What do you do in this situation of children behaving badly?

It would not matter what the sex or muslim or martian to me.
The restaurant should take care of it if it was unbecoming.
Shy of that, make a decision and leave if your wishes were not taken care of.
You have a choice, make it.

Nope…the owner committed the ultimate sin in he acquiesced to a 5+ or – something and it is now their problem. Stay out of it unless you want to tell them where to shove their offer of free eggs and hashbrowns!

I would have told the manager how you felt and if he didn’t take care of it, leave. I don’t get to eat out in a nice restaurant very often and when I do, I don’t expect children to be running around like they are in McDonalds.

My actions certainly would change if I were female.

I would be dressed completely different than I am as a male.

The owner is in a spot now. He’s raking in a shitload of money that night from the big party. He’s not about to show his ass to them. It’s tough being in business right now and especially restauranteurs know they are the one thing that people will cut back on early on the list of things to cut. So he has to do a balancing act and hope his other patrons understand. We’re all just trying to survive now.

A question to your question…. Should you expect that parents should better manager their children in a high class versus average restaurant? Would you have this question if you witnessed this behavior in let’s say a McDonalds? If these children are as unruly as you claim they are would it not be a burden to the parents to run around scolding their children when they are also paying 20–50 per person in their party as well and shouldn’t the parents of the children also be afforded the luxury of enjoying a meal they are paying a great deal for?

Now don’t get me wrong, personally I believe that a parent should always be “parenting” their children regardless of the venue because it teaches them manners and appropriate behaviors however its apparent by what you are describing that the other guests in the restaurant (the un-watchful parents) don’t have the same belief.

With that being said AS a parent I know that children who KNOW what they are doing is not acceptable will usually take note from any adults scolding. I would have no problem stopping the children and telling them that the behavior is unacceptable and that they are disturbing other adults. There are 4 potential outcomes to this:
1— the kids will stop
2— the kids will continue but the parents will notice that you a stranger have had to scold their kids and will be embarrassed causing them to keep a better eye on the kids
3— the kids will tattle on you to their parents and then be scolded by the parents for misbehaving
4— the parents will confront you for scolding their kids thus allowing you to have the conversation with the parents directly about how they should really be watching their own kid.

I’d say to the owners/manager “it’s ok, I do that all the time” and proceed to copy the kids.

I would lock them in a closet.

Then sit back, order their finest bubbly, and enjoy.

I would ask him if he would like me to call the fire marshal for help, since the actions are causing a possible hazard.

What does it matter Muslim or not? I mean seriously.

If it was a special occasion, I would probably leave and go somewhere else if I could. I don’t care whether it’s Maccas or an upmarket restaurant.. people should have respect for others in their vicinity and control their children. The owner should have spoken to the other party and asked them to keep their children under control.

I agree with @Simone_De_Beauvoir I don’t care whether they are Muslim, Christian or Rastafarian.

I like @blueiiznh‘s suggestion, lock them in a cupboard LOL! Haven’t we all been out and at some point wished we could do something like that .. not that I would of course :D

What does Mickey D’s have to do with anything? I think that I would have….stopped my ordering right there, tell the manager that since he wasn’t going to do anything I should not be charged for what I have ordered thus far since I did NOT get what I came there to get.

WTH is wrong with parents today???

@Dutchess_III I expect kids to act less restrained at McDonalds when they are geared towards kids with the playground etc. They go out and play and come in a little hyped up, so I know when I go there, if kids are acting loud and playing in the aisles, I expect it. I do not expect kids to be running wild and screaming and playing in the aisles in a restaurant not geared toward kids.

I tried to describe the situation as clearly as possible but left out a really key element (sorry). It is an upscale middle eastern restaurant. The apparent faith tradition of the offending parents may well be shared by the owner of the restaurant and NOT by the other patrons who were bothered by the children’s collective poor behavior.

As for the McDonald’s bit, I would have been bothered regardless of the niceness of the restaurant but I think I am bothered more by the amount I have paid for my food. While I expect to be able to walk out the door with my wrapped sandwich and packaged fries, I am not expecting to have to do so with shish kabobs and hummus and CAN’T do so until the owner repackages everything for take out. I also prefer to eat hot food hot if I have paid for it to be so (not an expectation I have for McDonald’s).

@Dutchess_III Not all parents would condone something like that. My husband and I would never allow it. Hell, we don’t let our kids lie down in the booth at Friendly’s. There’s no way they’d be running or climbing on anything. Please don’t lump all of us into the same category. Thank you.

To answer the original question: I’d leave. If I’d already ordered, I’d cancel my order and simply go somewhere else. I probably wouldn’t return to that restaurant in the future. If my food had already arrived, I guess I’d eat quickly and not linger for dessert or drinks or just ask to have it packed up to go. And again, I wouldn’t go back.

I would leave the restaurant if I no longer felt comfortable there and I would tell the owner why. The Muslim angle doesn’t have much significance but I would say that in my experience Muslim children are well behaved.

@MissAusten (I think you meant to address Chyna on that…)

I wouldn’t allow my kids to run amock in McDonalds either. If I send them out to play on the play ground, they WALK to the door (and if I have to, I’ll bring them back to the table and have them practice walking to the door) and they WALK the minute they come back inside (And we can practice that too, if need be.) If they’re “hyped up,” I either A) send them back outside or B) leave. I really don’t have one set of expectations for one type of restaurant and another for a different restaurant. Manners are all the same, wherever you go.

@Dutchess_III No, I was referring to your “WTH is wrong with parents today???” comment.

I meant, what is wrong with parents who let their children run amok. Where are their brains? What was wrong the the parents that let their children run wild in another part of of the restaurant? Where were their brains. I’m not sure how you got the idea that I was condoning any kind of running amokness in kids.

@MissAusten Wait! I see what happened. When I made a blanket statement of “What is wrong with parents today,” I can see how that could look like a total condemnation of all parents today. My bad…that’s not what I meant. There are lots and lots of well behaved kids with good parents out there. But it seems like there used to be a time when when it was expected that parents would control their kids, and it would be a major social embarrassment if you didn’t. Plus, you can be sure someone would say something. Normally, people don’t like getting censored by society. But now…it seems to be more out of control, with people afraid to say anything. Today there is this sucky attitude of “I can do whatever I want because I have my rights!” and we’re afraid to say anything. But..maybe I’m wrong.

I apologize to you @MissAusten and all the other good parents out there.

For the rest I have to say… “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?? Quit texting and tend to your kids!!”