Consumption and Real Estate
How … to what degree (if any) … should restaurant etiquette be enforced as it relates to children?
Question : How … to what degree (if any) … should restaurant etiquette be enforced as it relates to children?
If you’re in a fast food restaurant w/ a playground attached, of course there will be kids running around. But, when the eating facility graduates in class the parents may be positioned to employ greater discipline.
If kids are being disruptive, when does the responsibility shift f/ the parents to restaurant management?
broc- LMAO!!!
facilities management degree
Best answer:
Answer by vic91106
Unfortunately, placing that responsibility on the management of anything but a very haute restaurant is a dicey proposition.
IMO, it is 100% the duty of parents to make sure that their children behave properly at table.
We began teaching my grandkids how to be polite when they were toddlers.
When restaurant staff addresses a parent on their child’s behavior, the usual result is abuse of the staff member and loss of business.
And the eatery’s staff should never be placed in that position by an irresponsible parent.
Juts as it is a parent’s place to make sure their kids are exposed to appropriate media (not TV network’s or film makers’), it is parents responsibility to see to it that their children can behave reasonably in public.
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#6 written by lena 1 year ago
It would be very hard to enforce that rule through the establishment, that parents are to be responsible for their offspring during dining. Nor would the establishment want to take on a customer in regards to little “Johnny” not being trained properly.
I have one restaurant I visit when I go to Baltimore, Maryland that I love because they are smart when it comes to such issues of dining etiquette with children. They do not serve dinner until 5 p.m. They have no children’s menu. They do not allow the menu to be halved portion. And the menu is very simple, yet very elegant. Many of the items are made with wine or sherry. And the house salad is $ 12! There are no side dishes with the meals. Nothing a child under 13 would eat. As a matter of fact I did not even see a teen in the crowd of people.
So if you are looking for a quaint adult place to eat, look at he menu, the open time for the dinner crowd, and look at the prices. And if you desire to be the entrepreneur of such a place, taking notes from the above restaurant may help.
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#8 written by Katie M 1 year ago
I think it’s up to the parents to make sure their children are well-behaved. However, the management should handle the situation if the parents fails to notice or doesn’t do anything when the kids are disruptive. If it’s an expensive restaurant I figure I’m paying for the ambiance. If I wanted to be around obnoxious kids, I wouldn’t come home from work. I’m a teacher.
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#10 written by Diane M 1 year ago
If I’m in a “family type’ restaurant, I’d expect some childen but they still need to know what is proper behavior in public. When our children were young, we took them out to eat often and they behaved very well. I’d suggest that parents go early enough to beat the dinner crowd, have snacks and things to keep the kids quietly entertained and if they start acting up ask for their meal to go.
If I go out to a fancy restaurant and am paying big bucks to eat, I dont want to be bothered by children. If people arrive with children they should be told that this is an upscale adult venue and that they are welcome but if their children disturb the other patrons that they will be asked to leave. -
#11 written by Moe 1 year ago
Never will happen. It’s called manners. Something that a lot of parents don’t teach or have themselves. When children are at a restaurant, they should be seen and not heard. If they can not eat without disrupting the other patrons, they should not be there. They should not be running around and climbing on the chairs and walls. Of course fast food places with playgrounds do not count. They should not be having food fights. It would be pretty hard for management to enforce, unless it was something really outrageous. If you can’t find or afford a babysitter, stay home.
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#15 written by Wise S 1 year ago
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#16 written by Beau 1 year ago
Hello, Responsibility of care should always be with the parents. The restaurant that i daily eat in has a notice reading “Parents please keep your children seated and well behaved at all times in this area as hot food is in transport, not doing as asked will be removed from table. Thank you” Looking at the notice it reads to me if the parents don’t accept the management bidding then he will take steps to enforce it.
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#17 written by Benji 1 year ago
If, when you came into one of the restaurants I worked in years ago, there was never a problem with children. At the prices we charged (tuxedos, table-side cooking, etc) most parents usually found sitters for their kids!
In a crowded, more down scale restaurant (Outback, that sort of thing) if a table is seated near me and the children are cutting up, and the parents don’t do anything, I go to the manager and politely request another table in a quieter part of the restaurant. If this is not possible, for any reason, I leave. Doesn’t matter if I’ve already ordered. -
#18 written by Bogey 1 year ago
The only time the restaurant employees can say anything, in regard to disciplining children, is if the kids are running through the eating area. Otherwise we have to depend on the adult (accompanying them) to take a hint from disgusted stares from other patrons and they control the situation themselves. In most cases, that works pretty well.
Kids in the play area are to be supervised by an adult-signs posted. I’m sure if the situation warranted, I, as an employee, would have to step in, especially if one customer is making 20 or more others miserable. Then what usually happens is–the angry parents report the terrible service they got at such and such a restaurant and the individual can get fired over that- “The customer is ALWAYS right.” No excuses, no explanation accepted. That is why the normal restaurant employee puts on blinders to this behavior.
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#19 written by fifty-plus 1 year ago
It should be the responsibility of the parents to disciple their children, unfortunately, many don’t. Some restaurants do post signs concerning disruptive children and who is responsible and that they are not, but some parents don’t seem to read it. If some children are causing other patrons to leave the restaurant, then the management should talk to the parents of the disruptive children. I saw a food fight and the adults only said, “okay, so you don’t like that food” and the food fight continued and over to others, the management talked to the adult and she said, ” so what I am paying for my food like everybody else”. The kids were wild and that entire section of other patrons left the restaurant.
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#22 written by *granny* 1 year ago
It’s definitely up to the parents to teach their children proper etiquette in resaurants. It makes for a more enjoyable evening, not only for the parents and kids, but the other customers in the restaurant. If the kids are being so unmanageable that customers are complaining, then the waiter/waitress or the manger of the restaurant need to speak to the parents and ask them to please control their children. I don’t know why people don’t realize that if a child is raised with discipline, it makes life easier for everyone.
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#23 written by sage seeker 1 year ago
When my children were small I found that I did not need two sets of rules and manner for dining…what I taught at home was to be employed when dining out. I also exposed them at an early age to various venues of dining, including fine dining.
No, not when they too young to understand – and prone to crying loudly…such as under two years old…but definitely thereafter.
As grown adults now they can attest to enjoying having the opportunity to do ‘grown up’ dining and I never had a behavior problem from them.
If a family is in an establishment much different that say a fast food place, I believe the behavior of the children is the parent’s responsibility and should the parent’s not rise to the occasion and the child/children continue to act up and disturb other patrons, it is then up to the management to speak to the parents and ask them to leave if they cannot rein in their kids.
They do it in movies!!
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#25 written by schnizzles 1 year ago
I think it’s always the parent’s responsibility. I have two high strung kids, which is why I don’t take them to grown-up places. Also, I am not afraid to let parents know that their children are pi**ing the entire restaurant off. Also, people should know by now that if you erk your waiter your food will be “specailly prepared.”
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I think all noisy children should be shot.
Just kidding!
However, I don’t understand why adults take their children to a nice restaurant and then sit there while they misbehave. They couldn’t be having any fun and certainly aren’t enjoying a relaxing dinner. And, I really don’t think it is fair to expect a 4-year-old to sit through a long dinner. Hire a baby-sitter and have an actual date with your spouse — it will do wonders for your marriage.