Little Goat gets high marks for being open super early on the weekends (7 AM!), which is helpful if you have little creatures at home who arise with the sun. They also offer valet parking, which seems like an unnecessary extravagance early on a Saturday morning, until your hanger overtakes you and you scream at your husband because there are no. goddamn. parking. spots.
Read MoreSwan Dive turns into the most organic playgroup you've even seen. Kids can roam free, draw with chalk, play corn hole (or just stand inappropriately on the base) and parents can drink cocktails and not worry about disrupting the neighbors (you are)...but it doesn't matter. The food is mostly meat and lets just hope your kids aren't nude shy...
Read MoreOK, so this is an ice cream shop. I get it...of course it's kid-friendly. BUT, not all ice cream shops are cut from the same kid-friendly cloth. And being that 76 percent of my diet in the summer months is ice cream, it seemed my/our civic duty to review this place for the First Bites community. First off, if you live in Brooklyn (and Manhattan for that matter) you KNOW Ample Hills. Bold statements are made from people that this really is "the best ice cream in America." And being that this ice cream shop is headquartered in the artisanal capital of the universe, rest be assured Ample Hills makes from start to finish all of their ice cream flavors. But don't get too attached to a flavor because the menu is constantly changing. They keep us on our toes...and validating deep internal monologues of why we MUST go back the next day....and the day after that.
Read MoreThey opened their first place in Queens, NY six years ago....and now they are opening up locations in Tokyo and Frankfurt. Bareburger moves fast. If I'm being totally honest, it's the sort of place I normally don't like eating at. Why? It's just all a bit too perfect. Sort of that "you're in Disneyworld" feel and the founders have spent a lot of money on consumer psychology research. But like Disneyworld, you somehow find yourself BACK in Harry Potter land and swearing to yourself that you are going to go for New Year's Eve EVERY.SINGLE. YEAR because it is THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH.
Read MoreThis is basically NY's version of In-N-Out except it is not. Shake Shack is a bit more urban and it stands apart in the burger arena by using a proprietary burger that’s vegetarian fed and humanely raised. Cooked-to-order burgers are topped with fresh ingredients and served on a non-GMO roll. They also make their own custard ice cream that is full of REAL sugar and the most important part of this chain....they serve ALCOHOL. Uh huh. So go ahead and order your kid cocaine that comes in the form of a brownie, custard concrete...it doesn't matter, because you will be sipping wine and all will be right in the world.
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It was a day of lunching sophistication. Not even an American (me) could damper that. We headed over to Hotel du Vin, Cannizaro House. Hotel du Vin is a chain of luxury boutique hotels scattered throughout London. Olly's family lives in Wimbledon so we walked over to Cannizaro Park, a massive park that is amazing for kids to run around in (did I mention it is GRASS and NOT concrete?!), feed the ducks, look at flowers and see a mini aviary of birds. On these grounds sits the large mansion-hotel that has a windowed bistro that sits on the park grounds. Before we had lunch, we walked around, fed the ducks and tried in vain to tire out Jenson. Once we walked into the restaurant, I noticed something immediately. There were no kids except for Jenson and my 7-year-old-niece...
Read MoreSo this place is in the heart of Brooklyn and is a vegetarian-only, vegan, gluten-free optional restaurant. You can only wear hemp and showers are not encouraged (KIDDING.) But I do command you to stop your eye roll and Free Yo Mind! Even the most loyal of meat eaters would have a hard time saying anything bad about the food here. It is that good. If you think you could never have mac and cheese without the cheese...I dare you to try their cashew-based mac and "cheese." You won't even miss the cheese. Their gluten-free, veggie burgers are something to write home about and they start the meal with complimentary gluten-free pumpkin muffins...which are also blow-your-mind good. Oh, and portabella steaks are a thing. Did I mention that they are MASSIVELY kid-friendly?!
Read MoreCalexico is a venue that started out selling their burritos and tacos out of a food truck and now have locations all over New York...but they still sell out of carts. Armed with Jenson, we popped in for some lunch at their new*ish Red Hook location before hitting the Brooklyn waterfront.
Read MoreIt was a cold Saturday afternoon in Soho and we walked past this amazing beer hall. Against our better judgment, we ventured in. Not only was it a March Madness weekend, it was a cold Saturday and what better way to spend it than chugging down steins of beer. And that is what all the childless people in that establishment were doing. So we knew walking in that we were potentially going into enemy territory, but we were hungry and we rationalized that a beer HALL would be a place Jenson could at least roam free.
Read MoreIf banh mi and pho is your kryptonite, than you need to look no further. But just because I could bathe in their pork banh mi and vermicelli shredded chicken dish, doesn't mean it's the most ideal place for schitzo toddlers.
Read MoreSometimes it takes a child to reconnect you with that joyous sensation of discovering something new for the first time. After my son was born, determined not to give up my love of trying new restaurants and food, I decided to just bring him along for the ride. Here are my family's delicious adventures in Brooklyn and beyond, seen through the eyes of Jenson.
Welcome to First Bites where we attempt to answer all of your questions about a particular restaurant before deciding to hit the scene with your offspring. Eating out with kids can be fun (I hear you snickering) but it does take a little planning. Now that I have a child, I look for a different type of restaurant when I eat out and it pretty much boils down to how many laser-beam stares of death my family will receive when we open the door. If it is high, we usually steer clear. Let us help you avoid those stares of death. Thanks for stopping by!
Little Goat gets high marks for being open super early on the weekends (7 AM!), which is helpful if you have little creatures at home who arise with the sun. They also offer valet parking, which seems like an unnecessary extravagance early on a Saturday morning, until your hanger overtakes you and you scream at your husband because there are no. goddamn. parking. spots.
Swan Dive turns into the most organic playgroup you've even seen. Kids can roam free, draw with chalk, play corn hole (or just stand inappropriately on the base) and parents can drink cocktails and not worry about disrupting the neighbors (you are)...but it doesn't matter. The food is mostly meat and lets just hope your kids aren't nude shy...
![[Furst] Bites Goes Across The Pond: Cannizaro House](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53a63084e4b0d3d42b2c604b/1432216189914-UGX77WB36ZIX1FPKVU3U/image-asset.jpeg)
![[Furst] Bites Reviews: Calexico](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53a63084e4b0d3d42b2c604b/1430921693630-BOF45SNG07I42X1A85AV/image-asset.jpeg)
![[Furst] Bites Reviews: Houston Hall](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53a63084e4b0d3d42b2c604b/1430843724272-ZXAUY5KEL7JMVPR8L5T7/image-asset.jpeg)
![[Furst] Bites Reviews: Hanco's](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53a63084e4b0d3d42b2c604b/1430360966127-7QHGZUEM9LUNDZZ78U12/image-asset.jpeg)
***If cooking Christmas dinner is making you cringe like my hubby was when I asked him to take this photo then you should read this post
Tis' the season to start amassing even more credit card debt, regret behavior at work parties and spend a dizzying amount of time feeling inadequate about your potentially tacky-looking mantle and pathetic-looking reindeer cookies (Die. Pinterest. Die.) So I thought I'd bring some Brooklynites some holiday cheer that comes in the form of a list of restaurants that are open on Christmas or Christmas Eve...and some are open on both days. Stop feeling guilty about what you're not making or beating yourself up because your table setting would make Martha's hate list. Let someone else (IE) a restaurant do all the dirty work for you...