PHX - Family-Friendly Restaurants?

[dmctexas]

We'll be visiting Phoenix beginning next Saturday and are looking for family-friendly restaurants to enjoy with our toddler son. We'd like to explore local options - no chain restaurants, please.

We'll be staying in the Chandler area but are willing to travel for good food. We'll be eating out all meals so breakfast, as well as lunch and dinner places, are welcome.

One more thing - no seafood restaurants. Thanks so much for your help!

[ipsedixit]

Not sure what your definition of "family-friendly" is, but a place I think the kids might get a kick out of is Chino-Bandido. A new location just opened up in Chandler.

http://chinobandido.com/

Kid-friendly food (sloppy, gooey Mexican and Chinese) that is unique to Phoenix.

Enjoy your stay.

[johnseberg]

The Chino Bandido location in the area of Dobson and Chandler Blvd has been open a good three years, AFAIK. Maybe it closed and reopened? Or is there another Chandler location?

[silverbear]

The Web site is out of date. The Chandler location has indeed been open for several years. It would be good with kids.

-----
Chino Bandido
1825 W Chandler Blvd Ste 2, Chandler, AZ 85224

[ccl1111]

Chino definitely good for kids there. Big space. Not fancy. Order at counter. Tables are the plastic long folding table type. Very casual. No worries about kids with noise there either.

[yamalam]

Long list of East Valley places...
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/549280

[silverbear]

A few questions:

What does family-friendly mean to you? For me it means high chair and boosters available and a reasonably casual environment. It also helps if the restaurant is noisy so that an occasional random shriek gets lots in the din. For others, it means crayons on the table and a separate children's menu. Those elements don't matter much to me because I've always got crayons and toys in my daddy backpack. As for kid's menus, I appreciate the lower prices, but often I'd rather share adult dishes with the toddler and broaden her horizons.

You've said you're staying in Chandler, but will there be activities for you in other parts of town? The Phoenix Metro area is so huge that it would be hard to come up with one list that would serve all your needs.

Here are some recent threads about dining with kids and centered around Paradise Valley and northeast Phoenix, respectively:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/594940

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/596072

Here's a thread about breakfast in Chandler:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/599927

I live about 25 miles from Chandler, so I don't claim much expertise, but I can think of a few interesting places in Chandler and southern Tempe:

-- Lee's Sandwiches -- Vietnamese style sandwiches
-- Pita Jungle -- Mediterranean influenced healthful food
-- Sushi Eye -- lots of seafood of course, but many good noodle dishes as well
-- Efes -- Turkish food
-- Macs -- basic burger and brew place, but very good at what it does; located in the same shopping center as Efes along with some interesting resale stores for books and CDs
-- Kabab Palace -- Afghan food

I've either brought a toddler or observed others do the same at all the places named above.

-----
Sushi Eye
780 W Elliot Rd, Tempe, AZ 85284

Pita Jungle
1949 W Ray Rd Ste 28, Chandler, AZ 85224

Kabab Palace
710 W Elliot Rd, Tempe, AZ

Mac's Broiler & Tap
6430 S McClintock Dr, Tempe, AZ 85283

Efes Turkish Cuisine
1701 E Guadalupe Rd, Tempe, AZ 85283

Lee Sandwiches
1901 W Warner Rd Ste 1, Chandler, AZ 85224

[avandelay]

I have been seeing more and more kids at NOCA, especially on Sundays. Pita Jungle is definitely kid friendly. Corbin's and Chelsea's Kitcjen are both basic American food, nothing spectacular but pretty good for what they are. I would also say that all the "hole-in-the-wall" Mexican places around town are almost certainly kid-friendly. The one I know bext, El Bravo, certainly is.