Kid friendly restaurant in downtown Philly?

[egoldber]

We'll be staying one night in downtown Philly and was wondering if there was a restaurant that is known to be kid friendly. Amy is a bit of a terror, so the louder and kid friendlier the better LOL!

Somewhere a childless couple (but one heavily exposed to kids) also wouldn't mind eating would be a plus. :)

We're meeting DH's sister and her new husband for dinner one night on our way through town.

[Jen841]

Jones
My co-worker said "they boys will love it"

We got all sorts of glares from the STAFF and they kids were on Good---actually GREAT behavior. They don't have a kid menu and they were not happy about the boys sharing a Mac N Cheese.

We have done a place called Bridget somethings years ago and it was good with the kids (Walnut street maybe?).

We normally just grab sandwiches at a Potbelly's or eat at Reading Terminal since we are normally there during the daytime.

There is always Buca which my kids like here in the suburbs. It seems to be an 'anything goes' place.

I personally love El Vez, but have never tried it with kids. We did that and Cuba Libre without kids, not to say you can't do them with. We just never looked into it or tried.

Sorry, this just proves we need to go into the city more!

[mecawa]

My first thought was Jones (I believe it's on Chestnut), we didn't go there with the kids, but we need to go back to Philly in another month and plan on eating there with them (ages 5 and 7 months). Other than that the only restaurants we've been to in Philly (we've been to a lot of them) were adult type restaurants (Amada, Morrimotos, Buddakkan, I highly recommend if you have a sitter!!)

[clc053103]

i have friends that take their kids to Jones on a regular basis so I am surprised! the Bridget place mentioned is called Bridget Foy's, I have eaten there but can't confirm or deny if kid friendly, it's been forever.

Buca di Peppo has good food and I think they are welcoming of kids, also Maggiano's. I would pass on El Vez- definitely not kid friendly and even with a reservation you end up waiting, and there's no where to stand besides behind the bar stools, which means you are standing overtop of people eating at tables. I think Continental Midtown or Old City would be kid friendly, at an earlier dining hour. I don't think they have a kids menu but they do have more kid friendly options.

Which direction would you be heading out of the city, if you could meet them outside the downtown area, I love Chickie's and Pete's- locations in South Phila not far from the stadiums, and also in Northeast Phila. Love their crab legs and crab fries.

Check out opentable.com for restaurant reservations in Phila by neighborhood, it includes links to menus and reviews.

[american_mama]

You could try Banana Leaf Malaysian Restaurant or Rangoon Burmese Restaurant, both location in Chinatown behind the Convention Center. Malaysian food is a lot like Thai, but different. The portions at Banana Leak are huge and inexpensive, and it's very informal. It got busier and busier the one time I was there for lunch. The restaurnat is narrow and tables are set up in rows and I think there were booths along one wall, so that adds some privacy. DH goes to Philly once or twice a year and always eats there. We ate there with a 7 month old, for what it's worth.

I've eaten at Rangoon several times and it's always been great, also inexpensive but not as low as Banana Leaf. Burmese food is unusual - a little Thai, a little Chinese, and a little somethign else - and very good. We also had a 7 month old with us that time and the restaurant got full for dinner in the course of our eating. I don't think there are any booths, so there would be less privacy.

Reading Terminal is like a cool food court of local places, always very busy. It can be hard to manuever with a stroller and possibly hard to find a place for a party of 6. But it is completely kid friendly, loud enough to cover any noise and everyone can find something they like at one of the vendors. Hint: the carrot "tuna" at the vegetarian cafe in the back is really, really good despite how it sounds.
eta: you would need to check the open hours of Reading Terminal. Not sure if it's open at dinner hours or just a lunch/breakfast place.

[jamesmom]

We usually bring the kids to Buca De Beppo (?spelling) for lunch or dinner when we're in center city Philly - it's very kid friendly and the food is decent.