Restaurants for 6-year-old

Sorry to ask a question that I'm sure has been asked before (tried searching, but to no avail)! Friends are bringing their daughter to Chicago to celebrate her 6th birthday. It's a great tradition - the mom and dad come up from Indy for a weekend in the city and the birthday kid gets lots of attention. The birthday kid also gets to choose a place to go for dinner. With her older brothers, we got lucky -- one liked Greek food and the other asked for Chicago-style pizza. With no clear direction for child #3, it looks lile we might have to go to Rainforest Cafe (she's not an American Girl kinda girl!). Please help -- where would you take a 6-year-old girl for her birthday in the big city?

Chinatown can be a lot of fun with a kid. Extensive discussion of same here.

If she's the bold adventurous kind of six year old, a great fuss would be made over her, including a chance to march through the restaurant with a mariachi band, at [url=http://www.mitierrarestaurant.com/] Mi Tierra.

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I'd recommend someplace that's generally kid-friendly and not so quiet that kids will stand out.

Wishbone will have something for everybody and they treat kids very well there -- there will definitely be other families with small children around you.

Wishbone has two city locations:
1001 W Washington Blvd. (312) 850-2663
3300 N. Lincoln Ave. (773) 549-2663

Dixie Kitchen would also be a lot of fun for kids, with lots of choices and a friendly environment. One of the many Latin American roast chicken places (El Llano, Brasa Roja, etc.) would be a nice option, too.

I'd also suggest that you might try someplace simple and family-friendly for supper and then move on to another spot for dessert. Ice cream isn't hard to find, and that way you'd have more options.

Friends don't let friends eat at Rainforest Cafe.
My all-time favorite for out-of-towners and kids is Grand Luxe Cafe. The place is total eye-candy, the menu is enormous and the prices are definitely on the reasonable side. Here's an earlier post I wrote after visiting with, yes, out-of-towners and kids:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4811&highlight=grand+luxe

American Girl Cafe

Sparky and his little buddies really enjoyed Mitsuwa Marketplace, although again she would have to be on the adventurous side. Garden Buffet is also a favorite of Sparky's, good if a bit shopworn. Another suggestion might be Greektown: in general fun, touristy, and a lot of culinary theater (flaming cheese) along with the food although I'd follow somebody else's rec as to where to go...And, as far as "theme" restaurants, you can't beat Szalas for Polish food.

I would think it would rest on the interest and tastebud diversity of the child.

My nephews and nieces each spend at least a couple days with me once a year - separately! The youngest was 5 when she spent a couple days with me. She loved Thai places, tolerated an Indian Buffet (loved the bread and the kheer), and loved the waffles at the local diner. Her older sister, at 8, loved a sushi place (I just got an email from her - when I am taking her to sushi again? she wanted to know). The oldest of them has been the fussiest...so I'm clueless how to pick! They all love to go to Scooter's for ice cream (I'm very close by - it's not convenient if you are downtown )

Guess I'd ask her what she really wants most to eat - it could be anything I'm guessing. Then I'd find a place that serves that item well and is happy to have children.

I just had this conversation with someone at work who is bringing their five year old into the city for dinner and something sparked that might be fun -- although it's not on the LTH list of best all time restaurants in the city.

What about the Village in the middle of the Loop? It's old world italian but I've always had a decent meal there -- they use decent bread, have good service, have a decent red sauce and most importantly, to a 6 year old on her birthday -- it might be a magical place. For those of you who don't know the Village -- it's decorated like a quaint italian village (well...a 1950s pre-disney version of that) and has little nooks and crannies and lots of unusual seating and lovely pretty lights strung up all over the restaurant. It is truly a lovely little world to eat a meal in.

I think if someone had taken me to this restaurant when I was six...i would have remembered it all my life. Heck, I still remember my lovely evening at Tennessee's famous Chattanooga Choo Choo restaurant when I was about that age. It was a lovely old world place (although to me it was "fancy" and i remember tasting my first hushpuppy there...and it was delicious....

The Village
71 W. Monroe St.
312-332-7005

I thought I would have great suggestions here (as a city parent of an almost 5-year old) but darned if every one of our favorite places wasn't already mentioned by the super-fast, super-insightful LTH community. I can speak from experience that Chinatown, Wishbone, the Garden, Greek Town, Mi Tierra and the Garden are all kid-tested and parent-approved.

Another unusual/interesting place might be something like Russian Tea Time on Adams between Michigan and Wabash. It's colorful, plush, exotic, a little romantic. It's perfectly located if the trip also includes a visit to the Art Institute.

Also in the Loop, the Atwood Cafe in the Hotel Burnham (the reno-ed Reliance Building at Washington and State) is a pleasant mix of fanciful decor and interesting but not outlandish food. The cuisine is upscale (but not over-the-top) regional American. Good, but not intimidating. And the building is truly beautiful.

If Italian is the order of the day, how about Taylor Street or South Oakley Ave ("Heart of Chicago")? Both are lovely, distinctive city settings, winter or summer. Everyone has their favorites in those neighborhoods. Ours are La Vita on Taylor and Ignotz on Oakley.

Finally, my all-purpose recommendation these days is Cuatro in the South Loop on Wabash. It's like something from Miami Beach, without the Floridians, New Yorkers and Quebecois. The decor is stylish, the food is nuevo latino, a good mix of the familiar and the adventurous, the desserts are awesome. It's upscale, but not too much so for a family outing with a kid who is not a terror. It's usually a wonderfully diverse crowd, the best the Chicago has to offer.

Best of luck and I hope you end up somewhere other than Rainforest Cafe.

Though it's not a place I would choose to go on my own, my kids have always really enjoyed going to FoodLife in Water Tower Place, and I know I've recommended it here before as a good choice for families. It's pretty exciting if you're a kid to have all those options to choose from, and the dessert island in the middle looks tremendously enticing. And the adults can also get some food that they like well enough. A downside with little kids especially is that you have to get their food, bring it to the table, and then get your own food, etc. so if you don't have other adults with you it can involve a lot of back and forthing, but you probably will not have that problem, if I understand correctly. It is somewhat loud and bustling, also, so if the child doesn't take well to that I'd avoid it (though many kids thrive in such an environment, and it beats Rainforest Cafe on that scale by a mile, if you ask me!) Also, FoodLife can get expensive if you're not paying attention. Those caveats aside, I think it can be a festive choice, and then you can do some Michigan Avenue activities as well.

I never watched the entire episode, but Check, Please did a set of kids' reviews.

Chicago Sun-Times, Jan 13, 2006 wrote:The popular WTTW-Channel 11 show will feature, for the first time, three kids as guest dining critics who review each others' favorite restaurants.

Their chosen spots run the gamut: River North hamburger joint Ed Debevic's; King Crab, a Lincoln Park seafood restaurant, and Medieval Times in Schaumburg, home of jousting knights and giant turkey legs.

I had my 5 year old niece and family up here this weekend and enjoyed both foodlife and Little Three Happiness in Chinatown. Both worked pretty well.

Having said that, just about ANY place that served NOODLES - rice, flat, etc. was very much enjoyed by the 5 year old who enjoyed anyplace we went.

Wondering where Attrill ended up going. We need to find a restaurant (and perhaps nearby entertainment) for out-of-towners (some with kids, 2 boys and 2 girls ages 1-4 and some without kids) in the suburbs (willing to travel to NW suburbs, Northshore, Schaumburg, O'Hare area, Oakbrook, Brookfield) or in Chicago. Thanks!