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    MuscatoNeetzan Zimmerman
    1/14/14 11:31am

    No small children in restaurants?

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      occamsrezrMuscato
      1/14/14 11:38am

      You know, as a parent of a 1 year old, I agree.

      If the wife and I want to go to a nice place, we get a babysitter.

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      Muscatooccamsrezr
      1/14/14 12:02pm

      You, sir, are a civilized gentleman.* I bet you will have the kind of child who would in fact be a pleasure to have in a restaurant at a suitable age.

      * ETA: or married lesbian.

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    opheliasmusingNeetzan Zimmerman
    1/14/14 11:35am

    As the foodie parent of an 8mo, believe you me, I get wanting to go out and enjoy a nice night of gastronomic delights. But I'm also not a complete asshole to other patrons. If my child has reached his limits of being out of the house, we suck it up, ask for the meal to go and leave.

    There's a restaurant within walking distance of our home that we have yet to finish a meal there because G-d love our son, we think he secretly hates it there. The owner has always been gracious and understanding and the moment we can tell our son's going from kvetchy to level 7 nuclear meltdown (which can happen in about 0.6 seconds), we flag down the server, ask for boxes and the check and one of us takes him outside so as not to annoy the other diners while the other one pays. We even did this NYE - our son had had enough, I took him home while my husband stayed with out friends and brought me home dessert.

    But it's also about knowing your venue. Alinea with a baby? Prolly not. Menton here in Boston? DEF not. But my local upscale new American or oyster house? Sure. With high enough ceilings and a packed house, a lot of noise gets drowned right out anyway. And yeah. Take the child out when he's had enough. It's really not that hard- we've been taking our son out since he was 2 months old.

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      keverdeneopheliasmusing
      1/14/14 11:40am

      I hereby nominate you for world's most awesome mom. Seriously.

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      Meander061opheliasmusing
      1/14/14 11:50am

      YOU (and your husband, of course) are not the problem, since you're considerate of other diners, and you aren't cruel to your child. The ones who subject their children and everyone else to their behavior make it impossible for anyone else.

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    aa96Neetzan Zimmerman
    1/14/14 11:28am

    I'm a parent, so am sensitive about people trashing kids, but why would you bring a baby to a place like this? This is fancy date night stuff - not Wednesday's at Ruby Tuesdays. Seriously, call grandma first.

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      AliHajiSheikaa96
      1/14/14 11:38am

      I agree, but apparently you have to prepay $500 or something and the sitter cancelled. Tougher call.

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      Collapsed Conversationaa96
      1/14/14 11:42am

      I second that. I was ready to lay into this guy, but his tweets were well-worded, and he seems sensitive to the issue, and isn't anti-kids per se. I think if the establishment doesn't even have high chairs, that should settle the matter, but the couple in the example incredibly sat the baby on their laps. As one person noted above, I wouldn't likely bring my toddler to a place like this, and definitely wouldn't without calling ahead first to check if ok. And I certainly wouldn't force the issue if they didn't have proper high chair accommodations.

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    benjaminalloverNeetzan Zimmerman
    1/14/14 12:00pm

    We don't need a blanket rule if people just used common sense.

    Do you have a quiet baby with a long attention span who likes abalone microfoam? Fine. But if you know your little snowflake is a fussy wailer, don't be an asshole. If you needed a babysitter in the first place because the kid is too young/loud, then cancel your reservation, folks.

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      arandomgoonbenjaminallover
      1/14/14 12:57pm

      People don't use common sense though

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      benjaminalloverarandomgoon
      1/14/14 12:58pm

      And that is why we have to have so many stupid rules.

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    myprettyponyNeetzan Zimmerman
    1/14/14 11:36am

    I have kids and I agree. There are places where kids should not be allowed. I can maybe see a tiny newborn who doesn't cry or anything, but still, there is a time and place. Unless there's kid friendly food, don't go. Plus, Chicago is a city with a lot of good food, there has to be other options.

    I kind of think that people have become so self centered and narcissistic. Having kids means you have to be a fucking grown up and put. your children's needs first. Kids do not belong in bars while you drink and they don't belong in fancy restaurants until they are able to behave. You are not the first person to have kids and it is not amusing when you bring them to places where they don't belong.

    And if you DO bring your kid to a kid friendly establishment, that doesn't mean you ignore them while they run amuck. I remember one time while trying to enjoy a lunch with my family at a local taco joint and there was an annoying hipster couple who were apparently having the coolest conversation in the world. So cool that they were too busy talking to each other about annoying shit that they were ignoring their two year old who kept walking to our table and interrupting us. She started pulling on my shirt with her saliva covered hands and I finally got so annoyed that I told her to go back to her mommy and daddy please. And still, the parents never even looked up to see where the hell their kid was. NEWSFLASH: No one thinks your kid is as cute as you think they are! No one wants to watch your kid while you talk about the stupid concert you went to!

    Ok, rant over.

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      StellaAstrophilmyprettypony
      1/14/14 11:41am

      Seriously, I have a toddler, I'm in ecstasies when a casual restaurant is equipped to handle him, other people's kids don't bother me, blah blah blah. But to Alinea? Were they on crack? It really is like bringing a baby to the opera, it just doesn't belong. And forgive me for thinking that if you can afford a bill that begins somewhere around six hundred bucks, you can probably afford forty dollars or so in babysitting. Heck, even a little more if you need emergency babysitting. I do it to go to the movies, surely people can do it for Alinea.

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      jlf3myprettypony
      1/14/14 11:59am

      I do NOT understand this. I have friends who let their child run around like banshees in restaurants. I remember going to lunch once, and making my child sit down quietly to eat, while my friends' kids ran all over the floor. My child asked me why she couldn't do the same, and I told her that we sit in our seats and eat our dinner and speak quietly when in restaurants, unless it's the germ-ridden Chuck E. Cheese. (Where I will never go again, because I always catch the plague there.)

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    EasttoMidwestNeetzan Zimmerman
    1/14/14 1:22pm

    Here's the real problem. You prepay for your meal and then wait months for your reservation. If you cancel, you're out the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, and months back on the waiting list. If your babysitting plans fall through, what are you going to do?

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      blckbrdEasttoMidwest
      1/14/14 1:32pm

      Nonono, here's the REAL problem. You prepay for your meal and then wait months for your reservation. If you cancel you're out the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, and months back on the waiting list. If someone else's babysitting plans fall through, and they feel that their dinner plans are more important than everyone else in the restaurant put together's dinner plans and decide to bring their screeching kid anyway, what are you going to do?

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      WesternShoreEasttoMidwest
      1/14/14 1:47pm

      So, you've made the reservations and prepaid. And what if your car won't start and you don't have access to public transportation? What if you get the flu? What if your water pipes freeze and burst and you have to deal with the flooding? Things happen all the time that require us to cancel plans and possibly lose money because of it. If your babysitter backs out, you're out of luck, same as if you have transportation, health, or house problems. You don't ruin the evening of other patrons just because things didn't work out for you.

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    Missy PantsNeetzan Zimmerman
    1/14/14 11:25am

    On the one hand... I don't care if people bring a baby to a restaurant, on the other I don't care if a fancy-pants restaurant bans babies... so, meh?

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      John BoehnerMissy Pants
      1/14/14 11:30am

      I don't care either. But when that baby starts wailing, you take the damn thing outside.

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      Missy PantsJohn Boehner
      1/14/14 11:32am

      Meh. I don't even care if it cries?

      I know for some it's like nails on a chalkboard, but thats what more wine is for. :)

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    MountDewmNeetzan Zimmerman
    1/14/14 11:34am

    That probably blew extra hard for the couples who were on their rare night out after finding someone to watch their children.

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      Jerry-NetherlandMountDewm
      1/14/14 11:38am

      ....and spending $300. each for a romantic dinner.

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      FrankyCJerry-Netherland
      1/14/14 11:47am

      Alinea's pricing is deceptive. If you are drinking wine with your dinner, you cannot get out of there for less than $550 a person after tax and tip.

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    PopChipsNeetzan Zimmerman
    1/14/14 11:30am

    I have 4 kids and wouldn't dream of bringing them to a place like this. Eating at a place like this was a nice excuse to escape from the kids for a few hours.

    Although, I'm glad this wasn't Florida. First, it's a theater for texting. Next, it's a restaurant for having a baby with you.

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      ThePriceisWrongPopChips
      1/14/14 11:41am

      I agree with you. This place is date night material, not "let's take the family out to eat" material. I wouldn't bring our 4 year old to a restaurant this expensive, much less an infant/toddler. If we're going to pay that much for a meal, even if the babysitter bails, we bail as well and give our ticket up to someone who can use it (which seems to be their policy) and reschedule for a later date. Just because I want to eat there doesn't mean the restaurant of people paying tons of money should be subjected to my child.

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    Uncle ChigurhNeetzan Zimmerman
    1/14/14 11:26am

    "Fancy restaurants should not have to specify no babies in precisely the same way they should not have to specify yes pants,"

    Is that why I keep thrown out of fancy restaurants?

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      Taint NuttinUncle Chigurh
      1/14/14 11:32am

      Man, the Arby's in CO are no joke!

      /good luck Sunday

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      Uncle ChigurhTaint Nuttin
      1/14/14 11:42am

      More like Papa John's. OMAHA OMAHA OMAHA, HURRY HURRY!!!

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