The food service industry is tough. The business is relentless, the competition is fierce and the margins are slim. I worked for six years in the restaurant industry and I know just how tough it can be. One of the more controversial subjects in restaurant circles has to do with kids. Do you allow them or not? How do you accommodate them? Does welcoming them help or hurt your business? A debate on those subjects could take days, there are a lot of emotions on both sides. However, if you are going to not only allow children, but actively encourage them, how should you do it?
I recently returned from three weeks on the road, where a lot of restaurant meals were had, and I couldn’t help but notice the differences between restaurants who gets it, those who don’t, and those who think they do but don’t. So as a former restaurant employee here are some tips for restaurants who want to do more than just tolerate kids.
Seriously, I’ve been to restaurants where I swear the high chairs are older than I am. On our recent trip, we walked into a restaurant and were told that they couldn’t give us a high chair because they only had one and it was in use. One? I know margins are slim in restaurants, but if you’re going to go to the trouble of printing a kids menu (as this restaurant had) pick up a few of these and stop playing musical chairs.
You wouldn’t seat an adult in a chair that had French fries all over it, why would you do the same to a kid? I’ve seen some restaurants go to the trouble of shrink-wrapping the kids tray to demonstrate how clean it is but don’t bother to clean the actual seat. Most parents are going to whip out the baby wipes in a restaurant anyway, but we should only be doing it out of OCD-like compulsion, not because there is day old spaghetti sauce on the baby seat.
A restaurant can never go wrong with burgers, pasta, and pizza on the kids menu, but a little variety, and accommodation are important. Kids may seem like a cookie-cutter group to please, but allow for some variation. For example, my daughter loves veggies on her pizza but most restaurants offer a cheese-only or pepperoni variety. If you have some red pepper in the back, don’t be difficult about changing up the menu. A culinary institution should appreciate helping a kid develop a more complex palate.
I get it, I’ve been there. A child sitting in a seat is worth about a quarter of an equivalent adult. They don’t drink alcohol, parents don’t generally top up their tips (though they should so long as the service is good) and they create a lot of mess and noise. Problem is, if they don’t come I don’t come and I do pay full price. It’s a glass half full kinda situation. Most parents have the sense to know what kind of restaurants are kid-appropriate, and we do occasionally get out without kids. So if you treat us well (most of us) will remember it. Eye rolling, sighing, and being generally unpleasant won’t make us go away, but it will make your efforts even less worthwhile.
This is very much in line with some of the other points, just because they are kids doesn’t mean you can be half-assed and not give a shit about quality. I’ve been offered cups of broken crayons with dead bugs in them to placate my kids. No one is asking you to buy toys, but some clean, unbroken crayons and a piece of paper go a long way. I’d rather you provide nothing than put a disgusting glass of wax in front of me. As Yoda said, “Do or do not, there is no try.”
This one is huge. I used to work with a waiter who would make animals out of napkins for kids at his tables. This was a four-star restaurant that used linen tablecloths and where a seat filled me a kids instead of an adult was a serious revenue hit. Despite all that, this guy cleaned up. Families would ask for him by name. No one is saying you need to be a circus clown, but a little effort and understanding goes a long way. Parents need to eat too, and sometimes they don’t want to cook just like everyone else. When we were in Charlottetown, I complained at the restaurant with the single high chair, but I went out of the way to complement my server to her manager at another restaurant that did a fantastic job. Parents: if someone goes above and beyond, make sure you consider that in your tip.
Do you have any other tips for restaurants looking to accommodate kids? Let me know in the comments.
Printer-friendly version