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If the kids' meal options just aren't cutting it when you're out, you'll have to get creative.
I love to eat out with my children, but it can get expensive, even at family style restaurants. If you’re clever, though, there are ways to not only save money but also have your kids eat a healthy meal.
Fortunately, we are all foodies in my family. The four of us love to cook and eat. We don’t shy away from places that you might not tag as family friendly, and many of the places we may go don’t have a formal kids menu (think Asian or Spanish tapas).
However, a little thinking things through before ordering (and maybe a little negotiating with your kids) can turn any restaurant into the “family friendly” variety, and even save you quite a bit of cash in the process.
Consider skipping the kids menu
The most important things to keep in mind when picking your kid’s meal at a restaurant are the drink options, whether or not a vegetable is offered and what the dessert options look like. For those reasons alone, I tend to shy away from kids menus at restaurants. Until my children learned to read, they didn’t even know there was such a thing as a kids menu.
Kids menus are sadly predictable. More often than not the childrens menus in restaurants have one vegetable -- french fries -- and come with a soft drink and dessert. Entrees range from hamburgers to mac-and-cheese to chicken fingers.
Not very inspired or healthy.
If the kids’ menu does happen to have healthy options, and is reasonably priced, it may make sense to order from it, but keep these two things to keep in mind:
- If drinks are offered, see if they will substitute a soft drink or chocolate milk with seltzer or low-fat milk.
- If desserts look too indulgent, see if they’ll substitute some fresh fruit and whipped cream instead. Or consider all sharing one dessert as a family.
Share and share alike
If the kids’ meal options just aren’t cutting it when you’re out, you’ll have to get creative. In an effort to have my kids eat more nutritious food and save money, I often have my children share a full-sized entrée, which almost always includes a vegetable. If the vegetable isn’t one your kids will eat, ask for a substitution or a more simple preparation. (Sautéed spinach or steamed broccoli always work in my family.)
In some restaurants, portions are so large that your child or children may be able to have a full portion from your entrée alone, so ask ahead of time how big your own meal will be before ordering another for your kid.
Think outside the box
If you have more than one child, and they aren’t in the same food mood, ask about the possibility of ordering a half portion for kids – often restaurants will accommodate, even if they already offer a kids menu.
Alternatively, you may want to order just an appetizer for your little ones. They’re often large enough and tend to contain vegetables. (If it doesn’t, add a veggie side.)
The key to eating healthy restaurant meals with your kids that don’t cost a fortune is feeling comfortable enough to ask for substitutions.
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Leave a Comment:
Here is the best way to save money on the childrens meals:
Step 1- Hire a babysitter
Step 2- Order a pizza to be delivered
Step 3 - Go out and enjoy the evening
You know what? Some of us really LIKE to dine out with our kids. And some kids really enjoy going out to eat at nice places and love trying new foods etc. We have one child, he was more mature at 2 than many adults I know and he's an absolute pleasure to share a dining experience with.
When he was very young, we just shared our entrees with him. As the article says, and it's true, most restaurants give people too much food anyway. We were able to share with him like this up until he was 8 or so. So taking him with us didn't cost anymore than it would have to leave him home, and in fact cost less, because we DIDN'T hire the babysitter or buy the pizza. Kids grow up fast, my husband and I will have plenty of dinners out alone, but for now we choose, with pleasure, to share our occasional meals out with our son. And we love every minute of it.
haha I was just thinking the same.
Pizza FTW!
How does that save money? A sitter will cost a great deal more than a kids meal.
Grilledcheese...
That's exactly what we did with our daughter. And she ended up with a much wider palate than the vast majority of kids her age because of it. Whereas most kids were turning their noses up at things, she was eating a whole range of things, from escargot to sushi. The kids side of menus are so bad - mostly fried stuff and she hated it, so she ate what we ate. She learned proper behavior in restaurants as well.
Don't even bother eating out. Stay home, eat in, and save money.
It's not worth the hassle dining out and worrying about losing your disposable income.
This article is ridiculous. The author is just trying to push her messed up ideas about portion control and what is healthy, under the guise of saving money. I'm not buying it!
We actually found kids menus to be much cheaper. My daughter ordered off the child's menu until she was 20!
Another big savings is only drinking water ( tap). Soft drinks are usually $2 or more. Having a few beers or cocktails will really drive up your bill.
We skip appetizers or sometimes my wife or kids will get an appetizer in lieu of an entree.
We almost always skip dessert. They are not healthy, are expensive, and I am usually in a hurry to leave by that time.
This article really did not have much in the way of money saving tips.
Come on down to Baltimore, Hon. We make the best crab cake platters and the "essense of crab" cancels out all the bad stuff in the french fries, cole slaw, soda or beer that comes with the platter.
What exactly is "essence of crab"? (Oh I know...it's fish) Nothing fried cancels out anything else that is fried. Seriously?
I have gone to countless places and none of them would do a half order. I even told them that I would pay the full price I just didn't want my son to have all of that food and that it would just get wasted. Their answer was that I could take to other half home. My husband and I don't believe in leaving our son with a babysitter EVERY time we go out to eat. We like going out as a family. If our son gets pass the point of polite company we just leave.
So stay home and cook....it's cheaper and healthier. Teach your children how to cook, and experiment (when you can) with different foods. Force vegetables. Too many kids won't eat them - and they need to. As for the author - really? Your kids might like broccoli and sautéed spinach - but most kids wouldn't eat it. Americans cannot afford to dine out anymore - not with the junk they serve to children. No wonder Americans are fatter and fatter - you give Johnny and Susie everything they want....and then you wonder why they are fat. Shame on you!
Just a comment: If you start with vegetables as an infant, you may find you don't need to "force" them later.
I say it starts with baby food. I rarely gave my daughter typical sweet baby foods, like bananas, apricots, and apples. I gave her a lot of green vegetables, and a treat may be something like sweet potatoes. In other words, for the most part as an infant, my daughter only knew green vegetables, so she got very used to them, and still eats any vegetable that I serve her today at age 8.
If you get your child used to sweets (even sweet strained fruits) as a baby, obviously, it is going to be harder to get them to eat greens. Babies don't need dessert.
On another note, I don't agree with the write at all. Since I have final say over my daughter's choices from the kid's menu, I have always been able to get restaurants to change it up a little. For example, I will often ask for the chicken to be grilled, and I have never had any trouble getting milk. They will also substitute the French fries for broccoli (my daughter's favorite, just plain, no butter), or at worst, I add it as a side order.
I don't know what kind of restaurants she eats at, but they sound very poor when it comes to customer service, or she is simply not asking correctly.
Eating out is supposed to be fun, so why not cut the portion and health issues and let the kids be kids!! Use your teachng healthy moments for home, there are dozens of different buffet restuarants in almost every decent sized city in the US with dozens of choices and the the price is almost always tied to the age of the child. Let them have fun!! The only thing I would tell the kids is to walk through all of the choices before you choose what they want, that way they have a chance to make an informed descision, and if you have done your job as a parent(s) they won't not go for 6 cinnamon rolls, 12 pats of butter, and a coke. After all buffets usually have pretty good salad bars and fresh fruits, as well as fun stuff like fried chicken and spuds; all at a reasonable price. Of course the only thing they will remember will be the chocolate fountain and the endless icecream :), Kids need to be kids, let them play I say!!
Ok. I have never been to a restaurant that didn't offer water or juice or white or chocolate milk instead of soda. The only decent advice I saw was sharing the adult entree, which I have done with my son. My son doesn't always get, not does he need, a dessert. And if he did got one, we would share it.
Only order water for the kids. If they want anything else, just give them the bottle of hot sauce to play with.
When we go out we save money by not ordering anything for our kids. They usually sit nicely while my husband and I eat because they know that if they don't then they don't get time to dig through the dumpster in the parking lot on the way to the car.
LOL... with all the idiot comments this one made me giggle!!! Thanks for that!
I like to provide a big bag of candy for my kids to chow whilst my wife and I enjoy our dinner out. Candy's cheap, it keeps them quiet, and they are not interested in dinner.
We do have to lock them in a closet afterwards until the sugar wears off.
We have four kids and eating out was to enjoy a meal together as a family. It's good for kids to know how to behave in a restaurant. When we had plenty of money, we let the kids eat whatever they wanted - within reason. When we needed to cut back, sometimes I'd give them the choice of either a soda or dessert, but not both. Sometimes the rule was water only - that saved a lot of money.
One of their favorite places to eat was Ponderosa (a buffet which I personally couldn't stand but they loved it) and we had a rule, which they remember to this day. Before you can have dessert, you have to eat three colors of food. Otherwise, they'd eat chicken wings, rolls and mashed potatoes. I also had to explain that jello does not count as something green! This forced them to choose a little salad or green beans to go with their plate full of starch!
How disgusting! Remove this corrupt government and just maybe millions of children, parents, and fellow Americans won't go to bed hungry.
Sickening!
Save money for what? So bankers can tell Corporate American profiteers to raise their prices?
Save money. Learn to cook at home. Teach the kids how to cook when you
try new easy recipes at home with fresh food, olive oil and less chance of
getting nasty old food. Watch some of the restaurant shows on TV and you will
not want to eat in them. Stupid article. Who wants to sit next to a table of kids
suffering through a meal at a restaurant and making everyone else nearby miserable
too.
My boys and I get water.... they are 15, 12, 11. As a concession, I tell them that they can pick something off of the adult menu.... they have always liked that idea....
"Eating out" and "saving money" don't belong in the same sentence. If cash is that big a concern, stay home. There's absolutely nothing wrong with admitting you have better things to spend money on, it's a sign of intelligence and responsibility.
Also...seltzer? Give me an effing break. Don't give your kids the crappy half of a soda and act like you're doing them a favor. And don't act like a serving of chocolate milk is poison.
When my family goes out to eat, my husband and I let the kids pick their meals and don't worry about "healthy". The idea is to enjoy time as a family and enjoy this treat. We go out maybe twice per month and eat dinner at home the rest of the time. For those few times that we eat out, I don't feel that an unhealthy diet will make that big of a difference.
The comments are much more interesting than the actual article. Thanks to margeimpalla and ender wiggins for some great laughs!
A few of my thoughts on the topic:
1. Buffet??? EWWW To start... when my kids were little I wanted someone waiting on ME, not me getting up and down to take the kids back to the buffet... plus that food is disgusting. All those people touching and breathing all over the food? Last time I went to a buffet I got food poisoning. Never going to one again if I have any choice at all, thank you.
1. Food habits are ingrained very early and vegies (and any other healthy options) should never be optional; just keep serving them and don't give the kid an easy out. My rule was one good sized bite for each year of age. Kids go through weird phases; just ride it out but stay very firm... for a short while my younger daughter had to have ketchup to get her to eat any meat whatsoever. Before you say let her be a vegetarian, she was only 3 y.o. at the time.
2. Letting kids dictate what they will and won't eat turns them into a MAJOR pain in the ass about food... and I'm married to one. His diet is incredibly limited (I think there are way less than a dozen dishes I make that he'll eat without throwing a fit). His mother and ex always catered to his demands so now it's a total nightmare for me. At his last physical, he was assessed with high blood pressure, high bad cholesterol, low good cholesterol, and a ton of other health issues. YES, I do try to keep it as healthy as possible; substitute ground turkey where possible and buy the leanest meats that I can find, and try to serve fish as I can... and I deep fry NOTHING. He' only eat salad, broccoli, and corn (MUST be on the cob). We do oven fries from scratch. So now we go to an even more limited menu, but at least now he acknowledges that it HAS to be healthier... which is what I did before I met him. It's horrible if we're going to one of my relatives house or out to dinner where others are picking the restaurant... picky boy tends to make it very stressful for me if it isn't a place HE wants to go to (think fondue, sushi, or anything that probably wouldn't have been found on a 50's diner menu). Don't allow your picky brat to become this kind of ridiculously picky, uncompromising kind person, it's NOT fun for their partner and incredibly frustrating. It never matters what I might prefer to eat, everything has to center around what he wants. He's otherwise a good guy but this is a major source of contention; since we got married 5 years ago, my weight has gone up 15+ lbs because it's not thrilling to have to make two totally different meals and after working, who has the freaking time or energy for that?
3. Kids menus are total trash, let them eat some of yours (sides of extra vegies aren't all that expensive)... it will be better for both of you to have a bit more limited amount of food and really does expand the child's palate. My girls were not just given children's menu selections and they're even less picky than I am and are total foodies.
4. Most the time I love to see little ones at restaurants... great entertainment to have a baby or toddler 'flirt' from the next table... I totally melt (but then I'm a bit baby crazy). BUT... in a nicer restaurant (usually dim lighting, candles, cloth table cloth) please get a sitter; these restaurants are for an adult experience. A tired child who should be in bed isn't going to get much enjoyment out of it but you will more if you get an adult night to yourself. ;)