I'll be frank - Josh and I are not big fans of taking children to restaurants. There's the constant dropping of utensils and other objects, keeping them occupied until the food comes, and attempting to keep them somewhat quiet and the least disruptive as possible. When we are both out on a kid-free date, the last thing we want is to be bothered by loud and unruly children, and want to show that same respect for others. Not to mention paying up to $10 for a kids meal in which they take three bites!
So going out to eat is very rare for us. When we do go, it is usually to Cracker Barrel, because it is noisy, there are lots of distractions, the service is fast, and the kids always eat breakfast. However, a couple of weeks ago while on a date, we went to Texas Roadhouse for the first time. The food was great and I really thought the kids would get a kick out of eating peanuts and throwing the shells on the floor. So when we received a gift card there as a Christmas gift, we thought it was the perfect opportunity.
To prepare, I did not allow the kids to have an afternoon snack (hoping they would eat well at the restaurant), and we had a talk about restaurant manners. When we got there, they immediately found the huge barrel of peanuts in the waiting area and had a blast shelling them and throwing it on the floor!
We were seated at a table, and within thirty seconds, 2 forks and 3 crayons were promptly dropped on the floor. That aside, the kids did fantastic. The peanuts kept them busy for awhile, they were reasonably quiet, and they ate really well - I've never seen them eat so much chicken. It was a success and a real treat for them. Maybe we'll start going a little more often!
6 comments:
We love Texas Roadhouse, too - for the same reasons!!
You should have seen me coaxing the kids to throw the peanut shells on the floor the first time we went there!!
Your new layout looks great!
Glad you had a good dinner. I a,m way behind on blogs, but gett8ing there.....trying to be a better blogger friend. Oh, and your NYE post hysteridal, I usually don't last either LOL
What a great idea! I'm glad it went well and was a treat for all of you all. I understand about avoiding eating out...I'm always a bit anxious when we go.
Glad it went so well without any mishaps- I should share some of our mishaps out at restaurants lol.
Some of those chain restaurants have nights that kids eat free- like Applebees is on Mondays, I think. My kids eat so little that I almost always try to take them out only on kids eat free nights.
Texas Roadhouse is one of those 'fun' restaurants! Glad it was a successful night out :)
I agree. I tend to avoid taking the kids for all of the reasons you stated (plus it's just too darn expensive for us. LOL)
Glad you had a good experience out with the kids. I think the key is finding good kid-friendly places and sounds like you have :)
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