A family restaurant or a child-friendly café is one of the most difficult design assignments in the restaurant industry. It has to work for children, for parents, and for the party without children sitting next to them.

The three have fundamentally different needs. And they should all feel comfortable in the same space.

It's a balancing act that most family restaurants don't solve well enough. Either the environment is designed for kids, which creates a noisy and uncomfortable space for adults, or it's designed for adults with a little patch called a kids' corner that doesn't really work. There's a third way.

What families with children actually need

Parents with children are looking for a restaurant experience that is manageable. That means an entrance that can be maneuvered with a stroller – a concrete functional requirement that is surprisingly often missed. Chairs and high chairs that work at regular tables without special treatment. A restroom with a changing table that is actually accessible and functional.

Food that comes quickly, because a child who waits a long time for food is not a relaxed child. A noise level that makes it possible to have a conversation without having to shout – it is an acoustic requirement and one of the strongest reasons why parents choose not to go to restaurants they otherwise liked. And an environment where it is okay if little things happen, like spills or a small outcry, without the staff running over with a glance.

The common failure of the children's corner

Most restaurants that want to be kid-friendly install a kids' corner with a play area in one corner of the premises. It's a good idea with poor execution in most cases.

A functioning kids’ corner is large enough to actually accommodate a couple of kids moving around. It has a floor that can handle spills and activity. It is positioned so that parents can see their kids from the table, without having them on their laps. A dysfunctional kids’ corner is a small rug with a plastic toy set in one corner, screened off by a wall panel, with a floor that is not designed for activity and no way to sit at a nearby table. The first version creates value. The second is a marketing statement without substance.

Acoustics for family restaurants

Family restaurants have an acoustic problem that is different from other restaurants: they accumulate more sources of unplanned noise – children, chairs scraping, cutlery falling. This means that the acoustic design needs to be stronger, not weaker, than in a restaurant without families with children.

Soft surfaces, acoustic panels and sound-absorbing materials should be a priority in the design, to compensate for the additional sources of noise. The result is a space that, despite being child-friendly, is still able to have an adult conversation. This is one of the strongest differentiators for a family restaurant.

Material and durability

A child-friendly restaurant is exposed to more wear and tear than most other restaurants. Spills, handprints, chairs that scratch and activity that is not always gentle on the interior. This requires material choices that can withstand it: leather or vinyl upholstery on chairs rather than fabric, floors that are easy to wipe down, walls with a surface treatment that can withstand wiping.

That's not an argument against designing a nice restaurant. It's an argument for designing a nice restaurant in the right materials. Good design and practical materials are not opposites.

Communicating child-friendliness without scaring others away

A family restaurant should not communicate that it is only for families with children. That would severely limit its customer base. It should communicate that it is welcoming to the entire party, including families with children, without making that its primary identity.

A restaurant with good acoustics, a functional children's corner, accessible entrance and highchairs, but with an aesthetic and a feel that is pleasant even without children, manages that balancing act. A restaurant that looks like a playground with food misses the mark.

Are you planning to open or renovate a restaurant or café with a focus on families with children?

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