Caller Host / Producer (3:06)

So you're a parent?

Rachel Sugar (3:07)

I am, I'm a parent.

Alison Stewart (3:08)

In your piece you write, before they actually have kids of their own, all food loving parents to be harbor the same fantasy. Our babies will be different. When do you think that expectation begins to shift?

Rachel Sugar (3:23)

Oh, I mean I think as soon as you give birth, like as soon as you meet your, your child. But as soon as your child like starts to have opinions, preferences, pre verbal I think, you know, but I also, I also think it's really easy to underestimate kids and to sort of assume that, you know, kids are changing all the time too. So to sort of assume that something that didn't work last week, you know, won't work again. Like you don't really know. I think I spent a lot of time actually with a young, very young child, like afraid to go anywhere, kind of a shut in and it turns out, you know, at this particular moment, which could change anytime. And I know it's easy to be smug and all of those caveats, but like I have a two and a half year old who really loves restaurants and I, you know, I feel really lucky about that. But I also maybe could have rejoined the world a little bit sooner than I did.

Alison Stewart (4:34)

How do you go, how do you go about getting a kid to try something new?

Rachel Sugar (4:39)

I mean, I'm trying to be very low pressure about it. This is like such a morally weighted topic and I think I'm really hesitant to sort of, you know, I'm obviously not an expert and I've, I've like panicked about it. I've sort of gone through all of the, you know, baby led weaning. I also know that like, I mean I've certainly been told by parents with kids who are a little older, like just wait until they develop preferences. I remember my own childhood and my own eating issues and you know, like trying very hard to be like chill about it.

Alison Stewart (5:22)

Just chill about it. Right.

Rachel Sugar (5:23)

And I also think that a restaurant is probably not the place to like stake your whatever, draw your line in the sand and you're gonna try this today. Like I think that work probably you want to be sort of doing all the time in a low key way at home. Um, but I also, all, all kids are different. And they're all different than they were two weeks ago.

Alison Stewart (5:50)

Let's get to the guide. You included 40 restaurants as part of this guide where parents and children can both be happy. There were two self imposed mandates, no pizza and no big chains. Why were these important to you?

Rachel Sugar (6:04)

I think no big chains was like, largely just about there being so many special restaurants in New York City that are New York specific and, and, you know, smaller operators and I. And I think there's something that feels kind of like, you know, quote unquote, like cooler. And part of this was about feeling about sort of maintaining your identity as a, as a parent, as somebody who like maybe enjoys going out to restaurants, used to enjoy going out to restaurants, would like to be a person who continues to do that. So. And then pizza, I think, you know, pizza's tricky, but basically, like, you know about pizza, like, everybody knows about pizza. Pizza's really good. I love pizza. Everybody loves pizza. And I, and I just think, like, you can sort of think of pizza by yourself. Like, we don't, we don't need to. But I mean, that's certainly no, no shade to pizza or all of the cool stuff people are doing with pizza in the city. Pizza's great. I just think people know that.

Alison Stewart (7:10)

People know.

Rachel Sugar (7:11)

Yeah, People have heard of pizza.

Caller / Contributor (7:12)

Yeah.

Alison Stewart (7:12)

Let's take a call. This is Nat calling from Ridgewood, New Jersey. Hey, Nat, thanks for taking the time to call, all of it.

Caller (7:20)

Hey, Allison, thanks for having me on. I'm actually in Queens and Ridgewood, Queens.

Alison Stewart (7:25)

Sorry.

Caller (7:25)

I was on the show over the summer with Tiffany, so it's nice to be back on. I want to shout out Francie on Broadway in Williamsburg. We go there for special occasions, and it's fine dining, Michelin starred food, but with a really casual atmosphere. Chef Christa Boulone and John Winters have done an amazing job making it super comfortable. But for the kids, there are a few dishes that really work well. If you get the rum and sourdough, just a simple bread appetizer they offer. It comes with a lardo that they shape into a little piggy face. And we have to order an extra piggy face for my kids because they love it so much. They also do a duck ragu pappardelle, which is my son's favorite pasta in the whole world, which I'm a little upset about because I make bolognese at home, but, you know, I'll take it. And then the real winner is the rubber ducky dessert, which you can see on Instagram they call it Duck l', Orange, but it's this incredible lemon rubber duck on what looks like bubble bath, which is a bergamot foam. And it like that blows their mind every time.

Caller Host / Producer (8:36)

Wow, that sounds like a great place.

Caller (8:38)

Yeah.

Caller Host / Producer (8:38)

Nat, thanks for calling in. Rachel, what did you use as your criteria?

Rachel Sugar (8:45)

I was really looking. So one thing we really wanted was places that you, an adult, might go on your own without your kid, with your friends, on a date, whatever, that you would like electively go to these places under various circumstances. So that was like sort of one. So they had to fit that. But then they also had to be places where you could go and not feel like you're ruining the vibe, like you're not wanted, like you're trapped. I think. I think one thing that just comes up a lot, and especially talking to parents and like, you just want a place that's kind of big. Not all of these restaurants are, but. But there's often. They're either bigger, they have a backyard. There's, like, some escape routes. They're across the street from a park. There's, like, some way to sort of release the pressure. So we're sort of looking for stuff that, you know, we're. We're there sending little signals that you're welcome, you're. You're. This, this could work. And sometimes that's, you know, crayons on the table or a kid's menu. Sometimes it's something really explicit, and sometimes it's. It's really not. Sometimes it's like, more subtle than that.

Caller Host / Producer (10:11)

A new Grubstreet.com guide points to the 40 best restaurants for kids and parents. Writer Rachel Sugar is here to talk to. Talk with me about some suggestions on how to eat with children. Dining out like a grownup. And we'd like to hear from you. Are you a parent of small children? Where do you go out to eat with your kids? Or any places that have become favorites for you? Our Phone number is 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. This is a funny text, Rachel. It says, grew up in an Eat what's on your plate and eat it all. Home now to having three kids with wildly different tastes. An omnivore, a vegetarian, and a beige. Food only the strug. This one says, please don't forget Benihana's. Not only is the food yummy, but preparing everything tableside is a show in and of itself. Our twins, picky when it comes to foods, are excited. When we mentioned Benihana in 2025. They wanted to celebrate their birthdays there. I celebrated my 12th birthday at a Benihana. It's a. It's a great place for a birthday.

Rachel Sugar (11:16)

Yeah. I think places that have an entertainment, like where the food is the entertainment, whether that's. I mean, sushi came up. Benihan is probably like the iconic example. There's other hibachi places, too, but, you know, there's. There's a Thai hot pot place on the list. There's a shabu Shabu place on the list. Like these places that are. Either there's a performance or the food is interactive in some way. That's not like, interactive because it's for kids, but just. It's. That's how you eat it. Those, I think, can work really, really well.

Alison Stewart (11:47)

Let's talk about Golden Unicorn at 18 East Broadway. No restaurant on this list got more recommendations than the Golden Unicorn. Help us understand why it's so popular.

Rachel Sugar (11:58)

I mean, I think it's really, you know, obviously caveat to all of this. All kids are different. Everybody's different. Preferences are different, dietary, whatever. We're different. But I think it's really hard to go wrong with dim sum. For one thing, it's instant. It comes so fast. You sit down. There's no waiting. I think waiting is really hard. Presumably, it gets easier as kids get older. But I think, you know, I have trouble waiting sometimes, and I'm like, theoretically an adult. The food comes immediately. The room is incredible. Like, there's a scene. There's tons of people. There's a ton of stuff to look at. It can be a little bit overwhelming. But the flip side of that is that you're not on display. Display. Nobody is paying attention to you. Nobody is, like, giving you a look. If your kid is, you know, opining about tofu or whatever, like, you're fine. It's. You're supposed to be there. And I think that's really one of the things we were looking for. And then, as several parents pointed out to me, you can see the food before you order it. So you're just kind of pointing. I want that. I want that. Like, there's something really. Like, there's an immediacy to that, but there's also, like, no mystery. Like, is your kid going to eat it? I don't know. Like, here it is. Do they want it? So I think there's something really just, like, it's just practical.

Alison Stewart (13:21)

Let's talk about Superiority Burger at 119 Avenue A. It opened its doors in 2015. What sets it Apart from other joints.

Caller / Contributor (13:30)

Burger.

Caller Host / Producer (13:30)

There's tons of burger joints.

Rachel Sugar (13:31)

Yeah. So I mean, one thing that I really like about it is that it is mostly sort of accidentally vegan, all vegetarian. It was important to, to me and I think to the city to like have stuff on this list that is not so meat centric to have a variety. But it's also, you know, the name is a little misleading. They do have burgers and the burgers are exceptionally good. But there's a lot on the menu. The menu is changing all the time, but it does have these, like, Anchorage dishes. So, you know, there's stuff you can always get and there's new stuff all the time. So it's not, you know, it's not just straight burgers. But I think one thing that's really nice about it is that, like, it is, you know, I think it is cool. I think it is still cool. It was, you know, it was very cool when it opened. I still think it's cool, but it's not. And you can feel like you're part of the city, like you're a person who, I don't know, like, reads the newspaper and, you know, watches prestige dramas or whatever. But then you also have kids and it, the food is really kid friendly. Not all of it depending on, you know, how your kid feels about, you know, collard greens or whatever, but they, I mean, a place with exceptional French fries, like, it's just hard to go wrong. It's nice to have a backup plan. And the other thing about it is that being where it is in the East Village, like, it's just near a lot of other restaurants. And it's kind of nice to go somewhere where if you can't get, you didn't make a reservation, you don't know if they're going to have seating. The wait is, you know, 45 minutes. The wait is an hour. We're just going to go to Veselka. Like we're just going to go to another kid friendly restaurant down the street. You know, you're. You didn't drag everybody out to then have, have a meltdown, right?

Caller Host / Producer (15:17)

Be stranded, be stranded.

Rachel Sugar (15:19)

It's easy to pivot.

Caller Host / Producer (15:20)

Let's talk to Carol, who is calling in from Summit, New Jersey. Hi, Carol, thanks for taking the time to call, all of it.

Caller (15:26)

Hi.

Caller / Contributor (15:26)

I love your story show, by the way, and I think you're great. Anyway, I just want to say I have a friend, a very dear friend who's Cuban and I'm actually her oldest daughter's godmother. So I've been around her since day one and she now is a mother with a daughter. But my friend, from the time her daughter was born, she pureed all her food and it was all homemade. She included garlic in it, all kinds of flavors. And that girl would go to a restaurant when she was 2 and sit down and eat any food. To this day, she's like a gourmet connoisseur. And my friend is a grandmother now and she does the same for her granddaughter. And the granddaughter, if you saw her, people don't believe what she eats. One of her favorite things, my goddaughter, was olives when she was like a year old. Acetuna, they call it. But it's a marvel I've never seen. I have a lot of nieces and nephews and they're all in the, you know, the little chicken things. I don't think these girls ever tasted it.

Caller Host / Producer (16:27)

Thank you so much.

Caller / Contributor (16:27)

It's amazing.

Caller Host / Producer (16:28)

Thank you so much for calling. We do appreciate it. This says I'm chef and owner of Betty on Henry street on the Lower east side. We get everybody, families with kids, old, young, hipster and everyone in between. It's a vast menu available all day and all night. This is a good tip. It says tip for parents eating out with babies. It never fails because once your dinner comes, the baby will need to be held. Ask your server to bring one parent, sinner first and the second parent's dinner 15 minutes after and you'll both get to eat. Have never had a server. Give us a problem with this plan.

Rachel Sugar (17:02)

That is so smart.

Caller Host / Producer (17:03)

That is so smart.

Rachel Sugar (17:04)

That is so smart. Yeah. I mean, I wish we'd talk to you. Like that should be a tip. Like that's, that's really.

Caller Host / Producer (17:11)

Yeah, it's perfect. Thank you so much for texting that in. I'm speaking with writer Rachel Sugar. She put to guest put together a list of the 40 best restaurants for kids and parents so that you can eat with your children while acting like a grownup. We'd like to hear from you. Are you a parent of a small children? Where do you go out to eat with your kids? How do you get your kids to try new foods? What's something a restaurant has to have to get you to come on in? Our number is 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. We'll have more after a quick break.

Alison Stewart (17:51)

You're listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. In studio with me is writer Rachel Sugar. She's put together a list on grubstreet.com it's called the 40 Best Restaurants for Kids and Parents. How to eat with children while Dining like a grown up. Let's talk to John, who's calling in. He's pulled over on the Merritt Parkway, so we want to get to you as soon as we can. Hi, John.

Caller (18:15)

Hi there and thank you and hi, Rachel. So your last caller could have been describing our daughter. The first real food she ate was homemade Chilean sea bass at six months, and she leaned over the high chair and stuck out her tongue, grunting for more. Since then, she was a restaurant baby. We took her to all the restaurants to which we ever went. At the age of just over 2, we went to a Mexican restaurant, high end Mexican restaurant. And for dessert they had pumpkin flan. And as we were attempting to put her back into her car seat, she stopped us and said, mommy, that was good flan.

Alison Stewart (19:06)

That's a great story, John. Thank you so much for calling in. All right, let's talk about kids who go to fancy restaurants, because in Brooklyn you have Gage and Tolner on here and for people who are yelling at their tv, but it costs a lot.

Caller Host / Producer (19:19)

Yelling at the radio, but it costs a lot.

Alison Stewart (19:20)

We'll get to that in a moment. But first, what. How do kids actually feel about it when you're doing your reporting?

Rachel Sugar (19:27)

So, you know, I was mostly talking to their parents, but one thing that kind of came up about so, so the caveat again about places like that is these are expensive restaurants. These are special occasion restaurants. There are people with, you know, who are going to them. And I think one thing that was pointed out to me about a place like Gage, I mean, about Gage and tolerance, specifically from a food writer, was that like his kids, it's a kids like a steakhouse like that. This sort of gorgeous, over the top kind of like it's a kid's fantasy of like what a formal restaurant is. Like, this is fancy. And you know that because the waiters are dressed like this and there are chandeliers and there are big mirrors and they come and the service is very warm and they come to your table and they're doing sort of the whole waiter thing and to sort of get to experience this sort of like Eloise Ish moment. Like you're sort of. This is my fantasy of the adult world. And it's, and it's happening, I think, is something I hadn't initially thought of. And I think that's, that's cool. Like there Is something really like wonderful and kind of magical about that. And, you know, so. So this guy that I was talking to about it, JJ Good, who's a cookbook writer, was saying, like, you know, it's their family birthday restaurant. It's. It's where they go, you know, like, on each of the kids birthdays. So it's not an all the time thing, but it is really special. And it sort of hits that I think wonder about both restaurants and adulthood.

Caller Host / Producer (21:22)

It's so interesting. Cause I remember when my kid was little, we went to Paris. He had escargot every day. Every day. He enjoyed ordering it. By the third day, he's like, I will have escargot. And we were kind of looking. I'm like, he really likes it. He likes the snails and he likes the. All the tableware that comes with it. And it was kind of an interesting experiment because I did not expect that. I expected him to eat fries and something. And bread.

Rachel Sugar (21:50)

Yeah, I mean, that's what I kind of mean. Like, kids are unpredictable and weird and don't necessarily have the same baggage that you or I have about like, what's, you know, quote unquote weird or adventurous and what isn't. You know, I've talked to a surprising to me, number of parents whose kids really like oysters. Like, I think I had my first oyster when I was 25. Like, and these are kids who are like 5, and it's like they're like rocks, but they're alive. And they're this weird sensory experience. They're kind of gross, but they're kind of good. And they've never tasted anything like it. Like, I just think it's really easy to underestimate. And it's also really easy to say that when you're not next to a kid who's melting down in a restaurant, you know, but that's, That's. I do think it's really important to sort of let kids fall in love with stuff.

Caller Host / Producer (22:45)

Let's talk to Robin in Brooklyn. Hey, Robin. Thanks for calling, all of it.

Caller (22:50)

Hi.

Caller (22:51)

How are you guys? Hi. Thanks. Yeah, I just wanted to recommend a restaurant in the Tangra mall in Flushing. Like an Asian mall? Yeah, it's. It's called Kura with a K U R A.

Rachel Sugar (23:06)

Okay.

Caller (23:06)

So it's like a dim sum style kind of. It brings you your food on this fun conveyor belt. And there's like a fun tablet that plays like little cartoons intermittently to like, promote things that they do. The kids could use a tablet really easily and A robot brings you your drinks, which was like, blew my kids heads off.

Rachel Sugar (23:25)

Yeah.

Caller (23:26)

To recommend it, it's super fun. You get a toy at the end if you select a certain amount of dishes, which, you know, for the bill, maybe not, you know, it's reasonable, but it's still fun. And the toy gets dispensed like at the table. It's all fun inside of there.

Caller / Contributor (23:41)

So.

Rachel Sugar (23:42)

That sounds so fun.

Caller (23:44)

Yeah, it's fun.

Caller Host / Producer (23:45)

Let's talk about Cafe Spaghetti in Carroll Gardens. That's on your list as well.

Rachel Sugar (23:50)

Yeah. So I mean, that's one that I think is kind of really. I mean, it's called Cafe Spaghetti. It's sort of set out to be, you know, family friendly, but it's not. I mean, it's not a kid restaurant. Like, it's, it doesn't, it's not, it's not pandering. The menu is, you know, sort of classic and simple. It's not huge, but it's like, you know, I think one thing that came up again and again as we were putting this list together and talking to people and thinking about what does make a kid friendly restaurant, like really is service is just like incredible, accommodating service that's like sort of delighting in what they're doing and that sort of wants this to be good for you. And I think Cafe Spaghetti really has that. And, and so it's not, you know, when I was last there, I was, we were sitting outside and you know, my daughter's covered with spaghetti and you know, but the table next to us, it has, you know, is a big party, no kids, lots of drinks. And it just doesn't feel weird. Like it really is. It's a real, it's a real mixed crowd. And that's really, really. I think what we were, what we were looking for is, you know, I also went to restaurants that, that are not ultimately on this list. As we were putting this together, where we, I was the only person with a kid. And even if everybody's very nice, like it doesn't feel great when they, you know, dim the lights and it's like suddenly becomes very romantic and you're the only person there with the, you know, toddler. And it just feels like I, you know, a restaurant is absolutely. Like, not every restaurant needs to be a kid friendly restaurant. Like, absolutely. But when you're at one and you sort of realize that maybe you shouldn't be like, that's pretty. I don't know, it's kind of uncomfortable.

Caller Host / Producer (25:59)

We have a good tip here. This Says I have been a major D for years in Greenwich Village. Here's a tip. Include your baby in your reservation headcount and in your resi notes and let us know if you prefer a banquet or a table and if you want the stroll at the table, et cetera. It gives us a heads up to give you the most family friendly tables with more space. We read the resi open notes. So when in doubt over communicate.

Rachel Sugar (26:24)

Yes, I think that's, yeah, that's a really good tip. And I didn't initially know that and wasn't sure like how to like she's a person. But is she like what you mean by a person? But yes, I mean it's a about, it's about like you have to give the restaurant a chance for this to work. And that does involve this over communication.

Caller Host / Producer (26:41)

I have to ask about an Egyptian style seafood restaurant because it was on the New York Times 100 Best Restaurants of 2025. Tell us about it.

Rachel Sugar (26:50)

Yeah, so I'm worried I'm going to pronounce it wrong. I was hoping you were going to pronounce it first.

Caller Host / Producer (26:53)

Akbar ak akbur.

Rachel Sugar (26:55)

I think so. Yeah.

Caller Host / Producer (26:57)

A B, U, Q, I, R. So

Rachel Sugar (27:01)

this is a place where you go and you know they're getting the fish. You see the fish from the market that morning and you can get it fried or grilled and you eat it right there. And you know, I was talking to one parent whose kid had only eaten. I guess this is like a very New York City thing. But like kids love sushi but they don't, you know, they're not going to eat like regular fish, but they all eat sushi. So anyway, her kid like hadn't had, hadn't been willing to eat sort of non sushi fish and sort of discovered it there and loved it so much. The staff was calling him flounder boy because they, you know, and they were trekking from, from Brooklyn to Astoria on a regular basis enough to get a nickname because he liked it so much. And I think that's kind of a good example of like if you're introducing a new food or sort of trying to sell your kid on something like give them the best, like. Yeah, they're doing it really well.

Caller Host / Producer (28:00)

Let's take one more call. Tracy is calling in from Orange. Tracy, thanks for calling all of it. You're our last caller.

Caller (28:07)

Oh, great.

Caller / Contributor (28:08)

I have two antidotes. My husband, I love eating out and

Caller (28:13)

we've eaten out even with our kids very young.

Caller / Contributor (28:15)

We never left them at home. So when my son was probably about five and a half sex.

Caller (28:21)

We were in D.C. eating at a

Caller / Contributor (28:23)

French restaurant and he wanted the escargot. My mom was with us and she tried to discourage him from getting the snail. And of course we always let our kids try whatever they want. He absolutely loved escargot and has loved escargot since then, but still says even after living in Paris for about six months, that the escargot he had in D.C. is the best he's ever tasted.

Caller (28:46)

Aw.

Caller Host / Producer (28:47)

Thank you so much for calling in. That's so funny. We call escargot like the garlic and olive oil delivery service. Rachel, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much. The name of the article is the 40 best restaurants for Kids and Parents. How to Eat with Children While Dining Like a Grown Up. It's full of great restaurants. Thank you so much for joining us.

Rachel Sugar (29:06)

Thanks so much for having me. Hi, I'm Maggie Smith, poet and host of the Slowdown.

Caller Host / Producer (29:13)

Each weekday I share a poem and

Rachel Sugar (29:15)

a moment of reflection, helping you turn

Caller Host / Producer (29:18)

listening into a daily ritual.

Rachel Sugar (29:21)

It's five minutes to slow down, pay attention, and begin the day with intention. Find it in your favorite podcast app

Caller Host / Producer (29:31)

and make the Slowdown your new daily poetry practice.