Kid Friendly Ferndale
By, Sheri Kennedy
There are places around town where you know you can take your little ones and have a great time. Dairy Queen and McDonalds for example. But what about when you want some real adult food that gets brought to you on a plate? Leave it all to me. I will take my brood of six children in and kid test it for you!
Rosie O'Grady's
It was hot and for some crazy reason, I thought it was a great idea to bring our dog Duke while we ran a quick errand. That turned into everyone being suddenly hungry in the middle of Downtown Ferndale. A mom's worst nightmare. A sign caught my eye. “Pooch Entrance”. Rosie O'Grady's right there on Nine Mile had a welcoming sign that let people know they were dog friendly. But a sports bar? Would the kids be welcome there? I quickly pop in to see where we could sit with Duke and to see if there were other children.
In the corner was a family with a young baby watching the World Cup Games. Okay. We'll try this. I am told we can only sit with Duke in the tall tables of a fenced in patio area. Nice, then Duke can't stick his nose in my food while we eat. We round the kids up to the tables and they immediately love the tall chairs. I can see that they are not conducive to high chairs though and our 21 month old still needs a little restraining. The idea of enjoying a great burger outside with the kids and dog is intriguing enough to tempt this kind of fate.
After getting settled, our hostess brings in a water dish for Duke. Our waitress follows right behind to grab some drink orders. She is so patient as my children change their minds about eight times. Drink orders come back complete with lids on mini glasses and we order our lunches. Again, the patience of our waitress, Erika, is astounding. She waits for each child to place their order and listens carefully for any special requests – and there are requests! Now, this isn't McDonalds so it does take a few minutes. Erika keeps checking on us and the drink refills.
The food started to arrive after only about ten minutes so the kids did not get too anxious or whiny. Only one request could not be made – substituting green beans for broccoli. Apparently there are no green beans to be had right now. Erika offered every solution she could think of to help out 8 year old stomach the broccoli fro cheese to ranch dressing. In the end, the broccoli was fine as is.
Being out on the patio brought quite a few smiles, waves, and hellos. A couple of gals from the DDA stopped by to tell us about Third Thursdays. Sadly, we could not stay but put that on the to do list. The kids were so occupied with looking at the cars, planes, and every bike that rode by they had no idea they ate almost everything on their plates. Having the patio area to ourselves was very nice. This adult style lunch with 5 children 8 and under plus one dog was surprisingly relaxing. Rosie O'Grady's gets a thumbs up from our family – Duke included!
