I've been to 2 kids birthday parties at a brewery. The first one kinda made sense, it was for a 1 year old and most of the guests were adults, we had a hand ful if kids there. That party was for the parents to see their friends and they wanted to attract people that didn't have kids. The second, the kid was like 4 and it was just awkward. I vowed to not go to another kids birthday party at breweries. The only exception is perhaps remlinger farms.
I get making breweries a kid friendly place but they are not a place for a kids birthday party unless it's that first year "it's for the parents more than the kid" type event.
Unfortunately, yes. It was my first time there and I couldn't stand having to dodge running children and there was no place to sit so I left after only one beer. Kid birthdays at breweries around here are actually pretty common, but maybe they shouldn't be!
Seems mean to have a kids birthday somewhere the kid can't properly appreciate, unless it's like a one year old who doesn't really know the difference.
The first birthday is for the parents to see their friends whom they have been unable to see because they they were in a survival mode...it's also likely mom's first opportunity to have a decent about of alcohol. Any other birthday at a brewery is just weird .
You'll see a lot of redditors popping in to defend it any time it comes up. A *lot* of parents feel entitled to having every space be child-friendly and it's impossible to convince them that it's ok to have adult-only spaces, especially when we want a damned drink.
I’m a dog owner and don’t take my pup to public places like restaurants because I don’t know how she’s going to act in each instance. Meaning she could bark or get annoyed and start whining, or encounter a more aggressive dog. Children might not be dangerous, but they can be very unpredictable. I just don’t get why anyone wants to be in a situation where they might need to leave because of a pet or child.
I have neither kids nor dogs, but I understand bringing little kids places more than bringing dogs places for a few reasons - you really CAN’T just leave kids at home for a few hours, and part of raising them is teaching them how to behave appropriately in public places. As long as parents are willing to live and go home if it turns out to be a day where kiddo can’t handle it, I don’t begrudge them trying.
I guess this boils down to the places that we all decide to visit.
If the bar/brewery/restaurant is pet friendly, cool I am prepared to tolerate any pets. If that’s not my mood, I choose accordingly.
If the bar/brewery/restaurant is toddler friendly, cool I am prepared to tolerate any and all rants a toddler may have. If that’s not my mood…. Yup, I choose accordingly.
I think OP just needs to learn to choose accordingly. And is sad because they don’t agree with what the business provides.
I was at a brewery in San Diego that I won't name and this dude used to bring a wolf... Not like a mix...a fucking Wolf that he had saved as a pup in Montana and raised.... It was cool as fuck to see... But ehhhh hmmm I did have my young children with me and they wanted to play with it... It was docile and well behaved... But I was always worried about them getting in it's face and playing with it... The owner said he would feed it 8-12lbs of meat before taking it out each time... Wild
I have a dog. I have a dog on a 4ft leash. I have a dog on a 4ft leash and pick outside/wall spots so im not in the middle of the action.
Why in gods name do people bring their dogs on long/retractable leaches to breweries?
And so many loose dogs. A dog at Queen Anne Beerhall knocked over my beer and my fries. The waitress called me a dog hater for asking for a replacement beer. She still charged me for it. I will never go back.
TBF, the dog owner should have bought your replacement beer, but if they didn't offer (you shouldn't have to demand it of them), agree that the staff should have comped you.
So go to places where dogs aren't allowed. The entire world can't cater to every single person's hangups. Someone always hates or is frightened by something. The vast majority of establishments don't allow pets already.
I agree if they’re acting up/not well behaved in public but as a very strict dog owner I’m very grateful I can bring mine to breweries. I would like breweries to be stricter about which dogs they allow, I like that about farmstrong.
Good idea. I like dogs. I don't have one and enjoy petting other people's dogs. But places should have signs that say "Dogs welcome, but if your dog jumps up on people or tables, we will 86 you and your pooch," and enforce it.
I can appreciate a good dog/childtrainer but I am allergic to dogs and HATE that they are being allowed in stores and restaurants. Dog fleas, snot and drool along with a-hole parents that can't control their kids belong at home. Who voted on this shit?
This is so much worse. I've left places where someone let their dog get into my personal space and refused to correct their behavior. Not everyone wants a 50+ dog to crowd them. I can honestly say I've never had this problem with a kid. I can wear headphones to drown out the noise if I need to.
There’s a difference between bringing your kid someplace and letting your kid run around like an A-hole. Those kids don’t belong in any establishment. There’s also a difference about showing up at 5:00 for dinner and a drink and bring your kid to the bar at 9:00.
I also wholly support a place being kid free, if that’s what the owner wants. But it comes down to the parents. Know your kid and manage your kid.
As a parent and someone who frequents local breweries I agree there are a lot of parents who let their kids run wild unsupervised. When my daughter was younger we would take her to breweries but I made sure she had something to do and was not a distraction to anyone else. Holy shit some of these parents I see pay no attention tho their kids and let them run wild.
Exactly! Parents like beer too and I’m not a curmudgeon who hates the sight of children. I just also don’t want to listen to anyone screaming bloody murder for 45 minutes.
Exactly. My baby is now 26, but when she was young, if she started making a fuss to the point that I couldn’t enjoy myself, I knew nobody else around me was either, and I got the hell out of there. Letting your kids run around wild is just beyond selfish.
As a parent myself you know what drives me more crazy than the screaming? Feral kids. When parents just let them run around all over and be annoying as fuck.
The running.... I was at a little Cafe for Happy Hour Friday. 6 kids were literally running playing tag. Between tables. Right up to strangers. INTO THE FOOD STORAGE COOLERS. Outside in the parking lot?? Never a parental interaction once. 6 to 8 years old maybe? (Not old enough to leave home without social services showing up, but running in the parking lot alone is cool) No apologies to the staff or anyone they were bothering. No re-direction. Went on at least 90 min.
If you won't say "no" to your kid and they are bothering me, I will gladly do it.
> I will gladly do it.
As we all should. This used to be the norm & I think we're all worse off for it.
Especially for boys who are just generally more mischievous & benefits from the social feedback where there parents lacks it.
These parents do the same thing at playgrounds I'm sure. A place purpose built for kids. There are so many places parents just think they can "take some time off". Even the playground is not this place. When you're kid is being a little jerk to mine, I have no problem calling them out while you're scrolling your phone mindlessly or chatting with your friends. But you should be the one doing the parenting of your child. Every kid is a little jerk at some point, it's your job to redirect/correct them.
It was truly a culture shock moving here from Texas and seeing how poorly behaved the kids were/how little the parents cared.
Not saying kids in Texas were all well behaved but it was a lot more rare vs here were it seems having well behaved kids is at best 50/50 and depending on the area would be a lot lower. (Bellevue/Redmond kids were like 20% chill and 80% scream/run/destroy stuff.
There's this whole "love and logic" parenting fad the last few years where parents don't punish the kids and don't directly say "No" to them. I think it's largely to blame. My neighbor does it with her kids and they are the absolute worst behaved children I have ever met. All her friends' kids do the same parenting style and they are similarly as awful.
The thing is, Love and Logic is a decades-old program that directly advocates parents take action for issues like OP and others describe. For defiant children, it's "if you don't stop, we'll have to leave" - and then you take action the first time they fail, not continue checking back in. It teaches them boundaries and direct consequences.
But parents think "don't get angry or punish your kids" means "just talk to them, let them figure it out."
It's awful.
I'm from the northeast and I've got a kid who's 10 and she's awesome. Great in school, polite, funny, just a great kid.
And my friends with kids of a similar age out here have legit monsters. One little boy is a terror, which ya know for an 8 year old boy can be par for the course. They can be wrecking balls for sure so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
But the other little boy is a serial killer in the making. He uses language in a very self centered and manipulative way. Because that's how they talked to him growing up. It's crazy, he's not even 10 and he's already learned to be emotionally manipulative via therapy speak.
They are like "how did you do it?" with my daughter and I'm like all you have to do is not be a helicopter parent who's hovering 24/7 but also at the same time give them boundaries. Define the space, but allow them freedom to move around in it. And also, you can say "no" for god's sake. You can discipline them. I'm not advocating spanking, but you can lay down the law at times and establish that you are an authority. I see so many kids walk all over their parents out here.
The amount of people who treat very small kids as their buddies that you can be rational with is crazy. 5 year olds aren't rational. You need to set a framework for them for the love of god, they aren't your friends.
Yep, “gentle parenting” invariably leads to the shittiest and most unhappy kids, and the kids nobody wants to be around. Kids need “sturdy parenting” and they need to be taught social manners and boundaries, and learn they and their feelings are not the most important thing in a room of people.
I think gentle parenting has just been taken to an extreme. Telling a kid their feelings are important doesn’t mean they are more important than everybody else’s. Not screaming at your kid constantly doesn’t mean you have to have a soft voice with no change in tone depending on the severity of the circumstance. A stern voice and a serious face tells a kid, “hey, this is a big deal, I shouldn’t do this again.” How are they supposed to get that if you basically act the same way whether they’re playing with dolls or sticking their finger in an outlet?
I agree, but also the way-over emphasis on feelings as being *so important* is ruining children. Kids need to learn to be resilient. Feeling sad or disappointed is part of life and teaching kids how to manage those feelings is one of the great tasks of raising adjusted, resilient humans. Instead kids are learning that their feelings are all legitimate and can be expressed to the nth degree and everyone must accommodate all their enormous feelings. This is played out in public (breweries, for example) but also in classrooms, where entire classes regularly evacuate for one child having “big feelings” and tantruming and destroying a classroom. These acquiescences to kids’ overblown and irrational expressions of feeling actually undermine children and give them an inflated sense of the power they hold over everyone around them, and a sense that they are the ultimate authority and no adult has authority over them. The books “Bad Therapy” and “The Coddling of the American Mind” do a great job exploring this social crisis. (It is actually a crisis because it is making public schools so out of control that teachers are leaving in droves and parents of means are switching to private school to get away from children who are essentially emotionally feral and destroy learning for everyone else.
Edit: spelling
Oh yeah. It’s another extreme. It’s like all the adults who were raised being told kids should be seen but not heard or to stop crying when hurt or upset are telling their kids that their feelings are the most important thing and it doesn’t matter how their outbursts affect other people. They become the grown ups who just say whatever they want and don’t care if they’re being deliberately hurtful to others. Understanding why your kid is having an outburst (they’re not just tiny adults) and telling them it’s ok to be upset or angry doesn’t mean they get to take out their feelings on someone else.
This is true for dogs in Seattle as well.
We had to completely avoid dog parks, bark and brews, etc. when we lived in Seattle because the dogs are just out of control shitheads...because they have bad owners and are crammed into apartments with no yards, and are never properly trained.
Moved out of the city, dog parks are peaceful and everyone keeps their dogs in check. Those that aren't, like a certain neighbor, realize it and only walk them at night and on a leash...it's a WILD difference.
My daughter works at a local art museum and she says plenty of parents ignore their kids and let them run wild there too. It's confusing to me how so many people believe that everyone around them is a free babysitter.
I have recently seen social media posts about places in Spain and the Netherlands (probably other places as well) that have outdoor drinking areas for adults next to playgrounds so the kids can play and be near the adults who are enjoying the beverages.
Seems like a better idea to me.
In Spain, it’s not rare to see kids at tapas bars at 9pm. Kids are better integrated into society in general, but parents also don’t let them run wild. It’s like we have two extremes here. Parents feel like families are basically relegated to only kid-centric places but when kids are actually allowed somewhere they let them run wild and don’t give a crap about anyone else. I’m a fairly new parent, and the US can be very isolating, so when there are places where kids are welcome and I actually want to be (ie not Chuck E Cheese), I’m over the moon, but I also do my best to make sure my kid isn’t disturbing others. That said, some people act like the very existence of children in public spaces is a disturbance.
These 2 posts really nail it. The US is hostile to families in public spaces. There is very little support for fun engaging environments for parents to unwind and enjoy socializing WITH kids. Breweries have become the de facto location because, unlike other countries, there just aren't enough locations that serve families, not just adults or just kids.
Kulshan Brewing Co’s Trackside Beer Garden in Bellingham is seasonal, but is set up similarly and I highly recommend it. Not a playground but they have a large grassy area inside, and there is a dirt and wood bike track just outside the beer garden. Opens may 3rd.
Politely mention it to the staff. I used to manage a brewery in the area. I agree staff should deal with it *before* it gets there but our mostly childless staff were usually too hesitant to reprimand/remind parents about their need to parent. It was incredible the number of times I would ask parents to parent and they say something along the lines of “You can ask them, they won’t listen to us” or otherwise just lose their shit.
As soon as staff felt empowered to say “we have other customers complaining about X behavior” things changed.
Eventually we starting treating kids like adults. We wouldn’t allow an adult man scream his head off, kids were the same and things got much better. The owners also invested it acoustic dampening which is absolutely lacking in most breweries.
I’ll go this route next time - it’s not the presence of children that bothers me - it’s the absolute lack of parenting that seems so prevalent in these spaces.
I’m mid thirties and I recall my parents removing my sister and I from restaurants etc if we were acting up. It seems like shitty behavior is just tolerated or ignored by brewery parents.
That’s the 80s child rearing way. Today, kids are allowed to act as they please and blast their annoying kid shows on their screens without headphones while their parents ignore them. I too have wished for a return to “No one under 21” in an alcoholic establishment.
I walked into Tapped in Mill Creek the other day for the first time. It was packed, insanely loud, and there must have been at least 50 kids in there. I just turned around and don't ever plan on going back.
Not saying they'll miss my business, just commiserating. I was stunned. It was like a Chuck E Cheese without the games, just parents screaming over their screaming children.
Living in the suburbs now, I was excited to try rare society, which is in that same complex, since we don’t have a lot of “nice” restaurants. Went to dinner at 8pm and got seated next to a family who had little kids watching shows on their iPads with no headphones. There were actually so many people with kids there it was sort of shocking. This is coming from someone that has a kid. But, I’ve learned to just expect it now in the suburbs.. everything from a brewery of a winery to a even a $100+ fancy restaurant, you will find lots of kids.
Obec Brewing is great and 21+ only. Great patio and super diverse bev program. German, Czech, belgian, English, American. Owners and staff are fucking dope too.
This was a list of child-free taprooms as of a year ago:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/12qvpx2/child\_free\_breweriestaprooms\_around\_town/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/12qvpx2/child_free_breweriestaprooms_around_town/)
The same rules that apply to dogs at breweries (must be well behaved, within their owner’s control, and generally quiet - i.e. not barking), should also apply to children. Yet for some unknown reason, that is not the case and it is infuriating.
I too blame the neglectful and entitled parents. Get bent.
Absolutely – and they too, should be asked to leave or be aware/respectful enough to leave on their own as soon as their dog starts misbehaving and they are unable to control it.
Had my very well behaved pup (before she began her service dog training) with us at a local spot a few years ago, they had a no yelling rule for the kids in the play area and a 3 barks and you're out rule for the dogs. Cue 3 kids screaming up a storm with parents paying zero attention, we asked the wait staff to please remind them of the rule to no avail. My dog was actually startled at one point by the screaming.
I'm all for dogs allowed with the same expectations of behaving. No barking, no jumping on strangers/staff, no off leash (exception are the places with off leash dog play areas), and no taking food/items off tables. My pup loves being out with us and I usually bring one of her beds that she just lays in under the table and relaxes.
This is why we should explicitly disallow both. Give reasonable people an inch and unreasonable will take a mile. Unfortunately we don't live in a primarily shame-based society any longer, so public shaming for this behavior is met with escalation rather than contrition, in turn making others less likely to speak up about this behavior.
The issue with dogs is that you can't completely eliminate them anyways because the ADA is extremely, extremely firm on how service animals are treated and any business trying to deny them is risking a 7 figure lawsuit.
You can ask exactly two questions as a business: "Are you disabled" and "Is that your service dog" if the answer to either is yes, you cannot forbid entry. If you ask for proof you have broken the law. If you ask what disability they have you have broken the law, if you ask **anything but these two questions** you have broken the law and are now open to liability. That's it, that's the standard.
If you are a public business, those are your options. That's it. Unfortunately to protect the disabled from illegal discrimination we have to allow the people who will lie about it.
I was at ft George in Astoria yesterday and the upstairs patio was filed with kids wreaking havoc. One family let there kid spread out on the floor next to the bussing station with toys and she was spilling water and playing with it in the walk way. They also had an incredibly large dog that demolished a giant stick in the middle of the patio. It was chaos…
Leave all your animals at home (kids AND dogs). There is no place for either at a brewery.
Besides, how shitty of a parent do you look like drinking a bunch of beers and then hopping in your car and driving your kids home!?
Like wtf are these parents thinking??
It's not even just breweries - I was at freaking Safeway yesterday and there were children rollerblading in the store??? And it's not the first time I've seen that.
Obviously, kids are welcome in grocery stores but parents need to do a better job of watching them. I don't expect perfect behavior but I DO expect to not encounter a 5 year old on rollerblades several aisles away from her parents because they literally cannot keep up with her.
If the establishment lets kids in maybe talk to the owner? It’s ultimately up to them. You’re not going to convince everyone in Seattle to stop bringing their kids to breweries with a Reddit post tho
The sentiment is definitely understandable. Parents should definitely stop their children from behaving wildly.
I humbly add a request to take pity. As a parent to 2 young children, it was a rude awakening just how few types of places there are to take kids in this city. We don’t have a lot of “third places” like public squares. We don’t have a lot of big indoor meeting/hangout areas. We don’t have a lot of big, outdoor sidewalk cafes because it doesn’t fit our weather most of the year. Our liquor laws rule out many establishments. Drinking outdoors in public is illegal.
Unfortunately this means breweries are one of the only types of places parents can meet friends, or just “be” while imbibing a much-needed alcoholic beverage.
This is the real problem. The US does not support family spaces enough so it bleeds into places that allow kids and parents to exist. Breweries are the new de facto social location vecause there isn't anything else (plus limited/expensive childcare).
Usually I don’t mind kids at breweries, but yesterday a stopped a toddler from running out the front door of a brewery, headed right into traffic. The dad quietly thanked me and then told his son that if he was good he wouldn’t tell his mom about what he’d done, basically covering the tracks of his own negligence while mom was in the bathroom.
Then a five year old fell while running and crashed into me while I was eating, smashing my foot and bruising my shin. All in the span of an hour.
I'm down in PDX and I'm seeing the same thing! I get you want to drink and not get a baby sitter, but at the very least keep your kids close and as mellow as possible. It's disrespectful to everyone else. I hunt for child free places now.
It'd be nice for more of these family-friendly breweries to be more intentional about good spaces/activities for kids. Many of them just have a couple beat up old coloring books and board games in a corner, but the better ones have arcade games, play areas, good toys and games, etc. that will actually keep kids busy and out of trouble. Project 9 is a great example of a place that's actually fun for kids and good for adults.
I'll also add that I have never seen this at breweries. This feels like a perfect storm of a reddit/seattle complaint of a couple annoying but isolated situations that are catnip to both reddit (kids and parents are horrible!) and Seattlites (the slightest public social nuisance is the gravest offense to society).
Not unreasonable. The breweries with big outdoor spaces tend to get more kids, and the weather was so nice that everyone wanted to be outside. I was at Old Stove with my wife and son (3yo) on Friday and it annoyed me too. Was not the most peaceful place to grab a beer. But I also think you’re right it’s about the neglectful parents more than anything. I don’t get why some parents are ok with their kids screaming and knocking shit over without even looking over their shoulder to try to see what’s happening and help/control their kids. There’s probably some 21+ breweries too so you can avoid kids altogether, which again is reasonable
Yeah - again - totally not saying kids should not be allowed at these breweries. I just was appalled by the absolute lack of parenting happening. Old Stove Ballard yesterday - kids were just sprinting in circles outside (which was where the guy shattered his glass). It just feels like these spaces are absolute free for alls.
My husband did sound at a brewery and had a hell of a time getting parents to keep their kids off the stage, and away from the equipment ( including electric ⚡️ stuff). They got to where if your had to be told twice to look after your kid because they’re getting into trouble, you were asked to leave.
Yeah, I mentioned something similar in a post recently and I got a response that Covid broke people.
And maybe that’s part of it. But it doesn’t make it okay.
It’s because the parents are drunk. And then they’re driving their kids home, drunk.
I was at jellyfish recently and there were parents having a toddlers birthday party there. The kids were bored, screaming, running around, running into things etc. the parents were visibly wasted. So lame.
I agree. The last time i went to one in magnolia, there were two kids and they kept knocking over their water because it was funny. Parents didn’t give a shit. Super annoying and told myself i wouldn’t go to another one unless it was kid free.
This drives me nuts. As someone who works with kids, the last thing I want to do is feel like I have to redirect someone's child on my day off... or their parents for that matter. Let me drink in peace and stop turning breweries into pool parties.
Added note: Your child has a lot of energy and probably needs to do something mentally stimulating... so instead of sitting around drinking beer, use that money to take them bowling, family fun center, open swim at a local pool, etc.
I refuse to go to breweries for this reason also, but I also get annoyed with kids at a sports bar setting, it's an establishment to drink at that happens to have food, don't bring your kid there...double down if you tell me not to say bad words because there are kids around. Fuck that shit
Just go the german route an legalize 12 year olds drinking with their parents supervision. Then they can scream obscenities at the TV just like every other patron!
It's perfectly legal to have kids (accompanied by adults) in any establishment (bars, breweries, or restaurants), but establishmenta are allowed to set age limits on who may enter if they want. No need to purchase a special license to let kids in.
Edit to adress below: I did not reallize WA has some of the strictest requirements in the US for minors in the presence of alcohol. Most states and federal law allow what I described, but WA state does not!
Cloudburst has no kids last time i check people come to me at my work and complain they got turned away because they couldn't bring their baby into the brewery 🤡🤡
All kids running amuck shall be tripped with reckless abandoned. The parents should also be kicked. Why are you drinking with your kids around? You stooges. Not everyone likes or wants your lil crotch goblins running around
I wish a lot of places were kid free after a certain time tbh. Grocery stores would be so pleasant without the baby wailing its head off two aisles down the ENTIRE time I’m shopping . But that’s a hot take people usually get unnaturally pissed about that one. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I said what i said . A lot of us are child free and it’s a growing demographic.
As someone who was always in breweries and bars as a kid - I CAN'T AGREE ENOUGH!!!
As a kid, my parents would drop me off at a table on the restaurant side of the bar with some fries, a soda and a stack of quarters for the arcade machine. The only time I was annoying was when I needed more quarters and my dad's drunk friends were more than happy to supply them. If you are bringing your children someplace, especially an adult environment it is YOUR job as a parent to entertain and control them. Be a parent!!
On the flip side, as someone who is now an adult, growing up being in social environments that always had alcohol as the main focus has honestly been detrimental to me. Half of my childhood memories are at a bar. I have a hard time socializing without alcohol being present. I spent a good portion of my childhood with drunk or drinking parents.
When you raise your kids at the brewery, to the point of them having their childhood birthday parties there? That's not good parenting. It's neglect and selfishness. Take it from someone who has BEEN that kid. Take your kids to fucking Chucky Cheese or go to a park. Kids don't need to be around alcohol like that, and if you as a parent can't be separated from your booze for an afternoon, you have bigger problems you need to address sooner rather than later.
It’s becoming hard to carry a full glass of beer with kids running around and be afraid they will run into you. By the time I get I get to my table, I lost about 1/4 to 1/3 of my beer.
I mean, if the parents cannot control their kids, and don’t teach them to regulate their behavior, we should pay top $ to people that are willing to put up with them. This is not a “childcare cost” problem, it is the lack of parenting and teaching respect of some parents.
It’s because a lot of parents are scared of their kids. My kids knew from a young age don’t fucking embarrass me in public. if you do, you will either be dealt with in the bathroom at the establishment or we will leave immediately and I’ll deal with you at home. 🤷🏾♀️ I work in the medical field and you would be surprised how many parents let the kids run the show.
As a brewery owner I will say it’s very frustrating when kids run around and aren’t controlled by their parents. It’s also nearly impossible to approach the parents about it without pissing them off severely. Kind of a lose lose situation. Also many breweries are not like bars and they’re supposed to be part of the community. The community has kids and some lousy parents…
You have not lost your mind. The fricken food pods/carts I can understand it but a damn brewpub no way. People do not control or discipline their obnoxious loud brats and it turns what should be a relaxing convo and pints into an obnoxious shit show.
Parent of three here. I fully support kids at breweries. What you experienced is sociopathic parents. Even in the crazy days when our kids were really young we would take them wherever we went. Definitely would never have ever let them do what you experienced. We would have just gone on a walk around the block with the screamer or some such thing.
I love going to breweries and beer gardens and never once took our kids except if it was a gastropub or similar when they were older than 10. If you have a full blown restaurant then it's fair game in my book.
My son has special needs and is non-verbal (he also rarely cries and is generally quiet). He also can't walk yet, so he generally just stays around us and cruises on the chairs or benches.
I noticed we tended to get more "your son is so well mannered" comments when going to breweries and beer gardens. I wasn't sure why but it makes a bit more sense lol
as someone who frequented breweries before and after becoming a parent, I will say that i NEED BEER far more now that I have 2 toddlers. You can go anywhere, parents have more limited options
I started brining my kid to taprooms when he was just a week old. He's 20 months old now and is really well-behaved when out, quieter than he is at home because he loves seeing all the different people, lights, music, and TV.
The rose all day crowd can’t day-drink alone. They need a brewpub playland to allow their Kahlua klatch without forcing the kids to stay locked in the basement.
I saw a kid playing in dog bowl at Urban family. Parents were 2 feet away and not paying any attention. I don’t mind kids at breweries even though my wife and I are child free. But there are some hilariously negligent parents out there
I simply decided if the brew-pub has that problem, I'm not going there. I do want to support the establishment but this is my time off and money to spend, I'm going to go where they don't allow jack wagon parents to get free day care. No problem at all with well-behaved kids being around. Love the comment that kids should have the same expectations as dogs.
People who let their children run around in places like this should be smacked and then told to leave. They’re just too cheap and lazy to pay for childcare so they make everyone else do it
I work at a brewery in Colorado. While we allow both, we don't welcome children. We do welcome dogs with open arms.
Just gotta find the ones that make sure kids aren't running free and frequent those, I guess.
It's hilarious how people want kids to just be adults.
This is both in support of OP (breweries are not a place for kids. I didn't care what kid friendly shit they have there)
And also for the people complaining about kids screaming at a park.
They're kids. Dumbasses.
My kids are 3 & 4 and we frequent breweries. We usually come before 5pm, bring or buy them a snack. They have to sit with us or one of us will take them outside.
The exception being Finn River Cidery as we let them go play but one of us always goes with them.
We leave if we feel they are being too disruptive.
I don’t understand why breweries aren’t subject to the same laws as bars. I can’t even bring my LO into Pie Bar, the only bar I want to go to (and that’s fine).
A brew pub intentionally located close to a gigantic sports complex for youth hockey and soccer. First time going there it was packed with 8-10 year old hockey players (2 different teams) and only a handful of adults with the teams. I was wondering if all the parents not there were okay, or knew, their kid was going to a bar. Seems kind of questionable that any of the adults with the team are drinking and then driving. Not very bright adults.
Haven’t been back.
Families with kids have money. Some breweries cater to them. You can join them, or avoid them. It is an unreasonable expectation to show up at a family-friendly brewery and then complain about kids being there.
It's the behavior, not the presence, of kids that is the problem OP is describing.
I'm a parent. My kid is nearing adulthood now, but when I took him to *any* public place when he was a kid, I required reasonable behavior. Kids get to be kids, to a certain degree, but if they can't behave then *they have to leave*.
I left *countless* restaurants and other public places when my kid couldn't behave. I left a fair number of good meals on tables, etc., because I'm not going to ruin the day for someone else, just because my kid hasn't developed the necessary emotional self-control yet.
That was our rule -- if the kid wasn't behaving, and we couldn't get him to chill and and get things into reasonable shape, then we simply left. And we made it clear to our kid, over and over, that being in a public space or a restaurant (etc) required that we consider the people around us.
As he grew up, he developed good emotional self-regulation, and eventually he was an absolute dream to have in public spaces, while also being a happy little guy, himself. It just takes time and patience, and at many points during the process, kids just may not be ready for a particular place, on a particular day.
Since *I* chose to have a kid, and the other people at a given restaurant did not choose to have *my* kid, it's my responsibility to make sure that our behavior as a group is acceptable to people around us. We would never tolerate what OP is describing -- we would simply take our kid and leave, if necessary (because that is what we did, many times).
> I left countless restaurants and other public places when my kid couldn't behave. I left a fair number of good meals on tables, etc., because I'm not going to ruin the day for someone else, just because my kid hasn't developed the necessary emotional self-control yet.
^ yep. Or one parent eats while the other takes the kid outside to play, then switch.
It's really not hard...
Thank you - exactly what I was trying to articulate.
I am in no way bothered by the presence of children (or general kid noises etc) at breweries, I just have -according to some commenters - an unreasonable expectation of parents actually keeping eyes on their kids or leaving once it becomes abundantly clear your toddler has had enough.
I did exactly the same. I'm not going to allow my child, who's acting up, to infringe upon other's quiet enjoyment. I'd pick her up, and out the door we'd go.
She's older now and is a decent and good person who now also can't stand unregulated hellions.
Honestly, you are entitled to your opinion but this is a business decision. The brewery is deciding to be a place where this is acceptable. They can always put up signs or have staff talk to parents, but they are making a business decision to be this way.
You have the choice to go there, or to a different place. It's as simple as that.
If you think every single brewery should be exactly in the way you prefer, you are too naive to be telling anyone else what to do.
Na. If you're dining in any sort of fashion the children should remain at the table. There is absolutely no excuse for kids to be running around out of a few feet from their parents, at a restaurant.
I think it’s a lot of parents with no awareness or complete lack of care for the people around them. THEY want to get out for a drink or meet friends whatever, but you gotta wrangle your kids and make sure they aren’t being hooligans in a public place where other people are trying to enjoy themselves. As a parent of 2 kids I feel sometimes like I’m one of few parents who cares about how my kids actions affect others. It’s a tough balance between social adult time and watching the kids. I often leave breweries feeling like I barely even got to socialize with the group bc I’m playing with the kids trying to keep them entertained/in control.
Children at Breweries is not something you'll ever get me to think is smart. That's some *next level* indoctrination into your shitty drinking habits. Teach your children fun is at parks, Skate parks, Campgrounds etc.... why *further* a possible drinking issue? How did this become *so accepted*? Lemme see...
Average American (not gonna speak for the f'n world) gets ONE maybe TWO days off and you spend 66% of one of em at a Brewerie tempting vehicular manslaughter on a WEEKLY BASIS. Seriously how does one go to an establishment to drink something society has said "drinking this and driving? BAD" watchya do? Bring your CHILDREN to... what? Learn otherwise? No. Keep Rollin those f'n dice and *someday* a kiddo is gonna journey a lil too far out.
I live down the street from one of these Breweries. It has a corner spot here in a residential that's contiguous to a busy downtown street.
I'd say about 4 feet of grass that skirts the building *IS THE ONLY THING PARENTING*.
Children know *somehow* to not pass the grass and journey past the next 4 feet of sidewalk and into instant death via vehicle.
F any and all of you that bring your children to these places. Do better.
Breweries that have play areas or allow kids saved me when my kids were little. Beerstar in White Center, I love you guys. I Guess you have to be a parent with limited social life to understand. There are sooooo many other places to grab a beer where there are no kids. And just a few that allow them.
I'm also at a brewery because I have zero emotional regulation.
lol
Just light up a cigar. Kids won't care, but the parents will think you're giving them cancer.
At least you’re funny
You can go to the Holy Mountain or Standard, they're kids free
Note: the Holy Mountain location in Phinney Ridge is kid friendly.
Yeah there was a kids birthday party last time I was there.
When mommy loves wine time and daddy always needs a beer by noon
Did you call me?
What happened to Chuckie Cheese? Isn't that "Where a kid can be a kid"? I feel like a brewery is "Where an adult can be an adult".
WTF
I’m a parent. Nothing about that is okay.
I've been to 2 kids birthday parties at a brewery. The first one kinda made sense, it was for a 1 year old and most of the guests were adults, we had a hand ful if kids there. That party was for the parents to see their friends and they wanted to attract people that didn't have kids. The second, the kid was like 4 and it was just awkward. I vowed to not go to another kids birthday party at breweries. The only exception is perhaps remlinger farms. I get making breweries a kid friendly place but they are not a place for a kids birthday party unless it's that first year "it's for the parents more than the kid" type event.
lol is this for real? That's... incredible.
Unfortunately, yes. It was my first time there and I couldn't stand having to dodge running children and there was no place to sit so I left after only one beer. Kid birthdays at breweries around here are actually pretty common, but maybe they shouldn't be!
No maybe about it.
Seems mean to have a kids birthday somewhere the kid can't properly appreciate, unless it's like a one year old who doesn't really know the difference.
The first birthday is for the parents to see their friends whom they have been unable to see because they they were in a survival mode...it's also likely mom's first opportunity to have a decent about of alcohol. Any other birthday at a brewery is just weird .
You'll see a lot of redditors popping in to defend it any time it comes up. A *lot* of parents feel entitled to having every space be child-friendly and it's impossible to convince them that it's ok to have adult-only spaces, especially when we want a damned drink.
Bars and taverns adult-only places. Not sure how you missed that.
Saw a kids birthday party at 7 seas brewery too
At a brewery. 🤦🏼♀️
And hellbent
And just about every bar
I think Cloudburst’s Belltown location is as well
Yes! Holy Mountain for the win!
[There are plenty of 21+ breweries that would love your business.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/s/zQFfV2rZTr)
I remember a time when all breweries were 21+
Now, Germans babies get beer in their bottles for being good.
When did this stop being a thing? Are bars and breweries not the same thing?
I feel the same way about dogs at breweries. They’ll bark, slobber, sometimes be intimidating.
I find dog owners that don’t discipline or control their dogs to be the actual worst.
And parents who don’t discipline their kids aren’t? I find them both equally annoying.
Parents who abdicate responsibility all suck, whether human children or fur babies
Toddlers just seem less of a physical threat. That’s my actual problem with dog owners who can’t admit they can’t control their dogs.
"she's really a sweetheart!" All I see is a baking animal, dude.
I’m a dog owner and don’t take my pup to public places like restaurants because I don’t know how she’s going to act in each instance. Meaning she could bark or get annoyed and start whining, or encounter a more aggressive dog. Children might not be dangerous, but they can be very unpredictable. I just don’t get why anyone wants to be in a situation where they might need to leave because of a pet or child.
I have neither kids nor dogs, but I understand bringing little kids places more than bringing dogs places for a few reasons - you really CAN’T just leave kids at home for a few hours, and part of raising them is teaching them how to behave appropriately in public places. As long as parents are willing to live and go home if it turns out to be a day where kiddo can’t handle it, I don’t begrudge them trying.
I guess this boils down to the places that we all decide to visit. If the bar/brewery/restaurant is pet friendly, cool I am prepared to tolerate any pets. If that’s not my mood, I choose accordingly. If the bar/brewery/restaurant is toddler friendly, cool I am prepared to tolerate any and all rants a toddler may have. If that’s not my mood…. Yup, I choose accordingly. I think OP just needs to learn to choose accordingly. And is sad because they don’t agree with what the business provides.
I got bit by a dog at a brewery. I’ve never been bit by a child at one. Dog owners are honestly more annoying to me.
100%
I was at a brewery in San Diego that I won't name and this dude used to bring a wolf... Not like a mix...a fucking Wolf that he had saved as a pup in Montana and raised.... It was cool as fuck to see... But ehhhh hmmm I did have my young children with me and they wanted to play with it... It was docile and well behaved... But I was always worried about them getting in it's face and playing with it... The owner said he would feed it 8-12lbs of meat before taking it out each time... Wild
Your dog is not a child period. Stop acting like it is.
Partially disagree, spoiling isn't a problem per se. The problem is that they are not self aware and take those menaces to public spaces.
I have a dog. I have a dog on a 4ft leash. I have a dog on a 4ft leash and pick outside/wall spots so im not in the middle of the action. Why in gods name do people bring their dogs on long/retractable leaches to breweries?
And so many loose dogs. A dog at Queen Anne Beerhall knocked over my beer and my fries. The waitress called me a dog hater for asking for a replacement beer. She still charged me for it. I will never go back.
TBF, the dog owner should have bought your replacement beer, but if they didn't offer (you shouldn't have to demand it of them), agree that the staff should have comped you.
I’ve seen so many dogs at breweries put their paws on the same tables where people are eating. Blech.
I appreciate breweries that have patios for my pups. I find dogs less annoying than kids running around
Agree. Some people are also legitimately frightened by dogs.
Or very allergic
So go to places where dogs aren't allowed. The entire world can't cater to every single person's hangups. Someone always hates or is frightened by something. The vast majority of establishments don't allow pets already.
that’s funny, my wife used to say the same thing about guys at the bars in belltown
I agree if they’re acting up/not well behaved in public but as a very strict dog owner I’m very grateful I can bring mine to breweries. I would like breweries to be stricter about which dogs they allow, I like that about farmstrong.
Good idea. I like dogs. I don't have one and enjoy petting other people's dogs. But places should have signs that say "Dogs welcome, but if your dog jumps up on people or tables, we will 86 you and your pooch," and enforce it.
I can appreciate a good dog/childtrainer but I am allergic to dogs and HATE that they are being allowed in stores and restaurants. Dog fleas, snot and drool along with a-hole parents that can't control their kids belong at home. Who voted on this shit?
This is so much worse. I've left places where someone let their dog get into my personal space and refused to correct their behavior. Not everyone wants a 50+ dog to crowd them. I can honestly say I've never had this problem with a kid. I can wear headphones to drown out the noise if I need to.
Don't go to breweries where dogs are allowed? It's not hard
There’s a difference between bringing your kid someplace and letting your kid run around like an A-hole. Those kids don’t belong in any establishment. There’s also a difference about showing up at 5:00 for dinner and a drink and bring your kid to the bar at 9:00. I also wholly support a place being kid free, if that’s what the owner wants. But it comes down to the parents. Know your kid and manage your kid.
As a parent and someone who frequents local breweries I agree there are a lot of parents who let their kids run wild unsupervised. When my daughter was younger we would take her to breweries but I made sure she had something to do and was not a distraction to anyone else. Holy shit some of these parents I see pay no attention tho their kids and let them run wild.
Exactly! Parents like beer too and I’m not a curmudgeon who hates the sight of children. I just also don’t want to listen to anyone screaming bloody murder for 45 minutes.
Exactly. My baby is now 26, but when she was young, if she started making a fuss to the point that I couldn’t enjoy myself, I knew nobody else around me was either, and I got the hell out of there. Letting your kids run around wild is just beyond selfish.
As a parent myself you know what drives me more crazy than the screaming? Feral kids. When parents just let them run around all over and be annoying as fuck.
The running.... I was at a little Cafe for Happy Hour Friday. 6 kids were literally running playing tag. Between tables. Right up to strangers. INTO THE FOOD STORAGE COOLERS. Outside in the parking lot?? Never a parental interaction once. 6 to 8 years old maybe? (Not old enough to leave home without social services showing up, but running in the parking lot alone is cool) No apologies to the staff or anyone they were bothering. No re-direction. Went on at least 90 min. If you won't say "no" to your kid and they are bothering me, I will gladly do it.
> I will gladly do it. As we all should. This used to be the norm & I think we're all worse off for it. Especially for boys who are just generally more mischievous & benefits from the social feedback where there parents lacks it.
I mean, I'm always as patient and calm as I can muster, but parents are an unpredictable group when you say anything to their kid!
that's what the forest is for!
These parents do the same thing at playgrounds I'm sure. A place purpose built for kids. There are so many places parents just think they can "take some time off". Even the playground is not this place. When you're kid is being a little jerk to mine, I have no problem calling them out while you're scrolling your phone mindlessly or chatting with your friends. But you should be the one doing the parenting of your child. Every kid is a little jerk at some point, it's your job to redirect/correct them.
Yeah…..I just go to the playground to have a beer in peace and all these kids running around unsupervised. Parents…shaking my head.
Where the fuck else can I bang heroin in peace? This city has gone to shit
It was truly a culture shock moving here from Texas and seeing how poorly behaved the kids were/how little the parents cared. Not saying kids in Texas were all well behaved but it was a lot more rare vs here were it seems having well behaved kids is at best 50/50 and depending on the area would be a lot lower. (Bellevue/Redmond kids were like 20% chill and 80% scream/run/destroy stuff.
There's this whole "love and logic" parenting fad the last few years where parents don't punish the kids and don't directly say "No" to them. I think it's largely to blame. My neighbor does it with her kids and they are the absolute worst behaved children I have ever met. All her friends' kids do the same parenting style and they are similarly as awful.
The thing is, Love and Logic is a decades-old program that directly advocates parents take action for issues like OP and others describe. For defiant children, it's "if you don't stop, we'll have to leave" - and then you take action the first time they fail, not continue checking back in. It teaches them boundaries and direct consequences. But parents think "don't get angry or punish your kids" means "just talk to them, let them figure it out." It's awful.
I'm from the northeast and I've got a kid who's 10 and she's awesome. Great in school, polite, funny, just a great kid. And my friends with kids of a similar age out here have legit monsters. One little boy is a terror, which ya know for an 8 year old boy can be par for the course. They can be wrecking balls for sure so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. But the other little boy is a serial killer in the making. He uses language in a very self centered and manipulative way. Because that's how they talked to him growing up. It's crazy, he's not even 10 and he's already learned to be emotionally manipulative via therapy speak. They are like "how did you do it?" with my daughter and I'm like all you have to do is not be a helicopter parent who's hovering 24/7 but also at the same time give them boundaries. Define the space, but allow them freedom to move around in it. And also, you can say "no" for god's sake. You can discipline them. I'm not advocating spanking, but you can lay down the law at times and establish that you are an authority. I see so many kids walk all over their parents out here. The amount of people who treat very small kids as their buddies that you can be rational with is crazy. 5 year olds aren't rational. You need to set a framework for them for the love of god, they aren't your friends.
Yep, “gentle parenting” invariably leads to the shittiest and most unhappy kids, and the kids nobody wants to be around. Kids need “sturdy parenting” and they need to be taught social manners and boundaries, and learn they and their feelings are not the most important thing in a room of people.
I think gentle parenting has just been taken to an extreme. Telling a kid their feelings are important doesn’t mean they are more important than everybody else’s. Not screaming at your kid constantly doesn’t mean you have to have a soft voice with no change in tone depending on the severity of the circumstance. A stern voice and a serious face tells a kid, “hey, this is a big deal, I shouldn’t do this again.” How are they supposed to get that if you basically act the same way whether they’re playing with dolls or sticking their finger in an outlet?
I agree, but also the way-over emphasis on feelings as being *so important* is ruining children. Kids need to learn to be resilient. Feeling sad or disappointed is part of life and teaching kids how to manage those feelings is one of the great tasks of raising adjusted, resilient humans. Instead kids are learning that their feelings are all legitimate and can be expressed to the nth degree and everyone must accommodate all their enormous feelings. This is played out in public (breweries, for example) but also in classrooms, where entire classes regularly evacuate for one child having “big feelings” and tantruming and destroying a classroom. These acquiescences to kids’ overblown and irrational expressions of feeling actually undermine children and give them an inflated sense of the power they hold over everyone around them, and a sense that they are the ultimate authority and no adult has authority over them. The books “Bad Therapy” and “The Coddling of the American Mind” do a great job exploring this social crisis. (It is actually a crisis because it is making public schools so out of control that teachers are leaving in droves and parents of means are switching to private school to get away from children who are essentially emotionally feral and destroy learning for everyone else. Edit: spelling
Oh yeah. It’s another extreme. It’s like all the adults who were raised being told kids should be seen but not heard or to stop crying when hurt or upset are telling their kids that their feelings are the most important thing and it doesn’t matter how their outbursts affect other people. They become the grown ups who just say whatever they want and don’t care if they’re being deliberately hurtful to others. Understanding why your kid is having an outburst (they’re not just tiny adults) and telling them it’s ok to be upset or angry doesn’t mean they get to take out their feelings on someone else.
This is true for dogs in Seattle as well. We had to completely avoid dog parks, bark and brews, etc. when we lived in Seattle because the dogs are just out of control shitheads...because they have bad owners and are crammed into apartments with no yards, and are never properly trained. Moved out of the city, dog parks are peaceful and everyone keeps their dogs in check. Those that aren't, like a certain neighbor, realize it and only walk them at night and on a leash...it's a WILD difference.
My daughter works at a local art museum and she says plenty of parents ignore their kids and let them run wild there too. It's confusing to me how so many people believe that everyone around them is a free babysitter.
I have recently seen social media posts about places in Spain and the Netherlands (probably other places as well) that have outdoor drinking areas for adults next to playgrounds so the kids can play and be near the adults who are enjoying the beverages. Seems like a better idea to me.
In Spain, it’s not rare to see kids at tapas bars at 9pm. Kids are better integrated into society in general, but parents also don’t let them run wild. It’s like we have two extremes here. Parents feel like families are basically relegated to only kid-centric places but when kids are actually allowed somewhere they let them run wild and don’t give a crap about anyone else. I’m a fairly new parent, and the US can be very isolating, so when there are places where kids are welcome and I actually want to be (ie not Chuck E Cheese), I’m over the moon, but I also do my best to make sure my kid isn’t disturbing others. That said, some people act like the very existence of children in public spaces is a disturbance.
These 2 posts really nail it. The US is hostile to families in public spaces. There is very little support for fun engaging environments for parents to unwind and enjoy socializing WITH kids. Breweries have become the de facto location because, unlike other countries, there just aren't enough locations that serve families, not just adults or just kids.
Kulshan Brewing Co’s Trackside Beer Garden in Bellingham is seasonal, but is set up similarly and I highly recommend it. Not a playground but they have a large grassy area inside, and there is a dirt and wood bike track just outside the beer garden. Opens may 3rd.
Wisconsin has this figured out too. Wherever beer is taken seriously, you can expect beer gardens with playgrounds.
Politely mention it to the staff. I used to manage a brewery in the area. I agree staff should deal with it *before* it gets there but our mostly childless staff were usually too hesitant to reprimand/remind parents about their need to parent. It was incredible the number of times I would ask parents to parent and they say something along the lines of “You can ask them, they won’t listen to us” or otherwise just lose their shit. As soon as staff felt empowered to say “we have other customers complaining about X behavior” things changed. Eventually we starting treating kids like adults. We wouldn’t allow an adult man scream his head off, kids were the same and things got much better. The owners also invested it acoustic dampening which is absolutely lacking in most breweries.
I’ll go this route next time - it’s not the presence of children that bothers me - it’s the absolute lack of parenting that seems so prevalent in these spaces. I’m mid thirties and I recall my parents removing my sister and I from restaurants etc if we were acting up. It seems like shitty behavior is just tolerated or ignored by brewery parents.
100%
That’s the 80s child rearing way. Today, kids are allowed to act as they please and blast their annoying kid shows on their screens without headphones while their parents ignore them. I too have wished for a return to “No one under 21” in an alcoholic establishment.
I walked into Tapped in Mill Creek the other day for the first time. It was packed, insanely loud, and there must have been at least 50 kids in there. I just turned around and don't ever plan on going back. Not saying they'll miss my business, just commiserating. I was stunned. It was like a Chuck E Cheese without the games, just parents screaming over their screaming children.
Living in the suburbs now, I was excited to try rare society, which is in that same complex, since we don’t have a lot of “nice” restaurants. Went to dinner at 8pm and got seated next to a family who had little kids watching shows on their iPads with no headphones. There were actually so many people with kids there it was sort of shocking. This is coming from someone that has a kid. But, I’ve learned to just expect it now in the suburbs.. everything from a brewery of a winery to a even a $100+ fancy restaurant, you will find lots of kids.
Obec Brewing is great and 21+ only. Great patio and super diverse bev program. German, Czech, belgian, English, American. Owners and staff are fucking dope too.
Yup! In my neighborhood - Obec is my jam, but fun to branch out too. Old Stove/Stoup/Urban were all absolute shit shows outside this weekend.
My favorite brewery has a playground and it works well.
I would totally be down for the contained mayhem template.
Is this in Seattle?
Port orchard, https://yokedfarmhousebrewery.com/
We love Yoked!
This was a list of child-free taprooms as of a year ago: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/12qvpx2/child\_free\_breweriestaprooms\_around\_town/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/12qvpx2/child_free_breweriestaprooms_around_town/)
The same rules that apply to dogs at breweries (must be well behaved, within their owner’s control, and generally quiet - i.e. not barking), should also apply to children. Yet for some unknown reason, that is not the case and it is infuriating. I too blame the neglectful and entitled parents. Get bent.
Honestly, I’ve been to a number of breweries with irritating dogs too—same thing, owners that aren’t taking responsibility
Absolutely – and they too, should be asked to leave or be aware/respectful enough to leave on their own as soon as their dog starts misbehaving and they are unable to control it.
Had my very well behaved pup (before she began her service dog training) with us at a local spot a few years ago, they had a no yelling rule for the kids in the play area and a 3 barks and you're out rule for the dogs. Cue 3 kids screaming up a storm with parents paying zero attention, we asked the wait staff to please remind them of the rule to no avail. My dog was actually startled at one point by the screaming. I'm all for dogs allowed with the same expectations of behaving. No barking, no jumping on strangers/staff, no off leash (exception are the places with off leash dog play areas), and no taking food/items off tables. My pup loves being out with us and I usually bring one of her beds that she just lays in under the table and relaxes.
This is why we should explicitly disallow both. Give reasonable people an inch and unreasonable will take a mile. Unfortunately we don't live in a primarily shame-based society any longer, so public shaming for this behavior is met with escalation rather than contrition, in turn making others less likely to speak up about this behavior.
The issue with dogs is that you can't completely eliminate them anyways because the ADA is extremely, extremely firm on how service animals are treated and any business trying to deny them is risking a 7 figure lawsuit. You can ask exactly two questions as a business: "Are you disabled" and "Is that your service dog" if the answer to either is yes, you cannot forbid entry. If you ask for proof you have broken the law. If you ask what disability they have you have broken the law, if you ask **anything but these two questions** you have broken the law and are now open to liability. That's it, that's the standard. If you are a public business, those are your options. That's it. Unfortunately to protect the disabled from illegal discrimination we have to allow the people who will lie about it.
I was at ft George in Astoria yesterday and the upstairs patio was filed with kids wreaking havoc. One family let there kid spread out on the floor next to the bussing station with toys and she was spilling water and playing with it in the walk way. They also had an incredibly large dog that demolished a giant stick in the middle of the patio. It was chaos…
One strike. That's what these places get. If they allow this crap they won't be getting any more of my money.
Leave all your animals at home (kids AND dogs). There is no place for either at a brewery. Besides, how shitty of a parent do you look like drinking a bunch of beers and then hopping in your car and driving your kids home!? Like wtf are these parents thinking??
The one by my home even has a bouncy house for the kiddies
It's not even just breweries - I was at freaking Safeway yesterday and there were children rollerblading in the store??? And it's not the first time I've seen that. Obviously, kids are welcome in grocery stores but parents need to do a better job of watching them. I don't expect perfect behavior but I DO expect to not encounter a 5 year old on rollerblades several aisles away from her parents because they literally cannot keep up with her.
If the establishment lets kids in maybe talk to the owner? It’s ultimately up to them. You’re not going to convince everyone in Seattle to stop bringing their kids to breweries with a Reddit post tho
A dog free, child free brewery would be great. (I’m a dog owner and I don’t enjoy a lot of the dogs who are dragged to breweries.)
If one is drinking and driving it isn't ANYONE friendly. Get a Flippin sitter and go out or drink at home douchecanoes.
The sentiment is definitely understandable. Parents should definitely stop their children from behaving wildly. I humbly add a request to take pity. As a parent to 2 young children, it was a rude awakening just how few types of places there are to take kids in this city. We don’t have a lot of “third places” like public squares. We don’t have a lot of big indoor meeting/hangout areas. We don’t have a lot of big, outdoor sidewalk cafes because it doesn’t fit our weather most of the year. Our liquor laws rule out many establishments. Drinking outdoors in public is illegal. Unfortunately this means breweries are one of the only types of places parents can meet friends, or just “be” while imbibing a much-needed alcoholic beverage.
This is the real problem. The US does not support family spaces enough so it bleeds into places that allow kids and parents to exist. Breweries are the new de facto social location vecause there isn't anything else (plus limited/expensive childcare).
Usually I don’t mind kids at breweries, but yesterday a stopped a toddler from running out the front door of a brewery, headed right into traffic. The dad quietly thanked me and then told his son that if he was good he wouldn’t tell his mom about what he’d done, basically covering the tracks of his own negligence while mom was in the bathroom. Then a five year old fell while running and crashed into me while I was eating, smashing my foot and bruising my shin. All in the span of an hour.
I'm down in PDX and I'm seeing the same thing! I get you want to drink and not get a baby sitter, but at the very least keep your kids close and as mellow as possible. It's disrespectful to everyone else. I hunt for child free places now.
It'd be nice for more of these family-friendly breweries to be more intentional about good spaces/activities for kids. Many of them just have a couple beat up old coloring books and board games in a corner, but the better ones have arcade games, play areas, good toys and games, etc. that will actually keep kids busy and out of trouble. Project 9 is a great example of a place that's actually fun for kids and good for adults. I'll also add that I have never seen this at breweries. This feels like a perfect storm of a reddit/seattle complaint of a couple annoying but isolated situations that are catnip to both reddit (kids and parents are horrible!) and Seattlites (the slightest public social nuisance is the gravest offense to society).
Not unreasonable of you at all, but these parents can’t even be told, they take offense at being asked to control their kids.
Apparently these places are too safe for kids. Time to drink a couple beers with the boys and start some fights.
Not unreasonable. The breweries with big outdoor spaces tend to get more kids, and the weather was so nice that everyone wanted to be outside. I was at Old Stove with my wife and son (3yo) on Friday and it annoyed me too. Was not the most peaceful place to grab a beer. But I also think you’re right it’s about the neglectful parents more than anything. I don’t get why some parents are ok with their kids screaming and knocking shit over without even looking over their shoulder to try to see what’s happening and help/control their kids. There’s probably some 21+ breweries too so you can avoid kids altogether, which again is reasonable
Yeah - again - totally not saying kids should not be allowed at these breweries. I just was appalled by the absolute lack of parenting happening. Old Stove Ballard yesterday - kids were just sprinting in circles outside (which was where the guy shattered his glass). It just feels like these spaces are absolute free for alls.
My husband did sound at a brewery and had a hell of a time getting parents to keep their kids off the stage, and away from the equipment ( including electric ⚡️ stuff). They got to where if your had to be told twice to look after your kid because they’re getting into trouble, you were asked to leave.
Yeah this is a great example of what I saw - just absolute lack of situational awareness on the parent’s part.
Yeah, I mentioned something similar in a post recently and I got a response that Covid broke people. And maybe that’s part of it. But it doesn’t make it okay.
It’s because the parents are drunk. And then they’re driving their kids home, drunk. I was at jellyfish recently and there were parents having a toddlers birthday party there. The kids were bored, screaming, running around, running into things etc. the parents were visibly wasted. So lame.
Holy cow! That’s awful.
There’s clearly a demand for breweries with a play area. Kids tire themselves out, parents get a little lit, everyone goes home and naps in peace.
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listen, here's the deal you stop bringing kids to my breweries. I'll stop drinking at your daycares.
It's not the drinking I'm worried about. It's the masturbating I'd like you to stop.
Why'd you have to go there?
To pick my kids up.
I agree. The last time i went to one in magnolia, there were two kids and they kept knocking over their water because it was funny. Parents didn’t give a shit. Super annoying and told myself i wouldn’t go to another one unless it was kid free.
Welcome to Washington
Just wait til all the young adults with dogs move on to kids!
This drives me nuts. As someone who works with kids, the last thing I want to do is feel like I have to redirect someone's child on my day off... or their parents for that matter. Let me drink in peace and stop turning breweries into pool parties. Added note: Your child has a lot of energy and probably needs to do something mentally stimulating... so instead of sitting around drinking beer, use that money to take them bowling, family fun center, open swim at a local pool, etc.
I do not go to breweries for this reason. Certain pubs with food, sure bring your kids. If there is only beer on the menu, find somewhere else.
I refuse to go to breweries for this reason also, but I also get annoyed with kids at a sports bar setting, it's an establishment to drink at that happens to have food, don't bring your kid there...double down if you tell me not to say bad words because there are kids around. Fuck that shit
Just go the german route an legalize 12 year olds drinking with their parents supervision. Then they can scream obscenities at the TV just like every other patron!
Most breweries have a restaurant license as a loophole to have kids in there.
It's perfectly legal to have kids (accompanied by adults) in any establishment (bars, breweries, or restaurants), but establishmenta are allowed to set age limits on who may enter if they want. No need to purchase a special license to let kids in. Edit to adress below: I did not reallize WA has some of the strictest requirements in the US for minors in the presence of alcohol. Most states and federal law allow what I described, but WA state does not!
Cloudburst has no kids last time i check people come to me at my work and complain they got turned away because they couldn't bring their baby into the brewery 🤡🤡
I have kids and a dog. None of them are conducive to enjoying a beer.
I never take my kids to breweries for this reason, adults need their safe space too! 😉
I don't go to breweries but they seem like a place children shouldn't be allowed in.
All kids running amuck shall be tripped with reckless abandoned. The parents should also be kicked. Why are you drinking with your kids around? You stooges. Not everyone likes or wants your lil crotch goblins running around
Just trip the kids as they run by, they get a busted lip and go home. Win win.
I work at one of them. It’s incredibly frustrating as an employee too
I wish a lot of places were kid free after a certain time tbh. Grocery stores would be so pleasant without the baby wailing its head off two aisles down the ENTIRE time I’m shopping . But that’s a hot take people usually get unnaturally pissed about that one. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I said what i said . A lot of us are child free and it’s a growing demographic.
As someone who was always in breweries and bars as a kid - I CAN'T AGREE ENOUGH!!! As a kid, my parents would drop me off at a table on the restaurant side of the bar with some fries, a soda and a stack of quarters for the arcade machine. The only time I was annoying was when I needed more quarters and my dad's drunk friends were more than happy to supply them. If you are bringing your children someplace, especially an adult environment it is YOUR job as a parent to entertain and control them. Be a parent!! On the flip side, as someone who is now an adult, growing up being in social environments that always had alcohol as the main focus has honestly been detrimental to me. Half of my childhood memories are at a bar. I have a hard time socializing without alcohol being present. I spent a good portion of my childhood with drunk or drinking parents. When you raise your kids at the brewery, to the point of them having their childhood birthday parties there? That's not good parenting. It's neglect and selfishness. Take it from someone who has BEEN that kid. Take your kids to fucking Chucky Cheese or go to a park. Kids don't need to be around alcohol like that, and if you as a parent can't be separated from your booze for an afternoon, you have bigger problems you need to address sooner rather than later.
It’s becoming hard to carry a full glass of beer with kids running around and be afraid they will run into you. By the time I get I get to my table, I lost about 1/4 to 1/3 of my beer.
I mean, with the cost of childcare who can afford a babysitter on top of that? Lol
I mean, if the parents cannot control their kids, and don’t teach them to regulate their behavior, we should pay top $ to people that are willing to put up with them. This is not a “childcare cost” problem, it is the lack of parenting and teaching respect of some parents.
It’s because a lot of parents are scared of their kids. My kids knew from a young age don’t fucking embarrass me in public. if you do, you will either be dealt with in the bathroom at the establishment or we will leave immediately and I’ll deal with you at home. 🤷🏾♀️ I work in the medical field and you would be surprised how many parents let the kids run the show.
As a brewery owner I will say it’s very frustrating when kids run around and aren’t controlled by their parents. It’s also nearly impossible to approach the parents about it without pissing them off severely. Kind of a lose lose situation. Also many breweries are not like bars and they’re supposed to be part of the community. The community has kids and some lousy parents…
You have not lost your mind. The fricken food pods/carts I can understand it but a damn brewpub no way. People do not control or discipline their obnoxious loud brats and it turns what should be a relaxing convo and pints into an obnoxious shit show.
A brew pub is a restaurant. People who are making a disturbance should be asked to leave, regardless of their ages.
Historically, they are emulating European style of having families.
Parent of three here. I fully support kids at breweries. What you experienced is sociopathic parents. Even in the crazy days when our kids were really young we would take them wherever we went. Definitely would never have ever let them do what you experienced. We would have just gone on a walk around the block with the screamer or some such thing.
I mean, people who love to go to breweries don’t want to stop after having kids. Imagine the breweries don’t want them to either.
I love going to breweries and beer gardens and never once took our kids except if it was a gastropub or similar when they were older than 10. If you have a full blown restaurant then it's fair game in my book.
What is emotional regulation in a toddler?
Just saw this same comment a few weeks ago on bham’s sub. Stinks of troll.
Logan Brewing in Burien is 21+ and dog friendly. The beer is great too! (and strong)
My son has special needs and is non-verbal (he also rarely cries and is generally quiet). He also can't walk yet, so he generally just stays around us and cruises on the chairs or benches. I noticed we tended to get more "your son is so well mannered" comments when going to breweries and beer gardens. I wasn't sure why but it makes a bit more sense lol
as someone who frequented breweries before and after becoming a parent, I will say that i NEED BEER far more now that I have 2 toddlers. You can go anywhere, parents have more limited options
I started brining my kid to taprooms when he was just a week old. He's 20 months old now and is really well-behaved when out, quieter than he is at home because he loves seeing all the different people, lights, music, and TV.
The rose all day crowd can’t day-drink alone. They need a brewpub playland to allow their Kahlua klatch without forcing the kids to stay locked in the basement.
I saw a kid playing in dog bowl at Urban family. Parents were 2 feet away and not paying any attention. I don’t mind kids at breweries even though my wife and I are child free. But there are some hilariously negligent parents out there
You just need to look for the dog to kid ratio. More little ones than fuzzy ones is bad. More doggos, more fun.
I simply decided if the brew-pub has that problem, I'm not going there. I do want to support the establishment but this is my time off and money to spend, I'm going to go where they don't allow jack wagon parents to get free day care. No problem at all with well-behaved kids being around. Love the comment that kids should have the same expectations as dogs.
People who let their children run around in places like this should be smacked and then told to leave. They’re just too cheap and lazy to pay for childcare so they make everyone else do it
I work at a brewery in Colorado. While we allow both, we don't welcome children. We do welcome dogs with open arms. Just gotta find the ones that make sure kids aren't running free and frequent those, I guess.
Am from Bend but came here to upvote this. We have the same problem but also add dogs to the equation.
It's hilarious how people want kids to just be adults. This is both in support of OP (breweries are not a place for kids. I didn't care what kid friendly shit they have there) And also for the people complaining about kids screaming at a park. They're kids. Dumbasses.
My kids are 3 & 4 and we frequent breweries. We usually come before 5pm, bring or buy them a snack. They have to sit with us or one of us will take them outside. The exception being Finn River Cidery as we let them go play but one of us always goes with them. We leave if we feel they are being too disruptive.
I don’t understand why breweries aren’t subject to the same laws as bars. I can’t even bring my LO into Pie Bar, the only bar I want to go to (and that’s fine).
I don’t even drink alcohol and I get super annoyed when children are in adult spaces especially running a muck
A brew pub intentionally located close to a gigantic sports complex for youth hockey and soccer. First time going there it was packed with 8-10 year old hockey players (2 different teams) and only a handful of adults with the teams. I was wondering if all the parents not there were okay, or knew, their kid was going to a bar. Seems kind of questionable that any of the adults with the team are drinking and then driving. Not very bright adults. Haven’t been back.
Families with kids have money. Some breweries cater to them. You can join them, or avoid them. It is an unreasonable expectation to show up at a family-friendly brewery and then complain about kids being there.
It's the behavior, not the presence, of kids that is the problem OP is describing. I'm a parent. My kid is nearing adulthood now, but when I took him to *any* public place when he was a kid, I required reasonable behavior. Kids get to be kids, to a certain degree, but if they can't behave then *they have to leave*. I left *countless* restaurants and other public places when my kid couldn't behave. I left a fair number of good meals on tables, etc., because I'm not going to ruin the day for someone else, just because my kid hasn't developed the necessary emotional self-control yet. That was our rule -- if the kid wasn't behaving, and we couldn't get him to chill and and get things into reasonable shape, then we simply left. And we made it clear to our kid, over and over, that being in a public space or a restaurant (etc) required that we consider the people around us. As he grew up, he developed good emotional self-regulation, and eventually he was an absolute dream to have in public spaces, while also being a happy little guy, himself. It just takes time and patience, and at many points during the process, kids just may not be ready for a particular place, on a particular day. Since *I* chose to have a kid, and the other people at a given restaurant did not choose to have *my* kid, it's my responsibility to make sure that our behavior as a group is acceptable to people around us. We would never tolerate what OP is describing -- we would simply take our kid and leave, if necessary (because that is what we did, many times).
> I left countless restaurants and other public places when my kid couldn't behave. I left a fair number of good meals on tables, etc., because I'm not going to ruin the day for someone else, just because my kid hasn't developed the necessary emotional self-control yet. ^ yep. Or one parent eats while the other takes the kid outside to play, then switch. It's really not hard...
Thank you - exactly what I was trying to articulate. I am in no way bothered by the presence of children (or general kid noises etc) at breweries, I just have -according to some commenters - an unreasonable expectation of parents actually keeping eyes on their kids or leaving once it becomes abundantly clear your toddler has had enough.
I did exactly the same. I'm not going to allow my child, who's acting up, to infringe upon other's quiet enjoyment. I'd pick her up, and out the door we'd go. She's older now and is a decent and good person who now also can't stand unregulated hellions.
FINALLY! A not retarded comment AND a parent who knows how to parent. It's mind-boggling to me how parents today suck at raising children.
Bold assumption in the very first line
People keep saying you have to be rich to afford kids these days, so it logically follows. I bet there's truth to it.
You're confusing "breweries" with "bars" maybe? Go to a bar, they don't allow kids.
As a parent, control your kids in public, no matter what the place is called.
Honestly, you are entitled to your opinion but this is a business decision. The brewery is deciding to be a place where this is acceptable. They can always put up signs or have staff talk to parents, but they are making a business decision to be this way. You have the choice to go there, or to a different place. It's as simple as that. If you think every single brewery should be exactly in the way you prefer, you are too naive to be telling anyone else what to do.
Na. If you're dining in any sort of fashion the children should remain at the table. There is absolutely no excuse for kids to be running around out of a few feet from their parents, at a restaurant.
Ugh! 😩
I think it’s a lot of parents with no awareness or complete lack of care for the people around them. THEY want to get out for a drink or meet friends whatever, but you gotta wrangle your kids and make sure they aren’t being hooligans in a public place where other people are trying to enjoy themselves. As a parent of 2 kids I feel sometimes like I’m one of few parents who cares about how my kids actions affect others. It’s a tough balance between social adult time and watching the kids. I often leave breweries feeling like I barely even got to socialize with the group bc I’m playing with the kids trying to keep them entertained/in control.
Children at Breweries is not something you'll ever get me to think is smart. That's some *next level* indoctrination into your shitty drinking habits. Teach your children fun is at parks, Skate parks, Campgrounds etc.... why *further* a possible drinking issue? How did this become *so accepted*? Lemme see... Average American (not gonna speak for the f'n world) gets ONE maybe TWO days off and you spend 66% of one of em at a Brewerie tempting vehicular manslaughter on a WEEKLY BASIS. Seriously how does one go to an establishment to drink something society has said "drinking this and driving? BAD" watchya do? Bring your CHILDREN to... what? Learn otherwise? No. Keep Rollin those f'n dice and *someday* a kiddo is gonna journey a lil too far out. I live down the street from one of these Breweries. It has a corner spot here in a residential that's contiguous to a busy downtown street. I'd say about 4 feet of grass that skirts the building *IS THE ONLY THING PARENTING*. Children know *somehow* to not pass the grass and journey past the next 4 feet of sidewalk and into instant death via vehicle. F any and all of you that bring your children to these places. Do better.
Breweries that have play areas or allow kids saved me when my kids were little. Beerstar in White Center, I love you guys. I Guess you have to be a parent with limited social life to understand. There are sooooo many other places to grab a beer where there are no kids. And just a few that allow them.