Baby-Friendly near NoMa on Columbus Day Weekend

[bettyjoan]

My parents, sister, and 4-month-old nephew are coming to town for Columbus Day weekend.  We may be able to get a babysitter one night so we can go out for a grown-up meal.  For the other meals, can anyone recommend restaurants that would be as delicious as possible but also friendly to a potentially fussy infant?  All genres of food and all price ranges will be considered - but we must stick to DC, and the closer to NoMa, the better.

Thanks!

[dinoue]

On H St we often took our then infant daughter to Granville Moores and Argonaut, before Argonaut had the fire. We used to live a lot closer to that area and since moving to NW haven't really been in a while. Did take kids to Toki a few weeks ago for lunch and there was an infant there with a couple. I probably wouldn't go there with a large group though.

Haven't been to Dino's new place, but the old was always very child welcoming. Seki might work well too. We take our kids now 2 and 5 there fairly often.

With a 4 month old, there's a good chance they will be sleeping in their car seat for much of the meal, so that opens a lot of possibilities as they can just sit next to the table if sleeping. That first six months is actually kind of a sweet spot where you can still eat out while the baby sleeps. It's once they start waking for longer periods and start eating solid foods that it becomes more difficult. Of course every baby is different.

[bettyjoan]

Yeah, unfortunately, my nephew is a TERRIBLE sleeper.  We can't ever count on him sleeping through a meal (in fact, when I was out in California visiting him this summer, he would often START fussing immediately when we sat down to dine, both at home and at restaurants), so places that are understanding of the fussiness and that also have some noise to drown him out are best.

[DonRocks]

My parents, sister, and 4-month-old nephew are coming to town for Columbus Day weekend.  We may be able to get a babysitter one night so we can go out for a grown-up meal.  For the other meals, can anyone recommend restaurants that would be as delicious as possible but also friendly to a potentially fussy infant?  All genres of food and all price ranges will be considered - but we must stick to DC, and the closer to NoMa, the better.

Thanks!

Consider also the new blood in Brookland (including Menomalé which may be a bit small for a baby, but I suspect they're used to it).

[dinoue]

Oh, and you probably already know this, or at least your sister probably does, but with kids, it's best to go right at 5:00/5:30 when the restaurant opens. It's usually less crowded so fewer people to bother and kitchen is able to get stuff out quicker, and of course, you get the kids home earlier for bedtime. We've used this strategy to take the kids to some pretty nice restaurants.

Another place that might not be too hard to get to is Jackie's in Silver Spring. Go straight up N Capitol to Blair and then GA Ave and it shouldn't take more than 15-20 min. We went there a few weeks ago for the first time in a long time and really enjoyed our dinner. Still need to post on it here, but much improved over the past year. They have a space in the back which is a little secluded from the main dining room.

[Josh]

On H: Ethiopic, Boundary Rd, Liberty Tree.

Menomale is definitely used to kids since mine has been a regular there for 2 of his 2 years. Brookland's Finest is also super family-friendly.

Dino's is a great choice if you want to head over to Shaw.

Even further across town, Ghibellina and Etto were very cool with kids.

[DaRiv18]

Indigo is another NoMa spot, it is about as unpretentious as they come.