What Can I Get You Folks? -- Minor Diners Pipe Up

by Hanna Raskin, Posted Jul 29th 2009 @ 3:00PM

A modern kids' menu. Photo: Ed Kohler, Flickr.

Hanna Raskin's first waitressing job was at a small Greek diner in Michigan. In the 15 years since, she's worked at a chop suey joint in Mississippi, an exclusive Arizonan country club, a vegetarian eatery and an Irish pub. She currently picks up odd shifts at a seafood eatery in the North Carolina mountains, where she cracks crab legs for helpless tourists. This is the sixth in a series of posts.

One of the coolest things about the now-defunct Bill Knapp's restaurant chain was the children's menu, on which every dish bore the name of an animal. Grilled cheese wasn't just a sandwich at Bill Knapp's: It was a giraffe.

But what counted as cute then is apparently considered out-of-touch today, as an increasing number of tykes shun menus designed just for them. To the delight of their beaming foodie parents, restaurants' youngest diners are now eschewing coloring pages and chicken nuggets for crab claws and caviar.

For servers accustomed to sweeping up puddles of Cheerios and apologizing to other customers for the screaming baby seated at one of their tables, the prospect of a junior epicure sounds promising.

Unruly children -- and a few overly permissive parents -- have long posed a problem in restaurants: The only customer complaint I ever received came from a mother who was upset that I asked her rowdy young daughter not to dance where the cocktail waitresses were walking.

As many servers have discovered, however, the culinarily ambitious child can prove nearly as troublesome.

As earlier posts in this series have established, there is no clear ethical code governing server and customer behavior. And in this server's experience, many modern diners assume their gratuity covers most anything they'd ask of their servers -- including providing their offspring with an edible education.

To be sure, parents who consider food and beverage knowledge an essential component of the canon deserve all restaurant workers' deep appreciation, since they're rearing the next generation of free-spending guests. The question is how much instructional responsibility lies with servers.

Is it fair to expect busy servers to explain the origins of foie gras to toddlers or show them how to peel steamed shrimp? Should a server's job include patiently coaching children on the correct pronunciation of "tiramisu"? While such a mentorship sounds charming, not all kids are equally easy-to-teach – and very few servers are trained pedagogues.

But what do you think? Are parents outsourcing a task that's rightly theirs? Or should servers be the ones teaching very young eaters about food?

How much special attention should kids get from servers?
A booster seat and a smile should cover it.	157 (85.3%)
Servers should seize the opportunity to educate their youngest diners.	15 (8.2%)
Other (tell us more in comments)	12 (6.5%)

Filed Under: Cooking With Kids, Chefs & Restaurants, Restaurants
Tags: culinary kids, CulinaryKids, hanna raskin, HannaRaskin, kids, what can i get you folks, WhatCanIGetYouFolks

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-29-2009 @3:33PM MM said... I haven't agreed with most of your posts but it looks like we've finally found some common ground. Children are the responsibility of their parents, not anyone who happens to be in earshot. When I was a child I remember peppering my parents with questions whenever we went to a new restaurant, but not the server.
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7-29-2009 @11:05PM Megan said... I don't expect waitresses to explain "our meat is organic" to a little kid; but it isn't that much trouble to say "The Smiley Face Sandwich ? It's a grilled cheese sandwich shaped like a happy face. You can have apples or tater tots with it." And how much effort is it really to answer "you eat the big part of the shrimp. Your mom can take the tail off for you."

Also, I don't count crying babies or child asking a question about their food as "troublesome." Those are completely different than the kid who's allowed to run in the waitresses path
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7-30-2009 @9:50AM Christine said... Parents should keep their kids in line in restaurants...there's nothing more disrespectful than kids running rampant around tables while I"m trying to eat. Servers shouldn't have to be foodie teachers, that's the parent's job. I do know that my kids get a big kick out of being asked personally what they'd like to order, even though it may take a little longer. I agree with Megan, asking questions isn't as troublesome as naughty kids.
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7-30-2009 @2:22PM Mark said... Perhaps you can come up with some sort of formula to come up with a suitable gratuity... x questions from kids = 5% on top of the $1/min of table time and free-refill bonus of course.
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7-31-2009 @4:30AM maliengus said... The typical "kids menu" at most restaurants is just pathetic. Hot dogs? Chicken fingers? Grilled cheese? Come on! Someone needs to step up to the plate and set a healthier example.
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8-01-2009 @4:10PM Tracey said... I take responsibilty for my kids' education, including their formal education. I do let them ask questions of the server, but only when it's a slow time--not having to adhere to a school's schedule means we often eat at off hours, so that it's a more relaxed meal.

I agree that most kid menus are unimaginative and bland. We don't do bland at our house, so we don't want to do it when eating out, either. The kids would view that as punishment, I think. We will often either split a large appetizer sampler platter or entre among the kids rather than punishing them with chicken fingers. This is often less expensive than buying several kids' meals, especially since they don't drink pop or other sugary drinks.

Last night's menu for a picnic to take to an outdoor theatre is a good example: they decided they wanted a garlic/Parmesan baguette with sliced Gruyere and cornichons and a mix of marinated olives. They followed this up with pomegranate yogurt, apples, some really interesting pita chips, gorgonzola/pecan dip, and some cold sliced ham that had had an apple glaze. They're 4, 10, and almost 13. Their last restaurant order included splitting planked salmon with a rice pilaf that had mangos in it, with an extra side of grilled marinated vegetables. PB&J after that would truly seem punitive!
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8-03-2009 @6:19PM Samme said... There are babies and there are children. Most of the time a question from a child should be answered as you would answer a question from any other customer. Babies should get the high-chair-and-smile routine.

Children running around unattended should be given an espresso and a puppy.
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4-05-2010 @12:01PM eliz said... As a diner, I would be seriously peeved if my dining out experience were ruined by noisy children! I would not penalize the server with my tip; however if I concluded that such an experience was common at that particular restaurant, I would not go back. It's called birth control, people. If you can't handle them, don't have them.
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