Restaurateur goes viral for adding $50 to parents' bill, saying kids belong 'at Burger King'

[Demovictory9]

Restaurateur goes viral for adding $50 to parents' bill, saying kids belong 'at Burger King'—that's bad leadership: Expert

When a restaurant owner went viral for charging a mother a $50 "unable to parent" fee, allegedly yelling at her when she protested, some people praised him.

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A disagreement at a Georgia restaurant
The mother, Lyndsey Landmann, saw the "adult surcharge" policy written on the menu at Toccoa Riverside Restaurant in Blue Ridge, Georgia, she recently told NBC's "TODAY." Landmann was part of a group of four families, including 11 kids between ages 3 and 8 — and was amazed at how "good" and "well behaved" the children were during the meal, she said.

The restaurant's owner, Tim Richter, seemingly felt differently. He notified Landmann of a $50 charge per bill at their table, because the kids were "too loud," she said.

"I was like, 'They were quiet the whole time.' He got in our faces and told us that we belonged at Burger King and not at his restaurant," said Landmann. "I looked around the restaurant and everybody was frozen, watching this show he was putting on. He was yelling."

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/02/viral-parenting-fee-restaurant-is-example-of-bad-leadership-expert.html

[stopdiggin]

1. Kids would have been better off at BK

(and would have enjoyed it more)
The behavior of the restaurateur is another matter. Suffice it to say I don't feel any particular need to eat at his restaurant.

[SalamanderSleeps]

2. Apparently, Tim skipped out on hospitality class.

Oh, and I looked at the menu. Over priced, bombastic, and uninspiring. Assholes always seem to get the best locations and then ruin them.

https://www.toccoariversiderestaurant.com/menu-1

[3Hotdogs]

5. These are standard menu prices in. my northern N.J. area.

11 kids, from toddler to 8 years old, I would worry about the effect on other diners who might have come to enjoy a relatively quiet time out.

[LonePirate]

3. I'm on his side here. The fee was written on the menu and I think she's pissed about it and backtracking.

He may be an asshole but he can freely cater to whatever clientele he wishes. She doesn’t have to patronize his establishment in the future.

[3Hotdogs]

6. Actually, since the fee wasn't specified, she has a case in small claims court for a refund.

[niyad]

4. Let's see. .Four families, four separate bills at $50 surcharge

each. . a nice little $200 profit, and the bills must have been quite large to begin with, given the prices I saw.That is the first time I have ever heard of that particular surcharge, although I have been in some restaurants where such might have been appropriate.

The children might well have been happier at Burger King. But the issue remains, how do children learn to behave in such venues (notice I did not say "civilized society" ) if they never encounter them? I remember a line I read many years ago about this issue, something like, "We keep children separate from civilized society, and then bemoan their savageness."

I do not know the answers. But I will say that I have been in restaurants where the children were well- behaved, and it was adults who were loud and obnoxious.

[MontanaMama]

7. I don't have all the answers either, nyad.

When my kiddo was small, he went everywhere with us, including restaurants. As soon as he could talk, we would ask him to order his own meal so he would feel comfortable speaking to wait staff. He was never allowed to run rough shod through any restaurant or store. If he started to get fussy, which was almost never, one of us would calmly walk him to a quiet place to talk it out. I have been in restaurants where kids are running around like wild monkeys and the parents don't seem to give two hoots about about it. Kids need to learn how to behave in all kinds of situations and to do that, they need to experience them. If parents allow their kids to go nuts in public, that's on the parents, imho.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. When my kids were little they weren't always

model citizens in a restaurant. More than once one of us took a crying or mis-behaving child outside.

That said, we learned early to to frequent restaurants that had paper mats on the table and provided crayons for kids. We also tended to bring along things for them to play with. We also preferred restaurants with a high ambient noise level. It takes time for kids to learn how to behave in a nice restaurant.

The story does sound as if the restaurateur is simply a jerk, and those kids were not ill-behaved. Since I wasn't there, I don't actually know.

[Demovictory9]

9. Rarely have i experienced kids being willfully "bad" in restaurants

Just being kids. That said, i can understand people not wanting to experience normal kid behavior durind a pricier meal.

I got on the train recently and found a prime seat vacant. Sat down and noticed the family seats (4 seats arranged facing each other, designated for families by amtrak)

I experienced a hour of sing songing, humming, babbling, "mommy why this, why that". i then knew why the experienced train riders avoided my seat

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. Right. Children are rarely willfuly bad, they are just being kids.

I have one friend who is incredibly critical of normal little kid behavior out in public. What angers me is that I'm pretty certain her only child was at least as bad as the worst of those kids. I don't know for sure, as I didn't know her then.

All kids have good and bad days. It is up to the parents to do their best to help them do well in public. As I said above, we usually carried things for the kids to play with when in restaurants. And we tried to choose ones that were kid-friendly. And we took a mis-behaving kid outside many times. This is why when I'm in a restaurant, or anywhere in public, and some small child is being less than perfect, I'm understanding. Been there, done that. The parents don't need judgement.

When my second son was less than a year old, I was in a store with him and he did a classic "throw himself on the floor in a temper tantrum". I backed away, because I was not about to reward that behavior. A couple of other women somewhat older than me, came up, looked around, realized I was the mom and said, "Oh, we are so glad we are past this stage." Honestly, their comment was incredibly helpful. They made me understand that my son was doing something pretty normal. Oh, and after maybe five minutes, he gave up on the temper tantrum, I was able to take him out of the store, and he never did anything like that again, ever.