What do you do when it's Sunday evening, you want a margarita and your baby goes to bed at 6:30? A) Make one at home, B) Skip it, C) Load up the family in the car for an early dinner and 'rita. I have to say that trying to eat dinner, sip a cocktail and feed an infant takes very special multi-tasking skills - it helps that Milagros in Redwood City feeds kids for FREE on Sundays. Need another reason to go? Great carnitas street tacos, Mexican chopped salad, and quesadillas.
The kid's menu was also good, and different. The usual quesadilla, taco and enchilada made an appearance, but so did a taco salad. I can't tell you how impossible it is to find vegetables on a kid's menu, which usually consists of white food only (quesadillas, french fries, pasta, grilled cheese). So after we finally got Ivy into a high chair that wasn't broken (after two tries), we found that the high chairs are so much lower than the table that Ivy couldn't even see her food. We usually bring our own clip on high chair but the table was to thick to clip it on. Oh well, the food was decent. Plus, they have a huge outside patio that is great for warmer days and nights, when those come again.
One warning: The smoke (or "steam" as the server called it) from the fajitas gets so thick at times that you think there is a fire in the kitchen. After two visits we learned this is normal, though it is not pleasant and I imagine Ivy's not loving the bar-like atmosphere.
Rant on: At 5:00, anybody who expects to have a child-free dinner experience is trippin'. 5:00-6:00 is clearly reserved for those with kids, as evidenced by 1-3 kids under 10 at every table in the place. Plus, it's Kids Eat Free Night, ya *might* expect some kids to show up. The first time we dined at Milagros with Ivy, the table next to us, a couple in their 40s, commented about what a great baby we had, that she was so well-behaved "especially compared to kids these days". WTF? Like kids these days are unruly and out of hand, unlike how kids used to be? Kids are kids, and Ivy has her moments, she just happens to love shoveling quesadilla, and was focused on her dinner that night. But the implication that kids who don't say a word or laugh or cry or play are "good" just bugs me. It's 5:00! If you don't want to hear a child, try dining later. Adults talk and laugh and make noise too, but a kid throws a bean and now she's one of those "kids these days". Some people still think kids should be seen and not heard. If that guy is lucky, Ivy might be paying his Social Security one day so he might want to chill it a bit. Besides, we were gone by 6:30, just in time for adults to have their dinner surrounded by other adults (as I like to have as well when I can). Rant off.
Milagros Cantina
1099 Middlefield Road
Redwood City, CA 94065
650-369-4730
RATING: (out of 5 beans)
Kid food: 4.5 beans (.5 bean for the taco salad)
Kid entertainment: 2 beans (4 crayons and a sheet of paper)
Kid seating: 2 beans (2 broken high chair straps)
Kid friendly: 4 beans (friendly staff and FREE dinner!)
Overall: 4 beans
We were just down there !! A friend just bought a nice little home up in the hills. We went to Dittmer's then lunched at the Venus Cafe in downtown RC. Don't ever go, ever. 40 dollars for a long awaited nasty lunch. The slaw was rancid and that was the best part.
Biggles
Posted by: Dr. Biggles | January 22, 2007 at 08:35 PM
Can't imagine how Dr. Biggles spent $40 for lunch at Venus Cafe unless there were 9-10 people. Anyway breakfast is the reason to go there.
Posted by: Cathy | January 28, 2008 at 07:00 PM