As I've mentioned in the past, we love going out to eat and we love Lettuce Entertain You (LEY) restaurants. We even had our rehearsal dinner for our wedding at Wildfire downtown and we also really love Mon Ami Gabi, but probably won't be taking our kids to those restaurants anytime soon not to mention some of their even higher end restaurants. What I really wanted to talk about was LEY restaurants that you can take kids to. There are a lot of restaurants in that group and we have by no means been to all of them so this is not a comprehensive list of a the LEY restaurants that are good for kids, just some of the ones we've been to with our kids.
L. Woods
Part of what prompted this post was a recent visit to this restaurant for the first time. Whenever we try a new restaurant and we're not sure how welcome children are, we try to go right around 5 o'clock or sometimes even a little earlier, if the restaurant is open. We figure that no one at the restaurant is expecting a fine dining experience at 5 pm and shouldn't be too bothered by our kids. L. Woods is located at 7110 N. Lincoln in Lincolnwood. This restaurant, I think, is supposed to bring to mind a rustic Wisconsin cabin with "supper club fare," which, based on the menu, I guess means ribs, steak, fish, and chicken. I had a fish dish and thought it was pretty good. My husband also had fish but he was more mixed on it but, then again, he's not really a fish person. I had a melon sangria, which was a drink special for the night. The melon came from a local farm and was really good. Wine and beer lists were pretty average.
The restaurant is very large on the inside and also has a large parking lot. We were there at 5 o'clock on a Saturday night without reservations and were seated right away but as we were leaving, maybe an hour later, there was a pretty good crowd waiting for a table. On the kid front, I think we had nothing to worry about. They actually have a decently large children's menu with the expected, mac & cheese and chicken fingers, to the less expected, skirt steak and ribs. Our girls, of course, got buttered noodles and mac & cheese and were completely happy with their meals. They also have a kids club, where you get a free kids meal for joining and something from the "Treasure Chest" when they dine there. After 20 visits they get a T-shirt. The only thing that was kind of weird about the place was that the average age of the diners was probably about 85. Now I know we were there pretty early but it was a little odd.
Ben Pao
My daughters absolutely love Ben Pao, a Chinese restaurant located at 52 W. Illinois . We never seem to have any trouble getting in at 5 o'clock, when they open for dinner, on either a Friday or Saturday night. We usually call day of for reservations. The girls love the decorations and the food (chicken fingers with rice for them but also more adventurous options if your kids are up for it). They used to give out these plastic kids chopsticks that were such a hit with my daughter that she played with them forever until they broke. The last time we went they no longer had the fun chopsticks, though. You will definitely see lots of families if you dine here early - definitely more tourists than trendsetters. The adults in our household like to go there too. The food is good, love the seven flavor chicken, and they have a really great alcoholic drink called the frozen ginger ale. I went into labor with my first daughter the night after eating at Ben Pao and my husband and I are convinced the spicy dragon noodles are the reason why. We like the lighting of the restaurant, as well. It is so dark you can't see how big of a mess your child is making. Like most LEY restaurants this one is quite big and has a separate bar area. The other great thing about Ben Pao is that it is right off of the Grand stop on the Red Line.
RJ Grunts
When we used to live a block from RJ Grunts (2056 Lincoln Park West) we used to get way too much takeout. At first glance, this restaurant seems very kid friendly. It is located right by the zoo, it's casual, there are a lot of kids eating here, and they have high chairs, crayons, and a kids menu. The problems are that there is no where to park your stroller, the tables are really close together and the bathrooms are really TINY. Getting there is not so easy, either. There is no train line that gets you very close and no parking in the area. It is great if you live in the neighborhood, though. They do have really good food (sandwiches, salad bar, burgers), a full bar, and brunch. We always have a hard time not going when we are in the area despite the problems.
As for other casual LEY restaurants, we've never actually gone to Maggiano's with our kids but based on my experiences there, it seems like a perfectly fine place to take kids and, as I mentioned in a previous post, we enjoy Scoozi's kids pizza night on Sundays. What I like about LEY restaurants is that they all have their own style and feel and yet you know the food is almost always going to be good.
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