Finding Places Where Kids Eat Free – Five Resources

Eating out is too expensive for us to do it regularly. Some days, though, we just need a break from the norm. Maybe it’s my husband’s birthday or another special occasion. Whatever the reason is, going out to eat is always a nice treat for our family.

Although the point of dining out is always to have a nice time and enjoy a good meal, the treat doesn’t require us to forego all concerns about sticking to our budget. We still need to stretch our food dollars as much as possible. So, we’ve learned to look for ways to make dining out cheaper. My favorite is to visit restaurants that allow the kids to eat for free.

You do this, right? You find places that you can take the family where you won’t be charged for the kids. Zoos, movie theatres, and even theme parks often have a floor on the age of children that they charge for. Why shouldn’t you expect to find the same type of discounts on restaurants? If this is news to you, I can help you find these kid-friendly restaurants.

MyKidsEatFree.Com – I love visiting this site (and a few others like it) to look for new places to add to my list of restaurants where the kids can eat for free. At this site, you simply select your city and state from drop-down fields and you get access to restaurants in your city that have special children’s programs. You can even specify what day you’d like to eat out to make sure that the program is open for your special occasion.

Other Parents – Many of these special kids offers at restaurants aren’t really publicized. The best way to find out about them is to talk to other parents. Ask people in your church, at work, or even at your kids’ school.

Vacation Brochures – Sometimes restaurants will advertise their kids eat free programs in travel brochures in the hope of attracting visiting families to their establishment. Pick up brochures about your hometown to find specials in your neck of the woods. If you’re planning a vacation, don’t forget to look for specials in your destination city, too.

Frugal Family Forums – Many different forums give moms and other family members the opportunity to share their favorite frugal schemes with others. Check out the “Freebies” section in your favorite forum or type “kids eat free” into the forum’s search engine.

About.Com – When in doubt, simply typing “kids eat free” and your city’s name into About.com’s search engine will undoubtedly reveal a few of these types of specials in your neck of the woods. Just be sure to call and confirm that the program is still available before you visit them. The articles at About.com aren’t always recently updated.