plastic flatware. Most important sound proof walls with their own entrance/exist.

I remember being terrified of what would happen when my dad "got home" after I did something bad...nothing bad happened. I'd get the look from my dad, and he'd use the Dad Voice and then I'd get grounded. Which was the worst punishment for me when I was little. I'd either get grounded from the tv (the worst!), or from doing stuff I liked to do, like roller skating.

I did get to listen to tv on my radio that picked up the over-the-air tv signals (they did that back then) But, I wasnt allowed to watch the tv if I'd done something bad.

My mom was scarier when she got mad. She has no real control over her temper now. (hair trigger temper) and back then, she barely had control over it. I remember her grabbing me and dragging me home. Hurting my wrist, or getting slapped by her in a public business in front of witnesses. (something you cant do now or you probably go to jail)

My dad knew my mom had a temper, so he told her once that if she ever hit me or my sister, that he'd leave (or something like that) so after that, she would just use the "wait till your father gets home..." threat.

It was scarier, waiting for my dad to get home to find out what my punishment was, than actually getting the punishment.

My dad can still use his Dad Voice to get me to be quiet about stuff at times. I've heard him use the Dad Voice (for good) when we've seen kids vandalizing the Commons area of our neighborhood. Nothing more fun that to see kids stop immediately in mid toss of throwing junk or neighbor's yard art into the pond, and then have them walk over and apologize. I'm impressed that my dad still has the Voice.

Make sure the walls, ceiling and floor are all waterproof with floor drains in various places, and have a hookup for a hose in the room so that when the kids trash the place, clean up would be easier. I've had to clean up a McDonald's dining room a couple of times after a horde of marauding children (and a few adults) trashed the place. I would have loved to have been able to just hose everything, including the kids, down a drain.

Food fights with McDonald's birthday cake are so not cool, and it was never fun to have to change the mop water 3 times during one cleaning because the place was so trashed by those little terrorists.

As usual, my drum beats to a different drummer.

I love when kids are in a restaurant, no matter how noisy. It usually does not last for the entire meal and I don't mind the greasy, messy, noisy fuss that children make in an eatery. It is all part of socialization and learning.

Lot harder on servers and table people, I do sympathize but I would not want kids banned in most chain restaurants, even the high end places too.

My life at home is quiet, a little noise and mess is refreshing as a patron eating. Can't say that a child is ever really noisy all meal long, at least not in my recent memory. There was one in a breakfast joint last week but he quieted down once he had food to eat.

When I was a server at a breakfast/lunch place, I can remember one Sunday (when we were most crowded) a child was allowed to scream...I mean scream...the man at the next table asked the father of the child to take her outside to get her calm.
They almost got into a fistfight!!

When DH and I go out to dinner, we ask to be seated away from any children. The host usually looks at us like we're meanies, but too bad. I want to enjoy going out the few times per year that we do!

What ever happened to children should be seen and not heard? Yeah, I'm dating myself, but......... I've had more than one meal ruined by obnoxious brats and their oblivous parents. I hope this does go national.

My mental jury is still out on this. I go back and forth, back and forth.

I guess the concept of "children not welcome" is disturbing. And yet, it would be nice to know there was a place you could go to have a quiet dinner and conversation. Too bad there is always someone that doesn't have the common sense to think, "Gee, maybe this isn't an appropriate place to take little kids." Duh?

If it's a little baby crying that's one thing. That I can tolerate. But older kids being loud and obnoxious who should be learning social etiquette.......no thank you.

In my experience the yelling whining screaming kids... should be unwelcome. In the not so distant past, I've had 2 incidents of this that that illustrate this problem--in different ways..The first one I went up the woman, who had this little boy (maybe 3) on her lap who screamed forEVER...it was some family dynamic -- a loud whiney screaming crocodile-tears thing. No one would approach them (foreign) so I did. It was interesting the child stopped the display to LISTEN to me! And I asked them to remove him to the car. After 1/2 hr of a Sunday dinner filled with irritation, I was no longer going to listen to him. And THEY DID. The father took him out. My friend who was with me said..."I don't believe you did that"... and I responded..."isn't much nicer now"? I was not paying $40 to have my meal ruined for NOTHING...but a spoiled manipulative kid. If one does not teach consequences, there will never really be social learning IMO.

On the other hand about 3 yrs ago on vacation we were at dinner at a remote local "family" place. Most of the time the kids are okay there. But this night hubby and I were eating and at the next table behind us, a young boy was shaking the ketchup and the lid came off and --yes-- here it comes--- the ketchup went into the air, about 4 ft high and 5 feet over and landed on ME, my head and glasses. That was an EVENT. So I got up and ran to the bathroom, and an employee was in there and looked up and screamed....you're bleeding! She was in a tizzy...thinking something fell on me. The father of these 3 boys was really hard on them, and I had to intercede and laugh and help them out. What a stern family! And I have to say, Ketchup is a very difficult thing to get out of your hair. I smelled it all the way home 2hrs in fact,etc. It was a pain to get out since we live on an island primatively..no bathroom...but all in all it as not a terrible event--no real harm done...not like the whining screaming spoiled brat from the previous place!

I'm like B2Y on this. I go back and forth. But, there are appropriate places to take kids for dinner. But, it does fall back on the parents and them not teaching kids appropriate behavior and etiquette. Why parents are so lax now, I have no idea.

I also have been to some extremely "elegant" restaurants with my family. I will tell you, my brother's kids (as well as all of my nieces and nephews) have impeccable manners. This is not an every day occurrence for us but on special occasions my parents would take us all out (Mother's Day, my Mom's b-day, etc.). My brother's kids sit in their seats, they don't yell, they don't squirm, they say please and thank you and are kind to the wait staff, and they always ask to get up from their seats with a "Mom, may I please be excused to go to the bathroom?" They are so well behaved. My girls were the same way. So, it is by these experiences that puts me on the fence about this. Kids can behave and behave well; in fact, better than some adults.:D I guess, again, it goes back to the parents. In a lot of ways, I would hate to see these well-behaved kids banned from a restaurant.

On the other hand, I have been out at a restaurant and am floored that kids are running around as if it was a playground and the adults are just sitting there as if nothing is wrong with this. It just blows my mind. It's distracting to everyone else in the restaurant, makes the job of the staff much harder, and is all around annoying. So, I can understand banning kids from restaurants.

Grocery stores are horrible in this regard!!! There is no way I would put up with that from my kids. We would be out of there in a heartbeat, and I've done it too. When DD21 was about 2 we went to the store and she was being a brat. Sorry, but she was. I left a cart full of groceries in the aisle, told a store employee I did that and why and apologized, and left. DD21 was crying all the way home as she was concerned about what we were going to eat. I said nothing until you can behave in the store. Once home, I put her down for a nap and we went back later. Neither of my kids misbehaved in a store again.

I find the constant crying of a baby, most disturbing. A baby cries for a reason and should be immediately attended to and not left to cry. I'd go pick the baby up myself and try to help, rather than let them cry.

Kids should be taught table manners at home and shouldn't be allowed to run around screaming and hollering there either, during mealtime.

I do not think that all children should be discriminated against however, because of the actions of a few. Those families with the screaming misbehaving, out of control children should be asked to leave and/or be asked to please not bring them back.

This man's restaurant is an UPscale place on a fancy golf course, so the patrons were fed up and stopped attenting. After tons of complaints he said he would ban them. There is of course outrage in the media and tons of folks saying they will boycott his place, but when a place in NC did the same, their business TRIPLED!

Im not a fan of unmannered children in upscale places. At McDonalds I get it, at Sizzler I get it, at a fancy smancy place...I dont get it.

I dont think it's discriminatory. The kids are causing a disturbance with the screaming/throwing things/running around like banshees. If it was an adult running around screaming, throwing things and basically disrupting the place, that adult would get kicked out.

At least if you're asking a family to leave because of children running amok, you dont usually have to involve the police like you would if it were an adult wreaking havoc.

If I'm in a place that doesnt offer crayons and placemats to color, and the napkins are made of cloth, and the server is telling you what the wine choices are and which go good with what entree, there better not be some kid crawling under my table looking for his Hot Wheels car, or screaming in my ear.

It's not exactly the kids fault that they're misbehaving. It's showing that the parent hasnt done their job civilizing their kids.

This brought back memories for me. We all had gone to Red Lobster for my Dad's birthday. There was probably 14 of us in the party so we had several tables pushed together. When we were almost finished with our dinner a family came in with a toddler and a baby. The toddler was well-behaved but the baby started crying. She was probably 3 or 4 months old. Mom got a bottle out and was just about to feed her when their food arrived. Since we were finished - and I was sitting right beside their booth - I offered to feed the baby while Mom ate. She looked hesitant at first but I joked around with her and said "I have two boys already.....you've got nothing to worry about." She let me hold and feed the baby.....and it was so nice. :) My boys were about 7 and 10 at the time. I remember youngest DS was worried that I'd bring the baby home with us! :p

I have 2 girls. Well they are women now! We ate out quite a bit, I didn't inherit the cooking gene form my Mom. Anyway, when my girls acted up I would warn them that we would have to go to the bathroom to have a 'discussion'. So sometimes we wold have to go this route. But it was just a discussion, a heavy one but they knew they were pulling on my last straw. They also knew the next time we went to the bathroom there was no discussion about it.

My daughter believes her children are expressing themselves! As a Grandma I can tell my daughter that I think they should be quieter but she is the Mom. I have found out that when I get really fed up I tell them to calm down in a fairly stern voice. If they don't then DD will chime in and say didn't I tell you that you should always mind your Grandma.

We love to go to Logans Roadhouse and will sit in the bar just to avaid being in the dining room where there are little ones.

I'm not sure how I feel about this ruling. If children are never allowed in a nice place to eat how will they ever learn how to act properly in public. If I saw a 4 year old acting his Sunday best at McDonalds I would wonder if he were normal.

You can allow kids to eat in a nice place, but the second they try to get up and leave the table to go running thru the restaurant to "explore", they should get a discussion about the proper places to go exploring. The second they scream or use an "outside voice", they get educated on the proper places that you can use your outside voice. (outside!)

I know it can be done. Kids are not stupid. Most kids want to please their parents, so if the parents teach them what to do and the proper places to do it, the kids should be able to behave fairly well. They dont need to scream themselves hoarse while destroying the restaurant.

well, this man is banning kids UNDER 6. if you are 7 you can go in. The patrons were tired of hearing babies scream. That is the only way they know how to communicate, but it was really hurting his business. He said he didnt understand why so many women with babies had sought out his business at lunch time, but the screaming was too much for the business lunches, and the white collar workers who were at the golf course doing business. So, its not the rampaning 7 year old that he turned away (those make me cringe) its the crying infants and screeching toddler that are upsetting his high dollar clients.

Although I think it is rude not to get up and take a crying baby out in reality it is the 7 year olds "exploring" aka running amok that get on my last nerve.

Ha ha it is on the Today Show now! Star said it isn't legally discrimination. :)

I'm surprised that parents are as lenient with their trust. I wouldn't be able to eat if I didn't know where my child was. It just takes a second for a stranger to snatch up a child and leave. My DH always called me "eagle eye" but I didn't care.......you toucha my kid I breaka your face! :cool: Not really but you know what I mean. Nowadays you just cannot be too careful. Who said restaurants are safe? Criminals have to eat, too. :rolleyes: Nothing is likely to happen in a well populated establishment but criminals don't follow anyone's rules but their own.

My kids never went to the bathroom alone.....and because they were boys DH got to go with them. Even if they were finished with their meal they stayed at the table until everyone was done. They were allowed to take a book to look at while waiting. We didn't go out much but when we did they knew it was a special occasion and they HAD to behave well.

Spoke to DS and DD on the phone and related this news story. I asked how they felt and they both said HURRAY! I would go there to eat simply to get away from the crying babies. While they both love babies, it the bad parents that upset all of us. The screaming baby in church with the mom that wont take this squaling child outside. The screaming ear infection toddler whos mom should have kept her home, or got a sitter. The child who cries so hard snot bubbles form out their nose, and then they cry so hard they start choking or vomiting. I blame the parents!

When my kids were small (babies) IF we went out to eat, or a public event I removed myself AND my child if they became stressed, tired, ill, or uncomfy enough to cry. As toddlers we would return to the car for a time out together. We would take a breath, sing a song, eat a snack, or simply talk about it. Based on whether or not "I" as the parent thought this child was able to continue with the event (whether its grocery shopping, lunch out, or an event) We would either go back in and pay our bill and go home, or we would return to our seats and try again. EVERY child has trying times, and gets over tired, and over stressed. its how the parent handles it and teaches the child how to handle it that will help them handle themselves in the future. DS and DD will both excuse themselves and handle themselves priveatly if they have personal needs, emotional upsets, or simply need to walk away in frustration. They return after regaining control and retake the situation.

I believe we live in an age where every child is told how special he is simply because he walked into the room. He doesnt have to behave, or have manners or contribute in any way. its special just because he is here, and imho that has led to alot of kids with entitlement issues. Oh lord, dont get me started.

It's places like McD's, Chucky Cheese and little monster places of the sort, that have created all these little holy terrors..:eek: Even if you teach them manners at home, they're still allowed to run and play and be distructive, in these establishments.:mad:

Good point however my parents would have expected us to be intelligent and insightful enough to discriminate between these places and fine dining and act appropriately or else....:eek:

That's why they have McDonalds and ChuckECheese. :D

I love this conversation! Erin, I loved the story about your dad using his "Dad voice" on the neighborhood kids! Times have definatelt changed. Some good, some bad. My mother would look at me and in a very low growling tone say, "I brought you into this world,,, and I CAN TAKE YOU OUT!!!"
You better believe I knew she meant business! Lol

I'm kind of middle of the road on this, I guess. We eat out a lot, since I don't feel comfortable cooking anymore. My kids are well-behaved at restaurants - we've even had people come by our table and compliment them - but they are still kids. Their table manners are not perfect, sometimes they are tired and whiney, and sometimes they spill things. We try to stick with kid-friendly restaurants, and when a mess is unavoidable we leave an extra large tip.

My DH and I have to agree to disagree on a few points though. I'm more lenient towards them playing with a toy at the table or not using their silverware correctly or sitting in some contorted position in the booth. I figure as long as they are not bothering anyone and not making a mess, I'm not going to fuss at them in public (they are 5 & 7). My DH thinks they should sit up straight at the table and use the proper utensil, and he tends to get all stressed out at restaurants because they're using bad manners. Thoughts?

I'm with you. If they're not bothering anyone or being disrespectful to you or others then let them be. Now, I'd draw the line at feet on the table or sitting backwards......but that's just me. :p

One of my pet peeves is kids kicking their seat when you are in a bench seat.

Dejibo, I met one of those kids today! :eek: We were at O'Charlies for supper. We were at a table next to a family. I guess the kids finished eating before the parents did. So the young boy decides he is going to desicrate the empty table next to him and big sister didn't want him to so decided to play the role of the parent since no one else was. She did a pretty good job of making the empty table look good so it was ignored by the restruant staff. So I made sure I let our waitress know to totally clean the table and remove the napkins and silverware. The little boy was running around the table and others, finally Dad told him to stop but by that time they were all ready toleave.

Makes me wonder what these children get away with at home if they can do as they please elsewhere. :rolleyes:

I just came back from the all-you-can-eat chinese buffet. (barely made it out alive!)

Screaming kids everywhere. They stuck us close to the buffet which was partially a good thing, and partially a bad thing. People blocking us from getting up to go get food. Little kids running past us constantly, screaming.

Of course, when you go to a buffet where the kids eat free, you have to deal with screaming, running, messy, sticky children crawling all over the place.

I just want some of those parents to teach their kids to keep their sticky little fingers off of my cane. Didnt matter if I was using my cane (walking) or not (sitting down eating) Had to keep moving my cane because some lady's kids kept trying to get at it. Finally stuck it in between my legs and had the handle resting on the inside of my forearm while I was eating. If I leaned it against the wall or the table, one of those kids kept walking over to try to play with it. Telling him to back off didnt help. (not sure he actually spoke english yet)

Those kids were doing their best to imitate monkeys throwing food too.

Then the big(ger) crowds of people started coming in, and my parents and I couldnt get out of there fast enough.

I like the buffet, just prefer to go there when it's not so crowded. (couldnt get my mom out of the house an hour earlier to go when it's slower)

Is it just me, or do others here who use canes seem to have problems with children either wanting to play with your cane, or they're running past really fast and knocking it out of your hand or knocking you down?

My cane is red with flowers on it so it's eye-catching. Especially to children. I've never had a child come up and grab my cane but I have had several look at it and appear curious. I usually explain to them (depending on their age) that it helps me walk and keep my balance.