Yes, Honey, We Can Take the Kids
Although there are more than 8,000 restaurants in Houston, not all are kid-friendly. Because I have two kids of my own, I have scouted many restaurants to gauge their kid-friendliness. Here are several suggestions:
Mexican restaurants are almost always a sure bet—they're colorful, food comes quickly and everyone is usually able to find something they like to eat. Molina's Mexican Restaurant is a great choice, as is Lopez's Restaurant, which has been around for decades. Chuy's, with its hubcap decorations, is also fun.
Skeeter's is friendly to families as well as groups of stinky little kids, otherwise known as sports teams. The Web site (www.skeetersgrill.com) lists its nine locations and posts its full menu, which includes a $3.99 kids' menu. Skeeters encourages diners to doodle while they eat, providing crayons and butcher-paper table covers. Exceptional drawings are displayed on the wall.
Hickory Hollow is one of our favorite places to eat while enjoying live music on Fridays or Saturdays. Kids can dance wildly up front with the band while you nosh and drink. It's a casual Texas honky-tonk in The Heights.
Restaurants with mini-playgrounds for kids get high marks from me, and I like Lupe Tortilla's. Lupe Tortilla's provides a sandbox and play area for tots while parents can kick back and sip a chilled margarita.
At Benihana, it's ok to play with your food. Teppan chefs regale children and adults with knife-juggling theatrics and expert showmanship.
Chinese restaurants can be very family-friendly, and places like Fung's Kitchen offer dim sum daily. Some have buffets, so a small fry can organize their own meal. Plus, there's the bonus of the fortune cookies at the end.
Luby's Cafeterias have a family-friendly menu that offers low-priced kids' dishes. The little ones seem to love coasting thorugh the line in their rolling high schairs and enjoy the power of selecting their own meal.
Families traveling to the Downtown Aquarium ought to make a day of it. Houston's first public aquarium features 500,000 gallons of visible underwater tanks, including an acrylic tunnel with live sharks swimming overhead. After a long day of underwater adventure, visit the Aquarium Restaurant for a meal of—you guessed it—seafood.
Across the street from the Aquarium, the Hard Rock Cafe is a glitzy attraction in downtown's Bayou Place. The menu includes huge portions of American fare, such as burgers, fries, ribs, chopped salads and milkshakes. Kids love the rock 'n roll memorabilia and can entertain themselves studying the displays until their food arrives.
Ikea, the Swedish home-furnishings warehouse, has a family-friendly dining area complete with use-it-yourself microwaves. You can put the kids in Ikea childcare after eating while you shop.
Finally, a great place where you can have your cake and eat it, too, is Dessert Gallery. Choose from soups, salads, wraps, sandwiches and kid-friendly food like mac and cheese and PB&J sandwiches. You can top off the meal with one of its scrumptious desserts while the kids chow on cupcakes or the super-fun "Design Your Own Cookie Platters" or the "S'mores Pupu Platters." Kids love the name, but don't worry—there's no fire. Plus, it always has board games on hand, so no one should be, well, bored.
This article was excerpted from the Ultimate Food Lover's Guide to Houston.
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