When a couple are deciding to eat out, usually it's the woman who decides where to eat. When a family are dining out, her decision depends on where the kids want to go. If the kids aren't happy, no-one's happy.
Of course, there are some restaurants who don't want to attract kids. Having children on the premises is not what they are about. In the UK, for example, kids were actively discouraged to enter licenced premises; establishments where alcohol is served. Indeed, it was against the law for anyone under fourteen to enter.
This is not because the English don't approve of alcohol, far from it, this was because licenced premises, notably the pubs, were seen as an adult refuge; a place to get away from the family.
In recent times though, things have changed. Publicans and restaurateurs have realized the benefits of marketing to children and now the majority of pubs in the UK are 'family-style', featuring children's menus, playgrounds, play areas and games. Kids are big business. Would any sane and rational adult, unencumbered by children, eat somewhere with happy meals?
Yet so many restaurants pay only a token gesture towards their junior diners; get a few highchairs and add a tiny children's menu (chicken tenders and fries, hamburger and fries, hotdog and fries....)
It's time to step up and actively market towards children. Develop a children's menu with the same care as you do your full menu. You probably have children yourself; your chef may have children, members of your staff will have children ... all can contribute with ideas towards an appealing and healthy children's menu. Kids have always had much more sophisticated tastes then the average children's menu would suggest.
Have your children's menu designed as a separate piece. Parents don't want to think that their kids are an afterthought, worth only a tiny space on your main menu. Show them that you care about their kids. Develop the kid's menu with your design company, avoiding the cheesy mazes and puzzles so often seen on half-hearted attempts.
At home, kids normally eat what their parents eat; it's a rare mom who cooks one meal for the kids and another for the adults. The following is an excerpt from a New York Times article:
... Perhaps no chef has taken the mission more to heart than Tony Miller of Latitude 41, the restaurant of the Renaissance Columbus in Ohio. (Renaissance, like Ritz-Carlton, falls under the Marriott International corporate umbrella.) “We do not have a chicken finger in this restaurant,” Mr. Miller said. The father of a 4-year-old girl, he constructed his “Fun Menu” to appeal to children without pandering to them.
“It features zero fried foods on it,” he said. “We do grilled organic chicken teriyaki, a seared fillet of whatever fish is in season, and a four-once fillet of natural beef with smashed potatoes. I have not received a single negative reaction from adults or kids. Not one. The kids say ‘Man, that’s the best steak I’ve ever eaten!’ ”
Mr. Miller is also shrewd in recognizing that parents are after not dumbed-down or deflavorized food for their kids, but rather smaller portions and prices. At the rates he’s charging — from $5 for the teriyaki to $8 for the small fillet, including beverage — he’s in the ballpark with lots of diners and chain places....
The Marriott knows it makes sense to market to kids.
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