Upscale restaurants: Not "family-friendly"

Spnited, this was a 3-0 fastball from the best the Pirates have in late August and you had the swing away sign, but you popped it up.

Where is the hate today?

 

What hate?
I donlt think infants belong at "upscale" restaurants. Take them to a family place like Olive Garden or Applebees

 

If you want "warm water" that's fine. But expecting a fine establishment to be family friendly is a bit much because the vast majority of the diners likely want to be in a quiet environment and I would venture the majority of "kids" do not lead to a quiet environment.

If your kids can behave, that's great, show them the proper manners in a fine establishment. But expecting kids, say 1-7, to conform to a fine establishment is a little unreasonable expectation on the part of the parents.

 

Spot-on, 93. I've found that mom and pops usually don't have the wait the chains have either (society's loss). So much good behavior time is wasted in the lobby at The Olive Garden, etc. It's amazing how enjoyable eating out with the kids can be if you don't have to wait to be seated.

 

Infants of pre-high chair age can be relatively easy to bring to dinner if you time it right, which is to say when they're about to fall asleep for a while. Back in the day, Mrs. Cranberry and I used to head down to the local cantina and our kids would sleep quietly while we feasted on Chimachungas and Jose Quervo shots. The trick is remembering to bring the baby when you leave.

 

I was actually in a sports bar once, near the bar, and was asked by a parent of a small child (one that could talk) to stop being so loud and to not cuss so much. I just nodded and smiled and carried on the way I was before.

 

I have a story much like the one "ink-stained" told on the previous page of the thread.
Many years ago, when Beardpuller Jr., now in college, was about 15 months old, we were on vacation in Vancouver, and booked a reservation in a place that, once we got there, we quickly realized was not a favored venue for toddlers.
We were apologetic, and I whisked young puller out to the hallway every time he began to make a commotion, but the service staff couldn't have been more understanding and helpful. A waitress even held him and fed him chocolate-covered strawberries while we finished our meal.
I was covering hockey then, and I made it a point to go back to that place every time I got to Vancouver, for several years, even followed it when it moved.

That's what I think being a REALLY classy restaurant is all about -- not snootiness, but the opposite, going out of your way to accommodate the diner.

 

You and I do grumpy old men better than anyone.

 

I saw he posted on this thread, and I was expecting a great rant. It's a complement in a sideways way.

 

Unlike TBF, I have spent $250 or more on dinner for two and if the people at the table next to me expected the waiter to bring a bowl of hot water to warm their infant's bottle, I wouldn't have said a word... my ex-GF would have said more than enough for both of us. ;D

 

fixed

 

JR is not in the world of journalism.

But I am