family-friendly coffee shop

[gimme_coffee]

I'm wondering if any of the shops with fuller menus have anything geared towards kids with regards to food or drink? I've been looking at different shops with sites on the web and saw one that had a kids corner.

I thought of kids since I have two young ones of my own and have noticed the following:

1. They get hyper and bored easily. the two are not a good combo in a coffee house.

2. put food and drink and something to do in front of them and they mellow *most of the time*

3. coffee in the car isn't as enjoyable as sitting down in comfy couch or chair.

 

[gimme_coffee]

anyone?

 

[barefoot]

kid stuff

Absolutely!!!! Make a kids area or at least have a basket with crayons and color books, some toys etc. we have that in our cafe and parents love it. I am going to do more of that for kids soon. Look for unique fun ways to serve your customers things they don't even know they are looking for. Make sure you are serving the best tasting espresso and coffee posible and then serve the heck out of them and you can win.

 

[charmcitycoffee]

I'm looking at having some kid friendly food items on the menu: pbj, yogurt, applesauce, fruit, cut up veggies, cereal, grilled cheese, as well as sweets. Also, I want to get some in-house plastic cups with the straw lids, so kids can have their own cups if their parents want to sit down for a bit. I think I may hit up the local free book place and get some board and picture books (no loss if they walk out), and I might grab some coloring and activity books and (washable!) crayons to have for "emergencies".

We'll be in a touristy part of town - ignoring kids would not be a good idea.

 

[gimme_coffee]

you just got me to thinking of something else and my hubby thinks I'm looney but older pre-teens (say 7-12) sometimes like the idea of what the adults are eating but you know they would still enjoy a pb & j, what about a pj & j panini?

any thoughts? I also thought about finding a sandwich maker and making pb & j pockets as well as other pockets for adults with more refined appetites?

any ideas?

 

[charmcitycoffee]

I don't know about a pbj pocket, but other ones may be fun. Like the grilled cheese, and variation (ham, tomatoes, etc.) or hot veggie and cheese pocket sandwiches.

Some places to a sweet panini, using Nutella (sometimes mixing it with other stuff). Hmm, maybe a warm pb&marshmallow fluff or pb&banana?

 

[gimme_coffee]

it might be quite a bit of work to do them but I think it might make for an interesting niche in the local market.

 

[javahill]

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bruschetta beats the PB&J Panini. The problem with the Panini is that it gets hot. The peanut oil gets runny as does the jam. Makes a huge mess. Parents will boycott your store. Beyond that, you're going to get fixings on the griddle. Then everything you cook is going to taste like peanuts.

Consider roll-ups. Smaller ones so there isn't a much dough for the filling. You'd need to crimp the bottom to avoid the mess and negative consequences noted above. Duct tape works wonders and it has lots of fiber. Kids need more fiber.

 

[gimme_coffee]

Duct tape works wonders and it has lots of fiber. Kids need more fiber.

ROFL that's funny!

but I hadn't thought about the peanut mess and there a lot of people out there that are allergic to nuts so that could come back to bite me, too.

 

[Graavy]

We sell PB&J bagel sandwiches and those seem to work out very well. We also sell child-sized hot chocolate and milk, and juices. Add to that some kids plastic toys (we have a bucket of plastic dinosaurs) and the game Mousetrap, and some kids books. Basically that is it, and it has gotten us a reputation as a family friendly place. We get lots of families on weekends now.

 

[paulys]

I'm definitely planning on a family friendly place. I'm opening sometime in April, and it's a coffee & ice cream shop, with the full selection of both menus.

I found a really great product for kids at the NY Int Food show instead of crayons. It's called wikkistix. It's a wax coated string of yarn. no mess and nothing stuck to the walls.

My friends and i have been playing with these and we love them, hopefully the kids will enjoy them too!