We went to Jack Astor's for dinner; me, my 18 year old vegetarian niece Jasmine, and my two daughters Layla (9) and Sophia (6). I love Jack Astor's because the food is always great, and they have food to satisfy almost any craving.
Jack's has a kids menu with lots of options, besides just the usual chicken fingers and pizza; they have fish and chips, and even steak.
Last night Layla settled on the quesadilla and mashed potatoes, she is not a big fan of skins in the potatoes, but I guess she really wanted mashed potatoes, so she ordered them despite the skins. Layla loved the quesadilla; she dipped it in ketchup (as she does with most food) and ate all of it. I think she did not have room for the potatoes, but she did not eat them.
Sophia was torn between the steak and the pizza. Since she had the steak the last time, I suggested she try the pizza. She liked the steak, but they are not big meat-eaters, so she usually does not eat much of it. It is hard to judge whether something is good or bad by how much Sophia eats, but Sophia ate almost nothing! She complained that the pepperoni was too spicy and the cheese had no taste. I tried the pizza and so did Jasmine, we both concluded that Jack Astor's is not the place to eat pizza. Sophia did have a few of the fries they gave Layla by accident as a side order, and dipped them in the quesadilla sauce that came with Layla food.
Jasmine had the veggie burger which she was not thrilled with and I had the chicken ceaser salad which was absolutely fantastic, especially the crusted chicken breast. The chicken breast was a little spicy, good for me, but if you don't like spice it might not be for you.
We got our desserts to go, brownies with whipped cream and caramel sauce. They were pretty good, Layla would have liked more whipped cream, and she said it was a little dry, she still ate it all.
They have activities on the kids menu which kept people occupied while we waited for our food. They also have paper table coverings that can be written on; I generally find this to be a good idea for children and adults. The restaurant is generally clean, including the washrooms. We did not have to wait to be seated, although we have had to wait on other occasions and the staff were friendly.
From an environmental perspective, they reuse their crayons, they have a simple placemat for the kids menu, and they have cups that they reuse for drinks (rather than those plastic ones they expect you to take home). I usually like to bring containers from home for left-overs, but I did not have any with me, so I put the left-over pizza and mashed potatoes in the styrofoam container they gave me. The desserts came in little reuse-able plastic containers.
The meal was relatively inexpensive, about $45.00 with tip.
All-in-all a good experience.
Labels: Children, Dinner with Kids, Eating Out, Jack Astors, Kids, Kids Restaurants, Ontario, Restaurants, Vaughan, Wonderland
