Family unfriendly/friendly restaurants

John_Rambo

Jimmy Garlic wrote: »

bring screaming children to a restaurant where they will ruin everyone elses experience

Sounds horrific Jimmy. In all my years of dining from the cheapest noodle bars to the finer diners I have never had to endure the pain of people bringing screaming childer to the restaurant. (I have witnessed a few embarrassed parents leave establishments with temperamental kids from time to time, all understood by adults, sometimes other children took offense)

In what hell hole did this happen so we to can avoid the pain?

Boskowski

Orion wrote: »

Age, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, race, family status, marital status, membership of travelling community - they are the grounds for discrimination. There are exceptions - e.g. religious (schools, hospitals, etc) institutions can legally refuse to hire you for being in an unmarried 'living in sin' relationship but the list above is the broad stroke.

Pubs have a special situation. To claim discrimination against them you have to go to the district court - the Equality Authority can't take those cases. I learned that, to my disgust, when I made a complaint years ago against the Beaumont Inn when the owner told my partner to go to the toilets to breastfeed one of our twins. This was at 1pm on a weekday with about 10 people in the pub. When I asked him who complained he said he did himself. The group of us got up and left instead. Funniest part was when I was negotiating a double buggy out the door - he just stood there watching. I bumped a wheel of the buggy off the door and he told me to be careful of the door. I told him that if he'd actually hold the door open instead of standing there like an asshole it would be easier ... so he told me I'm barred from the pub. I laughed in his face and asked him if he ever actually expected me back there anyway.

A restaurant not wanting children on their premises is hardly discriminating on the grounds of family status.
Discrimination on the grounds of family status would be if a restaurant only served married people.
As far as the restaurant is concerned you can be single, married, have 7 wives, have no or 12 kids - they will serve you. They will just not serve your children.

In my opinion it has come to this because of the behaviour of the parents. If there weren't so many ignorant parents around - ignorant to the fact that their running wild, screaming kids aren't half as amusing to the general public as they are to them - then we wouldn't have this problem.

And as far as well behaved kids are concerned... Even well behaved kids at a certain age are simply not suitable for evening meal premises. A 2 year old who goes cranky and starts crying because she's tired and whatnot is hardly behaving badly. But at an evening meal, where other people pay quite a lot to have an enjoyable break from things, it's simply not fair to subject them to that.

And if you are going to say 'but what if I can't get a babysitter and want an evening meal out wherever I wish' then I'd reply to that 'well tough, those are the sacrifices of having a 2 year old'.

MrCreosote

Boskowski wrote: »

As far as the restaurant is concerned you can be single, married, have 7 wives, have no or 12 kids - they will serve you. They will just not serve your children.

Well, it's a good job age isn't on that list then.

Oh no, hang on a second....

Boskowski

MrCreosote wrote: »

Well, it's a good job age isn't on that list then.

Oh no, hang on a second....

I agree with you. If someone was fkd up enough to have their 'right' to spoil other people's time confirmed by a court on the grounds of some construed discrimination case then 'age' would probably be a much more suitable anchor.

I don't even know why there's a debate over this tbh?

It seems nowadays everyone is so opinionated and so up in arms about their perceived 'rights' and 'entitlements' that common sense, courtesy and consideration for others has gone completely out the window.

pwurple

It's because there is a big difference between ejecting someone with cause... who has made a disturbance.... And refusing entry because someone who looked like them caused trouble previously (same age, skin colour, haircut, whatever).

Most people won't bring their children to unsuitable venues. And most people are aware when their kids start getting bored that it is time to get leave before the screaming starts.

I know what you're saying though. Common sense sometimes isn't as common as it should be. It would be nice if it could be there on both sides without need for the law.

You can get beligerent people battering down the doors of a posh restaurant demanding that their uninterested loud child gets admission. And you can also get quiet parents with a sleeping baby in a sling turned away from a cafe. What law could possibly cater for both.

Boskowski

I totally agree. A law shouldn't be needed. People should be able to make good judgement calls then everyone would be happy.
It's not as if people were put out by children as such. That is unless they are just being narky feckers.

But I've seen it happening many times. Parents being oblivious or worse ignorant to disturbing behaviour by their kids.
Other patrons threshold to react would be high though. They don't want to cause a fuss and be seen intolerant so they put up with it unless it gets mental. But they're not having a good time and may not come back.
Or else they do say something and they're being shot down aggressively or in a patronising manner by the parents.
With some people their kids can do no wrong and there is no reasoning with them. And unless I've been really unlucky on those occasions when I experienced such a thing myself there seems a fair number of them out there.

But I think I contributed enough to thread derailing by now. Others also have made their points and just maybe some people will consider the other side of things in the future, too.

mary1978

Our little one (7 months) loves going out and joining us for coffee / lunch in cafes and restaurants.
It is so much handier when they have high chairs, but it seems only about half the places we have been to have them available...

So I was wondering if people can recommend their favourite places to eat out in dublin (esp for breaskfast and lunch) which have high chairs and serve good food?

On my list already:
Botanic Gardens Cafe (the back one)
Bay Restaurant Clontarf
AVOCA
Andersons and Andersons Creperie (Drumcondra and Glasnevin)

Thanks all!

Julo12

mary1978 wrote: »

Our little one (7 months) loves going out and joining us for coffee / lunch in cafes and restaurants.
It is so much handier when they have high chairs, but it seems only about half the places we have been to have them available...

So I was wondering if people can recommend their favourite places to eat out in dublin (esp for breaskfast and lunch) which have high chairs and serve good food?

On my list already:
Botanic Gardens Cafe (the back one)
Bay Restaurant Clontarf
AVOCA
Andersons and Andersons Creperie (Drumcondra and Glasnevin)

Thanks all!

Thanks for the suggestions, tried Andersons in Glasnevin today - made a nice change from Avoca! I have doubts about whether the buggy wud fit in Bay, went when i was preggers and hardly fitted in myself!

Others I've been with baby and have high chairs or I've seen them being used are
The House in Howth
1014 in Clontarf opp Wooden Bridge
Camden Court in cc
Not everyone's a fan of their food I know but we find the TGIs in Blanch and Airside v handy with baba.

Agreed its a shame more places don't have high chairs but for parking and space for the buggy Starbucks in Omni and the Butlers Cafe in Clonshaugh industrial estate are good..

John_Rambo

Moloughneys in Clontarf. Buggy & child friendly.

liliq

Julo12 wrote: »

Not everyone's a fan of their food I know but we find the TGIs in Blanch and Airside v handy with baba..

TGI's in Dundrum are really child friendly too. We ordered from the kids menu, which included orange slices. The little fella loved them, and they were more than happy to give us extra orange slices a couple of times without extra charge. The staff were so child friendly, really lovely and full of smiles and games with him.

dublinlady

liliq wrote: »

TGI's in Dundrum are really child friendly too. We ordered from the kids menu, which included orange slices. The little fella loved them, and they were more than happy to give us extra orange slices a couple of times without extra charge. The staff were so child friendly, really lovely and full of smiles and games with him.

Nandos in Dundrum is good too!

Also marios in Terenure are very child friendly but I don't like their high chairs! Daughter kept falling out!