Posted on 04/01/2017 4:27:35 PM PDT by Trump20162020
This seems to be a perennial argument in the food service industry but it never fails to attract my interest. The Washington Post picked up the story of an an upscale Italian restaurant in North Carolina called Caruso’s. They had run into a number of issues with parents bringing young and too often horribly behaved children into the eatery for dinner who then wound up annoying the rest of the clientele. As they tell the story, the straw which broke the camel’s back was a young girl with an i-Pad who was playing videos at full volume despite being asked to turn it down (or off) and the parents were completely failing to discipline her or resolve the situation. Shortly after that they imposed a ban on bringing children under the age of five into the establishment.
The typical howls of outrage from some parents began immediately, but there was another reaction as well.
The ban — conceived by the restaurant’s owner, Pasquale Caruso — has led to a dramatic increase in reservations, said Nunez, who said Caruso’s has seen a spike in diners, from about 50 per day to around 80.
“Banning children has always been a topic in the industry and every owner says, ‘I wish I could do it,’” he said. “Our owner has the full support of the staff. We work here to make a living, too, and we support our owner 100 percent.”
Good for them. Too often you see only one side of this debate in the press and it centers on the parents who are complaining and saying that families are being stigmatized or punished or what have you.
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
Combined PING! and DANG!
Really? Define the term, please.
As others have said it's the parents. It's not just that they don't teach their kids manners, but the parents in this story didn't respect other patrons. Even when we ate at a family restaurant like Denny's, when the kids were little (0-3), if one started fussing, I'd take him outside and my husband would have my food boxed up. No matter what level of restaurant, other patrons don't want to hear kids fussing. For some people, dining at a Denny's is all they can afford and they deserve to eat in peace.
Wanting to enjoy an expensive dinner does not a snowflake make.
Feeling entitled to spoil the public square is the ultimate entitlement. Thinking you're the only person who was ever a parent is laughable.
Spend your evenings out at Chucky Cheese, if you prefer. Please don't make the rest of us a captive audience.
McDonalds play land has ruined it. Kids think it is time to play when you go out to eat.
A number of years ago, I was at a restaurant. There was a couple with a child, about 5 years old, at a table about 15 feet away.
The child was climbing all over the booth and making noise. Some pounding on the table with spoons and such.
We (me and the "adults") made inadvertent eye contact a few times.
But I finally started giving them a scowl. They just had a helpless look on their faces.
Finally, after putting up with this for way too long, I said "Somebody needs a spankin"
At which point, formerly meek and quiet mama, becomes loud and bossy super woman.
Don't really remember what she said, But I said "OH!!! I'm sorry...it's not the child that deserves the beating, It's you."
Suddenly, Melvin Milquetoast decides he's going to grow a pair, and proceeds to get up and tell me "nobody talks to his wife that way".
My response was "that he didn't have enough balls to stand up to his kid, he definitely didn't have enough to stand up to me, and that he'd better sit down while he was still able".
At which point, Super Woman decides THEY'VE had enough and grabs her child and man child and leaves. (I'm not sure, but I think I heard a couple of claps or comments from near by.
They stopped near the exit and angrily talked to the manager, who did nothing, so they left in a huff.
The manager then came over and apologized about the situation, grabbed the check and said that dinner was on him and asked if we'd like dessert.
Now a completely different experience.
I took my buddy and his family out once, to a pizza place that serves peanuts on the tables. (You know, shells on the floor and all)
At the time, my buddy and his wife had about 6-7 kids. One being in a car seat carrier.
After being seated about 10 minutes, the waitress had just taken our orders, and she started bringing other waitresses by to see the well behaved kids.
Here was a waitress who worked at the type of place where she's going to see the worst in kids in restaurants, and this family is behaved like they are at a fine dining restaurant.
After we were done with the pizza, the manger came by and commented that they get all types of kids in there, but never had any that were as well behaved and respectful as these, and the fact that there were so many. He offered and provided ice cream sundaes for all of us.
At church, the older men, in their 60's and 70's and 80's, called my buddy, Super Dad and his wife, Wonder Wife, for how well behaved the kids were.
They started discipline with all their kids when they were each babies. (The children were the babies, not the parents :)
Now they have 10 kids. All EXTREMELY well behaved.
(Heck, their 22 and 18 year old boys and 20 year old daughter, STILL call me Uncle Dave, even though we're not brothers, but almost could be)
I've discussed it with them and they are just comfortable with calling me that.
I am fairly tolerant about children, having raised 2.
But I get really grumpy when the parents let them run up and down the aisles.
There was an article, about a month ago, here on FR, where parents had bought first class seats, so that they could lie down with their baby, to comfort it on the flight.
They were outraged when the FA's had the mother and child move to the back of the plane when the baby started crying.
It was all about them and that they specifically paid for first class to take care of their baby. (forget about the fact that others paid NOT to hear babies.)
When I'd sit with my buddy and his family, in church, I'd barely notice his kids. BUT... he was very aware of them. They'd be getting a little to...whatever... and he would just lean forward and make eye contact and then sit back. The offending kids instantly stopped, whatever it was they had been doing.
Something I had barely noticed.
Oh... my buddy has 10 kids.
(Actually, it was his wife who HAD the kids. He was just there to "pitch" in the first inning and "catch" in the ninth :)
Is that age or size wise ? :)
(Well actually, I can't hear how you sound. But your words read like something she would say)
Good for you.
Much better than I could say it.
I've been to down home, country weddings, where the family provides the meal at a hall, and I've been to more upscale affairs, and the ones in between.
But, if a wedding reception is at a banquet facility, whoever is footing the bill could be paying $100 a person, if a bar is involved.
The average wedding has 125 guests. That's $12,500 for the reception.
A lot of people don't give a gift that would equal the meal.
(Granted, people don't invite people for the gifts)
(But those who go should think about what their being there actually costs someone...their kids are a big expense to someone else)
My buddy's wife is holding the baby and she would reach up at shining chains or ear rings.
My buddy's wife would gently flick the baby's hand with her finger. Nothing to hurt the baby, just a little discomfort.
A few times of doing it and the baby would stop.
(Lesson learned)
Stuff liked that continued throughout their childrens lives.
They never waited to start discipline.
If a steak is $40 and up, and the restaurant not in NY, DC or SF, it’s upscale.
when my son was 3, he threw his little purple stuffed Barney the Dinosaur three tables down right into a man’s meal and it splashed food on his face and shirt. That was the last time he went to a restaurant for two years. He was my first and only unruly child of the five.
Exactly correct!
Here in Maryland a child under age can cost the bar owner his license.
Anyway, there were four or five little kids literally running around all the tables, yelling and playing tag while their parents (3 couples) sat and allowed them to play.
I finally had enough and stood up and yelled "get your asses back over to your tables, sit down and shut up! This is not a playground!" Well, you should have seen the look on their faces as well as the parents. As soon as they got back to their tables, the families got up and left without saying a word to anyone.
When I made that comment it was #27. I had already counted the word "brats" in this thread 6 times! In the first 26 posts!! Nuff said!
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