Brooklyn Heights Wine Bar: A Place for Kids?

By on June 29, 2010 11:44 pm in Kids, Nightlife, Parents

Park Slope has a reputation as a neighborhood that’s almost too family friendly, to the extent that some “grown-up” restaurants have been asked to add a kids’ menu, and parents and their children are now welcome into bars. CNN.com even did a story on it back in March:

[A] 14-month-old toddler is the sort of barfly who’s at the center of a recurring and heated debate: Should parents be allowed to bring their babies and children to bars?
It is a question in Brooklyn, New York, that’s fired up online arguments, prompted unofficial protests and made outsiders giggle. And while the issue may not be exclusive to that area, it’s the stuff disputes are made of in what [the toddler’s] dad, Matt Gross, calls the kid-heavy “greater stroller zone” of Park Slope and its surrounding neighborhoods.

I’d read the online brouhaha on the topic but never come across it myself, until one Friday evening while with friends at the Brooklyn Heights Wine Bar—a large group of parents came in with babies and toddlers, and the staff even had high chairs to accommodate them all. After a second and then third wave of families arrived, we decided to go get desserts at Tazza and head to my friend’s roof deck. So I ask BHB readers because I’m clueless as to whether this is the norm or not—are many bars now expected to welcome kids? Or does it depend on the bar? Or the neighborhood? And are bars—even wine bars—great hangouts for kids?

Share this Story:

, ,

←  Older Comments
 →
  • BH Mom

    We recently learned that it is illegal for anyone under 21 to be served anything (including a glass of water) while seated at a bar, even if its in a restaurant (happened to us at Noodle Pudding).

    The going rate for babysitting is $10- $15 depending on how many kids you have. There are teens who sit in the neighborhood, but given the tough financial times, I don’t blame people for taking their kids along. Having a sitter can add an additional $50-$100 to an evening (not to mention taxi/car service home).

  • Ron

    I like kids…I like wine…just not in the same establishment.

  • William Spier

    So what. Millions of Irish and German kids from the mid 19th Century to the Depression grew up in, over, or next to a bar. It’s a bar, and one that serves a bit of food. Very unique.

    Kids do get bored in such places and moms and dads do have a responsibility to keep family decorum. If that is difficult, good sense is in order.

    There is too much self righteous lecturing on this blog.

  • Obama?

    The “Brooklyn Heights Wine Bar” despite its name, is a fine restaurant on the corner of Henry & Cranberry Streets. There are far more seats at tables for eating than there are seats for the rather cozy bar.

    This “banning of children” talk is arrogant yuppie nonsense.

  • hicks st guy

    re: babysitters. I don’t think it’s the expense, c’mon, we’re talking BH, but possibly the fact that parents are working, and they want to spend quality time with the kids when they get home, but in restaurants and bars, and to let the kids act in any manner? is it fair to impose, and for me to pay for the privilege?

  • Monty

    As a father to a toddler, I try to be considerate to other diners. I have taken her to Wine Bar for brunch and I took her outside when she was restless. Normally she is very well behaved at restaurants, but after 2-3 mimosas she can be a handful. Shame on less responsible parents!

  • sasha calegare

    PARENTS SHOULD NEVER EVER BRING THEIR KIDS TO BARS. It’s bad parenting, and extremely annoying to the other bar patrons.

  • my2cents

    After the 2nd or 3rd drink most children will sleep quite peacefully.

  • Peter

    The Hustler Club serves food too. I guess kids should be allowed there too?

  • Obama?

    It seems from some of the comments after mine, there are many adults that shouldn’t be in bars either!

    Do you people know how to read?

  • Cat

    hicks st. guy–Not everyone in BH is rolling in money (we certainly are not), nor does every family have two working parents. As BH Mom stated (and which you choose to ignore), babysitting adds up quickly.

    Actually we both spend a lot of time with our child, but we also like to go out as a family sometimes. We’ve tried to teach our 5 y.o. how to behave in a restaurant, and for the most part it works. We go early–6pm ish–and leave by the time you get there.

    I agree that parents have a responsibility to control their kids’ behavior in restaurants–any restaurant–whether it’s a bar or a kid-friendly restaurant (except maybe the Moxie Spot–but even at the Moxie Spot, parents are responsible for their kids behavior).

  • http://mybloodboils pj

    my blood boils when i am at an adult restaurant in the evening enjoying a drink and a nice meal and then a kid starts wailing and the parents pay no heed. i do not get angry at the kids, but at the self-absorbed parents who have not learned how to be civil toward the other patrons at the restaurant. when my kids were young, they were taught how to conduct themselves in restaurants and if they didn’t follow the protocol, we immediately withdrew. the absolute gall of parents who think it’s ok to expose their screaming kids to others in adult restaurants! they show their ignorance of social boundaries that are far worse than those of their innocent kids. if kids go wild in park or even on the streets, i can understand and commiserate, but for selfish parents to not respect their fellow adults in restaurants makes my blood boil.

  • nabeguy

    pj, don’t have a stroke (although I’ll admit that the sound of a screaming infant is enough to cause one). As a kid, I was schooled in the ways of proper restaurant etiquette by the restaurant management as well as my parents. Nothing put my siblings and I in our places as much as a walk-by from the manager questioning if “everything is okay”. IMHO, it behooves any restauranteur to guarantee the satisfaction of all their customers. Most of them would have no qualms about turning out a drunk and disorderly adult customer so why shouldn’t the same rules apply to the parents of a disruptive child?

←  Older Comments
 →