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Happy Meals: Best Places to Eat Out With the Kids

Planning a Mother's Day meal with the family? Want a nice dinner with tots in tow? These Prospect Heights restaurants will put a smile on your kids' faces ... and yours too.

What makes a restaurant child-friendly? Is it bendy straws and crayons, a kids’ menu, or waitstaff who don’t visibly shrink at the sight of you battling through the door with your stroller?

I was wondering about this when I started to compile a list for this review. Some of the places that parent friends of mine suggested surprised me. They seemed more adult foodie than mac ‘n’ cheesy. So I conducted a scientific survey and discovered that more than anything, what parents want is good food. Not just good kids’ food, but good food. (A nice glass of wine doesn’t hurt either.)

Next on the list — even above child-tolerant waitstaff — is a spacious environment. Many of the restaurants mentioned here have gardens or patio areas where kids can get their ya-yas out in between courses. Others are tiny, but other benefits caused it to make the cut.

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The range of cuisines, styles, and price is wide. But each restaurant on this list has some magical quality that tempts local parents to abandon the safety of their kitchens and venture out for that unpredictable rollercoaster ride — dinner out with kids.

 

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Amorina

624 Vanderbilt Ave. at Prospect Place, 718-230-3030

Entrees $9.50-13.00

Hugely popular with families due to its casual atmosphere, friendly waitstaff and high-quality, reasonably-priced food, it can be hard to nab a table at Amorina. Thin-crust Roman-style pizzas and homemade pastas use locally-made mozzarella and organic tomatoes; the kids’ menu features devourable dishes like spaghetti and meatballs, a “sloppy Giovanni,” and a mozzarella calzone. If you get there right at 5, there's a good chance you can get a table right away. Otherwise waits can be a little long, but kids enjoy looking at the authentic old Italian ice cream posters and maps. 

 

Beast

638 Bergen Street at Vanderbilt, 718 399 6855

Entrees $9-$17

It may resemble a bikers’ bar from the outside, but inside Beast is a tapas restaurant that is surprisingly kid-friendly. It has an outside area and a quiet back room (the bar room is less ideal for kids) and the menu features delicious fried manchego and black bean hummus appetizers as well as make-your-own 'smores desserts. Portions are large, prices are reasonable and the waitstaff is friendly.

 

Burrito Bar and Kitchen

307 Flatbush Avenue, 718 230 8646

Entrees $9-20

A very child-oriented, low-cost option rather than a fine dining experience, Burrito Bar is spacious, brightly decorated and fun, with a “Little Amigos” menu featuring tacos nacos, “Monkey Fingers” (chicken fingers) and Mexican pizza. There are also healthy fruit smoothies, and kids get balloons and crayons.

 

Cataldo’s

554 Vanderbilt at Dean St, 718 857 6700

Entrees $9.50-$20

A lesser-known option for brick-oven pizza, Cataldo’s offers a wide menu of southern Italian dishes and has a heavily Italian clientele. It’s often uncrowded.

 

Cheryl’s Global Soul

236 Underhill Ave, Eastern Parkway/Lincoln Place, 347 529 2855

Entrees $12.95-$22

Cheryl’s “world fusion” menu features an eclectic mix of southern, Pan-Asian and French influences; ingredients are sourced locally and seasonally. Though weekends can be hectic, at quieter times this can be a great choice for a family meal. Early on a spring evening you could have the whole back patio area, twinkling with fairy lights, to yourselves and your little ones can plough into panko-coated fish fingers, herb-roasted chicken wings, or pasta bolognaise from the kids’ menu while you sip a glass of wine.

 

Franny's

295 Flatbush Ave, bet. St. Marks and Prospect Place, 718 230 0221

Entrees $8-$17

Though Franny’s is well known as an eco-conscious, high-end pizza restaurant (ranked among New York’s Top 20 Pies by New York magazine), they’ll also give your kids crayons and welcome them in. The waitstaff are enthusiastic and very knowledgeable; they’ll guide you through the sustainably-raised mortadellas and bresaolas, the cicerchie beans and the calabrian chilies. But note: if you’re coming for dinner, make it an early one—after 6:30pm the place gets chock full.

 

Le Gamin

556 Vanderbilt Ave at Dean Street, 718-789-5171

Entrees $8.75-$21

Good French food, sweet and savory crepes to delight the kids and a very child-friendly staff make this cozy restaurant a great choice. Weekday evenings there's usually no problem getting a table. Weekends, come early if possible. Plus, there's a lovely back garden that just re-opened for the season.

 

Geido

331 Flatbush near Prospect Place, 718 638 8866

Entrees $9.75-$18

Walls covered in brightly coloured graffiti-like fish cartoons and caricatures immediately appeal to kids in this family-favorite sushi restaurant, where waitstaff bring crayons and colouring books. Sushi-resistant children can enjoy the gyoza (dumplings) or chicken or vegetable udon soba.   

 

Gen

659 Washington Avenue at St Marks Ave, 718 398 3550

Entrees $10.50-$20.50

A hidden gem, at this highly rated sushi restaurant, the staff are very friendly and there’s a backyard seating area in the warmer months. While your children eat dumplings or tempura you can sample inspired menu items like tako su (octopus sashimi with fresh cucumber and seaweed) or buta kakuni (sweet simmered pork belly with star anise infusion).

 

PSbklyn

833 Union St, 7th/6th Avenue

718 398 5474

Entrees $6 (small plate)-$24

Although a few blocks over in Park Slope, we would be remiss not to mention this new addition, which caters to kids. And if you're up for putting your kids in a TV-induced trance to let you enjoy a meal (for once), PSbklyn is the ultimate in kid-friendly dining. Each booth has a DVD player showing movies and older kids can disappear to the downstairs games room. The menu is eclectic with wood-fired pizza, burgers, comfort food like chicken pot pie with buttermilk crust; a $9 kids’ menu includes  pigs in a blanket and ice cream sundaes.

 

Soda Bar

629 Vanderbilt Avenue near St Mark’s

718 230 8393

Entrees: $6-11

Parents of toddlers know Soda as the venue for Music for Aardvarks, but on the weekend it has a full bar-style menu with burgers, veggie burgers, pita pizzas, and pierogi made by an old Polish lady in Greenpoint. In the room adjoining the bar kids can roam around while parents enjoy beer on tap. There’s also a large patio area.

 

Zaytoons

594 Vanderbilt at St Mark’s, 718 230 3200

Entrees $6-$14

Our local outpost of middle-eastern Zaytoons (the other two are in Carroll Gardens and Fort Greene) is very welcoming to children, with a pitza lal atfal—pizza with a veggie happy face—among the many low-cost, kid-friendly choices on the menu. The lentil soup is homemade, the falafel and labneh (cracked wheat salad) are delicious, and adventurous kids can try baklawa or basbousa (semolina cake) for dessert. The patio backs on to the beautiful community garden on St Mark’s Avenue, and in summer it’s a relaxing and pretty place to sit.

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