we rarely spend money on fine dining, and when we do (maybe this will sound awful?) wouldn't bring the kids, who would bring us down in such a situation and wouldn't appreciate it.

However, we recently had a playdate with a little girl who started playing restaurant, reciting the wine list, making recommendations, and it was cute, although my I don't think my dd had the foggiest idea what she was doing.

He seems a bit crotchety, and I kind of understand why.  When I was waiting tables, I HATED waiting on kids that didn't know how to behave.  OTOH, I take my kids, ages 1 and 11 everywhere.  I wouldn't go if my 1 yo was due for a nap, crabby or whatever, and I don't take them at busy times.  I think children need to learn how to behave in a more formal atmosphere, and it doesn't hurt them to expand their horizon beyond chicken nuggets and french fries.  My kids have very diverse pallets, most people are amazed when the 11 yo orders Ceaser salad and "adult" entrees, and the 1 yo  gets his own Ceaser.  

Some kids are well behaved and will eat just about anything. Others are running around terrorizing the staff and other diners.

My DD will order a salad a lot. DS is pretty adventurous in his eating as well.  But they did go through their chicken and mac & cheese stage.

of course if it's US with my daughter, she's a perfect angel. But when I'm out on my once-every-two-months date with DH and I look around and see kids everywhere? I get totally irritated. What a hypocrite am I!

was just a few months old.

We always go for the earliest seating. We brought snacky food for her and quiet toys. I routinely just mashed up some of my food for her to eat (off a bread plate) and she grew up being a terrific diner!

If she starts to have a meltdown, guess what? Even the fanciest places have to go boxes. :)

Recently we took her to lovely resturaunt in St. Augustine and got the prix fixe tasting menu (SIX courses, yum!, skipped the wine pairing) and the chef made her some (deeelicious) chicken, she had the bisque, bread, a tiny salad, even an oyster! The staff was awesome, they treated her like any other guest but with a bit more fuss over her. They got REALLY good tips that night.

Most of the other diners didn't even know she was there till we left.

I've often viewed the "fine dining" experience as something that I want to save for "adult time".  That's  usually been my time away from my kids.  

We have taken children occasionally, but it does depend upon the child, the occasion, and the restaurant.  

We take DD everywhere, but only to early/first seatings.  We have no shame about leaving a big tip and abandoning the mission if things don't go well, although we've only done that once or twice in almost 3 years.  And we've found that a lot of places we went to before kids are actually quite kid friendly.  

I don't mind others bringing kids either, even if I'm on "date night" or it's late, as long as they're not distracting or misbehaving over a long period of time.  Kids act up and that's fine, if your kids throw food during the whole meal and I am caught in the crossfire for 1.5 hours, I'm not so fine with it.  

We're really looking forward to Kids restaurant week in Chicago this June as another chance to try a few more fun places.  

--R

We try to go early, or on slow days, and yes, we always tip well. Sometimes it's just us, but more often it's us plus visitors. We live in a very tourism-friendly area, and in general, the restaurants are happy to see business and used to dealing with kids.

We went to a couple of very upscale restaurants in Mendocino, with the whole extended family, a couple of years ago, complete with 4-year-old kid. One of them has paper table coverings and provided crayons - I think the adults enjoyed it as much as she did. I hadn't realized what talented artists my aunts were! A waitress at the other earned my eternal gratitude by taking my daughter aside conspiratorially - she needed a big favor, you see - would my daughter watch and play with these toy dinosaurs? They were lonely and the waitress had not had time to play with them today, you see.

Certainly when/if the child gets cranky, I or DH take her outside. Generally we have not had to abandon ship with to-go boxes, but we would if need be. We've had a couple of trying times, but mostly she's been quite well behaved, and is generally not the loudest or most annoying patron in the restaurant. I have plenty of adult friends who are far worse! :-) (Oh, the stories we have...)

As for the chicken fingers - for goodness' sake, people, why are the kid menus so AWFUL? There's no reason you can't offer a tiny chicken breast, or a  or a stir fry, a tiny pizza, or a small portion of anything else your restaurant might normally serve. The side can be veggies - it does not have to be fries. My toddler loved salmon, and rather than get the Authentic Kraft Macaroni And Cheese kid meal, I'd just feed her part of my salmon. One local restaurant became a favorite explicitly because it made gorgeous kid's plates with elaborately plated fruit. Be creative! Make Mollie Katzen's Salad People or Spatulata's Wiener Dogs.

It usually works out all right, particularly with the 7 year old, but there is rarely anything the picky 4 year old will eat.  If they get bored or agitated we take them outside, that is all right.

we don't typically go to Fine Eating Establishments, because that's just not our style. But we do go out to eat at various restaurants and will take Jess with us. Like everyone else, we try to be sensitive, go to early dining sessions, take things to distract (coloring books) while waiting for food to come, etc. Generally, it works. Jess has the table manners appropriate for a nearly 3 year old; uses all the utensils, sits in the seat, not a howling screamer (as yet). So far, so good.

But I gotta go along with Shenanigans (not the first time I've typed that!) - what is it with children's menus? I mean, if I wanted to feed my kid chicken nuggets, I'dve bought a pack of that for the price of the plate on the kid's menu. Usually, if the kid's menu is awful, we order something from the adult's menu and ask for a half-portion. No problems so far with that strategy.

my kids won't eat anything but crap right now.  We're like the stereotypical family- kids eat mac and cheese, bagels or hamburgers (though DD doesn't eat period beyond apples, yogurt and peanut butter crackers)- and we just give in.  I'm too exhausted by the rest of my life to fight this fight- and I'm absolutely certain I wouldn't win anyway.  We rarely eat out- unless you count Mama's Diner- where I'm the cook, waitress, and busboy.

Sigh.

DS #1 is getting better at restaurants, but he's still two and when it's time to go, it's time to go ("Get down.  GET DOWN.")  DS #2 is 7 months and a dream baby but has discovered how much fun it is to screech at the top of his lungs.  On the rare occasion we eat out, it's pizza, Mexican, or a casual restaurant with an outdoor patio, and always kid-friendly places.  I don't enjoy myself if I worry the whole time about annoying everyone around us, so why spend the money and effort?

Dining with kids with food allergies can be nerve wracking.  We have a pizza place that sells by the slice that we know is safe so that is about the extent of my kids' dining out.

One of the highlights of the pizza place is the brick enclosed walkway next to the parking lot.  It's in a little strip mall and the boys run back and forth down the walkway after they eat.

I've noticed that most of our fine diners on this thread seem to be girls.  Our boys are pretty active so timing would be everything if we attempted a fancy place.  They did well the one time we tried.  It was my dad's retirement dinner and the chef was one of his close friends so we were confident that he would be very careful with their allergies.  They also do well in my parents' dining room.  We try to have Sunday dinner with them so that the kids learn how to behave at a nice table.

avoid it.  I discovered that it's no fun to have one of us sit at the table while the other one walks a toddler around.  

Now, we just got back from a vacation that required us to eat in restaurants and my kids were delightful and well behaved - it only took 10 years to get to this point.  

A really great idea for a date night is to feed the child early, put them to bed and then have a nice dinner together - bottle of wine, music, dress up a bit, candlelight...all the romance without the pricetag.

Kid-friendly restaurant reviews are a part of my website, but I'd probably eat out a lot anyway because I love to.

I've learned a lot about where I can and cannot take my kids and when.  Fine dining?  No, not over a certain price range (about $19 a plate, around here) because they're just too disruptive, unless it is Mother's Day or Easter brunch or some such thing.  But that doesn't mean chicken fingers and French fries. Or at least, not every time.  There are a few inexpensive restaurants around here that specialize in fresh, quality food, and offer great kids meals like a "picnic plate" of a baguette with fruit and cheese or their choice of sandwich with the crusts cut off and a nice assortment of fruit on the side.

We also eat a lot of Mexican food (beans, rice, and tortillas goes over great) and Vietnamese food (big bowl of chicken noodle soup) and I've found that as a general rule restaurants of other than European/American influence have a much better attitude and set up for children.  I have heard that kids are welcome in restaurants in Europe, so I'm not sure why American food culture is so exclusive, but it definitely is.