Eating out with my 2 year old is one of the most stressful situations for me as a parent. He has been known to throw cutlery across a restaurant, shout and scream, not sit still and generally be very hard work. It can be hard to find a place ideal for him when we're out at lunch times; the thought of him having a tantrum because he's hungry and fed up of waiting for his food makes me shy away from places I would eat at without him. And then there's the battle between good, nutritional food and convenience. I would often find myself heading for certain fast food restaurants simply for the ease and speed of service, but of course I don't want to be feeding my toddler fast food every time we're out...
Which is why I decided to create a series on my blog, visiting different restaurants and reviewing how Toddler Friendly they are. You may have seen my previous post reviewing Bodega Leicester.
We decided to see how family friendly TGI Fridays was.
The lovely people at TGI's HQ sent me this fantastic goody box to take with us, to keep little man amused during our lunch. It included a Team Fridays hat, crayons, puzzle paper, a balloon pump, tons of modelling balloons, and Taylor's favourite part, a Gingerbread man & squeezy icing!
On Sundays, they're currently offering a FREE ice cream sundae to every child in fancy dress!
So Taylor dressed up in his Bob the Builder costume, hard hat and all, and off we went to our local Fridays.
Our nearest TGI Fridays is set on the corner of Highcross shopping centre's food court, full of amazing eateries. Highcross Leicester is a lovely family friendly shopping centre with great facilities and family parking. It took us a lot longer to arrive at TGI's as Taylor had to stop to play on the interactive play screen and try out all the Strollex trolley cars which are available to hire, to make shopping a little less stressful for parents and more fun for little ones. I think I'm definitely going to have to hire one next time as Taylor is desperate for a ride in the cars! :)
We arrived just in time and were shown to our table by the lovely waiting staff, before Taylor was gifted an amazing modelling balloon, how cool is this?
Entertainment
Keeping Taylor amused is very difficult, he's not a child that will sit still for very long. So this is something that is so important to me when eating out; does the restaurant offer anything to keep young children amused while waiting for their food?
As well as the fantastic balloon, they offer a 'kids pack' which includes some puzzle and colouring paper and crayons. Taylor will often get bored of this, he's possibly a little young, so we were lucky to have the goody box for him to attempt to pump his own balloons and decorate his gingerbread man which he really enjoyed. The gingerbread men are available to purchase to decorate, for £2.49.
Menu
Many kids menus are quite standard. I'm looking for variety and nutritional options...
TGI's have two sections to their Kids Menu; Little League and Major League for older children. The Little League menu offers five options for little ones to choose from, including burgers, fish, chicken & pasta, and all come with a small pot of apple, cucumber and carrot.
Taylor went for the Tomato Tubes pasta, and out came a huge bowl of yummy pasta, which he really enjoyed.
Of course I had to show you my amazing steak, with Jack Daniels sauce and the beautifully creamy mash. Totally worth a mention, it really is lovely!
We asked for Taylor's ice cream sundae as he started to get a little bored and wouldn't sit still but he managed to demolish it before our sundae's even arrived! They were very yummy!
*In collaboration with TGI Fridays and Highcross Leicester
As always, all words, opinions and images are my own