Does a Children's Menu Affect Your Restaurant Choice?

July 30, 2009

Do smaller, wallet-friendly portions make a difference when your family goes out to dine? Both The Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang's recently announced their new children's menus which will feature smaller plates at reduced rates for small-frys. Many restaurant chains are popular with parents because they do cater to kiddos. But lots of independent eateries without kiddie menus are happy to serve a dish sans the spicy sauce or split an entree between two children if patrons inquire. Do you take tot menus into consideration before deciding where to dine?

10 Comments

Chouette4u 3 years 42 weeks

My daughter eats lots of different foods and definitely doesn't need a kids' menu for the "kid friendly fare", but she certainly doesn't need an adult sized entree, especially from The Cheesecake Factory! I like places that have kids' menus with more adult and healthier items than mac and cheese and hot dogs as well as places that will let you get a half-order. At PF Chang's, we eat family-style, so she just gets her own plate and eats what we eat.

xoclirpa 3 years 42 weeks

My son is 2 and a half and I usually order one plate and split it with him....it saves me from over eating and I order healthier food options when I know he will be sharing whatever is on my plate.

Danni99 3 years 42 weeks

I'd prefer my children to order off an adult menu. We like them to expand their flavor profiles and make healthy choices, and it's a simple matter to ask for a box early on so we can portion control it down to an appropriate size. I agree with the other posters who have remarked that kid's menus are too often filled with over-processed crap. I'd much rather spend a little more for my kids to eat healthy and flavorful meals. Hope CCF and Changs both go with inventive and interesting menus!

RoaringSilence 3 years 42 weeks

I agree with mhg, children's menus usually contain items that aren't very healthy. It's nice and considerate of restaurants to offer an extra menu, but I think almost all restaurants would make changes to a dish to suit kids, or you could order an adult meal and take half of it home.

RoaringSilence 3 years 42 weeks

mhg 3 years 42 weeks

Most of the food on children's menus is junk...nuggets, corn dogs, french fries etc. And, most adult portions are big enough to share.

MissSushi 3 years 42 weeks

We always share with our daughter too. We give her a little of both of our meals on her own plate, she really doesnt eat that much and I love how open she is to eating pretty much anything. I hope she stays that way, and we do our best to keep things varied and off the wall.

lickety split 3 years 42 weeks

my middle daughter has a gluten sensitivity (wheat, oat, barley) so we take that into consideration ONLY. trust me, it's enough to eliminate most restaurants. in-n-out is our road trip on the go stop, PF Chang's and Outback our go to out of town stop. i was told that cheesecake factory is working on a gluten free menu, hopefully that will happen soon.

lickety split 3 years 42 weeks

my middle daughter has a gluten sensitivity (wheat, oat, barley) so we take that into consideration ONLY. trust me, it's enough to eliminate most restaurants. in-n-out is our road trip on the go stop, PF Chang's and Outback our go to out of town stop.i was told that cheesecake factory is working on a gluten free menu, hopefully that will happen soon.