How To Manage Kids In A Not-So-Kid-Friendly Restaurant

Kids can be a challenge to manage when you do not have an environment that suits their needs, such as restaurants with a laid-back and quiet atmosphere. Even if you only have children come in on the rare occasion, make sure you have enough resources in place to keep them occupied so the rest of your guests can still enjoy their meal undisturbed.

No coloring sheets? No problem!
Ensure you have some crayons in your restaurant, or at the very least some available pens or pencils, and have a hostess give them some paper. Have the server or a hostess ask the child to draw something for them to take home or to leave at the restaurant as a souvenir of their visit.

Have them imagine a new type of dish

Children always come up with great ideas when they put their imagination into action. Have the child take an item on the menu and reinvent it to make a new dish. Who knows, it could become world famous one day!

Give them something to snack on
Kids act up because they’re tired of waiting and hungry. To keep them from getting “h-angry,” give them some tortilla chips if you happen to use them in one of your dishes anyway. If not, always keep a bag of goldfish on site.

Be resourceful
Take a look around your restaurant for little things that may be appealing to younger kids, like drink garnishes for example. If you use colorful, plastic items as garnishes (an object free of sharp edges), give a handful to a child in your section to play with and keep them occupied.

Even if your restaurant is more adult oriented, you can make it kid friendly with these inexpensive tips!