Becoming a kid-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 question with yes gets the table.

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

What parents really judge

• Is there something to do while waiting, and does it still work after ten minutes?
• Can the children's food arrive before the parents' food?
• Is there room for a pram without half the venue having to move aside?
• Is the reaction relaxed when something gets knocked over?
• Are there other families, or are you the only one among couples who were clearly looking for 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 practically the same everywhere. So it doesn't set you apart. What does stand out: 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 the chicken nuggets.

Entertainment that keeps working

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

Tabletop games via a QR code have two advantages here. Nothing to lose or tidy away, and a child can play several rounds in a row without it staying the same. Games like memory, spot the difference and puzzles are short enough for the waiting time. See the overview.

What's needed per age group

Kid-friendly isn't one 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 truly works. What you can offer is a highchair that's decent and food that arrives quickly.
• Four to seven: colouring, sticking, and short games that don't require reading. Memory and spot-the-difference fall under this.
• 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 works better than something special for children.

The age group most places target is four to seven, while it's actually the group above that who stay seated longest and stand out most when things go wrong.

Timing in the kitchen

This is the adjustment that makes the biggest difference 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 are done 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 works out least often. It costs 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 that gets skipped most often, and it matters more than the decor. Three things that make the difference between a relaxed family table and a tense one:

• Address the child, not just the parent. A child who's allowed to order for themselves sits at the table differently than a child being 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 fine 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 off track, 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 right there.
2. Twenty minutes after ordering, when the food hasn't come yet 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 done. This is where a venue loses the extra order it would otherwise have had.

Points two and three are both about waiting time, and both can be solved with something a child can do independently.

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 state literally in the description that children are welcome and what's available for them. That gets you more bookings than a change in the venue itself.

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