An Australian Restaurant Has Banned Noisy Children; Some Parents Are Quite Unhappy

An Australian restaurateur has invoked the ire of parents nationwide (and worldwide, apparently) by kindly asking that parents of noisy children refrain from bringing them to her café.

The kerfuffle began, as these things tend to do, on social media, according to the Newcastle Herald. On Monday morning, Jodie Morris, owner of The Little French Café in Broadmeadow, Australia, made a Facebook post, which has since been deleted. Ms. Morris was responding to a scathing, one-star review in which a customer took her café to task for not being “child-friendly.” Jodie’s response could be taken as rather cross, depending on your point of view.

“If you are looking for a café with a children’s menu, baby chinos, a play area, lounges for your children to jump on, vast space for your prams, an area for your children to run rampant, and annoy other customers, whilst you are oblivious to them – then the short answer is no we are not child friendly. HOWEVER, if you would like to bring your children here, and they are happy to sit at a table with you, whilst you enjoy a coffee, and are well behaved, please come in. Otherwise, there are plenty of places that are specifically designed to entertain your children.”

NOTE: A “baby chino” is a sort-of frothy milk beverage, similar to a cappuccino but without coffee, apparently given to small children in Australia and New Zealand, and a “pram” is a stroller.

The post ignited a firestorm on Facebook, with several parents expressing their anger at Ms. Morris, threatening to boycott her establishment (which is exactly what she wanted), and so on. Many took her to task for not understanding the difficulties of being a parent of small children, according to News Corp Australia.

“You are a cafe, bottom line is that you are going to have ALL types of customers, and it’s important to make each and every customer feel as important as the next and cater for all types of customers. The post in question came across far from that and as an attack on parents and their ability to ‘parent properly.'”

Ms. Morris is standing by her decision to ban noisy children.

“I have been subjected to children emptying salt and pepper shakers into my fireplaces, parents changing nappies on my lounges, kids grinding their own food into my carpet… When I have to stand there and watch people disrespect and damage MY belongings and property, it breaks a piece of my heart every time. Some will agree with my stance, some will not, but it’s my stance for my business.”

The Little French Café is not the first restaurant to earn the ire of parents for its stance on children; last summer, according to this Inquisitr report, Houston restaurant La Fisheria made waves for banning children after 7:00 P.M.

Do you believe The Little French Café was wrong to ask parents of noisy children to eat somewhere else? Let us know what you think in the Comments below.

[Images courtesy of: News Corp Australia, Daily Mail]