Becoming a family-friendly restaurant: what parents really look for

A family going out to eat rarely chooses based on the menu. They choose based on one question: can we sit here for two hours without it turning into a battle. Whoever answers that with yes gets the table.

That's good news, because the answer depends only slightly on your kitchen.

What parents actually judge

• Is there something to do while waiting, and does it still work after ten minutes?
• Can the children's food come out before the parents'?
• Is there room for a pram without half the venue having to shift?
• Is there a relaxed reaction if something gets knocked over?
• Are there other families around, or are you the only ones among couples clearly seeking peace and quiet?

The most important question a parent asks isn't 'is it tasty' but 'will this be relaxed or not'.

The kids' menu is the least important part

Almost every place has one, and it's virtually the same everywhere. So it doesn't set you apart. What does stand out is a smaller portion of something from the regular menu, or the option to share. Parents appreciate it when their child doesn't automatically end up with a chicken nugget.

Entertainment that keeps working

Colouring pages keep a child occupied for five to ten minutes. After that they start over, or they get bored. What works longer is something with variety built in.

Table games via a QR code have two advantages here. There's nothing to lose or tidy up, and a child can play several rounds in a row without it feeling repetitive. Games like memory, spot the difference and puzzles are short enough for the waiting time. See the overview.

What's needed per age group

Family-friendly isn't a single category but a range. What works for a three-year-old bores a nine-year-old within a minute.

• Up to about four: a parent's attention is the only thing that really works. What you can offer is a proper highchair and food that comes quickly.
• Four to seven: colouring, sticking, and short games that don't require reading. Memory and spot-the-difference fall into this group.
• Seven to eleven: this is the age where a child can start entertaining themselves. Puzzles, quizzes and games against a brother or sister hold their attention longest.
• Eleven and older: they want to be treated like the rest of the table. A game the whole family joins in on works better than something special just for kids.

Most places aim at the four-to-seven age group, while it's actually the group above that stays seated longest and stands out most when things go wrong.

Timing in the kitchen

This is the adjustment that does the most and costs nothing. Let the children's food go out ten minutes before the parents'. Children eat faster and finish sooner; if everyone starts at the same time, the children finish while the parents are only halfway through, and that's when the restlessness begins.

What you don't need to do

A play corner is the solution people think of most often and that pays off least often. It takes up space you need on a busy evening, it has to be kept clean, and it pulls children away from the table right when the food arrives. Only do it if you genuinely have the space to spare.

What your staff need to know

This is the part most often skipped, and it matters more than the layout. Three things that make the difference between a relaxed family table and a tense one:

• Speak to the child, not just the parent. A child who's allowed to order for themselves sits differently at the table than a child who's talked about.
• React to spilled food before the parent apologises. Turning up with a cloth yourself removes the awkwardness. Waiting to be asked confirms it.
• Don't ask if everything's to their liking the moment a child is crying. Come back two minutes later.

None of these three cost money or time. They only cost someone having said it once.

The moments where it goes wrong

When a family visit goes wrong, it's almost always at one of these three points:

1. On arrival, when it turns out there's no highchair or the table is too cramped. The tone is set immediately.
2. Twenty minutes after ordering, when the food still hasn't arrived and the children have nothing to do. This is the longest and heaviest moment.
3. After the main course, when the parents still want coffee and the children are finished. This is where a venue loses the extra order that would otherwise have come.

Points two and three are both waiting time, and both can be solved with something a child can do on their own.

Show it before they're inside

Parents check your Google profile before booking. Make sure there's a photo showing a family at the table, and literally state in the description that children are welcome and what's on offer for them. That brings in more bookings than any change to the venue itself.

More on how this plays out for a restaurant is on the restaurant page; what it costs is at the prices.