Eating Out with Baby

Does anyone have good recommendations on what restaurants are good for taking out baby? We have a four month old and have noticed that loud, big places right when they open seem to be the best places to go, but I would love to hear if there are any places that we are unaware of.


We are in Oak Park so looking for places either in the Western Suburbs or City.

Thanks

I've looked at this post a bunch of times, and thought about posting...but it's that kind of day where it takes just a little more effort to do anything, even pleasant ones.

OK, that aside, there are a number of threads on the subject of kids, which are linked to inside this post and also this one. A four-month-old is actually considerably easier than a kid, because they are more likely to stay where you put them, and they won't complain about the food . Ethnic places usually enjoy kids, and often meet your "loud and early" criterion - which is a good general guide for the next 10 years or so... Chinatowngets mentioned in this vein, often.

Fine dining isn't out, either - I'll never forget one of the most memorable meals I had cum infantuli: at the Stained Glass in Evanston. He was 10 days old, and we just parked him on the tabletop and let people goo over him. Do this right away; it won't be so easy in a few short months.

Our favorites in Oak Park/Forest park for taking along out 3 year old and infant are: Trattoria 225, Goldyburgers when you can sit outside, Yum Thai, and Jimmy's. All are kid friendly but also have good food.
Parthenon in Greek town is also good, loud and kid friendly. Same with pretty much any place in chinatown, we go for dim sum to Happy Chef or Phoenix. Around Uptown, tank noodle and especially Ethiopian Diamond are good with kids.
LO

I have found other diners are more forgiving of diners with infants if you go out for lunch or an early dinner. Also we are quick on our feet, and if our daughter did start crying one of us scoops up the baby and gets out of the dining area as to not disrupt other customers.


The places we have gone with zero issues with our now 1 year and a couple months old daughter:

Saloon Steakhouse
Joes Stone Crab
San Soo Gap San
Frontera
Fabulous Noodles
CoalFire
Honey 1
Amanacer Tapatio
Cajun Connection

We are actually going to one of our favorite & regular spots for dinner tonight: Cajun Connection(the best cajun restaurant in the Chicago area hands down), where the owner/chef Cajun Ron loves babies, and gives them stuffed alligators, and takes pictures, and posts them documenting his younger customers visits.

We are actually going to one of our favorite & regular spots for dinner tonight: Cajun Connection(the best cajun restaurant in the Chicago area hands down), where the owner/chef Cajun Ron loves babies, and gives them stuffed alligators, and takes pictures, and posts them documenting his younger customers visits.

You had me excited for a minute as in I don't feel there are any quality Cajun/Creole Resturants in the area. While Ron's sounds like the real deal and their menu looks promising I don't consider 90 miles away as the Chicago area. Damn!

We always have really good luck at Frontera (although not in the western burbs) It is so colorful and has great art including masks and things hanging from the ceiling. The babies really get an eyeful. Plus there's boisterous cheerful music and the people are nice. We took my youngest there when he was 5 weeks, of course at that point he slept through it all. But we continued to take him often. I remember thinking that he's only 4 months old and he's already been here 4 times - lucky kid. He's 3 now and a bit more difficult to contain. He still likes Frontera though as long as they keep bringing tortillas. At least he knows a good tortilla when he gets one. We always took him early or for Sat brunch.

marshall,

I agree there are no good cajun restaurants in Chicago or the closer in suburbs in my humble opinion. For reference we live about 15 mins from Ron's, & work near Chicago, so we consider it Chicagoland, we just get to escape the hassles & congestion of the city and suburbs & enjoy our acre of wooded property as a reward for our 1 hour each way commute.

We also make sometimes twice weekly jaunts into Chicago and the burbs just to try different restaurants. I guess when you drive 140+ miles per day just to get to & from work, logging some miles on an off day to get great food isnt a big deal to us.

What used to be great about Ron's was that they were no smoking and that was important when taking the baby out to eat. As of tomorrow, thankfully all restaurants will be smoke free.

Ours is 7 1/2 now, so it's been a while since I was mentally tracking all the best places for infants. At the time, we lived on Argyle and we found that Asian and Indian restaurants seem to be almost universally baby friendly. So I'd say add virtually all of Argyle and Devon Ave. to your list. Ditto almost all Mexican restaurants that I've been to.

Also in Uptown, Tweet Let's Eat on Sheridan was very friendly to us both at weekend breakfast and dinner. Tables are somewhat closely spaced, but it's a generally noisy, boistrous atmosphere and we never felt we were stepping all over someones intimate romantic dinner.

We had a very nice grown up meal at Deleece with kids in tow and felt both welcomed and, even as the room filled up, didn't feel that the neighborhood clientele wished we were elsewhere.

And of course all the major Chicago pizza institutions are very family friendly. Including the newer stars like Spacca and Sapori di Napoli (although the latter's room is fairly small, so you'll have to judge how well the temperament of you angel suits the room).

Toast in Lincoln Park was also very accepting of our young 'un, and, I believe, even sports a kids' menu.

In Lincoln Sq. Fiddlehead Cafe seemed happy to accomodate us both at brunch and at dinner.

That's my top-of-mind list at the moment. Not very local for you, but hope it helps somewhat.

What about Xni-Pec?

Chicagoist has a Baby-on-Board feature that could be helpful here.

(Sorry for the terrible link-to-search. Best I could do.)

Obviously, some places will be more appropriate for youngsters than others but I think it ultimately depends on the demeanor of your offspring.
Even the most accommodating of restaurants (and other diners) would likely frown upon an ill-behaved child.

In reply to Johnny, that's true and my perfectly behaved 1-yr old who I could take anywhere, has become a loose-cannon of a 3yr old where it's roll the dice and see what you get ("I will freak out if they place any smelly seafood on the table kind-of-a-kid"). It doesn't mean he's a bad kid, he's 3 and he's acting like a 3-yr old, exercising his independence, blah, blah, blah. So you really have to take your chances and also know your kid. If he/she is tired or cranky, maybe you should get carryout. Even your sweet, happy child can have a bad day. And really, it is hardly relaxing or even worth it to dine out if you have a kid who's on the edge at the table. I've lived it and learned my lesson.

Very true, toni - it's a roll of the dice, and occasionally you are just plain stuck wherever you are. Yes, every parent should have a plan B, but once you're a parent, you realize that "bad" or "thoughtless" parents may just be having one bad day where the deck was stacked against them.

It's good to remember that any restaurant experience can be a roll of the dice: there are plenty of unpleasant drunken or otherwise misbehaving adults who can ruin a night out more thoroughly than a naughty child can. I'd rather deal with a crying three-year-old than be tripped over, groped and breathed on by a drunken 50-year-old. We just can't ask them to ban drunken 50-year-olds from restaurants.

Mhays wrote:I'd rather deal with a crying three-year-old than be tripped over, groped and breathed on by a drunken 50-year-old.

What restaurants have you been eating at?

Mhays wrote:I'd rather deal with a crying three-year-old than be tripped over, groped and breathed on by a drunken 50-year-old. We just can't ask them to ban drunken 50-year-olds from restaurants.

Hey, is a drunken 50-year old any worse than, say, a drunken 30-year old? I call ageism!

(What's the emoticon for good-natured kidding that you also really mean? What they used to call "kidding on the square"? Because that's the emoticon I want.)

Signed,

57-year old who isn't often drunk and seldom trips over, breathes on or gropes anyone who isn't his wife, but who is nonetheless sensitive to attacks on people because they happen to be 50 or older

johnny wrote:What restaurants have you been eating at?

Actually, now that Grizzlys is closed...a long time ago, I used to hostess there. For a very, very short time. Draw your own conclusions.

Riddlemay, at this point I'm old enough myself that being groped by a 30-year-old, however impaired, is a compliment. I take your point, though.