Six Adults and Two kids

[WaiterEater]

Looking for a place for this Sunday in the Saint Paul Area. Big time lover of University Avenue Asian but wouldnt mind something a little more kid friendly and with some atmosphere. Any Suggestions..

[WaiterEater]

Thanks for the info everyone. I am new to the board but a long time reader. Lil Szechuan came to mind but honestly after wanting to love it and trying it three times and always leaving sadly disapointed I`m hopeing to venture somewhere new.I love HoBien on Lex and Univ but the atmosphere is surely lacking. I`ll let you all know where we end up.

[soupkitten]

have you tried ngon? if your kids are vaguely adventurous or like vietnamese food already, they might like many of the dishes there, the pho is big enough to feed 3 rugrats (i suggest the handmade meatball pho), the atmosphere is nice and airy for the adults and there is a nice (local) beer & wine list. if you didn't dig little szechuan, you might prefer tea house II. though it's located in a strip mall, once you get inside the atmosphere is very nice. kids would probably think the dark wood decor is pretty cool. tanpopo is a great rec in general, but they are closed on sundays.

[The Dairy Queen]

I haven't been to Ngon on a Sunday, but last I looked at their website, they had a note saying "Now Open Sundays."

Perhaps it's worth a call to see if they are indeed open on Sundays?

http://www.ngonbistro.com/

~TDQ

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh, sorry if this board steered you to Little Szechuan and you were disappointed. May I ask what you didn't like about it?

Also, if you were unhappy with L.S. have you tried Tea House II to see if that would meet your expectations (for Szechuan in general, not necessarily for Sunday, although, it might not be a bad choice for Sunday? Nice atmosphere--good chow. They could accomodate groups, though, I don't remember seeing a lot of children there. They do dim sum on weekends (not with the roving carts, off the menu only...)

~TDQ

[soupkitten]

TDQ have you had the dim sum at tea house II? how does it rate?

[Foureyes137]

Just a note up front as it looks like you are new to the boards; you will get more responses if you note "MSP" in the title of your post (since this board covers the entire Midwest).

On all of the four occasions we have been to Little Szechuan, there have been kids in the dining room, so this is definitely a good option. Not sure what you mean by atmosphere, but we like Muffaletta in St Paul and it appears to be kid friendly. Others: D'Amico & Sons, Italian Pie Shoppe...Pazzaluna has pizzas, so kids may dig that. We went to a graduation party at Happy Gnome and the kids there seemed to be eating...

[The Dairy Queen]

I like the Italian Pie Shoppe--it's on Grand Ave there, but, the two best features (I think) of the Happy Gnome are the patio and the beer list. The chow I would steer folks away from.

Also, there's always the Shamrock (the "Irish Nook" on West 7th) for burgers, lucys and fries--they have more room to accomodate groups than the original Nook.

~TDQ

[MSPD]

Funny, when you say kid friendly and "some" atmosphere, University Ave Asian comes to the fore in my mind. Why not Little Szechuan for that? Though I haven't had all my kids in there, I would equate it to Grand Shanghai, where I've gone with 6 adults and 5 kids with no problems.

How about Saji-Ya for teppanyaki or Sakura for sushi?

Everest on Grand? 128 Cafe (maybe not the "atmosphere" you had in mind)?

Am I traveling down the right path?

[The Dairy Queen]

I'm totally with you, MSPD, that Little Szechuan is a good fit, which is why I thought he might be looking for brunch? I immediately thought of Little Szechuan--as you say, there is usually a child or two there, and they handle groups well. I think the atmosphere is lively.

I've seen kids at Everest often--they seem to just love those momos (as do I). But, I never thought of it as a good place for groups, but maybe I'm misjudging the size of the place.

Also in St. Paul, not the best chow, but Mai Village a few doors down has the Koi pond, which kids are fascinated by. They serve (quite average, alas) dim sum on weekend mornings, which I think is very child and group friendly. So, if the OP means Sunday MORNINGish that can be quite fun.

~TDQ

[The Dairy Queen]

Curious--which meal are you interested in, brunch, dinner...? A couple of the places I thought as being nice for groups and with some atmosphere (Tanpopo, Jay's Cafe) aren't open for dinner on Sundays...so I was going to wrack my brain, then realized I wasn't sure if I should be thinking of a breakfast place or dinner place or what?

~TDQ