A Queensland restaurant has banned children under the age of seven, amid claims that screaming babies and misbehaving toddlers are bothering adult diners.
Flynn’s Restaurant, which is located at Yungaburra in far north Queensland, has introduced the policy banning children under the age of seven, following feedback from other diners.
Manager Sonia Tymecka says, “As a born and bred European myself, I do follow a good dining etiquette and it is my responsibility as a manager to step in and politely convey information to the families with small children to find alternative arrangements (just like every other family does in Europe)”.
She continues, “please do yourself and other patrons a favour by getting a babysitter or by removing the screaming baby from the room. It is purely out of respect for other diners, regardless whether they are two or twenty of them in the restaurant. Those are basic social skills and we do not feel that we should be teaching parents how to handle their children”.
According to the Cairns Post owner and chef Liam Flynn introduced the policy after a mother left a bad review on TripAdvisor, following a run-in at the restaurant.
“The owner asked us to keep the noise down quite rudely,’’ the diner writes on TripAdvisor, “Within a few minutes, he returned and asked us to take ‘the child’ out of the restaurant! I don’t agree with any children running riot while people are dining at home, or out. Our little one wasn’t misbehaving or wreaking havoc.”
Mr Flynn claims the experience at the eatery isn’t isolated, prompting the new age-minimum requirement.
“This problem happens often,’’ he says, “We realise that when we do say something to people, they are hypersensitive to the fact that they’re being told off for their parenting, basically.
“That’s how they view it when you say something to them. They are basically outsourcing their misery to everyone else.”
The duo also says younger children are also the source of constant breakages and damage to the restaurant.
“We’ve had some nice families coming with babies, but there has to be a line drawn, so we are no longer taking children under seven any more,” Ms Tymecka says.
(via the Cairns Post)
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