Learning to eat out as a threesome

I didn’t realize how easy it was to eat out as a dink-Dual Income No Kids. Before having a child, I thought mostly about a restaurant’s menu and atmosphere. I hardly even noticed whether they had highchairs or not. I rarely dined out with friends’ kids, and there are no other children in my family so it was never a concern.

Now that we have a child, I am happy to see so many Bay View eateries have highchairs. In fact, I have not found a restaurant that does not provide at least one.

The alternative to a highchair is holding my daughter in my lap and I have been in this predicament twice. Hopefully we won’t repeat it because her reach is ever-expanding and she can quickly tip over plates or cups.

I applaud the following local restaurants, favorites of mine which all have highchairs and kid-friendly staff:

Carleton Grange. Beyond Bay View’s borders but notable as one of the few local establishments with both a kid’s menu and easy parking. A walkable destination when timed to coincide with naptime in the stroller.

Cafe LuLu. This local standard handles kids fairly well. When I was a brand-new mom, a friendly server showed me how to upend a highchair to secure a baby carrier at table height.

Soup Otzie’s. Combines well with a lunchtime trip to the nearby library for some puppet play.

Transfer. Big windows provide good views of buses to point out to kids, plus the pizza menu is likely to please most children. About once a month, I take my daughter on Mondays for the weekday lunch special.

Wild Flour. Even a new walker can toddle the short distance from the nearby parking lot into a relaxed atmosphere with counter service instead of servers.

Changing Tables

Pre-kid, I never kept track of the plastic flip-down changing tables in restaurant restrooms, either. As a new mom, I started appreciating them but occasionally missed one because I didn’t realize they were sometimes located in the bathroom stall for disabled people. This left me kneeling on the floor over my baby or outside at the car, hunched over her in the back seat. The floor is uncomfortable and isn’t sanitary, and extra car trips aren’t fun, especially in cold, snow, or rain.

I like knowing that a changing table is available for my use, but also for other families. It limits the “ick” factor of thinking that other people are changing messy babies on floors or countertops. The sloppiest diaper change shouldn’t happen on the same countertop where I lay my purse or rest my box of leftovers.

I keep a mental tally of which local venues provide changing tables and often veto outings to those which do not. During my 16 months of motherhood, I have checked out 25 restaurants in Bay View and just beyond the borders. In preparation for this column, I transferred my mental tally to a notebook, skipping the area’s fast food joints but including a few coffee shops that serve food.

I tallied my list and the results surprised me. I knew there seemed to be limited choices, but seeing the actual figures was still a surprise: Only five of the 25 restaurants, or 20 percent, have a diaper changing table.

Kudos to these five:

Anodyne. Known for coffee but serves bagels, granola parfait, and soup. Signals extra kid-friendliness by regularly hosting the popular group Fox & Branch, providing a kid-size table and chairs, and having toys.

Applebee’s. Violates my family’s tendency to avoid chain restaurants, but staff welcome children with a balloon and bring food quickly. Children’s menu and special pricing on certain days. Changing table in the men’s bathroom, not just women’s.

Bella’s Fat Cat. A friendly neighborhood standard where I appreciate the 100-percent juice boxes.

Outpost Fork in the Road Café. Healthy food from breakfast to dinner. When the weather cooperates, it’s great to roll a stroller in because there are no steps. The site of my first “mommy and me” meal out with my daughter.

Sheridan’s. The entrees are more expensive than the other four establishments, so we reserve it for a nicer meal.

Recently, another restaurant owner told me he plans to add changing tables as his profitability rises, and I hope more owners do the same. There are lots of little eaters in Bay View. As the neighborhood continues to welcome more of them, I hope more restaurants provide a changing table. In fact, I hope they install two: the standard for mothers plus one for fathers.

The author is a freelance writer and mother of one. Reach her with comments or suggestions at jill@bayviewcompass.com.