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Would you pay extra to bring your kids to a restaurant?
A restaurant near London is drawing mommy-boos for charging £3 for lap infants. Even though the babies were breast-fed, and weren't taking up a seat, restaurant employees told two new moms that their infants were "taking up space" and thus they had to pony up the equivalent of $4.65 U.S.
As a mom who likes to dine out, I say: Bravo! If you don't want my baby (and my business), just tell me. I wish more restaurants would be up-front about not wanting kids. Nothing's worse than going to a restaurant you think is family friendly and realizing halfway through your entree that the manager is shooting you death-glares and the wait staff is plotting to sell your child to the circus (as a parent, circus transactions are my job). Sure, restaurants in the States have felt some heat for declaring no-child zones, but give them props for honesty, at least.
According to the Cosmo, the restaurant in the London suburb of Croydon with the baby surcharge, the whole thing was a misunderstanding. Staff are supposed to charge £3 for toddlers who eat a little at the buffet -- not for infants who don't eat solids. The restaurant has apologized and promised swift retraining. Perhaps a time-out is in order?
Darn. I was hoping they'd take me up on my ideas for additional surcharges. Add $5 to the bill of the loud talker who's sharing the details of his uncle's goiter surgery with the entire restaurant. How about the waiter pays me 50 cents every time she asks me a question the moment my mouth is full? To the foursome in the corner table, lingering over their empty wine glasses and coffee cups while I grow old waiting for a table -- that'll be $3 per minute, please.
What do you think of a baby surcharge at restaurants?
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Sounds like they just don't want kids there at all so they charge a "nuisance fee."
Excellent idea !!
It sounds ridiculous. As a parent of kids who are generally very well behaved in public, especially restaurants, the treatment of families from some restaurants is appalling to me.
So tell people upfront. Don't surprise them with a bill charging them for food that the baby did not even consume. It's not right to charge people without telling them about this charge and giving them other dining options. I can't believe that the writer would say bravo to this deceptive (and uncommon) practice.
At least the restaurant has now apologized and cleared up the fact that they will only charge if the child eats (they mistakenly billed these people whose child did not eat), but as things stood prior to their policy's clarification, it was deceptive and wrong to charge for kids that were not eating or sharing anything from the buffet.
I'm all for No-Kids- in- Restaurants-at-All....EVER !!!!!! Maybe I'm getting older and cranky but it seems to me that there is a dearth of parenting going around. I'm sick of trying to have a nice dinner out with my significant other that I RARELY see and try to have a conversation without having to speak over the SCREAMING BRATS !!!!!!!
That is the parents fault. People do not raise & teach kids anymore, they just sit back & watch.
I have 3 young children and they are very well behaved but I agree that there are places where children DO NOT BELONG. When I was a kid, we went to restaurants with a kids' menu. That is the general rule-of-thumb I follow. And when I get the RARE date-nite, I prefer to dine at restaurants that do not cater to children and am generally annoyed when I see children in those places.
I get very frustrated at parents who say they can't take their children out to dinner anywhere other than Chuck E Cheese. It takes patience, planning and discipline but I have taken my 3 year old and infant to 4 star steak houses, Morroccan restaurants and many other non kid-friendly places, all without disturbing the people around us. Don't blame the little terrors that ruin your dinner experience, blame the parents.
Sometimes the parent can't win. My girls are almost 3. I have very strict rules about their behavior in public, and they know them well. I take them out to nice places all of the time without incident, but we were in an expensive restaurant and one of the girls started to become upset about her meal. I took her to the bathroom immediately and reminded her that if she behaved badly we would go straight home and we would not go out again until she could prove to me that she knew how to behave herself. A woman came out of one of the stalls and started getting on me for being too harsh with her! Apparently I am supposed to raise well behaved children without having the audacity to discipline them.
I totally agree with the surcharge, I do not have kids yet, but when I do, I will either learn to eat in more or to get a babysitter if I want to go out and eat. Kids up to a certain age can't or do not know how to behave in public, why ruin other people's meal who also work hard in order to enjoy the money they make to have a nice meal, with some peace and quiet. As for charging extra for a child for buffets, I agree, they do not eat enough to constitute a "normal" size meal from a buffet, the restaurant is losing money in the process.
As a parent I understand where you are coming from, however I do not agree that kids can't or do not know how to behave in public. The ill manners of a child are a reflection of their upbringing.
My children have always been well behaved in public...They know if they can't behave then we will not go in to eat or will leave immediately...period. I have been in resturants where my family to include my kids have been appalled at how other children are allowed to behave in public. I see this as a driving force for these charges.
I believe parents should use some common sense when going out to eat. They need to evaluate how their children act in public and if their behavior even warrents an award like that.
Behaving has nothing to do with age, and everything to do with parenting. Yes my infant might cry, at which point it is easy for me to exit the restaurant if necessary, but once children can start understanding direction (and it's early) they can understand how to act.
I'm not sorry to hear this. I'm sorry if the parents feel inconvenienced, but I feel inconvenienced when I go out for a pleasant meal only to be aggravated by a screaming baby. I love children, but please! Parents, understand! Other people have to eat in peace, too.
Hahahaha my children behave, however I can't say that about anyone else, I hate going to the movies with crying children, it really upsets me. It is worst at the restaurant I want to enjoy my food not hear a baby or child screaming.
I agree there are some places that kids do not belong. I was out for a very pleasant and for me expensive dinner with a friend at a white linen table cloth restaurant. I would have been really anoyed if I was spending $40 per person (no achol)for a meal and had to hear children screaming through it. There are many really nice family restaurants out there and when I go with the family thats where I go.
I have had too many meals ruined by children. They should be left at home until they learn how to behave in public. Children love to play Let's Pretend so one night a week turn your kitchen into a restaurant. The parents become the restaurant staff with a twist. They teach the children what is appropriate behavior. If they don't act right, they get kicked out of the restaurant. This means their meal is to go and they are sent to a separate area. If the child is too young to play the game they are too young to be in a restaurant. Also, I believe restaurants should be able to charge parents a nuisance fee for unruly children.
Children who are not under the control of their parents...OUT!!! and their parents along with them!!! Toss their coats, hat's, umbrella's toy's, dogie bag..and anything else onto the sidewalk!!!
I don't know. I'm a "people watcher", and there usually is no richer mix of individuals than in restaurants. Lately , I have found a dirth and deluge of couples going out to dinner and not speaking to one another. At all. Some couples don't even bother to look up at one another for the one or two words spoken between them during their night out. I understand that these people are not there for my entertainment, of course, but I can't help but think how emotionally bereft these couples must be. Give me fanciful , energetic, independent, exuberant children every day, wherever I go. Give me couples that enjoy themselves and enjoy their children while dining out. And yep, before you make the comment that I should go to McDonalds if I want to experience this , I do. And you know what? I order happy meals too. lol . Grownups should never take themselves too seriously and children should never take grownups too seriously either.
It makes me laugh to see all the parents on here insisting their children are angels in public; it's other people's children who are monsters without discipline. If everyone is doing such a great job then where are these annoying kids coming from? No one will ever admit it's their kid who is a problem. Perhaps a change in this attitude would lead to families being more accepted than they are.