Review: Orchard Family Restaurant, Mississauga, Ont.

When I stepped into Orchard Family Restaurant in Cooksville, Mississauga, it immediately reminded me of this scene from Kill Bill: Vol. 2.

Quite simply, it's a stereotypical diner with old-school decor (the business is over 40 years old, I believe), outdated staff uniforms, plus oily all-day breakfast options – I loved it. (It was my birthday, I deserved a bit of guilty pleasure, c'mon!)

Besides those facts, it's a pretty easy-going place to bring a toddler too. We sat in a booth on a raised level after 4:30 pm. If my toddler wanted to wander around, there was opportunity for her to do so without causing us trouble. Note: It was empty when we arrived, but it did get busy after 5:30pm - I noticed at this time how lots of families with young kids started trickling in.

The staff – sporting their '70s restaurant garb – was pretty friendly with kids, and they even gave my daughter a lollipop. Again, if you're looking for a healthy meal, this isn't the place to go. My husband ordered a typical "man" meal with ribs, beans and fries; I got French toast and sausages. We didn't order a kids meal, but my daughter enjoyed sharing French toast with me.

In my husband's words, "you won't find the best-looking, decorated food here, but the prices were great." You get a great deal for large portions. For instance, my husband's man meal was a little over $13, my meal was over $10.

So, if you're driving around and want a quick, greasy bite to eat, Orchard will satisfy your taste buds under kid-friendly conditions. And you'll also be amused by Kill Bill memories. Check out some more family-friendly restaurants here.

Review: Menchie's (Erin Centre Blvd, Mississauga)

No we didn't order this -
it probably would've added up to $20

So my husband and I decided to splurge on Menchie's a few nights ago. It was sunny out, the tot was behaving well, why not?

My final thought is this: Once in awhile it's okay to go there - just don't make it a habit! Here are my observations:

• You pay by the gram - it's $0.55+tax per gram. I didn't pay attention to how much our order weighed (we got two cups that were a little over halfway full) - but our total was ... over $9. Aiya! Thank goodness we didn't order a separate cup for the two-year-old. If you have a set budget, Menchies might not be for you.

• However ... it's very family-friendly. We saw a few families come in with toddlers and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Maybe it's the bright colours, maybe it's the fun spoons, maybe it's that Menchie's character or that picture of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez at an American Menchie's franchise - my daughter loved it there and behaved very well.

• If you only feel like a plain chocolate for vanilla flavour, don't go to Menchies - go to Costco! If you're going to pay by the gram at Menchies, at least eat a unique flavour. I got a cake batter-red velvet cupcake swirl and, damn, it was good.

So bottom line: If you have a sweet tooth and you need to bring a kid with you, go to Menchie's.  Just don't expect to save money here - be prepared and bring extra cash.

Have you been to Menchie's? What did you think? 

A quick guide to family-friendly restaurants

I never appreciated eating out until I had a baby.

My husband and I could dine anywhere up until my daughter was about two months old, when she would sleep peacefully in her car seat. (Ah, those were the days!)

Not my kid, just a pic I found from the Ikea site.

But after that ... she became aware of things, of other people – and wanted out of her seat, out of the restaurant! And so came the crying. And neither myself or my husband (or both) didn't get to eat.

Then when she started crawling at eight months, she wanted to explore. By a year old, she wanted to run around restaurants. And it doesn't matter how many stupid crayons and colouring pictures the restaurant offers, they just don't work!

So eating out for my family has been trial and error – but luckily, we've found a few successful places. At these restaurants, my daughter will sit still for most of the time. And when she signs "done", these locations are pretty cool about kids bobbing around. Here's my list:

• Ikea: Open space, bright lights and good food. Lots of high chairs available too! Great if you need to get some furniture shopping done too. (See my August 2012 post on Ikea.)
• Jack Astor's: It's loud but not annoyingly loud – just loud enough to cover your embarrassing moments. No one heard me sing ABC and Twinkle, Twinkle to my daughter, see?
• Pizza Hut: If we go, we eat there around 4:30pm (I know, we're like seniors!). So it's pretty empty then and if my daughter wants to walk, she can do so freely.
• Mandarin: Hello, THE place for walking around! And my daughter loves the food.

Am I missing any other restaurants? Let me know!