Kids Eat Free if They're Polite at This Restaurant
Polite Kids Eat Free at Texas Restaurant
scot2342/flickr
An enterprising restaurateur will give your child a free meal, but only if she or he is polite.
Good manners really do pay off.
Just ask Tom Landis, the franchisee of two Dallas-area Texadelphia restaurants. He's giving polite children a free meal, provided they ask for it and use the all-important "please" or "por favor."
Kids meals are already half-price after 4 p.m. at Landis' two Texadelphia franchises in Dallas and Irving, Texas. But with the difficult economic climate, he thought he could do something more.
"If the kids will order themselves and say 'please,' then the kid's meal is free," Landis told AOL Food.
Read the rest of the story below.
Cooking at Any Age
by Sara Bonisteel
Simple Tasks, Big Rewards
Kids as young as 2 can start tearing off the leaves from ears of corn, but it will take the wisdom and motor skills that come with a few more years of age to be able to pull the strands of silk out from the kernels.
Oven Under Supervision
Parents who feel their children are ready for the heat of the oven should supervise their child and make certain that they use oven mitts and keep a distance from the hot door. Safe Kids USA recommends that only children above the age of 13 use the oven.
Jolie Novak, AOL
Pipe Dreams
As long as your child has the motor skills to be able to operate a tube of frosting (and you don't mind some creative off the cake work), they can go straight for the cake. Just don't let their creation end up on Cake Wrecks.
Cassandra Hubbart, AOL
Liquid Fun
Toddlers can help with big kids tasks like pouring liquid into a mixing bowl. As they age, parents can have the children do the measuring themselves.
Jolie Novak, AOL
Spatula, Splatula
By age 3, toddlers can use small spatulas to help out with basic kitchen tasks. Let them start with play food and then move on to letting them help you stir. Save the stove top until you deem them mature enough to do so under supervision. a href="http://www.usa.safekids.org" target="_blank">Safe Kids USA recommends that only children above the age of 13 use the stove.
Jolie Novak, AOL
Peel Appeal
Kids as young as 3 can start using a peeler -- provided they're under parental supervision. Make sure they use a small one designed for kids and push the peeler away from the body.
Jolie Novak, AOL
Stir It Up
Be it the sandbox or the kitchen counter, stirring is lots of fun for kids. Get them started early by measuring out the ingredients for them. As they grow up, they can learn to measure out the ingredients themselves. If you're worried about a mess, use a drop cloth in the kitchen.
Jolie Novak, AOL
Stove Top Carefully
ave the stove top until you deem them mature enough to do so under supervision. a href="http://www.usa.safekids.org" target="_blank">Safe Kids USA recommends that only children above the age of 13 use the stove. Even then, be sure they're supervised.
Jolie Novak, AOL
Grater With Care
It can be fun to shred cheese but start small using a garlic grater. It's small enough for young hands to manipulate. But be sure to supervise so your young one's fingers remain safe.
Jolie Novak, AOL
Follow the Recipe
They'll need to learn how to read before kids can start tackling the all-important kitchen recipe, but you can help them learn early by voicing out recipes. They'll soon learn that a couple eggs are needed for an omelet and two slices of bread plus cheese are necessary for a grilled cheese.
Cassandra Hubbart, AOL
Landis began the promotion about a month ago after seeing his own 2-year-old learn to talk. He hopes it will coax kids out of their shell.
"I've kind of seen a lot of parents where they come in and they're trying to get their kid to order and the kid's just kind of hiding behind mom's dress," he said.
Texadelphia operates 19 restaurants in Texas and Oklahoma serving "The Original Texas Cheesesteak."
"He's doing the right thing at the right time," says Rich Waring, the president of the Quintessence Corporation, which franchises the Texadelphia restaurants.
Chicken fingers are the most popular kids meal item, Landis says. And the polite kids deal is winning raves from parents.
"I'm getting a ton of e-mails and just people stopping me in the parking lot and saying 'Hey man, that was really cool. My son, boy you just should have seen him beam that he said "please" and he got the meal free. Gosh he pointed out that when I ordered I said it nice but I didn't say "please."'"
Nation's Restaurant News reported that the promotion is good for one free kids meal per adult, but Landis says he's flexible.
"I don't want to have a hard-and-fast rule," he says. "Whatever we need to do to make them happy when they leave, then that's what we're going to do."
Landis -- who operates four pizza restaurants in addition to his Texadelphia restaurants on Greenville Avenue in Dallas and MacArthur Boulevard in Irving -- says he wants to make the Texadelphia polite-kids-eat-free deal a "cornerstone of my restaurants." And it might pop up soon at other Texadelphias as well.
"I think it's a great idea and it's got our full support," Waring says.
04-01-2009
Recent Comments
Scorpio O Night 10:31:12 PM Apr 26 2009
What a great idea! Well-behaved children are going the way of the dodo, I hope other businesses follow suit.I still remember when I was very little and my family was at a restaurant one night, the owner of the restaurant gave my sister and I ice cream after our dinner because we were the best behaved kids they had had all day. It made an impression on me. A little politeness gets you a long way sometimes.
Anlashokna2258 05:41:29 AM Apr 02 2009
Now here is a great idea. Too bad other restraurant owners probably won't pick up on it.
MissBethN 03:25:54 AM Apr 02 2009
Hopefully, it also encourages those darlings, and their parents, to sit and use an indoor voice and not run around screaming. Good manners are going the way of the Dodo...
MHDJL 01:20:59 AM Apr 02 2009
Kudos to Tom! Now I would like to suggest that some adults learn manners too. When my son was small, he would hold the door for other people. Most people, usually around my age, or teenagers, would thank him. The inconsiderate ones were older people - mostly seniors - who would rush right past him, grumbling about "how bad the kids today are". Manners are a two-way street.
Dnallohirek 12:54:40 AM Apr 02 2009
I worked in a restaurant for four years. In that time I saw many polite kids and parents, and many rude and inconsiderate kids and parents. Because of this I think that this is a GREAT idea. But this isn't about what you get for free by being polite. It is about our society, by saying "please" people are more likely to help. It shows you care about them as humans. Not necessarily that you care to hear their life story or pay their car loan, but that you understand that their job is service and you appreciate what they are doing. "Thank you" also works wonders.
Ruthannnabb 10:48:19 PM Apr 01 2009
This is a wonderful idea for the restaurant to do this. I'm sure kids are very proud when they are polite and they get a free meal. Kudos to the restaurant for thinking of this idea.
Reynoldsdlls 10:02:23 PM Apr 01 2009
My family and I love the Texadelphia in Dallas. We see Tom there all the time and are glad AOL chose highlight this story. Tom really is a great guy and you can tell as soon as you walk into his resturant because it has such a great atmosphere. I urge anyone in the area who hasn't been by Texadelphia to give it try, you won't be dissappointed.
