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17 Sit-Down Restaurants Where You Can Have A Nice Meal With Kids

Where to have a sit-down meal with children in Seattle.
17 Sit-Down Restaurants Where You Can Have A Nice Meal With Kids image

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re looking to plan a dinner out with kids. Maybe your own kids, maybe your friends’ kids, maybe your kids’ kids. Whoever these kids are, you need a place where everyone (including you) can eat some tasty food without throwing temper tantrums. So here’s a guide to 17 restaurants in Seattle that make things easy - whether you’re in the company of picky eaters, aspiring MasterChef competitors, or both. If all else fails, you can even print this out and bring it along for the children to destroy with some crayons. We don’t mind.

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Hawaiian

West Seattle

$$$$Perfect For:Big GroupsBirthdaysCasual Weeknight DinnerEating At The BarKids
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Ma’ono was pretty much made for family-friendly meals. Order some tasty fried chicken for the whole table, and add Hawaiian sides like kimchi mac and cheese, corn on the cob with miso caramel, and homemade sweet rolls. If the kids in your party refuse to eat any of these things, just shove a giant slice of banana cream pie in front of them until they quit whining. (This works for adults, too.)


$$$$Perfect For:Kids
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Nine Pies is a New York-style pizzeria in the middle of SoDo with colorful Vespa scooters on the walls and a huge garage door that opens up when it’s nice out. The pies here work for everyone - and there are really good pesto breadsticks that will entertain a child and/or your 30-year-old brother while they wait for more food to hit the table, too.


Up there with dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets, slices of cheese, Legos, and other stuff kids really like to eat is the illustrious dish that is butter pasta. At Spinasse, all of the upscale Italian food is very good, but their fresh pasta with butter, sage, and parmesan cheese is one of the best noodle-y things a child or a child’s chaperone could eat, period. Not to mention that the space is classy, but also lively enough to drown out your five-year-old’s lengthy explanation of the bubblegum scandal that went down today at recess.


You could probably use some time to relax in your socks for a moment, and to be honest, your children probably already kicked off their sneakers hours ago. Whether or not you find yourself in this situation, you should book one of the private tatami rooms at Maneki for some of the best sushi in Seattle. There are also some other cooked dishes that kids would enjoy, like chicken teriyaki, gyoza, and shrimp tempura. The best part is, if someone ends up crying and throwing grains of white rice everywhere, nobody else eating in the restaurant has to know - there are walls separating you from the main dining room.


Chances are a diner isn’t the first place you think about when planning an elegant dinner. But that’s exactly what we love about Champagne Diner. This spot in Interbay serves crowd-pleasing dishes for your green vegetable-shunning child, like burgers, pot pies, and fish and chips, but it’s a natural wine bar as well. Which means the adults can drink glasses of chilled reds and snack on marcona almonds and chilled mussel rolls. There’s also a parking lot, which is very convenient when you have a few kids in tow.


Frelard is another one of our favorite spots for a giant New York-style pizza alongside some charcuterie, olives, and Italian chopped salads. You can order whole pies here, but what’s really important is that you can also get slices - which is good if Sally wants plain cheese but you want yours loaded with coppa ham and onion. There’s also a “kid pit” where the little ones can distract themselves until the pizza arrives.


One of our favorite Mexican restaurants in the city also happens to be one of the most kid-friendly spots. The tacoarte platter for two people could probably feed three kindergarteners, and it’s a DIY operation - so the children can go nuts making their own tacos. The grown-ups can have their own fun with a plate of cheesy garlic butter shrimp tacos or some carne asada and a round of margaritas.


OK, Tapas Lab is a counter-service wine bar. But it’s actually a nice space to hang out with other adults and their younger dining companions. The tapas plates here are delicious - we like the chicken teriyaki skewers, bulgogi pinchos with parmesan cheese, and chorizo-stuffed meatballs, but there’s really something here for everyone. Best of luck setting a positive example for the kids by being a good sharer.


Stoneburner has a nice space that’s pretty loud and energetic - so use it to your advantage by pretending you can’t hear Max when he demands to have gummy bears for dinner again. Instead, order some delicious wood-fired pizzas ranging from a basic margherita to the spicy pie with pepperoni, pickled serrano, and honey. The pastas also tend to be a little bland, which is ideal for picky kids, if not their parents.


Kids love grilled chicken and bread. Especially eating them together. Which means that Cafe Munir, a middle eastern restaurant in Ballard, is a place they’re going to like. There are plenty of chicken kebabs and pita to go around, and if you have a bunch of people with you, they usually have reservations available if you call ahead. And everything on their menu, like steak, hummus, and labneh with beets, is all fantastic.


The excellent pizza at Independent Pizzeria is like a nice button-down shirt. You could dress it up with some accessories (or in this case, a bottle of red and some charcuterie), or keep things casual with sneakers and a pair of jeans (cider tall boys and caesar salads). If you have more than four people with you, be sure to shoot the restaurant an email in advance to reserve a table, as the cozy space fills up quickly.


Lady Jaye is a comfortable restaurant and cocktail bar in West Seattle that works surprisingly well for pulling together a big family dinner. They don’t have a kids menu, but most of their fun BBQ dishes are great for the young Lego architects at the table. Things like pulled pork croquettes, cream puffs filled with pimento cheese, and a smoked bologna sandwich that’s so good that you might end up arm-wrestling your toddler for it. If all else fails, they have great mac and cheese, which is the universal food for whining children (and adults, to be honest).


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