Subscribe   Share

Making Room for Baby

Kids--even the littlest ones--wield major influence in family dining decisions.

Restaurants all over the country are struggling to find ways to bring in customers. Recession specials, bar menus and a seemingly permanent extension on Restaurant Week prix fixe menus have become commonplace as everybody tries to stay afloat by attracting customers who would otherwise save money by eating at home or finding cheaper, more casual options.

Well, what about a baby seating? If movie theaters have mommy and baby showings at 10:30 a.m. on weekdays, why can’t restaurants have an early family seating? And we’ll even pay full price.

Babies are expensive. But if you’re used to eating out at nice places all the time, then having a kid actually saves you money. I would kill for a chance to spend a couple hundred bucks on an amazing meal at a new restaurant (provided I could park my four-month-old in his stroller next to the table).

The "family seating" could be once a week, one seating and would be a perfect way to fill up a restaurant during an early hour that would normally be empty. And when regular customers call and make reservations, you could just let them know that they are more than welcome to dine—but they’ll be surrounded by babies. It’s a foolproof scheme.

Find more tips and solutions here.

Source: NewYork.SeriousEats.com
Excerpted from Restaurant Business, May 2009