child friendly but nice in Venice?

[adorno]

We used to live in LA but left years ago and heven't followed the LA restaurant scene that much since. We're meeting up with friends in Venice tomorrow and we'd like a nice place but we'll also have two little kids (5 and 7) so we also need kid-friendly. Would Chaya Venice work? Is it still decent in quality? Any other ideas?

Thanks!

[cookie monster]

Not sure if either one qualifies as nice, but my favorite places to go with visiting children are 26 Beach (Washington and Lincoln) and La Vecchia (Main Street in SM, not Venice).

[wienermobile]

Family friendly Italian at C&O and salads and sandwiches at Lemonade

[quetzpalin]

I agree that those are family friendly, but not that they are 'nice'. C&O is funky, and maybe even kitschy and Lemon is maybe sleek, but essentially an upscale sandwich shop.

Hal's, again, is a good compromise. Definitely 'nice', and they have burgers as well as pizza.

[quetzpalin]

I'd agree with both responses so far. For a Monday evening, the question won't be the kid-friendliness of the restaurant, but whether or not the kids will eat the food, and how much you want to spend on them.

Gjelina and Tasting Kitchen won't blink if you show up with kids, but mine (same ages) would balk at the food, and likely prevent me from enjoying it, so I wouldn't take them there. You should check out the menus for anything you are thinking of.

There are three truly kid-friendly option in the area; M Street Kitchen is the "nicest". Admittedly, it's on the other end of Main St., in Santa Monica, but has a dedicated kids menu, which is free until 7pm. Wurstkuche and Pitfire Pizza are the other two places that are extremely kid friendly, but are more chic than nice, both in that modern industrial aesthetic. The food at all three is quite good considering the kid-friendliness, but definitely a step below the likes of Gjelina and Tasting Kitchen.

[TonyC]

You'd be surprised how "friendly" most places can be. Even Tasting Kitchen have highchairs. On a Monday night, most restaurants are pining for clienteles, big or little people.

[BSW6490]

Hal's would be a better choice.