Kids bringing fast food into restaurants: What do you think?

and everybody else can... as I said... shut up about it.

Especially if you don't have kids of your own.

I guess that sort of says it all.

Is it because this problem involves children that people have blinders on? Think about it. If your friends were at one of our local craft beer establishments and you didn't like craft beer- would you have the guts and nerve to carry in a six pack of Bud Lite?

Eight pages ... and the truth.

So children and adults should be held to the same standard.

Great argument.

Is it because this problem involves children that people have blinders on? Think about it. If your friends were at one of our local craft beer establishments and you didn't like craft beer- would you have the guts and nerve to carry in a six pack of Bud Lite?

Eight pages ... and the truth.

So children and adults should be held to the same standard.

Great argument.

No...adults are the decision makers in everyone of these scenarios.

No...adults are the decision makers in everyone of these scenarios.

That is an even worse argument that the original one. Not only should children be held to the same standard as adults, but you must make all decisions about your kids as if you are dealing with an adult. I'm almost speechless. Almost.

Many of you need to stop worrying about your dining experience or your food and go have kids. It's the single most rewarding and wonderful thing a person can do. Take the best meal you've ever eaten or prepared, multiply the experience by 10,000 and it still won't come close.

When you have a child you go from being the star of your own life to being a supporting actor in theirs.

Things like this don't even register in comparison. Judge me. I don't care. My daughter is a healthy, happy, successful little girl. I've done my job as well as I know how and I'm going to keep doing so.

And yes.. I've carried McDonald's into a restaurant for her and I'd do it again. And again. And again.

BTW, anybody who would use strippers or beer in a discussion around kids clearly doesn't get it.

And with that, I've said my peace and I will see you all in another thread.

BTW, anybody who would use strippers or beer in a discussion around kids clearly doesn't get it.

I do apologize. I thought this was a thread between adults. I had no idea there were any kids around.

Well, Justin, apparently according to this crowd, you go to Pizza Hut and buy a pizza for the kids and bring it along to Rich O's, then take up a big family table and order personal-sized pizzas for you and your wife. And then the server gets tipped on you and your wife's pizzas, and then has to clean up the mess your kids made with the Pizza Hut Pizza.

Marsha,

No-no-no...You forgot...The adults are "sharing a plate", so they only have to tip on ONE personal sized pizza. Jeez girl, you need to get this "it's a new decade" dining down pat...How on earth can you teach your students if you don't know the rules.

Ahhh. The joys of insomnia.

Here goes, only because I know that if I don't say it, I am not going to be able to go to sleep. Here's the scenario...my grandmother has been in the hospital for several days. My parents/aunts/uncles/cousins and I have been at the hospital for what seems like weeks, waiting for the inevitable to happen. After she passes, several members of my family decide to go dine out. The adults want real food and a few drinks, the kids wanted fast food. So, they split the difference. On the way to the restaurant, they stopped and got us fast food, and the group of us ate in the restaurant. This brings me to my point...maybe instead of being annoyed when you see a family bring in food from outside, be kind, as you have no idea what may be going on.

This could be even more fun

Flip the coin on this scenario .... would you instead take carry out and drinks for the adults into the fast food restaurant that the kids prefer?


The CPC sits pretty close to a hospital and a funeral home so this scenario could certainly happen to us at any given time.

What would I do?
IF the guests explained the situation, i would remove all the packaging from the fast food and plate the fast food on our plates and try to make the evening enjoyable for everyone.
IF they did not explain the situation, I would explain our policy concerning food from other restaurants and offer to make their order for carry out.

The important factor in this hypothetical is "Communication"

We as owners/chefs/servers are not able to read minds on a consistently accurate basis

Most any perceived problematic issues can be solved by communicating your needs with the restaurant staff in a timely manner.

Your child only eats plain noodles with butter, no sauce, no meat, no cheese - No problem
Only chocolate milk...lets see, we've got 2% & chocolate syrup - we can make it happen
Your child will only eat pizza with soy cheese....given enough advance notice, or if you bring the cheese.... it can be done

There are limits to the magic we can work (equipment, product, etc), egg rolls probably won't be flying out of our pizza oven anytime soon, and we can't pull a rack of lamb out of thin air either

You will find that most kitchens keep peanut butter,jelly, & bread somewhere in the kitchen though.

Shawn
darn, i think we're out of peanut butter

and everybody else can... as I said... shut up about it.

Especially if you don't have kids of your own.

I guess that sort of says it all.

Chris,

No...you don't get it. Many of us on this forum have already RAISED our kids (or don't have any) and as a result that (A) Gives us the inherent right to critique how you raise yours and (B) Means we don't want to put up with your little kids in any way shape or form. It doesn't mean we're bad people, it just means we know the "rules"...Rules which BTW were created generations ago. One of these days you'll know where we're coming from.

Ok.. I know I said I was done, but I enjoyed all of Steve P's posts. Good stuff.

And I really DO appreciate Marsha's perspective. Even if I don't share it. Maybe I won't be so shy about asking the chef to do something special next time.

Thanks for the good debate.

And now... I really AM done (and would still carry in McDonald's so I can enjoy my daughter's company. Sorry. It was as much for your benefit as it was mine. Even if you don't appreciate it. )

No...adults are the decision makers in everyone of these scenarios.

That is an even worse argument that the original one. Not only should children be held to the same standard as adults, but you must make all decisions about your kids as if you are dealing with an adult. I'm almost speechless. Almost.

Many of you need to stop worrying about your dining experience or your food and go have kids. It's the single most rewarding and wonderful thing a person can do. Take the best meal you've ever eaten or prepared, multiply the experience by 10,000 and it still won't come close.

When you have a child you go from being the star of your own life to being a supporting actor in theirs.

Things like this don't even register in comparison. Judge me. I don't care. My daughter is a healthy, happy, successful little girl. I've done my job as well as I know how and I'm going to keep doing so.

And yes.. I've carried McDonald's into a restaurant for her and I'd do it again. And again. And again.

BTW, anybody who would use strippers or beer in a discussion around kids clearly doesn't get it.

And with that, I've said my peace and I will see you all in another thread.

Chris- Although I was about to say EXACTLY the same thing, Mark H beat me to it, so this quote is attributed to the wrong person.
That being said Mark talks from a much deeper perspective than I ever could since he has a wonderful son who he has described in some detail. I, on the other hand, am way too selfish to have considered having children and cannot not speak to that aspect of life. I can however speak from a restaurant worker's POV, which is what I offered to this discussion.

Michelle- my thoughts are with you and your family, and I think your situation is among the exceptions to thoughts expressed by the restaurant workers on this thread. Get some sleep and take care.

No...adults are the decision makers in everyone of these scenarios.

That is an even worse argument that the original one. Not only should children be held to the same standard as adults, but you must make all decisions about your kids as if you are dealing with an adult. I'm almost speechless. Almost.

Many of you need to stop worrying about your dining experience or your food and go have kids. It's the single most rewarding and wonderful thing a person can do. Take the best meal you've ever eaten or prepared, multiply the experience by 10,000 and it still won't come close.

When you have a child you go from being the star of your own life to being a supporting actor in theirs.

Things like this don't even register in comparison. Judge me. I don't care. My daughter is a healthy, happy, successful little girl. I've done my job as well as I know how and I'm going to keep doing so.

And yes.. I've carried McDonald's into a restaurant for her and I'd do it again. And again. And again.

BTW, anybody who would use strippers or beer in a discussion around kids clearly doesn't get it.

And with that, I've said my peace and I will see you all in another thread.

Chris- Although I was about to say EXACTLY the same thing, Mark H beat me to it, so this quote is attributed to the wrong person.
That being said Mark talks from a much deeper perspective than I ever could since he has a wonderful son who he has described in some detail. I, on the other hand, am way too selfish to have considered having children and cannot not speak to that aspect of life. I can however speak from a restaurant worker's POV, which is what I offered to this discussion.

Michelle- my thoughts are with you and your family, and I think your situation is among the exceptions to thoughts expressed by the restaurant workers on this thread. Get some sleep and take care.

Gary, as I was running on some sort of weird adrenaline last night, I must have made a typo. My grandmother died a LONG time ago, when I was a kid. I still appreciate your sentiment, though. She was an amazing woman.

I respect you all. It's pretty obvious that nobody is going to change anyone's mind in regards to this issue anytime soon.

After reading all this, I don't think I'll be taking my son out anytime soon. Maybe we'll just hole up in the kitchen for a little while. Money's tight anyway and I already feel like we get stared at enough for behavior..lol.

Well I hadn't read any of this, but saw a post from Marsha on FB so I had to see what this was all about. I have two wonderful kids. When they were infants and toddlers I would bring snacks into a restaurant to keep them occupied until the food came. Being a former chef and restaurant owner, i would never bring food in from another restaurant. I just wouldn't do it. I might bring some ingredients in if I had had a conversation in advance to accommodate a special request or a dietary issue. Most of the time, the places i go are very willing to get product in to accommodate any requests which are few and far between.
As for my kids, they have been raised to enjoy good food and most likely would order a salad over french fries at a "real" restaurant. They have learn to be adventurous with food and have a rather refined palate for 12 and 13 years old. In posts in the past I have asked about kid friendly and such, but as someone put it, unless you have kids you don't understand. Well I do and don't understand. As a parent I am perturbed that restaurants consider chicken nuggets a menu item. Has anyone watched the Jaime Oliver Food revolution? If you feed them junk, junk is what they will want. My kids have had the privilege of dining at some of the finest restaurants this city has to offer and we have NEVER been unable to find food that is suited for them. This includes restaurants like Seviche, Havana Rumba, Corbett's, Equus. Although my kids enjoy fast food, it is not an expectation to have Mickey D's at a "nice" restaurant.
We all have our own opinions. If we encourage our kids to venture out of the box, they may become foodies someday like those of us participating on this forum.
Can there be extenuating circumstances? Sure. Arguing that it is one's RIGHT, is plain wrong. Treat your host (restaurant) with respect and they will treat you the same way - if they are worth their salt.

Just my opinion.....

I really had no idea that a restaurant would fix something off the menu for my child! They are nearly grown now, and eat everything. I wish I had realized that I might be able to order off the menu!

My daughter is a vegetarian. The rest of the family wants to eat at Peter Luger's Steak House in July, but I feel like it might be uncomfortable ordering just the side dishes for her at such as an expensive restaurant. I will probably make up for it by ordering desserts. I'm sure the Luger's Brooklyn servers will give me "the look!" LOL!

Well, I think the point that the "other side" was trying to make was, sometimes there are extenuating circumstances. You never know if the child has special dietary needs, or whether someone has just had a death in the family, or whether the child is special needs, or, if the parents are just plain lazy. You just DON'T know. Are any of us saying that bringing a kid into a decent, sit down place with a sack of McDonald's is ideal? Hell no! Kids are kids. Some can be "reasoned" with (as much as you can reason with a tyrant munchkin, anyway), some can't.

For example, my hubby and I were at a local pizzeria this weekend. There was a couple and their 4-5ish year old son there. The entire time we were there, this kid screamed, at ear splitting levels, that he didn't want pizza. Did they try to hush him? Nope. Did management ask them to leave? Nope. Keep in mind, this was a relatively small place, so it's not like there was really any place to go but out. We had two choices, get our pizza boxed up and leave, or sit and listen to the kid scream. We stayed. Some people left. What would have been the harm in mom and dad bringing in a Happy Meal? It would have kept everyone happy, and our eardrums would still be intact.