?? food from other restaurants, in your space??

has anyone ever had this experience?

a small table comes in to your establishment, but 1 or 2 of the group wants to bring in food from another restaurant

for example
a party of 4, but one child won't go out to dinner unless they can eat McDonalds (so they want to bring McDonalds into your restaurant)

-
or one member of the groups wants to bring in hot wings from another establishment


---
is this common in other restaurants??
how have you dealt with the situation??

For children, you can make an exception, it is sort of like bringing age-appropriate snacks. Even our kids went through "I'll only eat THAT!!" periods, though we made every effort to expose them to many different types of food. I honestly don't believe adults should expect an establishment to allow them to bring in food from another place. Maybe charge a "place setting" charge?

When I was little, I went through the Burger King phase, and I distinctly remember one episode where my mom wanted to go to lunch at a Chinese restaurant but I wanted Burger King, so we brought it into the Chinese restaurant (a nice, sit-down place). They were nice about it, but made me eat my burger and fries off of a plate and poured my drink into a regular glass. Twenty years later, I appreciate that they did that.

For adults, though, I don't think I'd tolerate it.

I would agree with Holly and Suzi ... kids ok .. but not adults.

When I had a bar, I had customers sneak in beer because it was cheaper.

I threw them out along with their beer.

OK, I don't mean to bash Indiana folks here (my mother is from Indiana).. but between this post, and this one:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/hotbytes/viewtopic.php?t=1547&highlight=touch
what's up with the people going to restaurants in Indiana?

You've got to be kidding me!

If you can't entertain your children with food that is offered at the establishment that you are dining in then "What the F@.." are you doing there in the first place?

Would you do go to a "Tupperware" party at a known aquaintence's home and then offer up some"Pampered Chef" crap...Even though you knew the host spent thier own time and money to host the event?

I don't have children myself, but I find the idea as a chef/resturant person just a little off putting and way off the mark.

Just to make myself clear on this subject before I sound all anti-kid....

If you are nursing or have very young(2 or younger)offspring then by all means then bring their dinner with them...

But in my opinion; If a child is old enough to eat "fast food" then as a parent you have the ability to tell your child what they can or cannot eat if you are going to a certian establshment.

Most places offer the same "kid friendly" menu anyway...

I would never bring in outside food to a restaurant. I have two young children and if they are not interested in eating in a restaurant that my husband and I want then we'll get take out. There are many Saturday nights when we stop at 3 restaurants for take out to please everyone in the family.

I would never bring in outside food to a restaurant. I have two young children and if they are not interested in eating in a restaurant that my husband and I want then we'll get take out. There are many Saturday nights when we stop at 3 restaurants for take out to please everyone in the family.

I agree with Dan:

If you are nursing or have very young(2 or younger)offspring then by all means then bring their dinner with them...

(I assume that bringing their food with you means bringing home-packed table foods or baby food- not bringing in food from another place.)

I have a three year old, who unlike his older sister, insists on eating traditional kid-menu food. But I would never bring food from another place into a restaurant. Dan is right :

But in my opinion; If a child is old enough to eat "fast food" then as a parent you have the ability to tell your child what they can or cannot eat if you are going to a certian establishment.

We use restaurant eating as another opportunity to expose Aiden to new foods (and always have cheerios ready if he doesn't care for the food after he tries it). He may be a little disappointed when he asks for "chicken nuggets and french fries" at a restaurant and they don't have it, but he's learning to try other foods and has found some new favorites.

Deb

Rarely has there been a restaurant that has not had something that is edible for a child. Exceptions would be for life threatening food allergies, a chronic medical condition that requires a nutritonal content unavailable except from home kitchens or a cuisine that you know a child would be unable to consume: habaneros, porcupine quills, fiberglass and mud come to mind.

A pizza parlor (unless serving a habanero, porcupine, fiberglass and mud pizza) would seem to me an easy place to find something that a child would eat.

I've gotten the sense from this board that most restaurants are anti-kid which is why we rarely eat out anymore.

Maybe it's just my misperception, but I feel like there's a "kids suck" thread at least once a week. Or at least a "patrons suck" thread.

For the record - my 2yo daughter has never eaten fast food. If we bring in outside food, it's usually raisins or Oatios and never food from another establishment.

But I wonder if restaurant owners/chefs understand how off-putting it is to continue to read complaints about how annoying patrons and their children are. I'm in IT. I'm sure I'd be awfully careful about posting about annoying users on a board primarily frequented by the very users who keep me in business.

Just my two cents.

thanks for the comments everyone

we're not anti-kid/anti-customer at the Charlestown Pizza Company

(this particular thread is based on behaviors of adults and children)

as a pizzaria, we offer severaL kid friendly options, we have a video game/novelty area for our child guests

i asked these questions, to determeine what the overall opinion is on these matters

we have a policy in place that states that we do not allow food from other restaurants

but, we certainly won't take a child's fruit snacks/cereal snacks from them if they bring them in; but i don't think that allowing fast food into our establishment sends a positive message about our food

thanks for your input

shawn

My favorite experience is when a customer came in with three companions and wanted me to have my chef cook four steaks he bought at a meat market. I respectfully declined stating health code violations. I mean come on!

I've gotten the sense from this board that most restaurants are anti-kid which is why we rarely eat out anymore.

Maybe it's just my misperception, but I feel like there's a "kids suck" thread at least once a week. Or at least a "patrons suck" thread.

For the record - my 2yo daughter has never eaten fast food. If we bring in outside food, it's usually raisins or Oatios and never food from another establishment.

But I wonder if restaurant owners/chefs understand how off-putting it is to continue to read complaints about how annoying patrons and their children are. I'm in IT. I'm sure I'd be awfully careful about posting about annoying users on a board primarily frequented by the very users who keep me in business.

Just my two cents.

I do not think that most restaurants in town are anti kid. I personally see them as future customers.

As a mother, I can say from experience that most restaurants are certainly NOT anti-child. A few, such as Melillo's, stand out as extremely welcoming, but almost all are happy to have children.

There are, however, one or two posters - I would never say which ones - who are decidedly anti-child. I have noted which restaurants they work at, and I won't go, with or without children. I would ignore these folks and focus on the ones who welcome all ages. After all, outside mythology, none of us have sprung fully grown from our parents. All of us will be young and a bit messy - and old and a bit messy - and we should have a little patience.

In my travels, I've noted that in most countries, fine dining is a much more multi-generational experience than it is here. I've seen four generations dining together in Italy, Spain, Mexico, Greece, and France, and the wait staff never batted an eye. Our culture is less friendly to good food, and to exposing our little ones to it. We too often see quality dining as a special experience - and fast food and junk as the norm - so we think it' perfectly normal to exclude a huge chunk our population from the restaurant experience. Outside of the finest special occassion restaurants, I think good food is what ALL of us should be eating, all of the time. So not welcoming little ones is unreasonable.

As to the original question, no, I'd NEVER bring outside fast food into a restaurant with me, but I might bring a bit of smashed sweet potato or avocado for the very youngest eater. Toddler and over, though, they get what the restaurant has. I don't think it's unreasonable for parents to bring in their own food for young children if that child is a very picky eater, but I also think that after a certain age - such as starting elementary school - both parents and the restaurants have a right to exclude outside food.