Eating out with kids isn't always easy, even when you're Gwyneth Paltrow (though, come on, it has to be easier, right?). Either the restaurant you like doesn't like your kids, or the menu doesn't have any realistic options for your picky offspring.
Paltrow addresses the matter of kid-friendly yet adult-palate-satisfying restaurants in this week's issue of her online newsletter "GOOP." (If you don't yet get GOOP, you should. It only costs you bandwidth and you sometimes get little gems, such as this one, where she discusses her once "frenemy" who we all know is Winona Ryder.)
GOOP consists of a lot of lists, and this week's is no exception. She put together a guide of kid-friendly/Gwyneth-approved restaurants in Manhattan, Los Angeles, Chicago and London. What? You're nowhere near Manhattan, Los Angeles, Chicago or London? That's where you come in.
We've got readers from all over -- U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, etc., etc. Here's your chance to give a shout-out to the restaurant you really, really like and where you can also bring your kid without (1) being made to feel bad and (2) having the nightly food battle. In other words, some place they like too. Maybe you'll drum up extra biz and ensure you're favorite family dining spot won't go out of business. We're looking for non-national chain (if possible), delicious, maybe even healthful.
I'll start. I live in Long Beach, Calif., and while, technically, it's in the same county as Gwyneth's Los Angeles picks, I'm not hauling the kids to Santa Monica to go out to eat. But I'll keep her recommendations in mind if I'm ever tempted to do so.
In the meantime, we love going to La Parolaccia, which turns out is a mini-chain in the area. The food is delicious, they don't glare at you when you show up with kids and they even have a high-chair. Oh, and a bread basket with some kind of tapenade that must include heroin as a main ingredient because it's highly addictive and they keep refilling it even though they probably shouldn't. And for Mexican, we go to the Los Compadres on Anaheim St.. Not only is the food good and authentic, they send the waitresses over to take turns telling you how cute your baby is and then pass him around until everyone has had a chance to guess how much he weighs.
Your turn. Where do you take the kids in Minneapolis? Des Moines? Perth? Guelph? Arlington?
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Photo: GOOP.com
