More Twin Cities area restaurants are catering to the pickiest of eaters: kids

By the time we got to our last course, my 4-year-old was a food critic-in-training. Nibbling away at a crunchy chocolate chip cookie that was about the size of his face, he proclaimed, "It tastes like love."

The cookie was the pièce de résistance in a kid-friendly tasting menu at Tilia, a three-course prix fixe meal that encourages little ones to eat alongside adults in a very grown-up way.

My kid began with the cheese plate: slices of sharp cheddar and apple, with bowl of smooth peanut butter for dipping. I ordered shrimp with fermented black bean and chili sauce. For our entrees, he tried the fish and chips, I enjoyed the petite tenderloin. And for dessert, he ate his weight in cookie while I had a dark chocolate and passion fruit tart. My meal came to $55; his was $12.

This was dining for youngsters at its finest.

It was nothing like the kid-tailored meals that have become standard on restaurant menus. Pizza, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese plus mountains of fries and bottomless ketchup — and a fruit cup on a good day — are usually the choices.

And it's easy to see why. Kids menus offer smaller portions, lower prices and, usually, food kids are guaranteed to eat. No one wants to see a bowl of broccoli go in the trash and, for many, dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets are a far more appealing option.

But lately, more Twin Cities restaurants have been catering to another kind of eater — foodie kids. Or, at the very least, foodie parents who want to expose their children to some of the flavors they enjoy.

"We love going out to eat, so it was important to us that our daughter was interested in the choices she had," said Stacey Kvenvold.

Kvenvold co-owns the Minneapolis restaurants Tilia and St. Genevieve with her husband, chef Steven Brown. Their daughter was 4 when they opened Tilia more than a decade ago, and they strove to offer a kid-friendly menu that complemented the neighborhood restaurant's more upscale dishes from day one.

"We wanted it to be something that was not going to be on every menu, but also not to the point where it wouldn't be desirable," Kvenvold said. "That's not going to help you out as a parent, either."

Tilia's three-course meal for kids launched post-pandemic when the restaurant converted its entire menu from a la carte to prix fixe. And so far, it's been well received. The cheese plate is especially popular, Kvenvold said. "We also have a lot of kids that come in that want to order off the adult menu. There are a lot of adventurous eaters out there."

But while some restaurants are pivoting to reach next-gen palates, the vast majority still offer strikingly similar menus of buttered noodles and plain cheese quesadillas, to the frustration of parents and nutrition experts alike.

"Many times, I think restaurants assume that kids are only going to eat chicken nuggets or a hot dog or a burger, and I think it ends up really limiting parents' expectations of what they think their kids should be eating, and also kids' own expectations of what they should be eating and how it should be different from adults," said Alyssa Northrop, a Minneapolis-based dietitian and parent of a 10- and 12-year-old. "It just feels to me like we're really doing them a disservice."

It comes down to expectations — false ones, said Kelly Kunkel, a Mankato-based health and nutrition educator with the University of Minnesota Extension.

"Part of it stems from the idea that children want a bland diet, they need a bland diet, they don't like spices, they don't like fiber or they don't like fruits and vegetables," Kunkel said. "But when we look at other countries, children are given the same foods that their parents and caregivers are given, and they do well. I'm not so certain I buy that children want a bland diet."

To be fair, kids can be particular. Chalk it up to the stages of development, Kunkel said. They might love something in toddlerhood that they hate by the time they get to preschool, or might recoil when different ingredients are mixed together.

But things are changing, Kunkel said. School lunches have been diversifying their offerings over the past decade, an effect of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 that allowed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reform school meal programs. What Americans think of as "kid food" is expanding.

Plus, kids are capable of growing to love the foods adults do, with a little encouragement.

"It's really important to keep offering foods without pushing them, but they also have to see you eating it," Northrop said. "You have to be all in, too. They're learning from you how to eat."

Northrop suggests ordering at restaurants with the intention of sharing everything; that way kids don't get the message that they're not eligible to enjoy the foods that the adults eat. One of her favorites for family-style dining is Ethiopian food.

"I love the idea that you can order a big platter of food right in the center of the table, and everyone is eating with their hands with the injera," she said. "Kids don't necessarily expect their parents to eat with their hands, so the fact that everyone is doing it levels that playing field and opens them up to new experiences."

But even when kids are good eaters, dining out can still be fraught for young families. Even the most confident parents can find themselves on edge, just waiting for any number of disasters that could inspire fellow diners to give them the judgmental side-eye.

Recently, I took my kids to Kyatchi for its kids menu, with five fabulous choices. My oldest picked the tsukune donburi, a rice bowl with meatballs. And I ordered a combo for my 18-month-old, which gave the relatively new eater a variety of foods to try for the first time: onigiri, sliced sweet tamago, Japanese potato salad, a skewer of chicken and — a big hit — a hollowed out orange peel filled with orange segments. While the baby experimented with chopsticks, I kept a mental tally of the number of wipes I'd need to clean up the floor before we left.

As we gathered our things to depart, a woman at the next table pulled me aside. She had made eye contact with me a couple of times during our meal, and I was bracing to apologize if my kids had disrupted her dinner. But it wasn't what I'd expected: "I wish my kids ate like that," she said.

If improved kids menus — and kid-friendly restaurants — keep it up, the next generation of foodies is going to have great taste.

A-Side Public House

A kid-sized charcuterie board ($7) with salami, Muenster cheese, berries, almonds and crackers is one of the options on this fun menu for littles, which also includes gluten-free chicken nuggets.

754 Randolph Av., St. Paul, 651-756-1351, asidepublichouse.com

Broder's Pasta Bar

The Kit's Menu, named for the first Broder grandchild, has a kid-sized Caesar salad ($4) and a build-your-own pasta dish with choice of noodle and sauce ($8).

5000 Penn Av. S., Mpls., 612-925-9202, broderspastabar.com

Bull's Horn

Sometimes kids just don't want their food touching. Bull's Horn fills the bill with cafeteria trays that keep food separate. The dishes are kid pleasers with pizza bread, grilled cheese or mac and cheese (all $6.50) served with applesauce, pudding and a vegetable.

4563 34th Av. S., Mpls., 612-208-1378, bullshornfoodanddrink.com

Common Roots Cafe

In addition to scramblers in the morning ($6) and grilled cheese ($7) for lunch, kids at this lively cafe on Lyndale can get a wild rice burger ($8), a pint-size version of the vegetarian main on the adult menu. For dessert there's soft serve ice cream. Plus, most of the cafe's sandwiches, including kid-sized ones, can be made on gluten-free buns.

2558 Lyndale Av., Mpls., 612-871-2360, commonrootscafe.com

Hi-Lo Diner

This eye-catching retro diner in Longfellow extends its comfort menu to the kiddos. Panda cakes include a chocolate swirl and sprinkles with an egg ($7) and the grilled cheese ($7) is made with French toast and can be stuffed with breakfast meat or avocado — and more sprinkles.

4020 E. Lake St., 612-353-6568, hi-lo-diner.com

Hola Arepa/Hai Hai

Both of Christina Nguyen and Birk Grudem's restaurants cater to kids with a spin on their house specialties. The Niños Arepa comes with yuca fries and a choice of toppings ($7). At Hai Hai, kids can choose from a rice bowl with ground pork or mock duck ($5); or coconut chicken thigh over rice and kale salad ($7).

3501 Nicollet Av., Mpls., 612-345-5583, holaareapa.com; 2121 University Av. NE., Mpls., 612-223-8640, haihaimpls.com

Kona Grill

The kids bento box ($8) is customizable with a main course that ranges from a California roll to grilled salmon, plus two sides (edamame is always a fun option).

Locations near Ridgedale and Eden Prairie Center malls, konagrill.com

Kyatchi

Five choices for kids include a chicken-noodle ramen, meatballs with rice and yakitori sauce, a signature house hot dog, or combos that feature the restaurant's vegetable sushi or onigiri ($7-$13).

3758 Nicollet Av., Mpls., 612-236-4429, kyatchi.com

Mill Valley Market

There's a lot kids will love on the menu at this Theodore Wirth Park kiosk, but a segment of the menu geared only to kids offers a scaled down breakfast burrito ($8) and waffles with fruit and cream ($8), any time of day.

1221 Theodore Wirth Parkway, Mpls., 763-316-4948, millvalley.market

Ruscello

The Mediterranean restaurant inside Nordstrom at Ridgedale has a variety of options on the kids menu that goes beyond buttered noodles (although they have that, too), including seared wild salmon and roasted chicken breast ($8.75-$12).

12441 Wayzata Blvd., Minnetonka, 651-900-6810, nordstrom.com

Tilia

Steven Brown's Linden Hills gem offers a three-course prix fixe menu for kids for $12. Young diners can choose from a cheese plate, chips and salsa, or hummus and veggies to start; and fish and chips, pasta or a cheeseburger for a main. A chocolate chip cookie is for dessert.

2726 W. 43rd St., Mpls., 612-354-2806, tiliampls.com

Toma Mojo Grill

Just steps away from Ridgedale, it's the perfect place for a post-shopping family stop or to grab on the way home. Kids get a choice of chicken breast, pulled chicken, pulled pork or veggie sausage, choice of sides (crowd favorite French fries) and a drink for $7.25. Kids get a little control over the food and you get to know it's a little healthier than drive-thru.

12977 Ridgedale Dr., Minnetonka, 952-405-9179, tomamojogrill.com