I both agree and disagree Sam.
I do think that some restaurants should have the right to say that children under a certain age aren't allowed. There are restaurants with a very high clientele, suits, cocktail dresses, expensive, and a child really doesn't belong in that sort of atmosphere. But then, I'm one of those people that banned children from my wedding. I just didn't feel that a wedding was a place for small children (under the age of 10). I've never seen a child that had fun at a wedding, or could behave all night. It's a long day,boring, tiring and stressful for a child. I was criticized by some of my family for that decision, but I don't regret it.
To this day my children have never been to a wedding. If they were invited to one now I'd take them, because they're older, but I have to say, we went to a wedding last week, no children allowed mainly due to seating restrictions. But, Sydney and I were both invited to the bridal shower. We were the first to arrive, and within 10 minutes Sydney was saying "Mommy, I'm bored, what can I do?" She would have been bored to tears at the wedding.
Thankfully when more guests arrived, we had a huge surprise. One of Syd's great friends at school happen to be related to the groom (we're related to the bride), and we had no idea. Syd's friends mom was there, and when we saw her I begged her to go get her daughter. So Syd got to spend the afternoon with her friend, playing, having fun. If that hadn't happened it would have been a very long afternoon.
I do believe that family geared restaurants should accept children of all ages.
This brings up something that happened a long time ago, when Jared was still a baby. He was around 2, still in diapers. We went to McDonalds. He needed his diaper changed, so I went to the washroom and found out that there was no change table. Not even a counter that would suffice.
I complained. The staff member I talked to said "we don't have a change table because this isn't a place for babies". So I asked why they had inquired whether I wanted a toddler toy with the happy meal I ordered. Why would they have a toddler toy (for ages 6months to 2 years) if they don't cater to babies?
They had no answer for that.