Last weekend we went to the baptism of our friend's son and then went out to eat with him and his son and our whole family. The kids had to sit still for the baptism and service, which took about an hour, and they were rowdy, to say the least. We had them do a little game of Simon Says out in the parking lot, but they were still a little crazy in the restaurant. We hoped that once they got some food in them they would settle down a bit.
I ordered chocolate milk for Little Man, who had nothing but water and juice all day, but he moaned and complained that he doesn't like chocolate milk. He loves chocolate milk, he was just being ornery. The waitress was really, really good, talking to all of the kids, addressing each one directly, asking them about their preferences down to the last detail. Each one's order came back perfectly. She was on top of drink refills for the grown-ups (hard to see the kids' drinks in cups with tops), checked on us enough but not too much, and generally took great care of us.
The kids were in rare form, a little too noisy, a little too rowdy, a little too...kid. Nothing out of the ordinary, but still on the more "active" scale. We three adults did our best with the shushing, reminding, even putting a kid in time out at one point (we were up against the wall in a section more or less by ourselves, so putting him in the corner wasn't disruptive to other patrons), but they were being kids. There were a couple of spills, dropped silverware, just everything you would expect from 5 kids age 8 and under. Still, we made it through okay.
Later in the meal, Little Man had finished his chocolate milk and decided he wanted some more (of course!), so he marched his self up to the bar (Bob Evans kinda bar) and asked our waitress for a refill of his chocolate milk.
"But I thought you didn't like chocolate milk!" she said. They shared a nice, funny little moment as Little Man tried to explain that he liked chocolate milk after all, and she gave him his refill.
We got the bill and it was quite low compared to what we thought it would be (but we were still charged for everything we were supposed to be). But we had been a challenging group to serve, the kids acted like kids, and of course there was a bigger mess than there would have been had it been a party of 8 adults. So on our way out, I left a note on the back of a placement thanking our waitress for exceptional service, and left was amounted to a 65% tip.
As a parent, few things make me more grateful than those who are accepting of my kids just being kids and acting their ages without judging us or thinking we should just lock ourselves away for years until our kids are older. Even if we wait until they are older, they will go through a learning curve as they learn how to act in a restaurant, and I think it makes a difference to expose them now, in a controlled, family-friendly setting, and lay the foundation for future public behavior. That there are places that let us do this, and people who work there who are warm, friendly, and accomodating, in the same area as places that let BDF and me go out and escape all of this is one of the best things about living in DC.
How sweet of you!
I love things like that, I am sure you made her day :)
When we've had service like that, I've made sure to let the manager know too. Good people deserve that!
Posted by: angi | July 17, 2007 at 11:14 PM
There are only a few restaurants at which we're regulars, and at every one, the reason we keep coming back is because the wait staff is always great with the boy, even when he's being rambunctious. (His "rambunctious" isn't at all bad, compared to some of the behavior I've seen at restaurants. He's just more, um, chipper sometimes than others.) Of course, we also insist on going to restaurants that serve food that we, the parents, like, and so we almost never go to the kind of chain restaurants that are aimed at families. Our favorites? Hinode, a Japanese restaurant in Bethesda, and Roha, a kinda hole-in-the-wall Ethiopian place on U Street. Both restaurants have great food and an incredibly friendly, kid-loving staff. I couldn't tell you which aspect is more important!
Posted by: Summer | July 18, 2007 at 10:26 AM
I took my kiddies and my girl friends three kiddies to the local restaurant yesterday.
We were loud. No, make that, the girlfriend's three year old was very loud. The rest of the kiddies kept it together. Thankfully.
We tipped and we tipped well. If I could have, I would have offered apologies and tips to all the other patrons for putting up with us and not giving us the evil eye...
Posted by: Redneck Mommy | July 18, 2007 at 12:59 PM
I like taking my kids out to locally owned family friendly places so they learn how to behave in public. But I always make sure to leave what I call "tip and damages." The bigger the mess we make, the more I leave.
Posted by: hokgardner | July 18, 2007 at 10:11 PM