snowrooster: It's absolutely ok but I think it all depends on your child's temperament which you know better than anyone else.
I agree with the above posters who say the key is to go early (we do 6p at the earliest, 7p at the absolute latest). My 2.5-year-old son is great at restaurants. He stays in his seat (we bring his musical books and/or crayons to keep him occupied in between eating, etc..). We do not let him run around (we don't get people who let their kids do that). However by dessert time, our son is done, so either we all leave, or my husband or I walk outside with him till the other finishes dessert and/or pays for the meal. So yes, we rarely have dessert while we eat out. But that's fine, we certainly don't want to put out other people.
I do think it is true that some parents are not considerate of other people when they're out in public. I remember my husband and I were at the airport one day and there was this woman with her bratty child in line in front of us. My husband and I just looked at each other (our son sitting quietly in his stroller) thinking if our son ever behaved that way, we'd kill him first
We had just one time when he did NOT want to be at the restaurant (long story why). My husband went home with him while I stayed and had dinner with my sister and my niece.

LOL Dreamer! I don't like to tell customers it is my husband's restaurant (but sometimes I'd like to).

Does anyone think that adults have a maximum sit still and behave time also?

Snowrooster,

Not trying to stir anything up but your post does ask "Okay to take kids to nice restaurants?" so that's why many of us gave our opinions. In one of your last posts you said "My thread is really not about whether it is okay to take kids somewhere other than McDonalds, but how to get an idea of the atmosphere of a given restaurant when you are on vacation and not familiar with the places you want to eat." I don't expect you to not enjoy your vacation, I love eating at great restaurants too. Once our whole family (when the kids were really little) went to eat at Del Fresco's which is a very nice and very expensive steak house. There was about 10 adults and 2 or 3 kids. It went okay but they stuck us in a back room (which was a good idea) and we ate a little earlier. Knowing how my nephews & neice behave now, we would never attempt that again. They can eat steak and lobster at home.

I understand where your coming from but do you honestly think your kids are going to remember a meal at 2/3? I don't think that if kids don't eat lobster and foi gras growing up that they will be picky eaters. I'm not saying don't take them out to eat but you can also add to their palate at home and I'm sure they will turn out fine.

On another note, I have a Brother-in-law that is extremly picky about food. He likes fine food but he never eats anything with dressing, garlic, sour cream and a multitude of other things that many people love. His 4 year old seems to have (from birth) inherited his exact eating habits while the 2 year old will eat anything.

hahaha Go Travel, I think with most adults, it is not a time issue, but an alcholic beverage consumption versus time issue. "Gee, if I drink 4 glasses of wine in an hour I will be the life of the party!" attitude.

lenleigh -

I'm sorry if my subject wasn't specific enough but you are limited in space. I thought I clarified my question in my initial post. Do I think my kids will remember a meal at 2/3? I don't know, but if I had that attitude about them they would have had a pretty boring childhood so far. I think it's good to expose them to all sorts of experiences regardless of how much they actually remember. I never suggested ordering them foie gras - in fact I said I would be calling to see if there was a children's menu (which usually doesn't include foie gras).

Again, thanks to all for the great tips (the outdoor dining was a good idea as well) - you really have been helpful.

I re-read some of your posts. How can you tell if some restaurants are suitable for kids, call and ask them just that. Get online and ask people how family friendly specific restaurants are. That seems pretty simplistic to me. You can take your kids to any restaurant you want. Personally I would skip restaurants that are extremly expensive and quiet until you know for sure that your child won't let out one scream and that they can sit still.

lenleigh -

Sorry you found my question "simplistic" - LOL! Calling and asking if the restaurant is kid friendly may seem obvious, but sometimes restaurants will say "yes" because they want your business - I've had this happen before. Your other suggestion of getting online and asking people is kind of bizarre - isn't that what I'm doing by posting this thread? I don't know where you're coming from - first you call my dilemna simplistic then suggest I do exactly what I've done. Oh well, I've gotten lots of good advice already.

Isn't it the restaurant owners who decide who should and should not eat in their restaurant? If the restaurant welcomes children, then the decision is sort of made. I've seen more trouble caused in restaurants by drunks and loudmouths than I have by kids.

Hmmm, my point was that your title says one thing but your really asking something else. I'm not the only person that stated my experiences and I certainly never said don't take your kids out so not sure why you are taking what I said so personally.

Your whole question (now that you've cleary stated your point several times) just seems to answer itself to me. If you call a place and they say they welcome families, what else do you really expect. It would seem logical to me that you would think to ask if they have at least 2 highchairs or a kids menu if you are that concerned about it and especially since you have "had this happen before"? Secondly, I suggested that you ask about SPECIFIC restaurants to get opinions about how kid friendly they are from people that have been there. I see you have done that in other posts but it wasn't something you indicated in here.

Anyways I wasn't trying to attack your desire to take your kids out. Just think that this was a common sense issue.

lenleigh -

Quite honestly, I think you're a bit rude. That's fine if you find my question to be a matter of "common sense" but I chose to solicit advice and appreciate the responses I've received. Anyone who begins a post stating they are "not trying to stir up anything" is clearly doing just that. As you find my thread both "simplistic" and to be merely "common sense," I'm not sure why you've spent so much time responding to it. One would hope you could find more productive ways to spend your time than insulting the quality of a travel board post.

I'm not sure how you conclude that I am insulting the quality of a travel board. You yourself said people are entitled to their opinions and you have stood fast to sticking to yours.

I entirely meant what I said about not stiring anything up. I said that meaning I wasn't trying to offend you, just my point of view. Almost immediatly you made a comment about those of us that said kids didn't belong in restaurants when none of us really said that. Something could also be said for all the replies you've posted as well. You win, I'm done with the bickering.

I said you were insulting the quality of a travel board POST, not the travel board. I do stick to my opinion but as this is a board about travel I limit my opinions to just that - I don't comment on the quality or common sense value of others' posts.

Regarding your comment that nobody said kids don't belong in restaurants, I offer the following quote from nytravler: "IMHO kids as young as 2 or 3 never belong in a real restaurant." Obviously you were mistaken.

Just what need are we satisfying when we drag a 2-3 year old to some swanky restaurant? And do we even give them a say in the matter? Sitters ... and then when they're teens, and can sit and enjoy sitting, sure. If little kids usually behave, is that sufficient? Besides, they cost extra, and probably won't appreciate being thrown off their routine and diet.

We'll be on vacation so a sitter isn't an option. I'm not considering any super swanky spots - only places listed as casual (it is Hilton Head so most restaurants are used to families). Luckily I got some good tips from this thread so I'll narrow down my choices and make a few calls.

You are completly incorrect about not limiting yourself to just travel talk. I read your comments on another post about Boarding School & kids realtionships with parents so save the garbage about limiting yourself to talk about travel.

Your beating my comments to death but I'll let you have the last word since you seem to need it.

Now you are looking at my old posts for ammo against me? Golly gee, sweetheart, get a life!!

The boarding school comment was in regard to a thread complaining about where some parents take their kids on vacation. I mentioned that some parents don't even have their kids at home with them (boarding school) so any parent who takes the time to take their children on vacation should be praised regardless of where they take them. That's how it was travel related. But you knew that, didn't you, because you read the post, right? Just trying to stir up trouble again I suppose.

Let's see if that's true about you letting me have the last word . . .

Irrespective of the argument, I find it quite sinister when people trawl through people's previous postings trying to prove some point or other. I think it is a weak jibe, in place of a good reasoned argument. It reminds me of tabloid hack journalism -often misrepresenting and twisting what you have said and only picking the part of the post that supports there argument, conveniantly ignoring the rest of the post or the 100 other posts you may have made with better arguments.

Its happened to me about 15 months ago and the way my words were twisted,misquoted angered me so much I came off the board for over 12 months.

Its similar to trying to win the argument by saying "Your wrong, I'm right, because I know what i'm talking about and you don't" - a phrase with nothing to substantiate it, that you will see certain posters use to attempt to settle an argument from time to time.

What bothers me is that there are plenty of bulletin boards out there where folks can argue & debate. I happen to frequent a political one quite often and though I enjoy it, it can also be a bit stressful. I like this board as an escape since it is about travel which shouldn't be paricularly controversial. I can't help but respond when someone criticizes me, but it would be nice if folks who want to argue find more appropriate bulletin boards to pick their battles.

People do post, inadvertantly or otherwise, messages which have the potential to cause arguments. Some travel issues will cause arguments - you only need to look at postings relating to travel security, to see this. Other questions, the issue is so wide that you are bound to get conflicting views, and "should children dine in posh restaurants" is a good example of this sort of post. I wonder sometimes what useful information someone who posts a question like this can realistically hope to get, because it seems to me from the outset that for every answer that says its OK there will be one that says its definately not OK.

So, I don't see how we can have a travel board without the odd argument breaking out. People will even argue over the best hotel or restaurant in the Celestville!

I think debate is better than argue - at least for a topic like travel. The point of my post was to find out, when you are traveling, some good tips for determining if a restaurant is kid friendly. Perhaps that wasn't clear from the subject line. Several people gave suggestions like call ahead and ask about high chairs, kids menus or go early and perhaps to restaurants with outdoor dining - these all make sense so I came away with useful information.