Any recommendations for where we can go with our rambunctious 3 year old, within about a 20 min drive of the Downers Grove/Darien/Westmont area? We highly prefer family-owned restaurants, but would consider a chain as well.
Thank you all for the great suggestions! I've definitely got enough to keep us busy for the next few months. I have tried All Aboard and my son loves it, so it's become our lunch date location :)
We like Uncle Bubs in Westmont, Claim Jumper in Lombard has a large kids menu and it's big, so noise does not travel as well, La Grange has many family owned restaurants....Palmer Place, Nickson's Eatery, Aurelio's...all very kid friendly.
We love All Aboard Diner, too.
Hi K.,
You can find all sorts of family-friendly restaurants in the Restaurants Section of www.kidwinks.com. You'll also find a Kids Eat Free Calendar there, where you can click on a day to find where kids eat free or enjoy some other sort of dining deal or entertainment on that day. You can use the advanced search option and even specify the type of cuisine you're looking for. If you become a member of kidwinks, which is free, you can sort any of your search results (including from the Kids Eat Free Calendar) in order of distance from your house. The mileage will display to each restaurant, so you can immediately see how far you need to drive. Kidwinks does not indicate if it's a family-owned restaurant (unless it's in the text description), but you can read reviews from other parents to see what their experience was. Make sure you're logged in (there's a box to check to "remember me" so you don't have to log in each time you visit kidwinks), otherwise the mileage will not display and you can't sort by distance.
Happy dining!
J.
The choo-choo restaurant Nicole is referring to is called All Aboard Diner and its located almost next door to Toys R Us at 75th St & Lemont. We've been taking our son there since he was two (he's five now) and he still loves it. It is a family owned place where the kids can sit at the counter and the train brings them their food...lots of fun!
Choo Choo restaurant in Downers Grove on 75th & Lemont. More for the kids, but it is ok food too.
Traverso's on Naperville-Plainfield Road in Naperville. At lunchtime and early evening many resturants in Downtown Naperville are kid/family friendly: Front Street Cantina and Tangerine are good. Colonial Cafe is south of downtown. I haven't gone with my kids but has a friend who swears by taking her son(he's 2) to Claim Jumper at Yorktown in Lombard.
Edited because I initially wrote Tango which is very NOT kid friendly!!
Try Giulianos in dowtown Hinsdale. The food is great, the pizza is awesome, and the tables are filled with families that have young children. We use them for catering as well.
