Becoming kid-friendly restaurant: wah parents really look fah

A family weh a go out fi eat rarely choose based pon the menu. Dem choose based pon one question: can we sit here two hours widout it turn inna a fight. Whoever answer dat wid yes get the table.

Dat a good news, because the answer only depend a small bit pon yuh kitchen.

Wah parents really judge

• A dey something fi do while dem wait, and it still work afta ten minutes?
• Can the children food come before the parents dem?
• A dey space fi a stroller widout half the place haffi move?
• Dem react relax if something fall over?
• A dey other family dem around, or yuh the only one among couples weh clearly a look peace?

The most important question a parent ask nuh a 'a it good' but 'dis a go relax or nuh'.

The kids' menu a the least important part

Almost every place have one, and it basically the same everywhere. So it nuh set yuh apart. Wah really stand out: a smaller portion a something off the regular menu, or the option fi share. Parents appreciate when dem pickney nuh automatically end up wid the same ting.

Entertainment weh keep working

Colouring sheets keep a child busy fi five to ten minutes. Afta dat dem start over, or dem get bored. Wah work longer a something wid variety inna it.

Table games through a QR code have two advantages here. Nothing can get lost or need cleaning up, and a child can play multiple rounds back to back widout it staying the same. Games like memory, spot the difference and puzzles a short enough fi the wait time. See the overview.

Wah different ages need

Kid-friendly nuh a one category, it a range. Wah work fi a three-year-old bore a nine-year-old inna a minute flat.

• Up to about four: parent attention a the only thing weh really work. Wah yuh can offer a a highchair weh nuh wobble and food weh come quick.
• Four to seven: colouring, sticking, and short games weh nuh need reading. Memory and spot-the-difference fall under dis.
• Seven to eleven: dis a where a child start fi do dem own ting independent. Puzzles, quizzes and games against a sibling last the longest.
• Eleven and up: dem waan get treated like the rest a the table. A game the whole family play work betta than something special fi kids.

Most places target four to seven, while it a the older group weh actually stay longest and stand out most if things go wrong.

Timing inna the kitchen

Dis a the adjustment weh do the most and cost nothing. Let the children food go out ten minutes before the parents. Children eat faster and finish sooner; if everybody start same time, the kids done while the parents a halfway, and dat a when the restlessness start.

Wah yuh nuh need fi do

A play corner a the solution weh get thought of most and work out least often. It tek up space weh yuh need pon a busy night, it need fi stay clean, and it pull children weh from the table exactly when the food arrive. Only do it if yuh really have the space to spare.

Wah yuh staff need fi know

Dis a the part weh get skipped most often, and it decide more than the decor. Three things weh mek the difference between a relax family table and a tense one:

• Talk to the child, nuh just the parent. A child weh get fi order demself sit different at the table dan a child weh get talk about.
• React to spilled food before the parent apologize. Whoever come wid a cloth demself tek weh the awkwardness. Whoever wait fi get ask confirm it.
• Nuh ask if everything a good the moment a child a cry. Come back two minutes later.

None a dese three cost money or time. Dem only cost dat somebody say it one time.

The moments when it go wrong

When a family visit go wrong, it almost always happen at one a dese three points:

1. At entry, when it turn out dey nuh have a highchair or the table too tight. Dat set the tone right away.
2. Twenty minutes afta ordering, when the food nuh come yet and the children have nothing fi do. Dis a the longest and heaviest moment.
3. Afta the main course, when the parents still waan coffee and the children a done. Here a place lose the extra order weh woulda otherwise happen.

Point two and three a both wait time, and both fixable wid something a child can do independent.

Show it before dem come inside

Parents check yuh Google profile before dem book. Mek sure dey a photo weh show a family at a table, and put it plain inna the description dat children welcome and wah dey fi dem. Dat get more bookings than any change inna the place itself.

More pon how dis work out fi a restaurant a pon the restaurant page; wah it cost a pon the prices.