When you're a parent, dining out can easily become a nightmare.
No matter how well-behaved your child is, they can still be unpredictable in certain settings, turning a nice family night out into a screamfest.
What's even worse is that your child's tantrum is not only spoiling your dinner, they're also interrupting everyone else in the restaurant, so you end up having to deal with dirty looks, eye rolling, and passive aggressive comments.
While there are still plenty of family-friendly restaurants that won't stress you or your kid out, some establishments have put in place policies that aren't very kid-friendly.
To keep their restaurant from turning into a playground, Old Fisherman's Grotto, a seafood restaurant in California, has put up a sign that lists the rules of their dinning room and it has stirred up quite the controversy.
The Monterey-based restaurant's rules read as follows: "No Strollers, No High Chairs, No Booster Chairs. Children crying or making loud noises are a distraction to other diners, and as such are not allowed in the dining room."
The sign has reportedly been posted for years, but it has only recently gotten a lot of attention after it surfaced on Yelp.
While the 70-year-old restaurant continues to draw in customers, there some who have refused to dine there after coming across the sign.
"Whoa. I've never seen this before. I'm canceling my reservation at the restaurant after seeing this picture on Yelp," wrote one mom in a Facebook group.
"Always loved going to this place as a kid with my family. So when I came back from living overseas with my own kids, I was appalled by the sign that basically said no kids allowed," read one Yelp review.
Still, among the sea of angry moms and dads, were many parents who stood by the restaurant's decision.
"I really don't understand why you parents don't just take your kids to McDonald's or Chuck-E-Cheese where they could scream all they want," wrote one Facebook user. On Yelp, one reviewer found it ironic that parents are complaining about the policy.
"I support your child-free/no screaming kids policy! The irony of these self-centered parents complaining is that THEY are the reason this exists in the first place," the reviewer wrote.
Although these rules will definitely be a deterrent for some families, people shouldn't expect the policy to be amended anytime soon.
The restaurant's owner spoke out in defense of his business, explaining to KTVU that the establishment is known for their quiet atmosphere and that they regularly serve families with well-behaved children.
"We have many families who dine with us with their children who are well behaved and understand our policy with respect to other diners," he said. "What we have found on those who write negative reviews about our policy are those who have not dined here but become offended by the sign and our policy."
A statement on the restaurant's website explains that not only do they want to provide guests with "an overall enhanced dining experience," by reducing noise, they had to ban strollers and high chairs because their dining room is "relatively small."
"Having strollers and/or high chairs at the tables and in the aisles made it difficult to have full access to get to and around tables. For the safety of our staff and guests we adopted a stroller policy in 2009."
