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

I credit this acceptance with early exposure to good food - we never pacified him with McDonalds or the like.

Good for you Mark !!! I tried the same thing, unfortunately I had a (now former) spouse who wouldn't get with the program.

It ended up cost me three or four hundred thousand "large" but at least I got part of the problem solved

You're both completely wrong. Repeated studies have shown that taste buds change over time. Children have a much strong sense of taste than adults, and different children experience this strength in different ways. Kids have several times the number of taste buds that adults do. Your taste buds die off as you age... rapidly as a child and then more slowly as an adult. Things adults do can actually increase the rate at which they die (smoking, heavy drinking, burning your tongue).

Trying something has no effect on how it tastes to you, the ongoing death of your taste buds does.

See... beer isn't an "acquired taste". Beer is kind of bitter (some more than others). Bitter is one of the taste sensations that is strongest when you are young and diminishes as you age. So really... you didn't acquire a taste for beer, your taste buds just died off to the point that the bitterness no longer over powered you and you could enjoy the other flavors. Some people never "acquire" this taste.

When I was a kid I hated seafood. The taste of all of it bothered me. Now I can enjoy it because my taste buds have diminished to the point that the "fishy" flavor no longer over powers me.

That's why you see so man elderly people at buffets. For many people, it literally all tastes the same to them anyway.

Forcing your kids to eat something they didn't like had no impact on them. What tastes good is all about science and heredity and nothing about being force fed.

Though, I do make my daughter TRY new things, because you don't know what you do or don't like until you actually taste it.

Tell my 15 y/o he's wrong!

I credit this acceptance with early exposure to good food - we never pacified him with McDonalds or the like.

Good for you Mark !!! I tried the same thing, unfortunately I had a (now former) spouse who wouldn't get with the program.

It ended up cost me three or four hundred thousand "large" but at least I got part of the problem solved

You're both completely wrong. Repeated studies have shown that taste buds change over time. Children have a much strong sense of taste than adults, and different children experience this strength in different ways. Kids have several times the number of taste buds that adults do. Your taste buds die off as you age... rapidly as a child and then more slowly as an adult. Things adults do can actually increase the rate at which they die (smoking, heavy drinking, burning your tongue).

Trying something has no effect on how it tastes to you, the ongoing death of your taste buds does.

See... beer isn't an "acquired taste". Beer is kind of bitter (some more than others). Bitter is one of the taste sensations that is strongest when you are young and diminishes as you age. So really... you didn't acquire a taste for beer, your taste buds just died off to the point that the bitterness no longer over powered you and you could enjoy the other flavors. Some people never "acquire" this taste.

When I was a kid I hated seafood. The taste of all of it bothered me. Now I can enjoy it because my taste buds have diminished to the point that the "fishy" flavor no longer over powers me.

That's why you see so man elderly people at buffets. For many people, it literally all tastes the same to them anyway.

Forcing your kids to eat something they didn't like had no impact on them. What tastes good is all about science and heredity and nothing about being force fed.

Though, I do make my daughter TRY new things, because you don't know what you do or don't like until you actually taste it.

What study are you reading? Nonsense.

Also, is it rude to wear a shirt you bought at Macy's into Dillard's? Is it rude to drive your Honda into a Ford dealership? Is it rude to wear my Lee's into a Levi store? Is it rude to use my Palm phone in the Apple store? Is it rude to wear my UofL shirt into the UK store?

Please. People bring things bought other places into other businesses all the time. Again. Get over yourselves....

Two different animals in my opinion. The people at Dillard's, Ford, and Apple aren't making the products for you, just selling them. There is not the personal connection between a car salesmen and Ford as a chef and his food. A car, pair of jeans, and phone are long term decisions. A meal last only an hour or two. I think people should be respectful enough of a chefs food and business to not bring in outside food unless truely nessasary.

My beer taste buds must have died at age 15.

Why should anyone notice or care outside of the parents and the restaurant owner? If they aren't forcing you to eat the junk food, what difference does it make? You can't tell by looking if a child has special needs or health considerations. You don't know if this is a habit or they are just making the best of a bad situation (maybe the babysitter cancelled).

I think that most of the time this behavior would be tacky but I don't know if it's any tackier than getting in a snit over what someone at another table is doing when it doesn't impact your meal.

Also, on the subject of smells, I'd like to point out that just because a little perfume/cologne is nice, a lot isn't better.

If a family is going to go out dining, they should go to a place that 1) is family friendly and 2) offers menu items that satisfy the whole family. I'll exclude issues of special dietary needs, because I don't possess any expertise on such issues as to be able to comment on them.

If parents want to go to X but X doesn't offer something for the kids then this sounds less of an issue with X (or the need to bring in outside food) and more an issue with these parents wanting to ignore the lifestyle changes that come with being parents. Same thing with paying for a babysitter. Comes with the territory.

Restaurants that expect to serve kids seem to have appropriate kid's menus. Those that don't, well there's your first clue.

Don't bring in food from another restaurant. It is tacky,

Sorry folks, but if you are a parent and your child is telling you what they are going to eat, you're doing it wrong.

If a family is going to go out dining, they should go to a place that 1) is family friendly and 2) offers menu items that satisfy the whole family. I'll exclude issues of special dietary needs, because I don't possess any expertise on such issues as to be able to comment on them.

If parents want to go to X but X doesn't offer something for the kids then this sounds less of an issue with X (or the need to bring in outside food) and more an issue with these parents wanting to ignore the lifestyle changes that come with being parents. Same thing with paying for a babysitter. Comes with the territory.

Restaurants that expect to serve kids seem to have appropriate kid's menus. Those that don't, well there's your first clue.

Well thats just making sense of the whole thing.

Sorry folks, but if you are a parent and your child is telling you what they are going to eat, you're doing it wrong.

I will say as the parent of a child with special needs, I have enough battles in the day, that food sometimes is the last of them. After battling through speech therapy, occupational therapy, training him not to hit others, if he wants to eat what he wants to eat, so be it. He can have that small victory.

[Robin Garr]

I will say as the parent of a child with special needs, I have enough battles in the day, that food sometimes is the last of them. After battling through speech therapy, occupational therapy, training him not to hit others, if he wants to eat what he wants to eat, so be it. He can have that small victory.

In a special case like this, Megan, I'm inclined to agree. As a broad rule, though, I'm not as crazy about the idea of parents in general bringing in commercial food from another restaurant for the kiddos if it's only to keep them happy.

Sorry folks, but if you are a parent and your child is telling you what they are going to eat, you're doing it wrong.

I will say as the parent of a child with special needs, I have enough battles in the day, that food sometimes is the last of them. After battling through speech therapy, occupational therapy, training him not to hit others, if he wants to eat what he wants to eat, so be it. He can have that small victory.

What Robin said. No one here has suggested that special needs children shouldn't have their needs met, but barring special circumstances, a parent should not let their children tell them what they are going to eat.

Are there restaurants out there who would refuse, if asked, to give a child something basic and not-on-the-menu, like raw vegetables (carrots, etc.), slices of bread, cheese, plain pasta that could be buttered, grilled chicken slices that would normally go on a salad? Charge a couple bucks for it and call it a day? That way, you get something bland enough for the taste buds but you are still ordering food from the restaurant you are in.

Are there restaurants out there who would refuse, if asked, to give a child something basic and not-on-the-menu, like raw vegetables (carrots, etc.), slices of bread, cheese, plain pasta that could be buttered, grilled chicken slices that would normally go on a salad? Charge a couple bucks for it and call it a day? That way, you get something bland enough for the taste buds but you are still ordering food from the restaurant you are in.

Not that I've ever worked at.

When we were raising our kids, now 25 and 27, we always tried to teach them about the different cultures of the places we were eating. Our one rule with any kind of food was you had to try something first before you could say you didn't like it. That being said , there is not much they don't like. Of course it is still funny to remember my son taking falafel to his second grade class them thinking they were cookies and being soooo disappointed, but he was so proud he learned how to make a new favorite food.

When we were raising our kids, now 25 and 27, we always tried to teach them about the different cultures of the places we were eating.

Very nice. You made me think of the following quotes. I think they apply nicely to your way of thinking/raising your children.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” Mark Twain

“I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost

“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” Saint Augustine

Whenever people want to dictate how parents should and should not raise their children, it’s going to open a hotbed of controversy. So, putting the issue of what is in the best interest of the children aside, the real issue becomes “what is the harm?” The harms that have been cited so far are: looking tacky, offensive smells to other patrons, disrespect to the chef, and disrespect to the establishment in general. I can think of a laundry list of other diner actions that would meet several, if not all, of those criteria. How about two more commonly practiced acts – bringing a cake from another bakery or a bottle of wine that isn’t on the list? Are we not distrusting the establishment, in these instances, to provide an adequate dessert for our celebration or an appropriate wine accompaniment to our meal?

So your kids are adventuresome eaters, that’s great. Not everyone’s are. I know plenty of people who have introduced their children to many types of food and they persist in being picky. It’s the luck of the draw, folks. The truth of the matter is, you never know why a family made the decision they did for their children. And quite frankly, it’s none of your business. Maybe the family is celebrating a victory of some sort – the kids chose McDonalds and Dad wanted something else. Perhaps they’re going through something very difficult – mom is in the hospital and dad wanted a chance to feel normal so he went to his favorite spot while allowing the kids to get McDonalds. The point is – you never know.

Is it good practice to bring fast food into other restaurants? No. Does it happen enough that people should be outraged by it? Probably not. If your experience at a restaurant is that dependant upon the behavior of other diners, then perhaps you are the one that shouldn’t eat out. Restaurants are precarious places, folks. You never know what your experience is going to be like – the very existence of this forum is proof of that.