Baby friendly restaurants downtown?

[Tboy]

Hey all!

My sister is coming into town next week with her 5 month old baby girl awww!). She wants to eat out a few times...but I haven't got a clue where to take her, and baby!

Any recommendations for baby friendly restaurants in the downtown area? I live at College and Yonge. I'm looking for fairly cheap places, nothing fancy at all. I thought of the Old Spaghetti Factory, as I'm sure I read somewhere that its very "family friendly". Any other idea???

Thanks in advance! :)

[MeMeMe]

Anywhere with a change table, really. We took our little dude everywhere when he was a baby.

[chunkymonkeyboy]

It's been a while since this was posted, so I thought I'd ask. I'm also looking for baby-friendly restaurants and am trying to come up with a list of places that have diaper changing tables. Can anyone help? Thanks.

[hoagy294]

I hesitate to suggest it because I know the reaction it usually gets on these boards but the Pickle Barrel in the Atrium on Bay was a lifesaver for us when our son was a newborn. There is usually stroller space, the booths are so enormous you can nurse in privacy if you need to, and the staff are great about the babies.
If you want a trip to a different neighbourhood Pantheon on the Danforth at Chester was also very accepting of having a 5 month old in the restaurant and Ten Feet Tall at Danforth and Greenwood has LOTS of stroller space and a full change table in the women's washroom.

[thought_for_food]

For good coffee and treats as well as a somewhat limited but (I hear) very tasty brunch, there is also The Niche on the Danforth a bit east of Monarch Park. They too have lots of stroller room and change tables in the bathrooms. I've spent hours in there with my three-month-old baby and have never felt anything but welcome.

[TwinklyTerrapin]

When I had dinner at Lil' Baci on Queen, in Leslieville, the other week, there were loads of babies and kids (and one butterfly fairy) and the staff were were accomodating and baby-attentive; also, the food was very good.

[julesrules]

www.weewelcome.ca has some info on places that welcome babies, provide change tables etc. But I agree they are very portable at that age and most restaurants are welcoming.

[cecilia]

When my son was 5 months old, we took him everywhere (ethnic, steakhouse, chain, neighbourhood restaurants). He just stayed in his car seat. As long as we made sure that he has milk and a toy, he was fine. 5-months old generally don't do very much. You can really take him to most restaurants.

The problem we had was that some places don't like it when you go in with a stroller. When we had just the car seat, we just put the car seat on a chair. When we took the stroller, we needed to make sure we can get the stroller inside and at the table.

[JamieK]

I agree, Old Spaghetti Factory is kid friendly but the food isn't worth it, especially because a 5-mo old wouldn't appreciate the kid factor.

If you're willing to go as far as the Esplanade, I'd say The Keg on Church is a better bet.
http://en.kegsteakhouse.com/locations/Ontario/Toronto/Church_Street_Keg

Closer to your neighbourhood, the Delta Chelsea bills itself as a family friendly hotel. You might check out their restaurant or dining rooms.
http://www4.deltahotels.com/hotels/ho...

[tinybites]

Terroni (Queen W) seems to always have a few families dining there, including those with little wee babies.

[Otonabee]

There have actually been a couple of discussions on the board on this one but one of my suggestions is Romania Mia on Front Street (even has quite a nice change table in the washroom!!) Excellent food and they are really very good with kids. Old Spaghetti Factory IS kid friendly buuuut that is about it. The food is mediocre really.

The good thing that I found is that when the kids are pretty small you can go almost anywhere!

[Tboy]

I think I'll check out Romania Mia....yes I'm sure the food has got to be better that the Spag Factory :p