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Movies => Press Releases and Film News => Topic started by: claws on July 17, 2011, 12:14:03 PM



Title: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: claws on July 17, 2011, 12:14:03 PM
Quote
If your 5-year-old has a jones for the crab cakes at McDain's Restaurant, which the menu boasts are “The Best Around — Period,” you’d best take him or her there by Friday. Or be prepared to get the food to go.

Beginning Saturday, children 6 and under are no longer welcome at the restaurant in Monroeville, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh. They’ve just become too much of a bother for the other customers.

Owner Mike Vuick built the neighboring golf center 22 years ago, then opened the restaurant nine years ago. Young children have become an increasing issue in that time, he says. But don’t accuse Vuick of hating kids — his problem is mostly with the parents.

“Parents have gradually diminished their cooperation,” he said, adding that the new policy is strictly in response to customer complaints.

“This is a three-part issue. One is the increasing number of small babies that can’t be controlled. They can’t be quiet and really they can’t be expected to.”

The second factor is kindergarten-aged kids who “have shown increasingly poor manners.” And lastly he blames parents, who “act like we’re the ones being offensive” when staff members ask them to calm their children down.

Vuick describes McDain’s as “upscale casual” and isn’t even sure why customers would want to bring their kids.

“This is a very genteel, quiet place. Very adult. We have 68 seats here, and 24 of them are in the bar.”

“If I had children of these ages I would never contemplate taking them to this place,” he said. "We've never even had a children's menu."

He let customers know about the impending policy in an e-mail. The response, he said, has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I’m looking at 419 e-mails in my inbox right now,” he said, saying the subject lines were along the lines of “Thank you” and “Nice job.”

Not everyone, of course, agrees. Pittsburgh TV station WTAE spoke to customer Stephanie Kelley, mother of a 13-month-old, who said she eats at McDain's weekly. Or used to.

“I can't believe this. I am offended. This is just an ignorant policy," Kelley said.

Vuick is unswayed. He expects no drop-off in business. And as far as state authorities have told him, his decision is completely legal.

“You know, their child — maybe as it should be — is the center of their universe," he told WTAE. "But they don't realize it's not the center of the universe."


Source: msnbc.msn.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43718876/ns/business-small_business/)

How many times have I watched a kid doing endless laps around a group of tables by us while the family sat in a different part of the restaurant?
This is what you get for not being able to control your off breed.



Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Psycho Circus on July 17, 2011, 12:30:49 PM
McDain's.....YOU RULE!  :thumbup:


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Criswell on July 17, 2011, 01:56:06 PM
Best restaurant ever, or best restaurant ever?


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Jack on July 17, 2011, 02:38:22 PM
I'd make a special point of going there if it was anywhere in my area   :thumbup:


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Doggett on July 19, 2011, 10:13:34 AM
Makes sense to me.


 :thumbup:


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Allhallowsday on July 19, 2011, 11:25:15 AM
I was out to dinner Sunday night, in an expensive restaurant, and there was a family with 1 small child (maybe 3 years old) who started the screaming thing...  :lookingup:  Fortunately, through mollycoddling it quickly abated.   :hatred:  It's unfortunate that people think it's appropriate to bring small children to a $65 a plate restaurant.  Who wants to listen to children screaming??  :thumbdown: :bluesad:


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: AndyC on July 19, 2011, 11:58:58 AM
People used to understand that there were places that were appropriate for kids and places that were strictly for adults. I know when my parents left us kids at home and went out for dinner with friends, they didn't go to the same places they took us to eat out as a family. And when we did go to a nice place, we were reminded that it was a nice place, and people were there for a pleasant dining experience, not to listen to noisy kids.

I'm all for taking kids to nice restaurants and introducing them to good food, but they have to be old enough to appreciate it. And that is not the motivation of most people, who just don't want to spring for a babysitter, and think they're entitled to take their family anywhere, without showing some consideration for other people. Yes, it's what they live with every day and it's no big deal to them, but that doesn't mean other people should feel the same way.

It's like people who insist on taking a baby to a movie. Or when I used to chair a big street dance in my hometown, and a few people always complained (sometimes quite angrily) that we didn't allow anyone under 19 into the beer garden. Seriously, there might have been a thousand people drinking and smoking and swearing and getting rowdy in there. Beer everywhere, and not nearly enough security to keep an eye on minors as well as adults. And people complain that they can't take the whole family in there.

The fact is, if you have small children, it's going to cramp your style a bit. There are going to be things you can't do and places you can't go as much as you used to. It's just something parents have to accept, and appreciate that parenthood does have its own rewards. But people always want to have it both ways.

It's just a shame it has to come down to an official policy. But that's the way it works. To paraphrase Edmund Burke, when control does not come from within, then it must come from without. If people want fewer rules, they need to take more responsibility and show more sense, which many are not doing.


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Mr. DS on July 19, 2011, 12:18:19 PM
With three kids I can attest things can get rowdy.  HOWEVER, I have been known to yank my kids out of a place immediately after one improper outburst for discipline time.  Most parents won't do that out either out of ignorance or fear. 

I see no problem with this depending on the clientelle establishments are aiming in at.  There are just some places kids don't belong. 


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: AndyC on July 19, 2011, 05:00:54 PM
I see no problem with this depending on the clientelle establishments are aiming in at.  There are just some places kids don't belong. 

Absolutely. Plenty of family restaurants out there. If McDain's wants to cater strictly to an adult clientele, and they can make good money doing it, then more power to them.

It's kind of refreshing, when so many restaurants are cookie-cutter franchises that try to be all things to all people. Nice to see a restaurant deciding who its customers are and giving them the kind of dining experience they want.


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: akiratubo on July 19, 2011, 11:19:54 PM
Most of my friends are parents.  I am not, so this is just an outsider's perspective.  It seems like going out anywhere with small children is a lose-lose situation.  If you discipline them, you get busy-bodies criticizing you for being a bad parent.  If you don't discipline them, you get busy-bodies criticizing you for being a bad parent.


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Mr. DS on July 20, 2011, 06:42:54 AM
Most of my friends are parents.  I am not, so this is just an outsider's perspective.  It seems like going out anywhere with small children is a lose-lose situation.  If you discipline them, you get busy-bodies criticizing you for being a bad parent.  If you don't discipline them, you get busy-bodies criticizing you for being a bad parent.
Yep...I've gotten so many dirty stares because I generally take no BS from my kids in certain surroundings.  I don't hit them but I will take them by an arm and discipline them in front of anyone.  You know, like a parent is supposed to.


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: AndyC on July 20, 2011, 09:21:02 AM
It does go both ways, for sure. Parents can be inconsiderate of others when they take their kids someplace, but some of those people can also be a little too uptight as well. And it's not the restaurant staff's job to decide which it is in every single case, so I can appreciate the motivation behind McDain's new policy.

Again, it's a sign of the times that such choices must constantly be made. Not too long ago, the norm was that I would make some effort not to bother you any more than necessary, you would cut me a little slack, and everyone would get along. Seems like inconsiderate a$$holes are getting far more numerous in general these days, whether they think they have the right to disturb other people or they think other people have an obligation not to do anything that disturbs them. It's all about give and take, and people seem more and more to forget that they need to give a little.


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Damien Valley on July 21, 2011, 09:48:34 AM
How much does anyone want to bet that someone with small kids will sue over this just to get free money? :lookingup:


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Jim H on July 21, 2011, 11:29:44 AM
How much does anyone want to bet that someone with small kids will sue over this just to get free money? :lookingup:

I doubt it, since it would get tossed out of court and even if it didn't they'd end up having to pay court costs.


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: AndyC on July 21, 2011, 04:42:16 PM
How much does anyone want to bet that someone with small kids will sue over this just to get free money? :lookingup:

I doubt it, since it would get tossed out of court and even if it didn't they'd end up having to pay court costs.

Sounds like their lawyers checked the whole thing out ahead of time, so they should be fine.

I would, however, not be surprised if they get an occasional loudmouth who wants to make a scene after trying to bring their kids in and being turned away.


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Umaril The Unfeathered on July 21, 2011, 06:46:39 PM
Most of my friends are parents.  I am not, so this is just an outsider's perspective.  It seems like going out anywhere with small children is a lose-lose situation.  If you discipline them, you get busy-bodies criticizing you for being a bad parent.  If you don't discipline them, you get busy-bodies criticizing you for being a bad parent.

Yep...I've gotten so many dirty stares because I generally take no BS from my kids in certain surroundings.  I don't hit them but I will take them by an arm and discipline them in front of anyone.  You know, like a parent is supposed to.

Do it now while you can, before some other radical left-wing nutjob group tries to make it a felony for you to discipline your kids as they introduce new plans for the government to be the parents....

Anyhow, I once was in Perkins and saw the funniest case of just deserves against a disruptive kid, ever.  This 3-year old (give or take a year) was jumping up and down on the tables. He was also throwing food and yelling, and all that stuff.

So, after his mom told him several times to stop (to which all she got was laughing and more jumping) the kid's foot went into a plate, and he slipped off the table face down and met the floor, HARD. 

Then came the screaming and crying...which was met by cheers of approval by almost everyone in the place, at which time the woman grappbed he child and told everyone to f**k off and that a lawsuit would be had if her little terror was injured in any way.

My girlfriend at the time was yelling at me all the way home as I laughed my ass off repeating the scene in my head. It's not he wasn't told to stop....


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Allhallowsday on July 22, 2011, 12:01:32 AM
Huh?   :question:

I-I-I I don't like NO screamin' child in NO restaurant never!!  :teddyr:

And that's "just deserts" .   :bluesad:


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: AndyC on July 22, 2011, 08:54:34 AM
Most of my friends are parents.  I am not, so this is just an outsider's perspective.  It seems like going out anywhere with small children is a lose-lose situation.  If you discipline them, you get busy-bodies criticizing you for being a bad parent.  If you don't discipline them, you get busy-bodies criticizing you for being a bad parent.

Yep...I've gotten so many dirty stares because I generally take no BS from my kids in certain surroundings.  I don't hit them but I will take them by an arm and discipline them in front of anyone.  You know, like a parent is supposed to.

Do it now while you can, before some other radical left-wing nutjob group tries to make it a felony for you to discipline your kids as they introduce new plans for the government to be the parents....

Anyhow, I once was in Perkins and saw the funniest case of just deserves against a disruptive kid, ever.  This 3-year old (give or take a year) was jumping up and down on the tables. He was also throwing food and yelling, and all that stuff.

So, after his mom told him several times to stop (to which all she got was laughing and more jumping) the kid's foot went into a plate, and he slipped off the table face down and met the floor, HARD. 

Then came the screaming and crying...which was met by cheers of approval by almost everyone in the place, at which time the woman grappbed he child and told everyone to f**k off and that a lawsuit would be had if her little terror was injured in any way.

My girlfriend at the time was yelling at me all the way home as I laughed my ass off repeating the scene in my head. It's not he wasn't told to stop....

Natural consequences are the best kind of discipline, and that's about as perfect a lesson as you can get - jumping around on the tables is dangerous and it bothers other people. Here's the painful, embarrassing proof. But sure enough, when the kid pays a reasonable price for his actions, Mom messes up the whole learning opportunity by making the little bugger a victim. And she sets a fine example by screaming profanities at people in front of him.

Behind nearly every unruly, obnoxious child is a parent just like that.

Had I been in the same situation as that mother, I'd have comforted the kid, made sure he wasn't seriously hurt, and made damn sure he understood that he brought it all on himself by his actions, from falling off the table to being laughed at by the other diners. Depending on their reaction, and how much delight they were taking, I might have asked the others to show him a little pity. Laughing at someone else's misfortune is not the best example for a kid either.

I always make it clear to my daughter that when I tell her not to do something, I have a reason, whether it be protecting her safety, respecting others or whatever. And when she disobeys and something happens, I make it clear that I love her, I care about her, but I also told her not to do that and this is why. Whenever possible, Ro lives with the consequences of her actions, and she makes better choices as a result.

Shielding kids from natural consequences just breeds a***oles. Of course, that's a natural consequence of the parents' bad choices, so we can see they don't have too good a grasp on the idea either, so it follows that they aren't going to pass it on.


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Umaril The Unfeathered on July 24, 2011, 10:50:44 AM
Most of my friends are parents.  I am not, so this is just an outsider's perspective.  It seems like going out anywhere with small children is a lose-lose situation.  If you discipline them, you get busy-bodies criticizing you for being a bad parent.  If you don't discipline them, you get busy-bodies criticizing you for being a bad parent.

Yep...I've gotten so many dirty stares because I generally take no BS from my kids in certain surroundings.  I don't hit them but I will take them by an arm and discipline them in front of anyone.  You know, like a parent is supposed to.

Do it now while you can, before some other radical left-wing nutjob group tries to make it a felony for you to discipline your kids as they introduce new plans for the government to be the parents....

Anyhow, I once was in Perkins and saw the funniest case of just deserves against a disruptive kid, ever.  This 3-year old (give or take a year) was jumping up and down on the tables. He was also throwing food and yelling, and all that stuff.

So, after his mom told him several times to stop (to which all she got was laughing and more jumping) the kid's foot went into a plate, and he slipped off the table face down and met the floor, HARD. 

Then came the screaming and crying...which was met by cheers of approval by almost everyone in the place, at which time the woman grappbed he child and told everyone to f**k off and that a lawsuit would be had if her little terror was injured in any way.

My girlfriend at the time was yelling at me all the way home as I laughed my ass off repeating the scene in my head. It's not he wasn't told to stop....

Natural consequences are the best kind of discipline, and that's about as perfect a lesson as you can get - jumping around on the tables is dangerous and it bothers other people. Here's the painful, embarrassing proof. But sure enough, when the kid pays a reasonable price for his actions, Mom messes up the whole learning opportunity by making the little bugger a victim. And she sets a fine example by screaming profanities at people in front of him.

I read the rest of your post, but highlighted this part of it because it's about as true as it gets, natural consequences are often more powerful than any residual consequences.

What's the old saying about "getting the test first and the lesson afterwards?"

Amen to the screaming mom thing too...seen enough of that too. Some parents act like their kids never did a thing, or say their kids were just "being kids" at the time their little Eggberts wind up getting what they asked for. Ya' just gotta' love it...



Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Criswell on July 26, 2011, 09:20:27 PM
Who else thinks it seems like many adults flat out act like children? Some act so clueless they might be the ones who need someone to look after them.


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Umaril The Unfeathered on July 28, 2011, 07:17:24 PM
Who else thinks it seems like many adults flat out act like children? Some act so clueless they might be the ones who need someone to look after them.

Well, when it gets so bad that a woman smashes up a drive-by window at McDonald's because there's no Chicken McNuggets, I'd say you were right in your assessment of some "adults".  :buggedout:


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Trekkie313 on July 28, 2011, 07:30:19 PM
My hearing-impairment is a blessing at times!  :cheers:  :tongueout:

Also I wouldn't expect the restaurant to be that good, its right next to a freaking golf course.


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: JaseSF on July 28, 2011, 07:32:34 PM
A little while back me and my girlfriend ate at a local family restaurant. Sadly the whole experience was somewhat ruined by a toddler running around all over the place seemingly unsupervised. This toddler was running about and squealing while her lazy grandparents watched on and did nothing unless she got out of their sight...nevermind the child being in the way of waitresses carrying hot food and hot beverages, nevermind the kid wandering into an area where she could have easily overturned cutlery unto herself, nevermind the kid wandering off where some stranger might have nabbed her, she nearly even wandered into the kitchen area?! ....Yeesh!


Title: Re: Restaurant says it has heard enough, bans kids
Post by: Umaril The Unfeathered on July 31, 2011, 07:25:35 PM

We were in a Japanese restaurant one time, and saw the funniest thing:

This woman was gabbing away on her cellphone, totally unaware of her 1-year old (estimated) who was picking up things and puttig them in his mouth.

And SO...he picked up a botlle of soy sauce and took a drink of it...the look on his face was priceless as he kicked back and went prostrate in his little chair.  He started yelling "oooo-wooo-oooo!!!" and began crying.   :bouncegiggle:

My buddy and I laughed our asses off as she got the situation under control, and some of the waiters and chefs of to one side were mimicking the event and making the face the baby made.

And the mother saw it... :buggedout:

She was so embarrassed she left the restaurant after paying her bill, and when she left, both us and the waiters and the staff had a great laugh. Thankfully, the baby wasn't hurt, save for his pride.  :wink: