Yeah, we take our kids to the dining room areas of the places we go...usually O'Tooles in Gurnee or Hooters (my older daughter loves fried pickles). If it is lunch time at O'Tooles, we will usually grab a booth in the greater bar area, usually to shoot the shit with a friend that bartends during the day. At the same time, neither of my girls are old enough to really be a pain in the ass, and when it comes to it, my older daughter will happily color or watch the iPad.

Having been on the other side of this, back in my single days when I used to hang out at Gatsby's in Arlington, there was this annoying family that reminded me of those fuckers that make the holiday videos, except they only had one kid. They would come in and play Bon Jovi's greatest hits on repeat, and jam along to it...at roughly 9-10 o'clock on a Friday or Saturday night. By the 2nd playing on Livin' on a Prayer, I was throwing enough money in to override that shit playlist and drive them out with Rage Against the Machine or 20 minute live versions of Led Zeppelin songs. Worked like a charm every time. Bar manager never cared because they were just drinking water and eating whatever was on special, so it's not like there was a true monetary loss going on.

Fuck Bon Jovi.

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Amen

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

I don't think we went out much from ages 1-4. We had a bag of stuff that we'd take to restaurants. Travel tangoes, kanoodle, and activity books were favorites. I can't stand when we are at a restaurant and see kids on iPads or phones. It's okay to be bored and it's okay that they learn they can't act like they are on a playground in a restaurant. We don't go to dinner with some friends because their kids are so bad. Bums me out a little.

If you need to take your kids to a bar in Andersonville for dinner, go up Clark to Replay. It's a whisky bar that serves decent food with a bunch of 80s & 90s video games spread around it.

You've got to get the kids to enjoy bars at a young age these days..

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Not long ago I was at Perennial Virant. It's not Alinea or Everest, but it's a reasonably high end restaurant. The hostess sat us next to three Japanese dudes. One of them was wearing a headset and having a very very loud business conversation like he was in his fucking office. It could have been Trump on the other end of the line. I kept staring daggers at the guy and the waiter immediately asked if I wanted to move. Uh, hell yeah. I really wanted him to tell the guy that his behavior was not appropriate.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

We get a lot of compliments on how well behaved our kids are at stores, restaurants, etc. MANY parents don't seem to care if their kids are assholes. We are not those parents.

To those of you who tell people to keep their kids at home, the only way kids learn how to behave in public, is by taking them out in public, and teaching them how to act. Behaving well in public isn't instinctual. You were all savages at one time, too.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

This is always correct.

One time, when Howard Stern was feuding with them, he called them "tampon sniffing sissies".

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

At one time?

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

I'd like to think a few of you have grown out of being savages.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

The strangest Bon Jovi story I ever heard was how Martin Atkins* ended up working as a gardener for Tico Torres*.






*If you don't know who those guys are, check with leash and denis.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

This

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@Hawg

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

I think Tico Daltrey is the vocalist for The Who.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

If you've followed me for any time at all, you know I'm obsessed with shows about Nazis and especially hunting Nazis. Whenever I see footage of Germans walking in parks or eating in cafes while Hitler was ramping up his genocide, I would always wonder at how people could be occupied doing ANYTHING else but trying to stop him. But today, while chatting with a friend at SBux when the news of the parents with children ban came down. And it hit me all at once. It's 1938 and I'm sitting in a cafe in Berlin while a crazy person is preparing am all-out assault on parents, children, grandparents, and the childcare community. And the most terrifying thing is that I have no idea how to stop him.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Shoeless Joes is a pregame/show place

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

The other week, I went to this shitty chain bar and grill that caters to a low brow clientele and is completely chaotic due to the number of TVs that line the wall with the sound turned up and there were children there whose movements ruined the entire experience.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I compliment parents if their kids are actually well behaved. A lot of parents think the kids are well behaved just because they stick a phone or iPad in front of them. No, your kids drugged. My daughter would be well behaved too if we gave her some NyQuil before we went out. That isn't to say you're a terrible parent if you screen babysit them, maybe you've had a shitty day and you just want some peace and quiet at dinner, just don't tell me how great your kid is in public. It's why I give the benefit of the doubt to parents that are trying to engage their kids in conversation or something like that. Sometimes it doesn't work and you end up being the table everybody gives the stink eye to, but it's one of those parenting things that's better for your family in the long run.

My daughter is almost 2 and we've never taken her out to eat anywhere besides McDonald's once. We get out about once every 6 weeks or so without the kids and thats more than enough for us. Cheaper to eat at home and less stress for the two of us trying to keep the two occupied.

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Like learning not to be savages, learning how to be good parents is not always instinctual- it depends so much on if/how your parents raised you, your spouse/partner's ideas of the deal, etc. Taking the kids to the bar for the dinner special, probably okay if they are even close to behaving. Closing the place down with them in tow, never good. But then, take an after-midnight spin through your local supermarket and see how many under-5 kids are shopping with Mom in the wee hours.

Half Acre's Balmoral taproom this past Saturday was packed at 5:30pm. There was only 2 of us so we were able to sneak stools at the bar. However a line began to form for larger groups waiting for tables. I was surprised to see the number of families who brought infants and young toddlers to a loud packed bar. A table next to us brought an infant and two toddlers. Rather than enjoy their beers and meal they had to interrupt to service their children once they got bored with iPad, iPhone, Nintendo Switch, etc.

What's the point? Isn't finding a babysitter easier than ever with online directories?

I was in Smith & Wollensky at the downstairs bar at about 1:30 in the morning. A bunch of Irishmen including a guy who worked there and a local union head were at the bar yukking it up. There were also two couples at a table and they had a baby with them. At 1:30 in the morning! In a bar! The baby was sleeping. The dad got up and walked over to the bar and said, "Could you guys keep it down? My baby is sleeping." The union guy looked at him and said, "If you don't leave this bar in one minute, I'm going to throw that fucking baby in the river and then beat the fuck out of the rest of you." Good times.

Anyone going to Hopleaf tomorrow for the 25th anniversary party? Hoffy?

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Breweries are the worst with annoying children. I don't know what it is, but apparently hipster millennials think it is ok to bring their kids to a loud brewery because I guess it doesn't have the same stigma as a normal bar? And it's fine if they play the board games that a lot of breweries stock, but I see kids run all over the place and knock over the giant jenga more times than I count.

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So true, I've noticed the same thing. Parents of young children seem to want it both ways when going to brewery/taproom. They take advantage of the casual atmosphere at the expense of employees and other patrons. It's especially odd when a taproom serves food. The parents seem to totally oblivious of the restaurant aspect. You have employees with full trays of food and/or beers navigating tables/chairs and you add yelling children running around.

I wonder what percentage of business is driven by young families. Perhaps breweries are afraid of bad press from mommy blogs?

I am very glad there are not many kids at any places I go. If there were they must have behaved perfectly because I never noticed.

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Elections have consequences.

Yeah, that's a good point with the serving of food. And to add on to the kid factor, there is a brewery near where I live that allows dogs outside in their beer garden. Now to the brewery's credit, they do post a sign stating your dog needs to be well-behaved and on a leash. But much like the people who bring their dogs to Home Depot, that sign might as well be in Greek. Half the time the dogs are running all over the beer garden and pissing on table legs. And the owners laugh like it's no big deal that they are inconveniencing other patrons who may have to step over dog piss. I love my dog, but my wife and I said from the get-go our dog would not be a brewery dog.

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We slipped into a brewery down in Mississippi a couple weeks ago when we were down there. It was off hours and my wife was trying to give me a treat for schlepping her and the kids around so I did a tasting with her and the kids sat at a table. I don’t think we would have done it if it wasn’t middle of day.

My kids are a tad older and have always been expected to behave in public (And usually have, none of that screaming and running around bull shit) but you do have to take them out if they are ever to learn. That being said it’s usually 6pm or so at a restaurant and not 10 at a bar. No screens at table.

I like the food at O'Toole's a lot, but damn the overall noise level in the Gurnee location is crazy. I'm excited they're opening the spot in Lake Villa.

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Nah, missed it. Client is keeping me crazy busy these days. I know more about payment routing than any human should.

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