Pickle's Playroom

We went to Pickle's Playroom (2315 W. Lawrence) in Lincoln Square today.  It's pretty similar to the other play places/coffe shops that have been opening up all over the city in the last year.  This one also has an extra room where you can get your kid's hair cut for $20 (price also includes some time in the play area).  We got there right around opening and it didn't really get busy for about an hour.  Admission is $12 for the first kid and $9 for siblings for two hours of play.  How long you stays seems to be based on the honor system meaning they don't keep track of when you arrived and hence when you should leave like they do at places like Family Grounds Cafe.  There is a metered lot out front where it will cost you a quarter per 15 minutes of parking.  I think the admission price is too high for what you get but seems completely on par with its competitors.  All of these little play cafes that have been sprouting up are always crowded, which indicates that the price is actually appropriate I guess.  Makes me wonder why I haven't opened up one of these places myself. 

The website (www.picklesplayroom.com) says that the target age for this facility is 6 months to 8 years but I think an 8 year old would probably be a bit bored here.  My 5 year old daughter was definitely at the high end of the kids that were there today in terms of age.  She did have a lot of fun but I don't think that what they had there would keep her attention for years to come.  She mostly only played on the climbing structure and slide but we were there for two hours and she didn't get bored.  My 2 year old had more fun with a giant dollhouse, play kitchen, play cleaning cart (with kid size broom, mop, and dust pan) and pushing around a shopping cart.  The climbing structure indicates that it is for kids age 3 and older which caused some frustration with my younger daughter.  I let her play on it but she obviously couldn't do everything.  There was also a small area reserved for babies with a soft play area and age appropriate toys.  There are couches along one wall for parents to sit on and from the cafe area you can easily see your child playing. 

On Tuesdays and Thursdays they offer a drop in art project at 10 AM included as part of the admission.  The project today involved some coloring and cutting and held the interest of both of my children for the 10-15 minutes it took to complete the craft.  It was a nice addition to the overall experience and seemed to appeal to a variety of ages. 

We took a quick break in the cafe so the girls could each have a juice box (no outside food allowed).  I didn't have any coffee because it was 4 million degrees outside but they offer the full range of coffee and espresso drinks at the expected prices.  They seemed to have a bit more snack items for sale than you might see at some of the other places and they also sell sandwiches so you could have lunch there.

We left a little after 11:00 and it was really starting to get busy.  I'm sure the recent heat wave has made it a bit crazier than usual but my guess is that the fun level tends to decrease dramatically with each additional kid present.  Overall we had a really good time but I feel like for the average family there is only so many times you can spend $21 (plus snacks) to play for a couple of hours.