(In the interest of helping Dublin, Ohio visitors find deals on kids meals and family friendly eateries, we are featuring a series of guest posts by Dawn Scheurle, creator of the popular site: www.kidseatout.com – “restaurant reviews from a mom’s point of view.”   This is part 2 in a 4 part series.  

As I mentioned before, there are so many things to consider when you are going out to eat with the kids. These include cost, nutritious options, convenience, value and ages of the kids (to name just a few).  I’ve compiled a list 12 of the best places to take your kids out to eat in the Dublin area. (I was going to do a top 10, but cutting the list down to 12 was hard enough!)  So, here are options #4-6, offering a little Italian flavor…

Bucca de Beppo. Buca di Beppo is a great choice for eating out with the family.  They treat the kids well, even taking them on a tour of the kitchen if they like!   The atmosphere is warm and busy enough to not worry about the kids being too loud.  They serve food family style in two sizes: Small feeds 2 – 3 people, Large feeds 4 – 6.  So if the kids like what you like, there is no need to order from the kids menu.  That being said, they do offer a kid’s menu with Italian choices (no chicken fingers, fries or hot dogs) that are very generous in size and a drink is included.  It’s also an ideal place to go if you have a large family or are celebrating a birthday or anniversary with extended family.  They take reservations and have lots of big tables. And, when you are passing the big food platters around, you can share multiple courses (including dessert). It’s a party! 

Olive Garden. Olive Garden is a family favorite. It seems to be a lot of people’s favorite given the lines we usually encounter!  The laid-back atmosphere and generous portions, the unlimited yummy salad and breadsticks, the killer lasagna, and the fact that mommy and daddy can have a glass of wine or Limoncello lemonade, make it worth the wait.  The kids menu is what you would expect at an Italian restaurant. Pizza, pasta, macaroni and cheese, plus chicken fingers with the option of broccoli instead of fries. Each meal comes with a drink in a take-home cup with a lid, and little diners are encouraged to share the grown-up’s salad and breadsticks.

Romano’s Macaroni Grill. They seriously love your kids.  Just the way they word their kids menu with things like ‘Filet of fish lightly crusted in-house’ and ‘Juicy, grilled chicken breast’ and ‘crisp salad’ lets you know kids aren’t an after-thought.  ‘Grilled Certified Angus Beef Kabobs with fresh broccoli’?  We’re impressed.  And it doesn’t stop there.  Along with an activity filled kids menu, the table are covered in paper so you can play tic-tac-toe with crayons, and they give the kids raw dough to play with to keep them occupied while they wait for their meals.  So sit back, relax, and enjoy the warm peasant bread and your glass of wine. There won’t be any arguing about choosing fries as a side over salad or broccoli either…. they don’t offer fries!   So you can feel okay about them finishing their meal with vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce for $.99!  All Kid’s items include a drink.

 So if you’re in the mood for a some Italian this week, give these places a try with your family.  Share with us what you think!  And stay tuned. We’re half way through with our list.  Six more of our favorite kid friendly restaurants more to go……… 🙂 

 -Guest post by Dawn Scheurle, creator of www.kidseatout.com