Child-Free Dining: The (Blissfully) Silent Trend

Call me a grinch, a misanthrope, a DINK (dual-income-no-kids), or the anti-cute-police, but I hate (hate a thousand times over) ill-behaved children/infants/screaming banshees in upscale restaurants.

Upon doing some research, it turns out I’m not alone. Not only are there message boards, websites, even petitions to promote child-free dining, it turns out there’s an international social club devoted to the baby-free lifestyle.

I’m not a card carrying NoKidding member yet, but for now I plan on asking restaurants what their child policy is before attending.

Here, a few pre-screened restaurants that refuse to break out the coloring books and crayons:

+ Wishbone, Chicago has adults-only seating at their Lincoln Ave. location.

+ The Frisky Oyster in Greenport, Long Island doesn’t allow children under 6 (take them to the ear-bleedingly loud Claudio’s Clam Bar instead).

+ Even family-friendly Disney puts its foot down when it comes to the Grand Floridian Resort’s staunch no-child policy in the Victoria and Albert restaurant.

It’s a sign of the child-centric times that the farm-to-table restaurant Joshua’s in Wells, ME has to specify that bringing children under the age of 7 is not recommended.

Lastly in our nation’s great capital (where my government-working sister has tried to get legislature to change standard symantics from “child-less” to “child-free”) Two Amys toes the line with their kid-free dining room upstairs. The host concedes, “Occasionally we’ll let a well-behaved 5- or 6-year-old, but there are no high-chairs allowed.”

Typical D.C. flip-flopping.

What are your favorite adults-only dining spots? Any child-friendly places that do a great job catering to little ones?

Charlotte Savino is the online listings editor at Travel + Leisure.