Taking the kids out for dinner can be a wonderful experience or an exhausting and overly complicated one. Restaurants that offer children's menus can make the process a lot simpler. Children can be quite picky or simply unenthusiastic about restaurant offerings if the menu wasn't designed with them in mind. In Atlanta, there are plenty of eateries that will leave kids, and grown-ups, very satisfied.
Bambinelli's is a homey, no-frills Italian eatery that serves lunch, dinner and dessert. The wait service is very good, so the food is on the table well before kids get antsy. There are numerous pastas available, and on the kids menu, the spaghetti alone is available five ways. There are more than a dozen filling options of Bambinelli's strombolis and calzones, which are big enough for at least two children to share. As kids always want something sweet after dinner, the restaurant offers classic Italian desserts: tiramisu, homemade cannoli and spumoni.
Bambinelli's
3202 Northlake Parkway NE
Atlanta, GA 30345
770-493-1311
realpagessites.com/bambinellisitalianrest
If your kids are bored with everyday restaurants, and you want to try something exotic, head to Nicola's Restaurant. It's a Lebanese restaurant specializing in Middle Eastern cuisine. Every entree comes with vegetables and rice with vermicelli (thin noodles made of rice). If your kids like sharing, try the Family Style Dinner entree. It's a sampling of four of Nicola's appetizers, which kids will love because they're finger foods, and includes hummus, artichoke hearts and baba ghanoush (a dip made of eggplant and lightly seasoned with garlic, lemon and splashed with sesame oil dressing). Watch out for Fridays and Saturdays, depending on the ages of those in your party, as the restaurant's live entertainment, which includes belly dancers, may not feel completely appropriate.
Nicola's Restaurant
1602 LaVista Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30329
404-325-2524
nicolas-restaurant.com
Carver's Country Kitchen is a laid-back, charming restaurant whose mini-cafeteria and communal- seating setup is sure to amuse children. Carver's serves traditional Southern food: collard greens, mashed potatoes, jalapeño corn bread and the ever-kid-friendly macaroni and cheese. The dessert menu will impress the little ones with trendy, but still very Southern, creations such as the Chocolate Coca-Cola and Cherry Dump Cake. Apple, peach, blackberry and cherry cobblers are also available for those kids with a hankering for something more traditional.
Carver's Country Kitchen
1118 W. Marietta St. NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
404-794-4410
carverscountrykitchen.com
Dynamic Dish strives to create natural meals made from fresh, nutritious ingredients. The food is all vegetarian and organic. Although the food is extremely healthy, the fun way it's prepared, arranged on the plate and seasoned will delight children. The restaurant has a bright, cozy environment, and the chef tries to keep all offerings informal, friendly and flexible. This open-minded approach to the menu is perfect for children who are picky eaters. Although its website does not post a daily menu, the Dynamic Dish does frequently update daily specials and such on Twitter (twitter.com/dynamicdish).
Dynamic Dish
427 Edgewood Ave.
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-4344
dynamicdish.net
