Best Healthy Food Options for Toddlers at Decatur Area Restaurants?
Decatur Metro | May 23, 2011 | 12:14 pmSo now that my wife and I are toting around a small child with a few decent chompers in his mouth, we’ve begun to get an informal lay-of-the-land of Decatur restaurants’ “kid options” – both on and off menu.
Now, when I say “kid options”, I don’t necessarily mean just stuff off the kids menu. The only qualifiers are really that they can be consumed by a little monster without a lot of teeth and that they aren’t too spicy.
We’ve discovered a few good options thus far – Leon’s chickpeas and provolone are a perennial fav – but I’m wondering what else we may be overlooking. And the healthier the better obviously!
P.S. I know how much we all love the larger “kids in restaurants” conversation, but that’s not what this post is about so please try to refrain this time around.
Hate to be cynical but be aware that food preferences are incredibly toddler-specific and may change every month or two until age 12 (years) at which point they will only change every 6 months. I still tell my children “But you LOVED squash and spinach when you were a baby!”. For a little while, my picky eater liked tacos with pinto beans and cheese and we could go to Mexican restaurants again, but soon that was over The only food preference that has lasted more than 6 months is Goldfish (original cheese flavor only). Not to go onto the thread we are avoiding, but in the end, the key element of a restaurant became–did it sufficiently entertain the children at whatever stage they were at? Unfortunately, Avondale Pizza is no longer at its original location which offered outdoor seating with incredible views of MARTA buses barrelling down College Avenute–non-stop entertainment for most ages of children, especially vehicle-obsessed 18-36 month olds.
True. Environment is very important as well.
But I don’t expect him to like the same things forever. That’s why I’m looking for other viable options!
I used to go to Our Way Cafe on nights I didn’t feel like cooking. Healthy food, quick, easy and fairly inexpensive.
I know we’ve talked about sub shops before, and there is a lot of variance in opinions. But when it comes to kids, mine really enjoy the local sub places (Jimmy John’s, Erbert & Gerbert’s, Pita Pit and yes, even Subway).
They like subs with turkey or ham, with lettuce, olives and sometimes cucumber. I try to minimize the cheese, and no mayonnaise. Filling, enjoyable and a lot better for them than the usual chicken fingers, fries and macaroni/cheese.
Also, we started VERY early on teaching them to drink water. They never drink sodas, and fruit juice/lemonade are only occasional treats.
When it comes to actual sit-down restaturants, we try to replace the fried chicked with grilled chicken. It’s surprising how tasty that can be. Taco Mac is pretty good at that.
Cafe Lily does half portions of their pasta dishes, we love the pasta with vegetables and garlic for our kids (they both share half a portion). They also do falafel or kibe on the tapas bar and you can never go wrong with their crusty bread with a bit of olive oil and cheese, right?
My boys love Zucca – and not just because they play kid movies in the booths (although that is nice when they are in extra fidgety moods). Their favorites are the cheese ravioli and the pizza. Not exactly healthy, but I’m just happy to see them actually eat a meal these days!
With this nom de plume, you should be posting on the Roundabout thread!
My kids love the Mediterranean Grill. My 4.5 year old says that it’s his favorite restaurant. They eat the rice, Greek salad, falafels, and calamari (!) there. Oh, and hummus, of course.
They all three like burritos, so Raging Burrito is a perennial favorite. At other Mexican restaurants, they always just want us to order refried beans and flour tortillas to make “bean tacos”.
Once they are 2 or 3, the “kid coffee” at Starbucks (which is just a small cup of warm chocolate or vanilla milk) allows us to drink our coffee in peace, too.
Our 2 1/2 yo daughter calls Leon’s “Chickpeas and Cherries” because she loves that dish so much.
We also like a side of rice and a chicken enchilada with lemon cream sauce (easy to chew, not at all spicy) at Tacqueria del Sol. (If only they could put some spinach in there, too…)
Burnt Fork BBQ has some great veggie sides which, when combined with a few bites of meat from a parent’s plate, make a good toddler meal.
Another favorite is the veggie of the day at The Marlay – they often have really yummy, easy-to-chew carrots. I know it’s typical kids’ menu fare, but their mac & cheese is really good.
Steamed broccoli at any Thai place, along with rice and chicken, is easy, as well. The servers at Garlic are always very accomodating with kids.
We hardly every order off a kids’ menu b/c we find that so many Decatur places have great sides.
Lu, it’s almost scary how many of your suggestions we already tried. Thanks for reinforcing some favs and offering up some new options!
Ditto on Mediterranean Grill. The olives, rice, falafel, hummus and baba are all huge hits with our daughter. The lentil soup is also great for kids.
Edemame at Noodle…healthy, and fun to eat!
It’s good, no doubt, but . . . healthy? I don’t think they skimp on lard over there.
Community Q has great kid options. They have huge (enough leftovers for a second meal) kid meals with one meat and a side. Their mac and cheese is great but there are healthy side options too. My daughter likes the kale and sweet potatoes.
The folks who own The Square Pub just had a baby and bring her to the bar often, which has encouraged other parents with strollers to come in. The sweet potato tots are great, as are the specials, which often include homemade chicken pot pie. They also customize well for kids (and adults) and always have cold milk available, will warm a bottle, etc.
We like to arrive with the children in the stroller and leave with us in it.
Our girls ADORE the fettucine bolognese at Saba. We get them an adult order, which is huge, and they split it. Between them they eat the entire thing and we marvel at where on earth they could be putting it. They also like Figo, which is remarkably good at working with your kids (their food always comes out first, they have sides of broccoli, they bring crayons, etc.) and has choices for everyone. And we also love Mezcalito’s, where they are called by name and love the black beans and green rice.
Even my picky eater has always loved the 6-cheese ravioli with Bolognese sauce at Figo’s despite the fact that anything with sauce or green sprinkly things (parsley) normally is a turn-off. Even picky eaters cannot deny how good that pasta is!
@ DEM I thought Edemame was just steamed and salted. My bad.
I would be very, very surprised if there is lard in Noodle’s edamame. Steamed and salted seems pretty accurate to me.
My guess is that DEM’s message was to be placed under the Our Way comment.
Aren’t almost all of the sides at Our Way cafe vegetarian? http://www.ourwaycafe.com/index.htm
Yeah, there’s no lard in edamame (disclosure, I work there)… Noodle doesn’t even use lard or butter, just sesame or veg oil, depending. Noodle also has a fairly customizable kid’s bento box with multiple veggie options.
Ah, but just think how delicious it would be if you guys fried your edamame in lard…mmmmmm, crispy-creamy-greasy goodness!!!
Lots of good suggestions have been made already. Mostly I just want to second what Karass said: the kids’ tastes will change with the weather. Also: don’t necessarily shy away from spicy foods. Up until 3 or 4 yrs, our older boy did fine with plenty of stuff that was too hot for his mom to handle. Would eat raw jalapenos as though they were bell peppers. Then he spent 5 years eating nothing spicier than mac & cheese. We found that the less we presented food to them as “kid food” and the more we just offered the full range and let them eat what they wanted, the less stress and the more food went down. Most restaurants were great about bringing bread sticks or cheese RIGHT AWAY, but we also carried along baggies of grapes and Cheerios in case the wait became intolerable.
Any Asian place (Noodle, Thai place on square, Sushi Avenue) that offers edamame (although I’d mash up to avoid choking hazard), Pho or similar fare, tempura, fried rice. Raging Burrito porch for the obvious soft tacos (they will fall apart but your tyke can still eat it), and UJoint come to mind. Oh, and Saba has pasta options too. Really, DM, you will find that you will find something on just about any menu that Lil’ DM will be able to eat. Enjoy this precious time – the little chomper phase is so cute and filled with personality!
Our son loves Saba! Doc Chey’s has lots of good options too and will do a side of broccoli. McGowan’s in Oakhurst has some healthy kids options and good space for running around in the grass if you sit outside!
Saba, Doc Chey’s and McGowan’s in Oakhurst all have some good healthy kids options!
Rainbow (at N Decatur and Clairmont) has a good food bar.
Veggie burger sliders at the Marlay, but a bit spicy.
Willy’s tofu and bean tacos.
We rarely struggle to find something to eat for our toddler in the Decatur area restaurants, and we adore being able to go out with our kids. My beef, however, is how few of them have changing tables available! Not a big deal for our 2.5 year old who we can change standing up, but it’s a real issue for our 5 month old. I get that many of these places are not catering to our specific demographic, but we are a big section of their business (especially if we have grown with them and have remained loyal customers) and we are gone by 7:30 when their “hipper” clientele arrive.
I’ve noticed that too. Fast food places McDonald’s have changing tables but not the places where you’d really like to talk your kids.
Decatur–We’re green and bike- and pedestrian-friendly, but don’t nurse, change, or display your children in public!
I disagree. I have nursed my daughter all over Decatur and have never gotten a rude comment or noticed a dirty look. In fact, more than once I have gotten encouraging words from strangers.
I agree. My kids are past nursing age now but I nursed them in public all over Decatur without so much as a second glance. It has been 4 years since my youngest weaned so maybe things have changed– is Decatur not as baby friendly as it used to be?
I believe Ms. Karass is making a cross reference to some comments on FFAF. The one about breastfeeding where a someone’s view that it is impolite to publicly nurse an OLDER child has been misinterpreted to imply “you’re anti breastfeeding!”
Melton’s has a blanched veggie plate with some sort of ranchy dip, and I think they do a hummus app, too. Alternatively, you can order something remotely healthy for yourselves with a view to letting the yungin nibble off your plates. There are often much better options on the adult menu. This, and life in general, is easier if you train at home to eat “weird” food.
Out of Decatur, but we love Little Szechuan off Buford Hwy. Food is fresh and well prepared. It is amazing what you can have your kids enjoy if you start young enough.
It’s Emory Village and not Decatur proper, but we have had terrific luck at Rise-n-Dine. With it’s recent 3 star review in the AJC I expect it to be slammed for awhile though. Nectar (adjacent to Bhojanic) is also a good spot for smoothies and pannini. I am also fond of the hot bar at Rainbow Natural Foods – I love anywhere we can get just a touch and not commit to a huge portion.
Rise and Dine rocks! It’s a great place for breakfast work meetings but also a great place for the family on weekends. It’s ahead of Thumbs Up for us right now and even Flying Biscuit–the ratio of quality to length of wait for a seat on the weekend is higher!
Right! Speaking of healthy food! Like most things, it all depends on how you do it!
Thanks everyone! Great suggestions thus far. I’ll have to make a list and put it in my phone.
We’re lucky to have a very good eater, so he’ll try and then consume most anything at this point. Figure we better ply him with everything we can before it’s too late!
I think karass’ point about each toddler being different is right on. Nellie Jr. likes goat biranyi at Mirch Masala , jalapeno laden cheese dip and tacos stuffed with meats from anywhere BUT taqueria del sol and the artisan cheese platter at Iberian Pig. He’s a strange one….
Food bar at Your DeKalb Farmers Market, Vegetarian Chili or Hummus Platter @ Twains, and Sweet Melissa’s has healthy breakfast options/coloring books/toys for kids. We have visited Rainbow Grocery’s food bar/deli case weekly since my 3-year old started eating solid food. He loves all of the soup options, most of which include a bean and a grain as well as a variety of pureed vegetables. Great way to sneak in a highly nutritious meal and easy for kids to eat. Prepared salads and daily specials are also great for taking out and bringing on a picnic.
The new Rail has a great lawn area where the kids can play, and my kids devoured the sweet potato fries while waiting for entrees. They also happen to have the most appealing patio in Decatur.
Bella used to love to go to Fellini’s – hey pizza ladies! – and the DeKalb Farmers Market. The former is great because kids can walk around on the patio, watch pizzas being made – hey Cesar! – and they will cut up the pizza into small bites. The latter is great because (a) there’s so much to choose from, (b) you can eat what the child doesn’t, and (c) you can go shopping before and after (and look at the fish and crabs).
We used to also bring some food with us – grape tomatoes, cucumbers, crackers, anything we knew she would eat since the pizza or veggies or whatever didn’t always suit her tastes that particular moment.
I am thinking that my 3-yr old might have some odd tastes!
He likes the “spicey” cashew chicken dish at Garlic Thai, the Palak Paneer at Madras Grill Woodward Pines (opposite the German bakery), black beans and rice at Mezcalitos (Oakhurst), a chicken taco at Mezcalitos (all sauce and salsa on the side)…. We’re generally happy if there is an outside patio (preferably looking onto a road with buses and trucks) and the option of getting him some chicken/fish/steak and some veg/fruit and some carbs (either for himself, or by just getting an extra plate so he can eat some of our food). There are a lot of places around Decatur that seem to work out if we just say we need good food, a patio, and an extra plate!
Ditto on YDFM and Mediterranean Grill. Saba also has a great kid-friendly toy box overflowing with items for children to play with. Then there’s the frozen yogurt – at Yogurt Tap! Enjoy your young one because the time flies too fast and next thing you know, they’re entering primary school.
Here is my “plan of attack” for feeding my toddler in a restaurant:
1. As soon as our server comes to the table, my husband and I order a side of steamed vegetables for our kid and drink orders for ourselves. (Almost) every restaurant serves steamed veggies in some form or another. While the server is off putting that order in, we figure out our main food order.
2. Veggies served. Then we place our main food order. Our kid is more likely to eat veggies if she’s hungry and there are no other options. She usually eats about half of the veggies while we’re waiting for our food to arrive. It’s a good system. Gives her something to do. And if she doesn’t want to eat the veggies, we can play veggie games, “Point to the orange vegetable, etc …”
3. When our meal is served, we immediately ask for two to go boxes and the check. If our kid starts to act up, one parent takes the kid outside while the other parent stays behind to box up the food and pay the check. If our child is acting nicely, when we stay and enjoy our meal and feed her some of whatever we’re eating.
It works pretty well. Gives the kid something to do/eat almost right away. And you’re never stuck at the table without an exit plan. Best of luck!
My husband and I have a very picky 18 month old, who refuses to eat ANY vegetables. But, we have found what we call “mish mash.” They’re mixtures of fruits and vegetables with the consistency of applesauce, but they’re in squeezable pouches. Ella Organics and Happy Baby/Toddler are the brands we most frequently get. They’re AWESOME because they are 100% pureed fruits/vegetables and have 1/2 cup in a serving. He loves the broccoli/green beans/pears and peas/greenbeans/pears and any ot the fruit combinations. So, we’ll go to Taco Mac and get him some of the plain or marinara noodles (most often plain, buttered) and give him a “mish mash” from home. He also really likes the queso dip, so I’ll break off pieces of tortillas, dip it in the queso and roll it up. That keeps him pretty occupied. If we don’t have a plan like this, it’s embarrassing the amount of food that ends up on the floor. We’ll hear “no, no” and look over to see he’s thrown food on the floor and is scolding himself.
My girls are 5 and 7 now. During their toddlerhood, we developed a lot of strategies for getting them to eat; even though we had committed to feeding them truly healthy food, we realized that compromises had to be made to 1) just get some food in their bellies, and 2) find places where we could reasonably manage a kid who has always been difficult in public settings.
We found that Chinese buffets, while unhealthy as licking a city sidewalk, allow you to serve kids quickly and cheaply, and you can sample dozens of dishes to see what they’re currently into. We still go occasionally, and we’ve gotten to where they know what they can and can’t eat, and they don’t beg for the really bad stuff any more.
Another important consideration is your definition of healthy. To me, it means balance and truly healthy ingredients that have as few chemicals as possible. Spinach is healthy, but it is also loaded with pesticides–I’d rather feed my kids a salad with organic iceberg lettuce than non-organic spinach. I would argue that Farmburger has the best food for kids in town, with all those fresh, organic ingredients.
There’s always new food wisdom being revealed. Like, infants need a lot of fat in their diets. Babies should not eat honey. Artificial sweeteners are toxic. Pregnant women should not drink ANY alcohol. Then there’s milk, which may be a scam, with no benefit outside of the vitamins that are added to it .
As for kid-friendliness, the Square Pub, Brick Store, Leon’s, Farmburger, Sushi Avenue, Pastries a Go Go, and Fellini’s are some of the downtown area places that have been consistently great. My kids and their friends can get wild at times, but I always work hard to minimize the disturbance to others; I find most Decatur parents do likewise. It’s because of the great family vibe here that we have so many great places to eat together.
“We found that Chinese buffets, while unhealthy as licking a city sidewalk”
MADE ME LAUGH OUT LOUD! thanks for that…