Restaurants Are Starting To Ban Kids Because Parents Refuse To Parent

A growing number of restaurants are finding it necessary to ban kids during peak hours. If parents were more mindful of other diners, this wouldn’t need to be happening.

One of these restaurants – La Fisheria in Houston, Texas – has a “no kids under 8-years-old after 7 p.m.” policy. The owner of the restaurant said he “instituted the policy following complaints from a number of patrons who were bothered by loud children.”

I hate it when some people who don’t know how to behave in public ruin it for the rest of us. I have a toddler. He’s not the easiest dinner companion. We still take him out because we like to leave the house on occasion – strange, I know. As long as we go at the right time – when he isn’t too hungry or tired – we can usually have a nice meal together. But like I said, he’s a toddler. Occasionally he will scream and throw things.

When he does scream and throw things – we take him out of the restaurant, or to the bathroom, or somewhere where he is not disturbing the people around us. This is not hard. We’ve always been able to do it. Parents who let their children scream bloody murder in restaurants are the most annoying people on the planet. Just, stop.

Marketing experts called the ban on kids risky business.

”You have a number of people who say ”˜if they don’t want my child, I’m not going to go there’, not just in the evening, ”˜I’m not going to go there in the day,’” Hofstra University business professor Dr. Barry Berman said.

Berman said that because all children aren’t noisy and all adults aren’t quiet, the policy could leave a bad taste in the mouths of some patrons.

I think these policies don’t just come out of thin air. One misbehaved child doesn’t force an establishment to ban all children. As someone who spent years in restaurants as a waitress, I can tell you the instances of unruly children are getting much more frequent. Maybe some parents have just developed the ability to tune out their own children. Whatever the excuse, we really need to work harder at being aware of other diners. It would be a serious bummer to load the kids into the car and drive to dinner, only to be turned away at the door.

(photo: Chubykin Arkady/ Shutterstock)