Kid's Menus Suck!

I understand what you are saying! My oldest is only 2 years old, but he just eats from our plate and probably will for a long time (until he eats enough to order off the adult menu). He loves grilled chicken, fish and veggies! Don't get me wrong, he will eat pizza too, but that isn't his favorite. I like Panera because at least there I can get him a sandwich (which he only eats the meat anyway) and yogurt with milk.

Have you written any of these places with your ideas?
How can someplace make changes if people do not speak up? Not saying it WILL change anything, but venting on here will absolutely not make anything change.

I have expressed my opinion to restaurants (on lots of occasions). Now, I just use my wallet to express my opinion. If there's nothing there for my children to eat that is healthy, we don't go there.

It is ok just to vent sometimes. Depending on the type of family you have, they may or may not be supportive. I have to fight constantly with my in-laws who sneak food to my kids (like you would a dog) because they think that I am too stict for trying to help them make healthy choices. Sure, I let them have treats, but the treats have to be worth it.

It's nice to have a community of people with whom you can share their opinions, express frustrations and offer solutions.

As a kids menu fanatic..it sucks for adults to eat off it too. Kids stuff is great FOR ADULTS watching calories! But If I go to Olive Garden I don't want chicken fingers.. I want something with a smaller portion of a adult menu...

ps if a place has appitizers their good portion wise

My husband says they are made specifically to get kids addicted to food... so I just feed my little one off my plate and probably will continue to do so.

Have you written any of these places with your ideas?
How can someplace make changes if people do not speak up? Not saying it WILL change anything, but venting on here will absolutely not make anything change.

I have expressed my opinion to restaurants (on lots of occasions). Now, I just use my wallet to express my opinion. If there's nothing there for my children to eat that is healthy, we don't go there.

It is ok just to vent sometimes. Depending on the type of family you have, they may or may not be supportive. I have to fight constantly with my in-laws who sneak food to my kids (like you would a dog) because they think that I am too stict for trying to help them make healthy choices. Sure, I let them have treats, but the treats have to be worth it.

It's nice to have a community of people with whom you can share their opinions, express frustrations and offer solutions.

I'm so afraid my in laws will do this.... they do it to our pets all the time (we don't feed them off the table, it encourages bad behavior)... :grumble:

I HATE kids menus and so do my girls (5 and 2). They won't actually eat chicken fingers, french fries, hamburgers, or pizza - they don't like them... I usually order 1 adult meal for them to share or my husband and I share our meals with them. My 5 year old LOVES salad so Ruby Tuesday salad bar is always a good option and is actually on their kids menu. We are members of Lifetime Fitness and their cafe has a pretty good kids menu too. I would love to hear where other people are finding healthy kids meals.

I absolutely understand your frustration. It's absurd that kids get only fried brown things as options. For my almost-four-year-old, I often ignore the kid's menu and instead look at the appetizer, salad/soup, and sides portions of the menu. A cup of soup, a side salad, a veggie - all of them can work as a meal for a small child, especially when paired with a few bites of protein off a parent's plate (and really, the adult portions are usually more than what one person should eat anyway).

For example, I've ordered my daughter a side of Brussels sprouts or steamed broccoli, and then paired it with 3 oz of my pork loin chop or roasted chicken. At a South American restaurant, I ordered from the ala carte menu a single pupusa for $1 and a side of fried plantains for $3, which are served with a warm black bean dipping sauce. Spanish tapas restaurants are ideal for sharing small plates with your kids and trying a few bites of each new food. Japanese and Thai restaurants often have wonderful appetizer menus; an order of chicken satay is usually paired with a cucumber salad; edamame and a bowl of miso soup is filling. Or we order a large appetizer to share, which becomes her main dinner, and then we adults order a side salad or an additional appetizer to round out our meals.

I took my boys out to eat at Bob Evans on Sunday after church & there was quite a few healthy choices. There sides included not just french fries & mashed potatoes but also broccoli & fruit. My 2 year old did have the mini cheeseburgers (whatever..) but he had fruit with it, instead of fries & some of my broccoli. My 5 year old had turkey & mashed potatoes with green beans & yes they both had chocolate milk. As much as I would love for my boys to eat completely healthy at all times, and I've said this on other posts too, I at least believe that with children it is all about moderation. They have their kids cereal which I'm sure is filled with sugar, and fruit snacks & gold fish for snacks sometimes, other times its granola bars, yogurt and REAL fruit. They love strawberry's & apples, SOME days they have chicken nuggets and fries for lunch, other days PB & J's or turkey sandwiches. They ALWAYS have vegetables with dinner, and some sort of healthy meat. I use ground turkey instead of ground hamburger & they both love fish & chicken that I bake or grill, instead of fry. Once a week though,usually Fridays, they have pizza & bread sticks for dinner. I don't think I could ever cut out ALL "bad" foods for my kids. I don't really know what point I'm trying to get across, just that to answer your question, yes I have noticed ALL of the "bad" foods on kids menus but I have also noticed some healthier choices along with them. I don't think that it is okay to feed kids chicken nuggets and pizza every day but I also don't think it is horrible for them to have it once in a while, and for our family at least, we don't go out and eat very often so I usually let them get whatever they want, healthy or not. I will say that as a server,my biggest issues with parents is the pop. Say what you want about chocolate milk or french fries, but I seriously cringe and have to stop myself from saying something I would regret, when I have parents ordering their child (sometimes as little as one or two years old) mountain dew! Any pop really, but the mountain dew gets to me the most.... okay anyways to the OP sounds like you are doing a wonderful job raising your kids, keep up the good work.

there's a few chains that have some healthy options as sides. I know Applebees does and I'm pretty sure Chilli's does also. These two both have some healthier adult options also

Can you take me to bob evans i miss that place

I took my boys out to eat at Bob Evans on Sunday after church & there was quite a few healthy choices. There sides included not just french fries & mashed potatoes but also broccoli & fruit. My 2 year old did have the mini cheeseburgers (whatever..) but he had fruit with it, instead of fries & some of my broccoli. My 5 year old had turkey & mashed potatoes with green beans & yes they both had chocolate milk. As much as I would love for my boys to eat completely healthy at all times, and I've said this on other posts too, I at least believe that with children it is all about moderation. They have their kids cereal which I'm sure is filled with sugar, and fruit snacks & gold fish for snacks sometimes, other times its granola bars, yogurt and REAL fruit. They love strawberry's & apples, SOME days they have chicken nuggets and fries for lunch, other days PB & J's or turkey sandwiches. They ALWAYS have vegetables with dinner, and some sort of healthy meat. I use ground turkey instead of ground hamburger & they both love fish & chicken that I bake or grill, instead of fry. Once a week though,usually Fridays, they have pizza & bread sticks for dinner. I don't think I could ever cut out ALL "bad" foods for my kids. I don't really know what point I'm trying to get across, just that to answer your question, yes I have noticed ALL of the "bad" foods on kids menus but I have also noticed some healthier choices along with them. I don't think that it is okay to feed kids chicken nuggets and pizza every day but I also don't think it is horrible for them to have it once in a while, and for our family at least, we don't go out and eat very often so I usually let them get whatever they want, healthy or not. I will say that as a server,my biggest issues with parents is the pop. Say what you want about chocolate milk or french fries, but I seriously cringe and have to stop myself from saying something I would regret, when I have parents ordering their child (sometimes as little as one or two years old) mountain dew! Any pop really, but the mountain dew gets to me the most.... okay anyways to the OP sounds like you are doing a wonderful job raising your kids, keep up the good work.