Eating out with a child

Dining out with Cole is always an adventure. And I don't mean trying out new foods on the menu. I mean, we never know what hoops we're going to have to jump through to sit down together and have a nice meal.

You know what I'm talking about. You get to a restaurant, you're being seated and suddenly the hostess says "Sorry we only have one high chair and it's being used." Or your kid has a blow out during your fancy lunch and the bathroom is so small, YOU can barely fit in it.

Since Cole's bedtime is right around the time the average person eats dinner, we don't eat out during the week (although this doesn't keep us from ordering take-out from time to time). So on weekends, we like to get the occasional brunch, lunch or early dinner at our local restaurants. We know the true family-friendly restaurants and we try to frequent those, but sometimes we like to venture into new and unknown territory.

Here are our biggest pet peeves about eating out:

#1- Restaurants with no high chairs: These people are the true baby haters. We don't encounter them often, but when we do it's obvious the restaurant owner is trying to be trendy and cater to an adult crowd. We encountered these baby haters when we went to Cape Cod. The first restaurant was called Kate's Seafood. This was an outdoor restaurant with picnic tables. No high chairs in sight. People brought their own high chairs, strollers, or just held their children (we saw all three from the parking lot). Unfortunately, the two times we went there, we didn't have our stroller. So we ventured to another seafood restaurant,
The Brewster Fish House. When we arrived, I did a quick scan of the place and looked for high chairs. I saw none. We asked the hostess and she said they had booster seats. Really? Booster seats? I guess you want my child running around your restaurant? Oh no wait, I get it, you don't want my child in your restaurant. Period. Keith got really miffed and asked her if she knew of any restaurants that did have high chairs. She sent us to another seafood restaurant that did have high chairs but really slow service. (You know how much that sucks when you have a really hungry child.)

#2- Restaurants with one high chair: You know the place because you always get there when the one high chair in the entire restaurant is in use.

#3- Restaurants with no diaper changing table: I know these are not required of restaurants, but if you have high chairs, why not have a baby changing station? If you know little people will be dining in your restaurant then at least provide a space where the little people can have their diaper changed if they have a blow-out while patronizing your establishment. I can't tell you how many times I've changed Cole on the floor somewhere (either in a bathroom or a dining room - see below) because the restaurant has no diaper changing table. Sometimes, when I do see a diaper changing table, I want to change Cole's diaper just because I can - even if he doesn't need a change!)

#4- Restaurants with tiny bathrooms: I am sure I am not alone in having had to change my child's diaper on the floor of a big bathroom (with no diaper changing table of course to fit in said big bathroom). So if you're not going to have a diaper changing table - at least have a big bathroom so mommies don't have to change diapers on the floor of a stall! There are (too many) restaurants nearby with cramped bathrooms. One is actually within a mile of our house- the High Falls Cafe. We eat breakfast or lunch there around twice a month. Often, Cole has blowouts there. But their bathrooms are minuscule, barely enough room for an adult to move around in, much less a baby.  Once, a server there told Keith to change Cole's diaper on the floor of the bathroom when he asked her where he could change it. He opted for their unused back dining room. The  server was ambivalent about letting Keith use the room, but Keith didn't care what she said. He did what needed to be done.

#5- Servers who place the food directly in front of the child:  I know they mean well, but you can always tell the servers who don't have kids from those who do (or from whose who know kids well) by the placement of the food on the table.

So that's our take. What else irks you about eating out with your child (or children)?