When Zahra Dharani takes her daughter, Alea, to Daily Chew, she orders herself the Turkish egg and a kids’ breakfast pita for Alea, along with a fruit bowl.
“Most places, when you order fruit for kids, it’s just sliced apples,” said Dharani, a marketing director. “But here, she had two kinds of berries and kiwi, and it was almost like I would eat the kids’ meal.”
While kids’ menus can sometimes seem like afterthoughts (who hasn’t eaten previously frozen chicken nuggets at an otherwise nice restaurant?), restaurants around Atlanta are treating them as an extension of their identity. They’re showing how kids’ menus are a way to welcome families, build loyalty and introduce future diners to the way they cook.
Often, this is simply done by preparing classic dishes well. At Muss & Turner’s in Smyrna, for example, the kids’ menu is stacked with options like chicken tenders, a scaled-down version of their gobbler sandwich (turkey, stuffing and lingonberry coulis) and macaroni and cheese.
Credit: Lia Picard / For the AJC
Credit: Lia Picard / For the AJC
“Our goal was to create options that kids would understand,” said co-owner Ryan Turner, who opened the restaurant with Todd Mussman 21 years ago. “Let’s give them something that is familiar, but using high-quality ingredients.” The burger, for example, is made with beef from Riverview Farms, while the macaroni and cheese is equally coveted by adults with its thick, creamy béchamel-turned-Mornay sauce.
Similarly, at Bona Fide Deluxe — the Edgewood restaurant known for massive-yet-artful sandwiches — the kids’ grilled cheese served on buttery brioche steals the show.
“It’s predominantly mozzarella and kids love that because it’s one of the stretchiest cheeses when it melts,” said chef and co-owner Nolan Wynn. “So you can see when they get theirs and they pull it apart and there’s this foot-long, stretchy piece of cheese in the middle, their faces light up. They have some fun with it.”
Credit: Lia Picard / For the AJC
Credit: Lia Picard / For the AJC
Delighting kids isn’t the only consideration with a kids’ menu — there are economics at play, too.
“Our kids’ menus are never going to be what we come home and say, ‘Wow, we really made our money off of that,’” said Matt Needle, culinary director of Little Rey. “But at the same time, families can’t afford to come out and spend $20, $30 on a meal for their kids.”
At Little Rey, they found a price point that entices families to visit the restaurant more regularly, as opposed to a once-in-a-while treat. The restaurant group does this by offering items like cheese quesadillas, chicken tacos and chopped chicken with a choice of side for around $7. As an added bonus, the meal includes soft-serve ice cream.
Some restaurants see their kids’ menus as an opportunity to shape future diners. Avery Cottrell, co-owner and pit master of Gene’s in East Lake, recalled childhood meals and Shirley Temples at a dive bar in Waveland, Mississippi.
“I have this core memory of me just hanging out and having a good time. Their food was really good too, and they had a kid’s menu, even though it was obviously a dive bar,” said Cottrell, who would linger there with his mom and grandmother. “I wanted to try to capture that a little bit.”
At Gene’s, which evokes Florida dive bar nostalgia through its kitschy decor and frozen cocktails, the children can order items like a brisket slider, pulled pork quesadilla and a kids’ burger — all served with a side. There’s also a petite Genesicle, a citrusy, nonalcoholic take on the piña colada.
Although the Viet-Cajun barbecue joint caters to adults, particularly in the evenings with live music and bingo events, it was important for Cottrell (a parent himself) and his business partners to make kids feel welcome.
“I was always accustomed as a kid of being in these kind of bars, and I wanted it to be a kid-friendly dive bar,” he said. “I think that’s kind of what shaped me and the way that I look at things.”
He added, “I try not to take anything too serious and it makes me happy to see kids enjoying their time in there, too.”
In Reynoldstown, La Semilla offers young diners something entirely different: a plant-based education. It’s a favorite of Mae Stewart, a stylist, who dines there with her husband and their toddler, November.
For Stewart, almost any restaurant can be “kid-friendly,” but she likes that La Semilla goes the extra mile by having a kids’ menu.
“I appreciate when a kids’ menu isn’t just like your typical chicken fingers and hot dogs, but instead reflects the kitchen and culture of a restaurant,” said Stewart. “And I think La Semilla does that really well, even down to the little coloring sheet they have with a little educational piece on plants.”
Credit: Courtesy of Mae Stewart
Credit: Courtesy of Mae Stewart
Stewart appreciated how it rounded out the experience and made her daughter feel welcomed, too. The kids’ menu at the Latin American vegan restaurant is tight, with a faux-cheese or bean quesadilla as well as sides of beans and rice, but it’s enough to satisfy budding palates.
Even if a restaurant doesn’t have a formal menu for children, they still may be happy to accommodate little ones. Both Dharani and Stewart were pleased to discover that BoccaLupo is one such restaurant.
“We had a 5:30 p.m. reservation and we went there just fully expecting to order off the normal menu for November. But they do have this under-the-radar kids’ menu where you can pick your shape of any pasta they’re making that day and then you can choose between a Pomodoro or a butter sauce,” said Stewart. “And that was special, too. She had a blast there.”
Although newer restaurants are embracing intentional kids’ menus, Muss & Turner’s is already seeing theirs pay dividends.
“We have customers who were kids when we opened that are married and now they’re bringing in their kids,” Turner said. “When you treat a kid like they’re a human as well and get down to their level and try to talk to them and find ways to make them feel safe and valued and earn their trust, it’s something that they don’t forget.”
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
