We’ve all been there: You sit down to a nice, relaxing dinner at a cozy restaurant and suddenly you’re surrounded by kids who are screaming, crying, misbehaving … or all three. And sometimes those kids are your own. But one California man is determined to change the game. You You Xue, an energetic 28-year-old restauranteur, was exasperated by the behavior of children in his Bay Area restaurant, Chez Xue. In spring 2025, he added a note at the top of his restaurant’s digital menu. It reads: “Please control your children. Chez Xue is a family-friendly restaurant. However, we are not a playground. Please ensure children REMAIN SEATED at all times and respectful of fellow guests and the dining environment. Running around, shouting, making noise with utensils, etc. WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!” Recently posted on X, the note went viral and garnered thousands of comments and lots of media attention. Though the policy may look harsh in print, Xue, who does not have children of his own, tells TODAY.com, “This is not an anti-child campaign.” In fact, he points out that the restaurant has plenty of high chairs and caters to big families. Xue’s issue, he says, is “parents who don’t do their jobs.” He explains, “We’re not confronting children at the restaurant about their behavior. We’re not banning children. We’re not discriminating against children.” Xue also wouldn’t chastise a parent actively trying to corral their misbehaving child. Rather, it’s the parents who don’t pay attention that infuriate him. The cost of misbehavior Xue, who also owns a Michelin-recognized restaurant named wonderful, gives examples of problematic behavior, like parents ignoring children while they’re screaming or banging their utensils on the table repeatedly. “I think it’s the responsibility of the parents to turn to their child and say, ‘Hey, we don’t do that here.’ And to be honest, if children don’t stop their disruptive behavior, it’s actually the parents’ responsibility to take them outside the restaurant,” Xue says. Once they take the time to calm down, they can return to the table. The difference in Xue’s approach, he says, is that he has proactively decided how to handle problematic situations. “My servers are all trained to take the appropriate action to protect the restaurant environment,” he says, noting that he tells them to be “firm and professional” with parents. He also tells servers that he is “always at their disposal” if they need backup. “The last thing they want to think about is how to run a daycare,” he says of his waitstaff. Xue points out that misbehavior can be a safety issue, like when a child runs in front of a server carrying hot soup. It can also cause physical damage. His website lists the cost of items that were damaged by children and billed to their parents: April 2025: a shattered credit card machine cost $327.03 December 2025: child-led table carving cost parents $109.38 January 2026: a smashed teacup cost $5.47 “We’re not in the business of making people break things and buy them,” Xue says about administering fines to parents. “But anything that breaks comes straight out of my pocket … We want to show customers who might have doubts about our policy that we mean business.” Reaction to the policy Though internet reactions to the policy is divided, Xue says that his patrons have generally reacted positively, and frequent diners are especially grateful. The amount of incidents “has just basically gone to zero,” says Xue. Though he says he may be the only person “bold” enough to add a parenting policy to the menu, Xue is thrilled that he is “sparking a dialogue that may end up helping other restaurants that have been facing tough times in a post-COVID world. Parents allowing their kids to “trash” a restaurant “just feels so insulting, it feels so disrespectful,” Xue says. “Maybe I’m taking it too personally, but at the end of the day, this is my baby. I’m trying to run a restaurant.” This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY: McDonald’s Teams Up With BTS Again for BT21 Happy Meal: See the Toys The Top 60 Baby Names of the Groovy 1960s Andrés Cantor Recalls Ditching School as a Boy to Watch Argentina During the World Cup This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less