This.
QFT. I cring every time children enter any place I’m eating.
Absolutely.
Slightly off-topic: The thing that often gets left out of these conversations is that screaming children don’t just annoy people without kids, but they also annoy people with kids whose kids are behaving perfectly nicely. I mean, if you’re in a restaurant, with 3 families, and only one kid is cutting up but the others are super-nice, who are you going to notice? And I know many parents who can tolerate their own kids noises but not others’.
Slightly more off-topic: The thing that really annoys me is that unless you’re an old fart you can’t move into an apartment complex sans children. Some stupid family act. Regardless of the fact that it would be a money-making endeavor!
We’d never go anywhere else (and we eat out two or three times a week). One thing we love about the States is the “No one under 21 in licensed joints” laws - kids can freely go into licensed joints here (they just can’t order booze).
I wouldn’t really care either way. I guess I have lead a charmed life because having meals runied by annoying kids has never been much of an issue for me. At a lot of those casual-type places mentioned in the OP the proverbial screaming kid would practically have to be sitting in your lap to hear over the din of the other diners, the piped in music, and whatever is blaring on the nearest TV anyway.
While this may be true in certain states, it isn’t true everywhere, and it certainly isn’t true in Virginia. I had Sunday brunch with my 9 year old in a bar, and he has been in many licensed premises here. Also in Tennessee, when we lived there.
Well, I appreciated it any time I encountered it.
ETA: Can we make it tv-free, too? Why does everyone think I need 15 tvs around me to eat a meal?
Yes, yes, dear god, yes.
No, but only because I don’t go to those restaurants when I care about having an adults-only time. If I wanted to go out with just my husband I’d go someplace much nicer.
I’d avoid it when I was out with my kids, but might go on date night with my wife. However, the kids/no kids rule would be irrelevant; is the food good, are the servers attentive, does it have a good wine list? Those are the more critical factors.
I’ve been to many, many restaurants in my life, the majority of which (probably 70-80%) were non-chain, no-kid-menu establishments. I can probably count on one hand the times my meal was disturbed by an unruly child. I don’t know where the rest of you are eating, but in my experience it doesn’t happen nearly as often as some pit threads would have you believe. We take my kids (ages 6 and 8) to these types of places, and except for the diners at the next table who can see us, I reckon no other diners are even aware my kids are there. They behave as well as most adults, and better than some.
Now, if the place was over-18-only because there were adult-only activities as entertainment during the meal, then we’d definitely go to check it out.
I voted “something else” because I *would *go to such a restaurant, but not if that was the only attraction. It’d also have to have good food, service and ambience. Or, in other words, I don’t care what a restaurant’s kid policy is, I’ve yet to meet the kid that could put me off good food.
I am lucky to have a well behaved child at the moment, but I would understand a restaurant that prefers to exclude children. I have no idea if my child will remain this well behaved. We do tip extra, since we are aware that she can make a mess. As far as disturbing other patrons goes, she gets an A+.
Although we did find that in NZ, she had about a half-hour time limit. When she started getting cranky though, we did not wait to extricate her. One parent stays at the table to pay, and the other takes her outside immediately. This was exasperated slightly, because we did not realize that they do not usually bring you the bill to you in NZ. So several times the person in the restaurant was stuck waiting for the bill for a really long time.
I said “no”, but I probably should’ve thought longer on this one.
My first instinct was that no, when I go out to eat it’s with my wife and daughter. And if we got a babysitter and my wife and I are going out on our own, it’s going to be to a place we really like, all of which are family-friendly.
However, if something like this came into being and one of the places we liked went the “no-kids” route, I wouldn’t condemn them for it and would still go there if we had a babysitter.
To be clear, though, I’d eat there because I liked the food – not because they were child-free.
Kids are rarely an issue when I eat out. I can imagine, if you’re in a place with a dress code that costs 60$ a plate before the wine is factored, that the idea of a five year old wandering about would be unwelcome, but at a Chili’s? What, exactly, are these kids doing to ruin the atomsphere of the six TV’s, and the balloon animal artists?
That said, I’d have no real issue with it, but I wouldn’t see the childfree aspect as a draw either.
I would definitely patronize a child-free restaurant at least half the time that I eat out.
I love kids and occasionally eat out with the ones close to me. However, even when they were small, we did the pep talk about indoor voices and company manners. If there were any incidents where we were in danger of disturbing other patrons, we got up and went outside, sometimes, necessitating getting a go-box. We also went to kid friendly places. No high end dining or bars.
I really don’t mind well behaved children in public and am apt to compliment the parents, but for Og’s sake, the proper setting needs to be kept in mind.
The place has to be smoke free and have good food too. The absence of kids alone does not make up for the other two points.
I eat out at least 4-5 times a week and I can not remember the last time my meal was disturbed by a child.
I’m waaay more likely to be disturbed by some lady who has a loud cackling laugh, a bunch of guys who say “Fuck this, fuck that, fuck yeah” throughout their meal, a couple having their domestic dispute over dinner, bitch talking overly loud on her cellphone, etc, etc.
Kids not so much.
So if you could direct me to a stupid-dumb-fuck-free restaurant that allows kids I’ll be happy to go there.
Sure, I’d go, but not because it’s child-free. I can’t say that I really care about that.
I was going to vote yes until I saw your definition of a child to be 18. Under 5, even under 10, I can see it, but setting it to 18 becomes child hating on the part of the management, not a concern for decorum.
Only exception - if the ambiance of the dining establishment involved naked boobies on the waitstaff. Etc.
ETA: And that reminds me of a joke so dirty that I just slapped myself. </Wagging cigar>
I’d only bother to go to such an establishment for special occasions, like anniversaries or Valentines Day. Beyond that, the allure wouldn’t be strong enough to entice me for such a specific reason. Not to mention, I agree that under 10, say, would be a better cut-off age.