Capital Times: Unlike Chicago, Madison eateries like kids

http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/topstories//index.php?ntid=63692

I have to tell you, this article really made me smile. As the parent of 2 young boys (8 months & 3 years), it's good to know that there are still places out there that parents and their children are welcome! I truly believe a good measure of a community is how welcoming it is to children and families. And, while there certainly are some places where I would never dream of bringing my kids, some restaurants and their patrons really need to get over themselves! :)

I hope this is the prevailing attitude out there in Wisconsin! I'm counting the days until my February visit.

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I also noticed that Madison was named to the list of the top 50 gay-friendly cities. Good on ya! :)

There are many nice things here.

Milwaukee's restaurants are also good with kids -- I wouldn't bring the three-year-old to a place like Sanford or Lake Park Bistro ($$$, quiet spaces), but she has gone to Maharaja (Indian -- they were GREAT, gave her complimentary mango jucie!), Vientiene Noodle Shop, La Perla, Pizzeria Piccola, Chancery (OK, so Chancery has balloons and popsicles), Beans and Barley, Comet and others without incident.

I don't, however, fault the Chicago restaurant for saying "everyone must use indoor voices." It doesn't mean kids aren't welcome. It means shouting isn't welcome.

We've been going there for 6 years, and they always greet the kids by name and ask how they're doing. Great guys working there.

I've seen tons of kids in there for the buffet...true, they're usually Indian kids who are comfortable with the food, whereas the three-year-old has become Little Miss Picky and will likely not eat the rice if it has peas in it, even though she's OK with both of those separately. We'll see.

We had no trusted sitters and had a gift certificate to La Paella. http://www.lapaella.com/
We took him with us knowing he was a reliable sleeper and a quiet easy baby. We decided that if the shit hit the fan, I'd take him outside and at least let my wife have a meal. But it wasn't necessary. Even when he was awake in his carrier, he was fine. Several people stopped by to say how brave we were. I'm not sure if that was a warning or a compliment. But we were welcomed and it worked out.
A good family restaurant with good food is Bluphies on Monroe Street.
Enjoy your time in Madison.

This was the "maybe I should get to know the strange woman you are parading around our daughter" brunch with my SO's ex. (We'd met briefly, before, under inauspicious circumstances and all three of us thought maybe a neutral meeting would diffuse the situation.)

The good news is, she and I are now on good terms.

(The food was good, though, and it is very kid-friendly.)