A popular restaurant in northern California is taking heat for targeting a unique group of people: children.
A sign displayed on Old Fisherman’s Grotto’s door warns that the Monterey establishment prohibits strollers, high chairs and booster chairs. In addition, the restaurant has no tolerance for loud kids.
“Children crying or making loud noises are a distraction to other diners and as such are not allowed in the dining room,” the sign says.
I know that some would consider this heartless and unfair, but I will agree 100% with the sentiment of the owner. This is not your local McD’s but a serious and probably expensive place and part of enjoying a meal is to do it so with a modicum of tranquility.
If you have not taught your kids to behave like polite human beings, you should not force other people to withstand you lack of parenting skills.
There is always Chuck E. Cheese.
The few times we’ve taken my daughter to a restaurant she was an angel. There was too much interesting stuff going on for her to cause trouble.
Still we’ve only taken her to places where if she did get fussy it wouldn’t ruin people’s afternoon, and if she did start to cry I had the first round of taking her out to the parking lot, then my wife would swap with me as needed.
Nobody wants to hear that shit. I’m not bothered when my daughter is fussy or having a bad day, but she’s MINE, I have considerably less tolerance for other people’s kids, and expect the same from others when it comes to mine. I’m fine with this.
Still in a day when any place that is open to the public suddenly isn’t REALLY private property (this restaurant couldn’t build a smoking section, or decide that certain ethnicities weren’t compatible with their dining experience, or decide to become a pet-friendly restaurant) it will be interesting if this stands.
And of course I always like to draw a line between those restrictions and “Gun Free Zones”
Fisherman’s Grotto is not an inexpensive fish&chips place. But that’s got nothing to do with anything.
Weer has the right idea – parents need to remove their children from the scene if their behavior is disruptive. They also need to learn that the last place to take a kid after being dragged around doing touristy stuff is an upscale restaraunt.
I’ve been known to offer families cash money to take their kids outside.
Miguel – props to you for taking the high road and trying to save civilization.
When I first read about this, I had no problem with what they did.
I still don’t. I hate going to a good steak house and having to hear the bleating of somebody’s kids. Mine knew that if they started acting up we were leaving and they weren’t getting fed until the next meal time.
I’ve got kids and the minute they start fussing etc. I take them outside. Was at a restaurant a few weeks ago and ended up listening to screaming baby the whole time. Not what I went there for.
As a matter of fact, my family and I ate there in late June while on vacation. The food was outstanding and the clam chowder the best I’ve ever had.
If the parents of noisy, screaming or misbehaving children would take them outside, (or teach them not to behave that way in the first place) OFG wouldn’t have to make that their policy. I place the blame for the necessity of this policy squarely on the parents.
Well, I agree that the property owner has rights to determine what goes on in his business, however, there are some limits and still enjoy the protection of being a business open to the public If the ban was against some of the protected groups, there would be legal actions already.
If enough people do not like the policy they will loose business or gain business if people like the policy.
There was a TX steak house that built a large slide (adults and children) in the middle of the restaurant, always crowded and great food. After a management change, the new restaurant still has great food but mostly empty.
I hope that these parents now have a better understanding of how many of us feel when we see a “No Gun Sign”.
Well, Smoking bans were enacted for the same reasons. As well as Gun free zones.