Children’s menus haven't changed in decades: The standards of 30 years ago — chicken fingers, fettuccine alfredo, grilled cheese — are all still there.
My daughter currently eats about eight foods and will only consider new additions under duress. Despite our best efforts and intentions, we have a picky eater.
Although she was thrilled to see carts of dim sum during a family outing, the dumplings only elicited a head shake. Restaurants have been the central preoccupation of my adult life, yet I hardly ever eat out with her.
My friend’s daughter, Annie, who is now 11, says she was the same until the age of five or six. On a family trip, they went to an Indian restaurant. Weary of new foods, she stuck with the familiarity of naan. Chancing to dip the bread in some sauce (I suspect there was much parental encouragement), a world of culinary possibilities was opened up by the confluence of the flavour, the moment and her age. Annie’s advice is to be patient with my four-year-old.
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In the meantime, when we eat with our finicky dependents, there are kids’ menus. However, given the growth of food culture, including the foodie-fication of kids (gourmet kids camps, Top Chef Junior), why haven’t kids menus – and their palettes – evolved? And why do we still need them?
If you don’t have a child, and haven’t looked at a restaurant children’s menu in decades, they haven’t changed. The standards of 30 years ago – chicken fingers, fettuccine alfredo, grilled cheese – are all still there.
Though you’ll occasionally see a kids’ menu at a non-chain restaurant, such as Saigon Pearl in Calgary, Next Door in Winnipeg or El Catrin in Toronto, they are mostly the domain of full-service chains, like Kelsey’s, East Side Mario’s, Baton Rouge, The Keg and Jack Astor’s, which all have fairly identical offerings for children. Except for The Keg, which serves a kids’ sirloin for $22.
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“We definitely don’t recommend them in most restaurants,” says David Hopkins, president of the hospitality consulting agency The Fifteen Group, “But kids’ menus are important if your business is focused on families.”
“The downside is you’re not getting much money for that seat,” says Hopkins. “If 70 per cent of your guests are spending $40 a head, but the remaining are only spending $10 a head, that affects your business model.”
Savvy restaurateurs figure out how to have it both ways – packing in an early seating by creating family-friendly spaces without explicitly crafting a menu just for children.
At 5 p.m. on weekdays, Vancouver’s Savio Volpe fills with strollers.
“We accommodate wherever we can,” says co-owner Paul Grunberg. “Because happy kids are happy parents.”
To keep those kids contented, the restaurant provides fox masks, sailor hats and crayons. A pasta shaped like a fox’s face (Volpe means fox) can be ordered in 60-gram portions (half an adult bowl) with butter and cheese, tomato sauce or meatballs. The alla famiglia, a multi-course, family style meal is available for children at half price.
None of these options are on the menu.
A small, independent restaurant like Savio Volpe can create a family-friendly vibe through service, and depend on word of mouth (or the sight of strollers) to let guests know that children will be accommodated.
For parents, the upside to this is smaller portion sizes that are more appropriate for a child’s appetite, lower prices and less food waste. Think of the ubiquity of the babyccino at cafes – a cup of frothed milk for children that includes them in (or indoctrinates them into) middle class conspicuous consumption within spaces that exist to sell stimulants.
The downside is that it diverts the potential that restaurants hold for children – to experience something they’d never encounter at home.
“Kids menus should evolve. Because you’re really just pushing the child to just eat chicken fingers,” says Grunberg, who estimates that while two-thirds of kids order the fox pasta, the other third eats whatever their parents eat.
Calgary-based dietician Sarah Remmer, co-author of Food to Grow On, The Ultimate Guide to Childhood Nutrition – from Pregnancy to Packed Lunches, says typical children’s restaurant menus can be a fun diversion for kids, if they’re significantly different from meals at home.
“On the other hand, if these types of foods are also served at home, or eating out happens often, not really giving them opportunities to try new foods can really limit a child’s palate, as well as their nutritional intake,” says Remmer. “If a child is eating these foods often and not offered enough variety at home, it may perpetuate picky eating habits.”
For neurodivergent kids, or someone with ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder), kids’ menus can be very helpful. They can also accommodate non-solid eaters. Like the “dishes for babies only” at Un Posto a Milano in Milan – soft polenta with Parmigiano Reggiano or a puree of seasonal vegetables – that caters to pre-toddlers.
“I think having the option is key,” says Remmer. “Restaurants should definitely be branching out and offering new and culturally-diverse and more nourishing options for kids.”
For big box restaurants, kids’ menus are good for business. And outside of the fractional percentage of eateries that win awards by challenging diner expectations, most menus sell convenience and familiarity. Their job is to sell food, not educate my child. That’s my responsibility.
When my niece was the age my daughter is now, we went for dinner at a Szechuan restaurant. At the time, she was a picky eater. As the platters of sizzling beef and garlicky noodles arrived, she looked nervously around the room. Under the table, I handed her a baggie with a peanut butter and jam sandwich. She thanked me, and continues to tell this story today, framed as an act of love. But she’s almost 30 and still a picky eater today. I’m not sure I did her any favours.
“Adventurous eating starts at home,” adds Remmer. “If kids are offered lots of variety when it comes to foods at home, they’re more likely to branch out at restaurants too.”