Best restaurant for kids?

Sorry I should say, midtown, murray hill area...

What kind of food? What neighborhood? Ellen's Stardust Diner is a popular family place with singing waitstaff. Dave & Busters in Times Square has opened with games. ESPN Zone can be fun if the kid is into sports.
menupages.com
is a good place to look. Pick a neighborhood and then use the features menu for kid friendly.

My child is not a picky eater so really any cuisine, and I would prefer midtown east and murray hill because we are staying at the Affinia Dumont.

I can't think of a place in that neighborhood that's specifically child friendly but there are lots of restaurants up and down 2nd & 3rd ave. in the 30's that will happily accept children. The Zagat guide lists the Italian rest. Rossini's as child friendly although I think it's more expensive than it needs to be with no "kid interest".

If the child in question is adventuresome, Artisanal which is a French brasserie has some fondues that might be fun. They also have basic options like a burger or steak.

If you both like Japanese, Todai might be fun and very good value.
http://menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=33941&neighborhoodid=0&cuisineid=0

serendipity on e. 60th for frozen hot chocolate for the kid.
the adult can choose between burgers, chicken , meat loaf...... american fare and drool over the kids frozen hot chocolate

Hi, Colleena, I live in Murray Hill near your hotel. Once you walk outside the hotel, you turn right for 3rd Avenue, and there are at least a dozen restaurants between 35th and 32nd Streets.

At almost all of these you can easily do dinner for $75 or much less for one adult and one child. I don't know if any of the neighborhood restaurants would have a kid's menu, but they all have low-priced dishes that would suit you; look especially at appetizers for kid-sized portions.

The Barking Dog, which is in the Affinia Dumont has decent comfort food (meatloaf, burgers, etc.) and good breakfast, though it's a little pricey for breakfast.

About 2 blocks from your hotel is a decent Mexican Restaurant called Caliente Cab (3rd Ave/33rd St). I think Mexican food would be child-friendly. The 2nd Ave Deli (across 33rd Street from Caliente Cab) has giant corned beef sandwiches and platters that can be split and also good matzo ball soup.

I see children at Hudson Place (corner 3rd Ave. & 36th St) fairly often. They have a lot of pasta dishes and have appetizers like chicken tenders. For adults, they have really good fish specials.

Blue Smoke is a really excellent BBQ restaurant on 27th Street (Between Lex and Park). You MUST make a reservation there a week in advance to avoid a long long wait.

Patsy's (3rd Ave. between 34th & 35th) is a great pizza place.

Rare, which has only (very good) hamburgers and fries, is in the Shelburne Murray Hill Hotel (Lexington/39th).

There's a good diner on the corner of Lexington & 33rd ... can't remember the name (I think Murray Hill Diner).

There's a deli on the corner of 34th/Lex a couple of doors down from your hotel where you can buy $3 egg sandwiches for breakfast and get good coffee if you want to just eat in. Across Lexington Ave. from the deli is Guy & Gallard, which has excellent oatmeal and good coffee.

There also a pretty good Chinese restaurant on Lexington between 34th and 33rd (Szechuan something ... but not all the food is spicy).

Mendy's (corner Park/34th) serves deli sandwiches and hot dogs as well as soups. It's a kosher deli, so it's not open on Saturday.

Sarge's is also a good diner/deli on 3rd Ave. between 36th and 37th. I like their pastrami almost as much as 2nd Ave Deli, and it's about 1/3 cheaper. Plus, they have typical diner food and good BBQ ribs.

As for non-chain fast food, there's a really excellent Philly Cheesesteak place on 3rd Ave next door to Patsy's, but you can't eat in. Next door is Red Mango for frozen yogurt, but it's the sour kind like at Pinkberry. The best bagels in the area are at Bagel Cafe (corner of 30th/3rd Ave). But Daniel's (3rd Ave between 37th and 38th) is also good.

Finally, Pio Pio on 34th Street between 3rd and 2nd aves. has the most amazingly delicious Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken. They have a side called "salchipapas" (french fries with hot dog pieces on top) that I adore (or you can rice and beans and plantains), and they deliver. A full chicken is $9.

I hope these recommendations help. You're in a very very good location for inexpensive neighborhood restaurants.

Great info, Doug. This is a really good resource for anyone in that area of the city.

Bookmarking....Thanks!