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curlydoglover
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NPCER: Why do all kids menus suck ass?
I'm looking at places to take H for his 30th birthday for a nice family dinner. Somewhere that B can go without (eta) being worried about being "those parents" who take kids to fancy restaurants.
Every single kids menu is crap like Kraft mac n cheese (like, not even house-made mac n cheese. it actually specifies it as Kraft mac n cheese), pizza or fried shiit.
And small child has a hollow leg, so splitting something with him is laughable. Last night he ate more than I did!
Why do restaurants do this? Ugh. My child can't be the only one who eats his veggies.
Re: NPCER: Why do all kids menus suck ass?
I have no idea. Why do adults get tasty food and kids get stuck with grossness?
Most places will sub a veggie for fries though.
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They cater to parents who don't make their kids eat veggies, I guess.
If he eats well, then why does he need a kid menu? Why can't he just eat something from the normal menu like we all did when I was a kid?
My son doesn't eat much, so I might not be any help. I usually order an appetizer for him, and often a restaurant will add applesauce and a veggie to it.
He will occasionally eat chicken nuggets, but he refuses to eat other kid's menu items.
My kid only eats her veggies if they are paired with cheese and encased in ravioli. But she'll eat a whole bowl of fruit given half a chance.
Dinner is tough. Breakfast kids menu's seem to be better.
DD just sticks to fries when we go out.
I agree with the regular menu - maybe the a la carte section? Sometimes you can piece together some sides.
Since he's a big eater, can you just order him a regular entree and take home what he doesn't eat? Or someone mentioned apps - if the place has something like hummus or cheese dip that comes with veggies and pitas, I would think that plus a few bites of your dinner would probably work well.
I agree, though, about kid's menus. Why can't they just make smaller portions of normal dishes and just maybe tone down the spices a bit?
We ended up ordering adult meals and then portioning them out so they ate them at the restaurant and then got leftovers the next day.
My kids were weird when they were younger, they wouldn't touch a potato until they were older and chicken nugget crap made them gag, and forget a burger.
Above Us Only Sky
Most places do this with about half the menu though. Half will be your standard mac and cheese, chicken strips stuff but the other half will be smaller portions of a couple standard menu items.
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We don't even bother with the kids menu for that reason. Can you just look at their side dishes? Or order normal food off the appetizer menu as the portion sizes will be smaller?
"This ribbon has been reported." - lovesnina
Where does PCE eat that you don't see this though? I'm so confused. Is it because I generally eat at shitty ass chain places?
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DD #1 passed away in January 2011 at 14 days old due to congenital heart disease
DD#2 lost in January 2012 at 23 weeks due to anhydramnios caused by a placental abruption
DD and I went to lunch at Chilis last weekend while waiting for the consignment store to sort through her stuff. I was actually pretty impressed with their kid's menu. Not sure if you like their food for yourselves, but the kid's menu was decent. Cheesecake Factory is pretty good too, and if you have a nice server, they bring out a plate of bananas and bread for the kiddo while you wait!
Isn't the issue that most places with kids menus tend to be "casual" dining places where adults can order chicken tenders and hamburgers for themselves?
Most nicer restuarants don't have kid menus and honestly I don't want to see kids in them when I'm out on a date
Above Us Only Sky
A few of my local restaurants offer veggies and grilled/baked fish.
I can think of a few places where the kid's menu consists of hot dog, grilled cheese, Kraft dinner, etc. Yes, the adults can get a burger, but there are also entree salads and some lighter dishes and dishes that are protein-starch-veg. For example, I don't understand why they can't offer a smaller version of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and steamed veggies.
What would actually be awesome would be if they would just let kids have a smaller version of anything on the menu for $x less.
I guess it just depends on what's available. My city has a lot of local, inexpensive restaurants that tend to create kids menus that are more like smaller portions of the adult menu. Of course there are plenty of burgers, pizza, grilled cheese options, but there are also options for fresh veggies, grilled chicken, fish, etc.
To the OP: we just order off the side orders for the kids. They split a couple of side orders of something and seem to be just fine with it. They drink water, so I'm not worried about the kid combo being a better deal.
While I think those generally appear on the kids menu, I don't think it is limited to those options. Many kids go through phases, it is nice to know if you have a kid in a picky phase that there is something basic offered, but I don't find it is limited to those three things. It does seem reasonable to offer a smaller portion of the adult dishes, but I think oftentimes it gets abused by adults ordering from the kids menu. We went to the hibachi grill a couple of weeks ago and a group of 5 adults ordered the kids hibachi meals which were essentially the same as the adult offerings but smaller portions.
Here's the place I'm looking at, for example.
http://www.cafecentraal.com/menu.php
Bridey will recognize it. It's not cheapy chain or "pub n grill" type restaurant but it's not uber fancy. They're known for their excellent food and to-die-for craft beer list. I admit to having expecting something better for their kid menu, given their reputation.
It's not really a problem. Yes, I could order an appetizer. Yes, I could order a normal meal and just take home what he doesn't eat.
It just kinda chaps my arse in general, given the issue with childhood obesity this country has, that kid menus are still mainly pizza and chicken fingers. Let this be the Fat Tuesday thread, if you want.
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I'm just thinking of a few places I know that have a kids menu, and they don't have other options. I also imagine the kids menus in other regions may be a little more - um, progressive - than it is here.
It sucks that adults abuse that. I would have no problem with a restaurant being strict that those meals are only for kids under 10 or 12 and that if an adult wants that portion, he still has to pay full price.
not sure if this is an option but we just order ds an entree and ask them to half the portion before they even bring it to the table (less mess for us to deal with). one of us will eat the leftovers for lunch the following day.
at other places either dh or i will split our meal with him and order a side/app to make sure we aren't left starving. some days make me shake with fear to see what we will be dealing with when he is a teenager- the kid can eat.
good luck!
Agreed, it sucks. We either share our food with her, or order off the regular menu and just take it home.
PTS doesn't eat veggies, but she does eat sweet potatoes, fish, pasta, rice dishes, chili, and a whole bunch of other stuff that is not chicken fingers.
This was the EXACT restaurant group I was thinking of. All their kids menus are the same. I had the meatloaf at Benelux a while back, and that would be something that would be easy peasy to offer as a kids entree.
I feel the same way about daycare menus, but when I voice my concerns over it, people think I'm going to cause my child to have an eating disorder by age 5. I get side eyed for sending her yogurt in place of the ice cream for snack or dried fruit chips in place of the chocolate chip cookies.
Because kids *generally* like to eat crap. We as parents try to rise above the stereotype/half-truth and build their palates, but kids can be picky little snobs.
We went to an Indian Restaurant the other day, and DD told the waitress very loudly that she wanted to order cheese pizza. I fail as a parent.
(She did end up eating her entire order of Chicken Tikka)