with a lot of families with children that I know.  Not my favorite place, but decent food can be had.  

IHOP is another, although a little more downscale.  Friendly's used to be good when my kids were little.  Haven't been there in ages, though.

We like Mimi's, BJ's Brewhouse, Macaroni Grill, Red Robin. They offer crayons and a menu to color. The kids' menus are pretty standard, nothing exciting. But the ambience is noisy and the kids' cups come with a lid. That's all we need. :-)

1950's style diners, like Johnny Rockets, are always fun. They give the kids a paper hat to wear.

And Red Robin will give the kid a free balloon...

Ruby Tuesday was a good option for us when our kids were younger, as well as several locally owned restaurants.

For us it was about picking a place loud enough that no one cared if our kids got a little loud. I don't know menu prices but Chili's is another option. They have side choices now so you are not limited to fries with everything on the kids' menu.

Our kids also loved cafeterias as long as we let them pick out a dessert.

Yeah, we do hit Red Robin's and the fast food chains on occasion, but we also love going to our local ethnic restaurants, especially the Syrian family run place, Damascus.  We order appetizers like hummous and kibbe and share them with lots of pita bread.  The kids love the desserts there, too, including baklavah.

Another chain that we like a lot is Panera.  The food is really quite good and the kids' meals involve organic juice and yogurt.  You can get a great grilled cheese on whole grain bread, for instance.

We just did the Chinese buffet with all the kids. Ds age 3.5 ate varied fruit and mushroom chicken sans mushrooms. There's usually something simple like fruit and rice and salad bar crudite's that will appeal to young palates.

Only thing, check the policies before you sit down. We paid full adult price for a 9 year old with a small appetite, who could/would eat off the kid menu or limited portions in any other restaurant. The price break at that particular restaurant was at age 5, half price.

does the paper hat thing too, and has kid's fruity shakes.
i like how the cheesecake factory brings out a plate of different breads and sliced bananas right away for kids.  as a mom in the profession i have to say, damn, why didn't i think of that?
evo's is a natural/organic fast food chain here- they do air baked fries, healthier versions of corn dogs etc, have vegan options.

Tony Romas offers kids dinners with crudite appetizer, entree, drink and dessert, for about the same as you pay for just entree at many places. My kid loooves getting those carrot and celery sticks as we all get you know onion loaf or something equally healthy, heh.

I second Steak n' Shake or Johnny Rockets, also many of the sports bar type places are great for kids, they are noisy, have a few video games, offer lots of appetizers, some even will turn some kids videos on a tv near by.

We also had great success at "Roadhouse" (the place with the peanut shells on the floor). And my daughter always went nuts for "Sweet Tomatoes" a salad bar resturant. First the salad bar, then onto the hot pasta station, rejoice!

Here in the Keys though, we have few chains, and surprisingly few child/family friendly resturaunts. We eat at home quite a bit now, but on the plus side we are more apt to invite friends with kids over for dinner! :)

I am not a fan of chains, particularly McD's or Burger King and I try not to take the kids to any restaurants where I won't enjoy the food as well.  Gratefully, we live far enough removed from anything that we have mostly local or family owned places.  

We have a great pizza/pasta place around here that has the sundae bar - a great motiavator for our fussy eaters.  Most of our diners also offer a good kids menu, crayons, and they know our kids by now so we feel really good about going there.

Another favorite is Culver's.  Their kids meals may hit over the 3.99 price but they do include milk and a scoop of ice cream afterwards.  I also like that we can get applesauce as a side.  

We try to avoid the chains or anywhere we have to wait a long time for food.  Our youngest just doesn't do well with that - by the time his food comes he's used up all his coping skills and won't eat.  We had a very frustrating period of eating out but stuck it out and it has improved.  

And kids' meals. Chinese restaurants are often very family-friendly, and all about sharing dishes of food. Why order a kid's meal when you can just share yours. Noodles are generally a hit with the little ones!

We take our kids to Whole Foods or another nice grocery store with a seating area.  Everyone can get what they want, small eaters can get a container of yogurt or something small, and I can pick up eggs and milk!

When we take the wee one (4) out to a nice place our goal is always to make sure there's something beyond the crayons and blank placemats as entertainment.

The most fun we've had recently was at a Japanese place--loads of entertainment watching food prepared at the table!  Besides, it gave us another excuse to talk about good, culture and trying new things with our son.

We've also done Ethiopian (fantastic if you can find a place without chairs that uses the table bread method of service), Russian (the decor often makes for a long i-spy game), Middle Eastern (lots of places have belly dancers), Greek (flaming cheese!), Caribbean (great when there's live music) and plenty of Latin American nights.  We rarely order our son his own meal and instead just get an extra plate so he can sample and taste everything.  I just love it when he finishes off a plate before I get the chance to even taste it!  I figure I can always order another appetizer or have a great excuse for dessert myself if we get inducted into the clean plate club.  

Admittedly I live near Chicago so diversity is easy to come by and pretty darn affordable if you stick to the real thing.

Cheers!