On a Friday around 8 p.m. in the West Village, Julia Foster and her boyfriend, Brandon, were just about to indulge in a bottle of cabernet sauvignon in the candlelit dining room of Via Carota. The couple had been apart for weeks as Brandon travelled for his work as a golfer, and were looking forward to a romantic meal.
They’d made the reservation at the rustic trattoria more than a month in advance. Foster, 29, had been dreaming about the $25 lemon risotto, while Brandon, 26, was looking forward to the $65 branzino. But their perfectly plated entrees came with a bitter pairing – a screaming child.
“Someone’s kid was complaining that there weren’t any chicken nuggets on the menu. They were throwing a full-out tantrum,” Foster, a consultant, told The Post. The child’s parents continued to sip their cocktails. “I was like, ‘This is ridiculous.’ I was like, ‘There’s no way they’re going to have chicken nuggets on the menu, honey … The suburbs is for that.'”
Julia Foster and her boyfriend, Brandon, recently enjoyed an evening out in the West Village for dinner, until a screaming child threw off the romantic vibe. Courtesy of Julia FosterAdding to the annoyance, the tot, who appeared to be about 5, was glued to an iPad whose bright glow threw off the romantic vibe.
“The city has fewer kids out,” said Foster, and “that adds to the sophistication of going out.”
Earlier this month, Nettie’s House of Spaghetti in Tinton Falls, NJ, made a controversial announcement: They will no longer serve children under the age of 10. The declaration made news well beyond the Garden State, dividing parents and their childless peers. Many New York City restaurantgoers couldn’t help but cheer. Dining in the Big Apple is an adult experience, they say; if they wanted to eat meatballs and hot dogs surrounded by screaming rugrats, they’d be living in the suburbs.
Nettie’s in New Jersey is one restaurant cracking down on letting in small children. Google Maps; Netties Restaurant/Facebook
The restaurant informed diners earlier this month with a sign saying children under 10 will no longer be permitted in the dining room as of March 8. Netties Restaurant/Facebook“When I go out to eat, especially at a nicer restaurant, I’m hoping for an elevated, sophisticated experience,” Foster said. “When kids are there, that kind of takes away from it. Having the no-kids policy would probably pull me toward a restaurant.”
Atmosphere is everything at restaurateur John McDonald’s portfolio of restaurants, including seafood spot Lure Fishbar in Soho and intimate French restaurant Bistrot Leo. He does not discriminate against the pint-size crowd, but he does try to get them in and out quickly.
“At my restaurants, we do our best to seat the room in a manner that those tables [with children] have a lower chance at impacting the ambience, and we work on fast-tracking their meals to avoid longer table times,” McDonald told The Post. The restaurateur has two boys, ages 5 and 7, and says that he “personally wouldn’t drop them into a prime 8 p.m. dinner where it would negatively impact nearby tables if they were to misbehave.”
It doesn’t help that New York City kids can be especially demanding.
A former server at an upscale Italian restaurant in brownstone Brooklyn recalled the “typical chaos” that would ensue during what she and fellow employees called “babysitting hour” as families came in for early suppers. One time, a 6-year-old threw a full-blown tantrum when she was told her favorite octopus special wasn’t on offer that evening.
“Her face just crumbled. She started weeping about there not being octopus on the menu and the parents were trying to figure out what to do,” the former server, who asked to remain anonymous, said. “I didn’t have octopus until I was 26 years old and working at this restaurant.”
Restaurant owners will sometimes turn tables over quickly when kids are misbehaving.
She recalled that she and fellow waitstaff would be annoyed over having to stay late to clean up the crusted high chairs and miscellaneous wipes and wrappers. And sometimes parents would expect her to discipline their munchkins.
“Parents would be like, ‘Can you tell my kid not to climb on a chair? He’ll listen to you,’” she said. “I thought, ‘I’m both bringing you drinks and parenting your child.'”
Still, many argue that restaurants should welcome patrons of all ages, especially given how expensive child care is.
Michelle, a Brooklyn marketing executive and mother of two who declined to give The Post her last name, said she’s taken her brood to fancy dining rooms like Carbone in the West Village.
“People hate you for it,” she said. “But my sitters are $25 an hour — I’m not paying that.”
As for Foster, who is unsure herself if she will ever have kids, her $200-plus Via Carota meal did not end well.
“It crescendoed into screaming and yelling,” she said. “We didn’t stay for dessert.”
