VIDEO-Northern California restaurant bans noisy children from dining room - The Mommy Files

The owner of the Old Fiserhman’s Grotto in Monterey, Calif., wants his restaurant to be a civilized place where diners can enjoy a meal in a pleasant environment.

Chris Shake feels unruly children can spoil the atmosphere and two years ago he posted two signs letting diners know that the restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf won’t provide high chairs and booster seats and doesn’t allow baby strollers.

The signs also read: “Children crying or making loud noises are a distraction to other diners, and are not allowed in the dining room.”

Shake recently put up a third sign that has attracted attention and led local TV station KSBW to look into the policy.

The bustling Fisherman’s Wharf area is a popular spot for tourists and some are turned off by Shake’s rules.

“I would probably not go there to not deal with that sort of atmosphere,” tourist Kelly Lozano told KSBW-TV. “It surprises me because this is a family place — where you go with your kids for vacation.”

Niki Riviere was frustrated that the restaurant wouldn’t provide a high-chair for her 6-month-old child.

“I’m completely shocked because I never had that happen,” Riviere told KSBW-TV. “Usually they cater, at least have a high chair for the child, but it seemed like they didn’t want any child. They said the child can’t make any noises so they turned us away.”

Shake isn’t going to let complaints from tourists change his mind.

“If a place has the rules, that’s what the rules are,” Shake told KSBW-TV. “You go in and abide by the rules or you find a place more suitable for you.”

The Old Fisherman’s Grotto is family-run and Shake inherited the business from his father Sabu Shake, Sr., who originally opened the restaurant in the 1950s. The Grotto is known for its super-rich, award-winning clam chowder and Sabu used to stand in front of the restaurant passing out samples. Now, Shake is continuing this tradition and often you can see him out front with an apron around his waist holding a tray loaded with cups of chowder.

Shake says business is better than ever. ”Well, let’s put it this way — I haven’t had a down year for over 20 years and our business continues to grow,” Shake told KSBW-TV.

Many locals are supportive of Shake’s kid policy. It received a lot of praise in a blog post on KSBW.

A woman named Kelly wrote:

Fisherman’s Grotto is not a place for parents to take their small children. It is where people want to go when they want a quiet and/or romantic meal. That’s why ladies are given a rose after their meal. I’m glad they have this rule because it is one of my favorite restaurants and when I go there I’m not in the mood to hear children. There are plenty of family friendly restaurants on the wharf, but we deserve to have an adult friendly restaurant too.

Roxy shared:

I’ve been going to this restaurant [since] Chris’ dad ran it and I continue to go here when I’m in town. Having raised 3 kids of my own and now have 2 grandchildren, it is nice to eat in a restaurant that doesn’t have a high pitched screaming or whining child who’s clearly unhappy or plain tired. It’s distracting, plain and simple. There are other restaurants nearby that would accommodate your child(ren), go there and have a nicer time without feeling self-conscious or anxious about disturbing other patrons in the restaurant.

What’s more, Danielle Mendiola, a hostess at the Grotto told SFGate, that since the news story ran, ”We’re getting a lot of phone calls from people who are saying thank you for doing this.”

Looking for a kid-friendly restaurant in San Francisco? Here are some ideas.