The quality of your restaurant's food, the friendliness of your wait staff and the ambiance of the restaurant are all crucial to the success of a customer's dining experience. This all works together to determine whether a diner will come back to your restaurant again. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that a family-friendly environment is also key to success. However, you have to go about it the right way because you have to make the families and their kids happy without compromising the quality of the experience of your other diners. Here are a few tips to help you attract and accommodate families as well as keeping your other customers happy:  

1. Make Sure to Take the Time to Develop a Kids' Menu.

This may sound like a no-brainer, but you would truly be surprised at how many restaurants fail to designate a menus specifically for children. However, you need to take the time to develop one that is appealing to children as well as their parents. Offer healthy alternatives to some of the greasiest foods (yet still offer those) as well as some dairy- and gluten-free products for children with restrictions to their diet or allergies. By taking the time to cater to your target customer (the child), you will be able to keep him or her happy while also ensuring that other guests don't have to listen to the child whine about "no good food". 

2. Offer the Right Seating.

You may not have initially planned on having families with young children coming to your restaurant, so you didn't order high chairs or booster c\seats. Well, that's the biggest mistake that you've made while in the restaurant business. In order for kids to stay calm and collected, which also means that your other customers won't be blowing smoke out of their ears, you need to have comfortable seats and chairs so that your smaller guests can reach their food with ease. When seating your families, make sure to seat them at a larger table so that there is plenty of space for bottles, diaper bags and other items that tend to get in the way in small spaces.

3. Make Sure You Have Appropriate Dining Ware.

Children are different than adults. They tend to more frequently knock over their glasses, have trouble using forks and spoons, and drop their plates on the floor. Therefore, you need to make sure you have spill-proof cups, kid-friendly utensils (smaller than average) and plastic, BPA-free and shatterproof plates. Consider making the experience even more comfortable by offering a disposable bib and wet wipes to diners with children.

4. Keep the Children Engaged.

When kids aren't busy, they can often get bored, tired and cranky. This leads to crying and yelling, which causes parents to get agitated. This then results in other diners in the restaurant getting frustrated and wishing they had gone somewhere else for dinner. Keep children busy and happy by offering coloring books and crayons, small toys, etc.

By following the above tips, your restaurant will be able to maintain a family-friendly environment so that parents with children will dine at your establishment. At the same time, you will be able to successfully maintain a solid ambiance that keeps other diners happy and content with the business that you provide. With the right implementation of the aforementioned advice, your restaurant will quickly become a go-to destination for all dinners, like that of restaurants such as Buffalo Phil's Pizza & Grille.