Getting Kids To Love Your Family Restaurant

If you have a family restaurant, your marketing needs to cater both adults and children. After all, today's children will be relatively grown and decide where they want to spend their money before you know it. Keeping everyone satisfied and wanting to come back, again and again, can be challenging, but it's not impossible. Here are three ideas for ensuring you'll always have repeat customers by appealing to the kids:

Let Children Sign Up For Your Mailing List

Have a special card for the kids. Mom and Dad can help them fill out their name, birthday, and address. You can add this information to a database, and two weeks before their birthday, send them a birthday card plus a certificate for a free meal, ice cream sundae, or piece of cake if they come in with their family during their birthday week. Children love getting mail addressed to them! You can also consider doing the same for parents, offering a free dessert or glass of wine when they come in for their birthday. You want the entire family to think of your establishment when they think about celebrating special events and personal milestones in life.

Hold A Special Kids' Night

Once every month or even quarter, hold a children's dinner. Choose your slowest night of the week, such as a Monday, and be sure to hold it early enough in the evening to not interfere with school obligations. Pick a theme, such as a kitchen tour, or a simple cooking class, such as making a salad. You could even call it a club, such as the "Adventurous Eaters Club," where the children who are brave enough and aren't picky get to expand their culinary horizons.

Not every child wants chicken strips all the time, and this will help ensure your future customers have a sophisticated palate. This will also allow children to get a taste for cooking and see how a professional restaurant is run. Additionally, a few of them could be potential employees one day, giving you a leg up on the competition when it comes to finding quality employees.

Offer A Variety Of Food Choices On The Kids' Menu

Some parents are content to let their kids eat nothing but macaroni and cheese or a hot dog, while others want a few healthy options. Be sure to offer options such as fruit slices, grapes, your special maple syrup glazed carrots, and milk in addition to French fries and soda. Even if the children love it, at the end of the day, the parents need to be impressed if they are going to come back. 

Contact a company like Melting Pot Pizza for more information and assistance.