10 Best Fast-Casual Restaurants 2009 for Kids

I just got this article in an email. I love discovering new places to take my kids to eat.....other than the big McD. ;-) This review listed healthy options that you can order for your kid, and even listed kids' nights for many of them.
10 Best Fast-Casual Restaurants 2009: 10 Best Fast-Casual Restaurants 2009

Do you take your kids to any of these places? I personally have only gone to Fazoli's and Red Robin for kids' nights.....and I love them both! :-)

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Out to eat on a budget

We don't go out to eat very often. It is way too expensive and way too much stress for me and my husband. :-) Although I must say, Color Wonder markers and doodle pads seemed to calm the savages the last time we ate out.....

Anyway, I wanted to share the main ways that we ARE able to eat out when we do. You can do it on a budget--you just have to be creative!

5 Ways to Eat Out for Cheap (or FREE!)

1) Use coupons whenever possible. I don't think we ever eat out without some sort of coupon. Watch for these in your mail, newspaper, email, or even at the restaurant. Also take advantage of coupon books that restaurants offer....McDonalds and Wendys both sell cheap kids books around holiday times.

2) Sign up for restaurant e-clubs. These often reward you with coupons for free things or for $$ off of your meal. You can also get free meals on your birthday! (This is how we take our family out to Red Robin, one of our favorite restaurants.)

3) We often earn giftcards through My Points. My Points is an easy way to earn giftcards by reading your email. It only takes a few minutes a day......takes awhile to add up points, but it is worth it for FREE giftcards! I never respond to the offers--just click on the emails to obtain my points, and then delete them. *Note: Using a junk email box may be a good choice if you sign up for My Points. I use gmail--it filters out any spam.*
If you are interested, please email me at hotmamasar (at) gmail (dot) com for a referral link, so we can both be rewarded for you signing up! :-)

4) Redeem credit card/debit card reward points and earn giftcards.
I bank with Chase, and my debit card is connected to a rewards program. I have earned us a few free meals, just by buying groceries and diapers.
My husband also just received 3 giftcards in the mail after redeeming some credit card points. I wouldn't suggest signing up for a credit card just to get giftcards (lol!) but if you use credit cards for daily needs and are able to pay them off each month, apply for one with a good reward program. We use Chase Freedom (and we actually get $money$ back with that one!)

5) Buy gift certificates through Restaurant.com. We have done this several times, and have always had a good experience. You click on your region, and choose from the list of restaurants.
Plus--when you shop on Restaurant.com through Ebates, you earn money back!!! Right now we have a $25 gift certificate from there, for a nice fish restaurant in town, and I only paid $3 for it. And I got 10% back on my purchase! It all adds up in the end. (In fact, I just received my $47 cash-back check from Ebates, all because I bought Christmas gifts on there.) Sign up for Ebates today, and start earning money to eat out. :-)

I hope these suggestions help you a little. It is nice to have a break from cooking, but not if it breaks your budget! Have fun exploring frugal ways to eat out!

Success at last!!!

Well, mostly anyway......Middle E has finally graduated to big girl undies, after a long and frustrating power struggle. She still has the occasional accident (more occasional than I would like, but one cannot complain in these circumstances!) So--to celebrate the big step in her life, we promised her that we would take her to Chuck E. Cheese for an evening of fun. We left the littlest E behind (as well as the camera, which I could kick myself for doing) and had fun with just the two "big kids".

I remembered going to Chucky's when my little sister was a kid, and that it cost my parents an arm and a leg for some gross pizza and broken rides/games. I didn't want to pay $15 for a less-than-tasty pizza, so we ate at McDonald's on the way(not much better, I know, but we were dealing with preschoolers here.....), and then just played games when we got there. I found some awesome coupons for tokens on the Fat Wallet forum--$10 got us 40 tokens with 60 free!-- along with a printable reward chart for pottytraining. Middle E was able to receive 10 additional free tokens for being pottytrained, so she was in heaven. :-) And this particular Chuck E. Cheese was extremely clean and well-kept. I was very impressed!

It was a fun night--I think we enjoyed it as much as they did, and I did come away with one picture from the evening, compliments of the Chuck E. artist's booth. Thanks, Chuck!

Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives

Back in college, I was a big restaurant connoisseur. (I had to look that up, by the way....I can never remember how to spell it!) I even had my own restaurant journal, where I could log the prices, favorite entrees, addresses, and overall impressions of the restaurants I visited. Nowdays, I still love going out to eat and finding new, fun places--BUT, 3 children under the age of 5 (and the lack of money that comes with that situation) keeps me from frequenting noteable dining establishments. My restaurant requirements now include (and not in any particular order):
1) Cheap kids meals
2) Easily accessible bathrooms
3) Patrons that do not mind screaming and food throwing
4) Quick service for quick getaways
One of our favorite places to take the kids is just a few blocks from our house. Some of you have referenced it before---the great Mullen's Dairy Bar. Unfortunately they do not have a website--they ought, it is a fun place that people would like to discover. I believe this person (or maybe her sister) even worked at Mullen's.

With grandparents, for Middle E's birthday and just for fun

On Thursday, I was able to meet my friend Morning Rose for a playdate at the awesome new park in her town. Afterwards, we went for lunch at the Market St. Diner and Bakery. What a fun place! Every time I have driven past it, I have wanted to stop but never had a chance. So it was nice to finally try it out and do so with friends. When I googled it, I was surprised to find it is a part of a network of restaurants. They all look really fun (and delicious!) Perhaps if I can ever work through my two aforementioned reasons for not going out, I will try them. :-) Otherwise, I will just walk back down to Mullen's and enjoy my medium-thick strawberry shake and mini corndogs.....