{"id":16181,"date":"2026-08-26T13:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T13:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/16181\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T13:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T13:52:09","slug":"5-restaurant-chains-with-the-best-kids-menu-according-to-chefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/16181\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Restaurant Chains with the Best Kids’ Menu, According to Chefs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Discover the restaurant chains with kids’ menus chefs recommend most.<\/p>\n

We love our kids, but let\u2019s be real\u2014it\u2019s not always easy eating out with them, especially when the menu doesn\u2019t offer anything they actually want to eat. When children have appealing options to choose from, everyone can relax a little more. To find the restaurant chains that do kids\u2019 menus best, Eat This, Not That! asked Eva Filer, home chef, recipe developer, and food blogger at My Rad Kitchen, which spots stand out for their variety, quality, and kid-friendly choices. Here are her top five pics.<\/p>\n

\tRed Robin<\/p>\n

\"\"” src=”https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Red-Robin-kids-cheeseburger.jpg” alt=”” width=”640″ height=”469″ \/>Red Robin6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re dining out with kids, a little flexibility can go a long way. Red Robin makes it easier for families to find a meal that feels right for each child.\u201dRed Robin has one of the most flexible kids\u2019 menus, with familiar favorites like burgers, chicken tenders, pizza, and mac and cheese alongside grilled chicken and plenty of side choices,\u201d Filer says. \u201cBeing able to swap in options like steamed broccoli while still keeping kid favorites like bottomless steak fries makes it especially easy to build a meal that works for different appetites.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe Cheesecake Factory<\/p>\n

\"\"” src=”https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Cheesecake-FActory-Kids-Grilled-Cheese-Sandwich.jpg” alt=”” width=”640″ height=”469″ \/>The Cheesecake Factory<\/p>\n

Some kids are perfectly happy ordering from the children\u2019s menu every time, while others are ready for something a little more grown-up. The Cheesecake Factory caters to both kinds of diners. \u201cThe Cheesecake Factory gives kids considerably more variety than the typical handful of children\u2019s entr\u00e9es, with choices ranging from pasta and flatbread pizza to grilled salmon,\u201d Filer points out. \u201cThe broad selection is especially helpful for families with kids who have moved beyond the standard chicken-fingers-and-fries stage but aren\u2019t ready for a full adult-sized entr\u00e9e.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tOlive Garden<\/p>\n

\"\"” src=”https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Olive-Garden-Kids-Meals-Fettuccine-Alfredo.jpg” alt=”” width=”640″ height=”469″ \/>Olive Garden<\/p>\n

Picky eating can make restaurant outings feel like a negotiation. Olive Garden takes some of the guesswork out of mealtime by giving young diners plenty of ways to make a meal of their own. According to Filer, \u201cOlive Garden does a great job of letting kids customize a meal around foods they already enjoy, with different pasta shapes, sauces, ravioli, and optional proteins to choose from.\u201d She adds, \u201cThat flexibility makes it particularly useful for picky eaters while still giving kids room to branch out and try something different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tTexas Roadhouse<\/p>\n

\"\"” src=”https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Texas-Roadhouse-Steak-Bites.jpg” alt=”” width=”640″ height=”469″ \/>Texas Roadhouse<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something appealing about letting kids order a meal that feels a little more special than the usual restaurant fare. Texas Roadhouse gives families a way to do just that without necessarily ordering from the adult menu. \u201cTexas Roadhouse offers more substantial choices than you typically find on a kids\u2019 menu, including steak, ribs, and grilled chicken alongside classics like mac and cheese and chicken tenders,\u201d Filer explains. \u201cThe ability to choose a side and drink makes it a good value while giving kids a meal that feels more like a smaller version of what the adults are eating.<\/p>\n

\tChili\u2019s<\/p>\n

\"\"” src=”https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Chilis-Kids-Quesadilla.jpg” alt=”” width=”640″ height=”469″ \/>Chili’s<\/p>\n

A good kids\u2019 menu should make ordering easy, even when everyone at the table has a different idea of what sounds good. Chili\u2019s gives families plenty of room to find a crowd-pleasing choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cChili\u2019s offers plenty of variety for kids, with familiar favorites like burgers, chicken tenders, quesadillas, and pizza along with several sides to mix and match,\u201d says Filer. \u201cThe range makes it easy to find something for a picky eater while still giving kids more choice than the typical nuggets-and-fries menu.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discover the restaurant chains with kids’ menus chefs recommend most. We love our kids, but let\u2019s be real\u2014it\u2019s not always easy eating out with them, especially when the menu doesn\u2019t offer anything they actually want to eat. When children have appealing options to choose from, everyone can relax a little more. To find the restaurant<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[33,34,7128,4694,37,3735,8],"class_list":["post-16181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-best-restaurants","tag-best-restaurant","tag-best-restaurants","tag-kids","tag-menus","tag-restaurant-chains","tag-restaurant-deals","tag-restaurants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117162140253157982","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}