babies in fairly nice restaurants?

[shaynaatl]

We have couple friend flying into town next weekend to visit us.  They have a 10 month old and we have a 1 year old.  They are foodies and we are thinking about doing a fairly nice restaurant on Sat early evening (6 pm or so).  Our regular babysitters (grandparents) will be out of town, so that won't be an option.

The restaurants we are considering aren't super high-end, but pretty nice (think Yelp $$$)  Would you do this?  Or would you stick to places that are more kid-friendly?

[mrshandy]

Personally, I stick to places that aren't too fancy. What are we talking about here?

Would you feel comfortable wearing jeans in the restaurant? Is there a kid menu? If not, then I would try to find another sitter or go to a less fancy place.

[shelbyann]

When we do nicer restaurants with DD, we go at 5 or 5:30, LOL. Or whenever they open. We can get through our meal, leave, and allow them enough time to clean up before the main dinner rush.

We have also found lots of restaurants here that have excellent food and are relatively kid-friendly - most new-southern and BBQ places tend to be loud and casual… Also if there is a patio we always sit on the patio.

[kershnic]

Do they have high chairs? (You can call and ask if you don't know.) If a restaurant has high chairs I believe babies and kids are allowed to go there.

Whether it will be enjoyable for you depends on how your kids do at restaurants.

[thinkofthesoldiers]

Start asking around for a sitter rec and hire one. Why would you want to spend your time out at a nice restaurant wrangling kids when you could be enjoying an adults only time?

[ECB]

Mar 17, 2015 8:41:59 GMT -5 mrshandy said:

Would you feel comfortable wearing jeans in the restaurant? Is there a kid menu? If not, then I would try to find another sitter or go to a less fancy place.

I agree with this.  OR go at 5.  I feel like 6 is butting up to the real dinner rush time, but 5 is usually a safe time to get in, eat, and out. 

[raangoli]

If I went to a nice restaurant that was $$$, I'd be slightly annoyed if babies were crying or causing a ruckus.

Either find different baby sitters or a different restaurant. Sorry.

[Velar Fricative]

If I were really keen on attending that particular restaurant, I'd go at an earlier time. Maybe a late lunch/early dinner at 4:00.

[thatgirl2478]

ooooh - tough one.  Honestly, I was just talking with my DH about this very thing.  There are a bunch of restaurants that are 'nicer' that I'd like to try, but I am hesitant to do so with a baby AND a toddler.  If it was just my DD1, maybe (she knows how to behave and could probably either be fed before or just eat bread - lol).  But probably not the baby.  I'm already on edge waiting for her to cry when we go to regular restaurants, and if I were paying the $$$ for a nicer restaurant, I'd want to relax and enjoy the food, ambiance and company.

Can you find another babysitter?

[longtimenopost]

I'd either do lunch or early bird dinner, right when they open at 4:30 or 5:00.

[thebreakfastclub]

I think I'd look for a cool gastro pub type place that had good food, but was also on the loud side.

[orval]

I would, but I would go at 5 when it is usually less crowded. As pp said, 6 starts pushing into regular dinner times. I think most $$$ places are still fairly casual - they are here anyway.

[anaps28]

If you can't find a sitter go at 5 pm. But honestly I'd rather get takeout and drink wine at home than have dinner at a super nice place with kids. But then again my nephew was a unicorn baby/toddler and we ate anywhere in NYC with him.

[sent]

We've done this a few times but we go when DD is asleep and the restaurant has be large enough to wheel her stroller in and park it somewhere right next to me. So fancy tiny NYC restaurants are typically out unless it is nice weather and there is outdoor dining. DD goes to sleep somewhere between 8 and 9:20. When I see she is getting tired, I get her ready for bed like usual and put her in the stroller and cover it with a blanket. The last time I did it she was about 14 months and it took 15 minutes of rocking the stroller before she fell asleep, but once she did, we dined in peace.

We also walk to the restaurants so no hauling her in and out of a car seat, though once we did drive but she was much younger then, 8 months.

If we take her to a restaurant awake, the maximum time she will give us in a high chair is 20 minutes.

[matildasun]

I think it is fine, especially if they have high chairs.

[dulcemariamar]

I probably would but would go super early and would take the baby outside if she started to cry.

If the kids were older I would have no issue with the kids playing on the iphone the whole time.

[Deleted]

6 is also toying with bedtime by the time you're out of there, if either kid usually sleeps around 7. Don't fuck with bedtime in a fancy restaurant.

I'd go out for fancy breakfast or lunch instead. I do agree that if they have high chairs, they welcome/tolerate children.

[212]

I'd go if they have highchairs. If they don't, there is their policy on children. But my kid is used to restaurants, not a picky water, and easily entertained. If those three things werent true I'd probably be whistling a different tune.

[rbp]

Which restaurant? 

There are like three restaurants in Atlanta that you can't wear jeans to. LOL

[shaynaatl]

Mar 17, 2015 10:11:31 GMT -5 rbp said:

Which restaurant? 

There are like three restaurants in Atlanta that you can't wear jeans to. LOL

We were thinking about Iberian Pig in Decatur.  As a backup plan, we'll do Kaleidoscope in Brookhaven.

[rbp]

Mar 17, 2015 10:17:06 GMT -5 shaynaatl said:

Mar 17, 2015 10:11:31 GMT -5 rbp said:

Which restaurant? 

There are like three restaurants in Atlanta that you can't wear jeans to. LOL

We were thinking about Iberian Pig in Decatur.  As a backup plan, we'll do Kaleidoscope in Brookhaven.

Both of those places are pretty loud, so you've got that going for you. I think if you went before 6 it would likely be fine. 

[t]

We've done this, but we go early, like no later than 5:30.

[ECB]

Looking at their website - I would go but I'd go BEFORE 6.

[spankswife]

I'd go early, and take turns walking around if the baby is crying. As long as you are respectful of other diners, I see no issue.