A young mom says her mother-in-law’s birthday meal was ruined due to a San Francisco steakhouse’s child policy.
Joc (@jocebeee) published a video detailing her time at the establishment.
In the clip, she argues that waitstaff took the side of diners who found her baby disruptive. However, she argues that this wasn’t the case.
Niku Steakhouse Says It’s Kid-Friendly—But*
“Hi guys, so I wanted to come on here to share my experience that I had dining at Niku Steakhouse in San Francisco this past Saturday,” she begins. “My husband, my seven-month-old baby, my mother-in-law, and myself dined here to take my mom out for her birthday.”
She says she “triple-checked” that the restaurant was child-friendly.
“I just want to be respectful of the guests there. And on the website it clearly states that you can bring even your smallest ones there,” she says. After making this point, she then shows a screenshot of the restaurant’s website.
Indeed, on Niku’s FAQ page, there is a section titled “May I bring my children to Niku?”
The answer reads: “There is no age requirement to dine at Niku; we are happy to welcome even the smallest guests pending a few considerations.”
The blurb went on to name these asterisks: “all children must be included in the total guest count … [and] all guests [should] be able to sit through the dining experience without being disruptive to the other guests in our intimate dining areas.”
Kid Friendly = Noise Friendly?
Joc stated that her due diligence extended to her visit to the actual restaurant. She says that upon arriving at Niku, she asked an employee if the establishment was indeed kid-friendly.
“She’s like, ‘Oh yeah, babies are welcome all the time,'” Joc reports.
She says things were “great” until their server came and told her that several people had complained that her baby was being too loud.
“She was just yapping and babbling, mind you. She’s only seven months old. And she was finding her voice, excited and happy to be there,” Joc says.
She shows footage of her baby that appears to corroborate her statement. Her daughter isn’t shown in the clip to be screaming or crying. Rather, she is cooing and looking around, acting like a happy little bouncing baby.
Joc highlighted that she could’ve understood any complaints had her child been acting excessively disruptive.
“By all means—if she was hysterically crying, throwing a tantrum, or a fit, or screaming at the top of her lungs—we would’ve willingly left on our own. But that wasn’t the case,” she told her viewers.
Server Suggests Something She Disagrees With
While Joc didn’t believe her child was making that much of a commotion, others thought differently. She says that a member of the restaurant’s staff recommended that she leave the table with her seven-month-old and stand in a corner of the restaurant or even take her out to the car and sit there while everyone else enjoyed their meals.
The server’s appeal confused Joc, as she was unsure how to “calm” a baby that was not misbehaving, and it made her want to leave immediately.
“Overall, it was just a terrible experience. And mind you, this was all before our main dishes came out. So, I was already uncomfortable. My husband wanted to stay, and I was like, ‘No, let’s just get our … food to go because obviously we’re not welcomed here, and the restaurant’s not doing anything to fix it,'” she said.
The Mom Opted To Leave
Joc says that upon learning that the family was going to leave, the restaurant didn’t attempt to help matters.
“They just offered us a free dessert, which we totally opted out for. Like, a dessert’s not gonna make my experience better here,” she said, adding that she doesn’t recommend the restaurant to diners with children.
Further compounding her befuddlement was the business’s verbiage online promising a welcoming atmosphere to younger diners. She wondered if the waitstaff considered telling the other diners that the baby wasn’t actually acting disruptively.
She also had a message for the folks who complained about her baby and others who take issue with otherwise well-behaved infants having the call to coo when they’re out to eat.
“You ruined it for me and my family,” she said. “My mother-in-law didn’t have a good birthday experience. And I’m sorry that our baby ruined your experience, even though this restaurant clearly states that it’s a baby-friendly restaurant.”
“Next time, do either a private dining experience or just do us all a favor and stay home,” she added.
‘This Is Great Advertising for Niku’
Throngs of people who left comments on her video thought that Joc was in the wrong. Some wondered why she would bring an infant into a fine dining establishment in the first place.
“If I am paying $600 to eat, I don’t even want to see a baby anywhere near the restaurant,” one penned.
Another stated, “Why in the [expletive] would you be comped for being a disturbance?”
“I’m so sick of entitled parents OMG,” another remarked.
“Imagine paying $600 for a dinner and some kid keeps making noises and screeching,” someone else stated.
There were others who pointed out the part on Niku’s FAQ page about children being welcome, as long as they aren’t “disruptive to the other guests.” Judging from the comments, there were many people who thought the kid was, indeed, being a nuisance.
Can Restaurants Legally Ban Loud Kids?
Folks who enjoy eating out have some pretty strong opinions on whether or not kids can be banned from eateries. But are they legally allowed to do so?
A FindLaw piece published in 2022 explores the potential legal troubles businesses can find themselves in when prohibiting kids on premises. The article writes that there’s a “trend in the industry to ban kids under a certain age from … restaurants.”
Specifying that only “loud” kids are banned may also land business owners in hot water, as this practice may be construed as being discriminatory against particular cultures. Namely, those where speaking at higher volumes or gesticulating physically in more exaggerated mannerisms is common.
Moreover, the write-up indicates that some businesses that prohibit kids find themselves on the receiving end of a lawsuit. FindLaw writes that the following are considered protected classes:
- Age
- Race
- National origin
- Religious beliefs
- Gender
- Disability
- Pregnancy
- Veteran Status
So, customers could attempt to argue their loud or obnoxious child falls under one of those classes.
But there are eateries that implement age requirements regardless. This California restaurant made headlines in 2018 for banning children under a particular age, and it was to ensure other diners weren’t inconvenienced during their meals.
Other Restaurants Penalizing Parents
Parents also penned an article about a business that charged a family for her kids being “too loud.” The addition was appended to her bill and read: “Adult surcharge: For adults unable to parent $$$.”
This is despite, like Joc, the mom in question thinking that her kids were acting quite nicely during their meals. And while there are plenty of people in support of not wanting to see kids when they go out, this Bon Appétit writer has a different opinion.
According to them, “If you don’t want kids in restaurants, you should just stay home.”
Subplot News has reached out to Joc via TikTok direct message and Niku Steakhouse via email for further comment. We will update this story if they respond.
@jocebeee $600 down the drain 🙁 #nikusteakhouse ♬ original sound – joc ♡
