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2 Jerome Place
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90 / 92 Ewell Road
Since Carluccio's (Kingston) recent refit, they seem to positively discourage customers with a buggie. The first time we were refused was on a Sunday morning after a long and bitter cold walk along the river with 3 small children. Demanding that we fold the buggie with a 2 month old sleeping baby, is a bit much to ask for.
Today, I thought it is Monday, so maybe we can forgive them for the Sunday refusal. BUT after attempting to sit outside with a friend and 2 buggies (with fast asleep babies), we were told the buggies are not allowed to stick out past this and that - by a very unfriendly and unhelpful waiter. He expected us to physically get ourselves over a large planter, without offering any help or moving any chairs.
We switly left! Off course the waiter blamed it on Kingston Council - which sounds a bit of a far fetched to me.
I think if they think they can start refusing mums with buggies sitting outside on a Monday morning, they are certainly vain and making too much money. This was certainly my last attempted visit.
Comments
Looks like I am going to be a regular customer at Carluccio’s.
Lets be honest. They may be your little dears, but more often than not a nuisance to everyone else.
Great move. I really get annoyed when trying to have a meal with children crying, running around, buggies blocking the paths etc.
If restaurants are going to allow low age group children then they should have separate areas away from the main dinning areas where the children, and more often than not, the parents, can be seen and not heard. Actually, not seen either would be good.
I thought Carluccio's was supposed to be ITALIAN !!! Obviously they are not keen on the Bambini !! try Casa Viva Surbiton which has a very good children's menu and plenty of space and friendly staff , stokke high chairs and hopefully a garden this summer.
woo hooo finally we can claim back some territory! I was getting a bit fed up really as every where we went for a nice quiet lunch was full mums with buggies and puking kids! Its about time us kidless young professionals can finally start to relax after a week with out having to put up with kids every where you go(even in the pubs)!!!! No offence to the mums but cant you lot head off to the coffee mornings at the local parish?
Well done Carluccios I only hope more establishments will soon follow.
Kingston is chock full of babies. I have never seen so many babies anywhere else I've lived. If businesses opt not to be baby friendly, especially during times that are normally slow, then they are really losing an opportunity to make additional profit. My oldest has been out of a buggy for more than a year and we were free at last - but now we have a new little one and needs must. No one wants to be near a ferociously pushed buggy or a screaming baby, but those are exceptions not norms. No one wants to be near rude/judgemental customers or staff either so I think Carluccio's need to rethink their options or moms will be voting by taking their business elsewhere.
I'd agree - you only have to look at the success of Giraffe to see that the kids/mums with babies sector is lucrative and worth chasing.
Just look at the primary school reception year growth of recent years (and consequent school place shortage) to see how this sector is growing in Surbiton.
Carluccio's loss will be somebody else's gain.
At the same time, it would be nice to have a few places to go without being disturbed by screaming kids. Gordon Bennett used to be good, parents were politely asked to leave if they had kids with them. That has been relaxed during the day now. There is no shortage of establishments that welcome kids, so one or two that don't can't hurt.
By it's very nature Kingston/Surbiton has always had a lot of young families, but I think that the current boom is due to high houses prices driving parents out of 'nappy valley favourites like Wandsworth.
Dear ''anonymous'....never had children? Not everyone using a buggy is a 'bad driver' or Has misbehaved children....the same would be true that not everyone commenting under the cover of 'anonymous' is an ignoramus!!! Cafes and restaurants unwilling to accomodate Mums, particularly at off peak times do so at their peril in this economy!
Rosie,
You are right that its not nice for them to do this, however it is certainly not at their peril. This frees up room for young professionals who are more likely to eat more and worry less about money as they have no responsibilities, they are also unlikely to dissuade other people like that from coming to the place as other people's children can be annoying especially if you don't have your own. So I imagine this makes sense for them in this economy more then anything else.
I think this kind of unfairness is what we have to look forward to in the current economic climate and unfortunately not much can be done about this as everyone is trying to cut down costs...
I think you can accommodate both...young professionals in these areas are less likely to be frequenting these places at the same times Mum's and young children are....ie. after the morning school drop off etc. I do get how annoying unruly/loud children can be but it is being part of being a tolerant society...I used to be the one on the plane secretly praying the family coming down the aisle weren't going to be sat next to me...now I am part of that family that everyone is eyeing up with dread!!
Great that they're banning the buggy-brigade - they're all quite dreadful ... the screaming babies, the unruly kids, the "couldn't-give-a-poo-just-look-at-my-noisy-spawnings-expressing-themselves-and-being-a-general-pain-in-the-bottom" parents. If only other eateries & drinkeries would do the same! On the other hand, why would anyone WANT to go to Carluccio, anyway? Surly staff, indifferent or pretty-well non-existent menu, microwave-zapped pre-cooked meals, zero atmosphere. Whenever I've been there, I've got the impression that they'd really prefer to be closing up for the day.
I actually wrote "poo", not "poo"; and "bottom", not "bottom". If this gets automatic censoring, like the previous submission, we'll all know how ridiculously coy this site has become.
Ridiculous! Everyday language censored!
Try again!!
poo ... Arse
Oh, for God's sake!
The "s..." word; and the "a..." word. Let's see how that works.
My childrens buggy was a McLaren that folded up,not an X5 monster with tractor wheels.Current buggies are absurd and should be banned from all public transport and shops.
Good on you Carluccio,not that i will pay your overpriced tariff for basic food i can prepare with more panache at home.
So that's one place the rest of us can go to for a quiet lunch without having our ankles abused by buggy-wielding yummy mummies (and daddies).
Also less likely to have our dining experience ruined by someone's brat 'expressing themselves' i.e. having a tantrum.
Great :-)
Well, I won't be going there again. My kids are too grown up to be in buggies, but I can't stand this sort of arbitrary discrimination. I stopped going to the Disney Store when I found out Disney don't employ males with facial hair. If I'm not good enough to work there, I'm certainly not good enough to shop there. Shame really, I was a big Disney fan. I used to like Carluccio's too.
That Disney thing is an Urban Legend. I should know I worked there!
Re: the pavement issue, I wouldn't be surprised if it WAS down to the council, they've banned pavement boards in some places, even on footpaths that are more than wide enough, on the basis of health & safety of partially sighted folk. Despite that they still allow some cafes etc. to place tables & seating outside their establishments as it is on land that belongs to the cafe, but without being cordoned off somehow it will still present a hazard to a partially sighted person, thus making a bit of a mockery of their short sighted policy!
I wonder if there has been a massive reduction in folk reporting to A&E as a result of this policy?