2 Park Slope restaurants: 1 kid-friendly and the other…not so much
Thistle Hill is a good restaurant: just maybe not for kids or date night
A new restaurant named Thistle Hill Tavern has opened at 441 7th Avenue (at 15th Street) where Olive Vine used to be. It’s a pub-style place with gourmet fare: duck leg confit, grilled octopus, pan seared cuttlefish; sides that include: charred kale, fried fennel, zucchini pancakes; and even an assortment of cheeses from Italy, France, and New York. They use seasonal, local, and sustainable ingredients.
We went for a family dinner recently and while they don’t have a children’s menu, they do have grass-fed burgers and they even went out of their way to make a grilled cheese for my non-too-adventurous-eater son (if it’s not dairy and bread based he won’t touch it). They were also extremely welcoming to families although we were one of the only families in the place. That might be because the prices are bit more than we would want to normally spend on a family meal: $14-18 per entrée, $4-$7 for sides.
We were also very glad we brought our own colors and books to keep our toddler occupied. It was quite crowded and loud. Thistle Hill Tavern is more of a restaurant for meeting up with friends then a place for a family dinner or even a date night. The food was excellent, the lemonade fabulous, a great wine and beer selection so next time I think we’ll just meet a few friends here and call a sitter.
Reviews of Thistle Hill Tavern on Yelp.com.
Pizza Plus
At 359 7th Avenue, between 10th and 11th Streets in Park Slope, you can find one of the BEST family restaurants in town: Pizza Plus. Their entire menu is kid friendly and wallet friendly! They have reading books, coloring books, and crayons for the kids and even a garden out back. Everyone there is always incredibly welcoming. My toddler loves it so much that we now have pizza night at Pizza Plus every Friday.
The pizza is fantastic! Their ingredients are fresh and even for a lactose-intolerant person like myself they offer soy cheese (so I don’t have to cry into a salad while everyone around me eats the cheesy goodness). They also have soy pepperoni and wheat crust among the long list of usual suspects to add to your pie: regular pepperoni, pineapple, olives, mushrooms, etc. They have small and large pizza pies. The large is LARGE and perfect for feeding the whole family. Depending upon your topping choices it will run you $15-$25. Pizza Plus’s menu is long and contains all the typical Italian fare: lasagna (both meat and veggie), pasta primavera, chicken parmesan, etc. These entrees run between $8-$15.
The only down side would be their small and not-so-great wine and beer menu. But I’ve found that if your child is content you don’t need as much booze. Also, everything tastes better when you’re having a happy family meal.
Reviews of Pizza Plus on Yelp.com
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Trained as art historian, Tonya Vernooy has traded in her musings on biotechnology and contemporary art to focus on a more intense subject: raising her son and writing about it: www.adhocmom.com. She is also currently working on a series of murder mystery novels. She lives in Park Slope with 1 child, 1 husband, 2 dogs, and a cat.
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- Toddler open sports at Park Slope Armory (March 5th, 2010)
- Park Slope Eats (October 22nd, 2008)
Yes, I would recommend hanging there with friends. Like you, I don’t require a child’s menu in order to take my toddler out to eat. I think it’s important for them to try new things. My point was that even though they didn’t have a kid’s menu they still went out of their way to make him something when he wouldn’t eat what we had ordered. So, I suppose that being said it is a kid-friendly place, however, I would not recommend it for that simply because it’s quite loud, a bit pricey, and a much better place for adult company, which, as parents we could all use too.
So, was the ‘tavern’ folks friendly? I did not get that. Also, why would a pub have a kid’s menu? I am actually kind of glad that there are more eclectic eateries opening up in the south slope. For me ‘kids friendly’ means that the staff is welcoming, willing to go the extra mile to accomodate.