Why one restaurant refuses to offer high chairs

If I am going on a date night with my husband....earl's is the last place I would go. And, I will not take my children there either. In part because they don't cater to families....and as a woman, I find their dress and attitude to be offensive. We have eaten at upscale restaurants with our 3 children...whom behave extremely well. These places have upscale children's menus and their servers are dressed appropriately and are way more attentive. I happily pay extra to get proper service and better food.

I agree with most of the posts. There are fantastic family restaurants to take the kids to that cater to families with kids menus, high chairs etc but we also need places to escape to without the kids. Good for Earls for not caving to the pressures.

I also agree with Earls. I have 4 children and I think there are great restaurants that cater to families and there should be "adult" restaurants where children are not present. Too many parents take their kids to restaurants (even family restaurants) and think it's ok for their kids to run around, sit on the floors, yell, cry, throw food, etc. Even though I have 4 kids I don't have tolerance for parents who let their kids behave that way. Parents need to teach their children to sit at the table, use indoor voices, keep their food on their plates. Parents who use the excuse "he/she is just little - they don't know better" should always avoid sit down restaurants until they can control their kids. Some parents seem to think that taking a baby out to adult restaurants/bars is ok (but taking older kids is not) - remember not everyone in the restaurant wants to listen to your baby cry, scream or throw his/her food, no matter how adorable you think your baby is. I think if more parents taught their children proper restaurant behaviour there wouldn't be such a need for adult restaurants. When I go to a restaurant without my kids I look for adult type restaurants - the last thing I want is listen to someone else's kids or watch out for them as they run around the place. (The running around in a sit down restaurant completely boggles my mind - what adult in their right mind thinks it is okay to let kids run around at a restaurant? And yet I've seen it happen numerous times.)

My first line should have read "As parents, my husband and I..."

As parents, my husband appreciate having a variety of restaurants to go to where kids are NOT part of the scene. What's the point in setting up a date night, hiring a babysitter and paying for an expensive dinner when you have to listen to someone else's kid(s) screaming and carrying on. May as well stay at home and order a pizza. If we want to go somewhere trendy, then we leave him at home and expect that other parents would have the common sense and decency to do the same.

I have brought children to Hooters, and they bill themselves as a family restaurant. I bet they offer boosters and high chairs at Hooters.
Anyway, for the prices Earls charges, I would not like to spend my meal listening to crying children. There was a similar outburst a few years ago when Joey Tomatoes took away high chairs. The reality is that if I was bringing kids I would go somewhere where they were welcome.

After working as a server for Earls in my youth, I can attest to the fact that young children and babies are completely out of place in their upscale/business restaurant atmosphere. Kids run around, are dangerous under the feet and arms of servers carrying hot beverages and meals, and make a huge mess. Have you ever seen the floor and height chairs after a baby has eaten at a restaurant? It is a disaster area and takes alot of time and effort to carefully clean up. Earls in not geared for this kind of younf clientelle and that is why their menu and atmosphere are so very different from that of a Red Robin or ABC/Pantry type family restaurant. Going to Earls? Leave the kids with the babysitter or grandparents, thanks, and enjoy a night out without messy, screaming, wild kids.

I have no issues with this and YES I have kids. I fully like the idea that they are someplaces that you can go and not have kids running around or screaming. When I go out as a family-we choose a family type restaurant, however when just my husband and I go out I enjoy a restaurant that normally doesn`t have kids in it. I don`t see why people are making such a big deal out of it. I love the Sweet Home Alabama reference as well

I have 3 children and totally agree that kids don't have to be taken everywhere. It's almost as if people make an issue out of it just because they can. There are so many restaurants to choose from and they purposely want to eat at one that wants to cater to an adult crowd. And I love the reference to the movie Sweet Home Alabama....very appropriate for this issue.

This is not a human rights issue. It is a privilege to eat in a restaurant, not a right. They are not denying service to families, but they are discouraging families with small children so their clientele can enjoy their dining experience. I have two kids an I applaud Earl's for taking this stand. If you insist on bringing your kids to an restaurant like Earl's, bring a booster seat. Or a portable highchair. They're relatively inexpensive. If you want to live the life you had before you had kids, maybe you should rethink your decision to have children. There are plenty of people who want children and can't have them who would be happy to adopt yours.

This is discrimination based on family status as far as I am concerned.

I agree. Sometimes my husband and I like to go out for dinner, and frankly I want to go somewhere we won't encounter kids. It kinda defeats the purpose of date night. On the flip side, I would not take my kids to places like that. (I keep picturing that scene from Sweet Home Alabama with Reese Witherspoon saying "Wow you have a baby. In a bar!").