22 answers

Looking for New Family Friendly Resturants for Dinner Out

I am wondering if anyone can suggests some family friendly restaurants in the Portland area that are not chains (Please don't say Chuky Cheese)My husband and I love to find little hidden restaurants to try but now that we have 2 boys having dinner or late lunch out can be less then fun. We eat at Laurel wood Pizza and the Laurel wood pub a lot because of the play area and the wait staffs great efforts to keep parents close to the play area. But we really want to try something new. We really don't like chain restaurants because we like to keep our $ in the local community as much as possible. Any body have anything in there neighborhood we should try. Oh ya we like to have a glass of beer or wine with dinner, so kid friendly but not kid nation. Thanks for any suggestions.

What can I do next?

So What Happened?™

Thanks so much everyone. We now have some great sounding places to try, a lot of which I had never heard of or if I had I didn't realize what they had to offer. I love Portland. Thanks again.

Featured Answers

A.,

In my family we absolutely recommend Peanut Butter (PB & Ellie's) Café in South West Portland. They offer healthy food in smaller sizes and a good selection of salads. Drinks for the grown-ups too. They're located right across from the Southwest Community Center on Vermont, near Gabriel Park. You can make a full afternoon out of this by visiting the park or taking a swim at the Community Center. Ellie's has a nice train table, a blackboard and just generally a nice family atmosphere.

Good cheer,

S.

Micky Finns Brew Pub on Woodstock is very family friendly- even has a kids play area w/toys you can pick up and bring to the table. I think Wed night kids eat free with adult meals. Love the people who work there.

More Answers

These are all great suggestions.
Allow me to make a plea on behalf of all these pleasant, adaptable servers and cooks: Tip extra for messes, your kids are sweet and messy, many are demanding (kids and moms) and waiting tables at these places is tough. I have known a few servers, from PB&E's especially, to be rather soured on mom's and how they let there kids behave.
Mother's bistro downtown is very kid friendly, the owner is not nice to her staff but excellent to customers.

1 mom found this helpful

A.,

Our family loves American Dream Pizza on Glisan across from Providence Hospital. They have really good salads (build your own with lots of veggies). There are paper and crayons for the kids as well as really good choclate chips cookies. And, they deliver!

G.

Sip N Kranz in the Pearl is good for late lunches or morning coffee/breakfast. They have a large play room and are located just across from a water park (for summer activity). Also on the same block is a great sushi restaraunt, Sinju. They have a closed room with floor seating so the kids can walk around the table and not be a "bother" to other people.

I do not have any suggestions for specific resaurants, but try looking for ones without play areas, but a noisy atmosphere. Your boys are old enough to start learning that they need to sit at the table through the meal, and a noisy restaurant is the perfect place to practice. Just bring crayons, and activities as well as maybe a snack for while they wait.

Have you ever heard of PB & Elly's? I have heard great things about it!

Hi, there; I've got 2 for you. (They are both on the east side.) Old Wives; Tales on 13th and Burnside has a kids' play area and it serves beer and wine. Also Aztec Willie and Joey Rose's Taqueria on 15th and Broadway NE. They have a play area and a full bar. Both are fairly reasonable ($10.00 for a standard dinner entree. Hope this helped!

I haven't been there yet, but I've heard a lot of a place called PB & Ellie's Cafe. I get their newsletter once a month about their activities and event nights. You can check them out at www.pbecafe.com - Good Luck!

Try Max's pub in downtown Tigard. We live very near it and go there often. they have a children's play area also!

We love to go to the Alameda Brewpub, on 47th and Fremont, they are right on par with the Laurelwood, but not as much kid chaos, also almost all of the places on Alberta (Helsers has great breakfast) are good with kids.

Required Fields

Our records show that we already have a Mamapedia or Mamasource account created for you under the email address you entered.

Please enter your Mamapedia or Mamasource password to continue signing in.

Required Fields

, you’re almost done...

Since this is the first time you are logging in to Mamapedia with Facebook Connect, please provide the following information so you can participate in the Mamapedia community.

As a member, you’ll receive optional email newsletters and community updates sent to you from Mamapedia, and your email address will never be shared with third parties.

By clicking "Continue to Mamapedia", I agree to the Mamapedia Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.