No kids under 10: Italian restaurant's new dine-in policy has the internet divided

An Italian restaurant in New Jersey probably didn’t expect the reaction it was going to get when it introduced a new dine-in policy on its Facebook page last week.

“As of March 8, children under 10 will no longer be permitted to dine at Nettie’s,” read the post by Nettie’s House of Spaghetti. “We love kids. We really, truly, do. But lately, it’s been extremely challenging to accommodate children at Nettie’s.”

The restaurant further added that the factors that went into this drastic decision included children making noise, a lack of space for high chairs at the establishment, having to clean up “crazy messes” made by kids, and the liability of having little ones running around the restaurant.

Nettie’s fully expected to get backlash from families and parents about the decision. “We know that this is going to make some of you very upset, especially those of you with very well-behaved kids, but we believe this is the right decision for our business moving forward.”

But a shockingly large segment of people sided with the restaurant on its new policy. The post has an overwhelming number of heart reacts (15,000) and likes (13,000), with less than 2,000 people leaving negative reactions.

“There’s always take out if the kids really want to try it. Not all restaurants are fit for a ‘family atmosphere,'” one high-rated comment reads. “I think it’s a good policy. And for the record, I have kids, grown now, and still agree with this,” added another commenter.

More people weighed in, saying they support the restaurant’s call, and that “good food deserves a good atmosphere.”

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Of course, there were a few disappointed people in the comments as well.

“I thought this was an Onion [sic] when I first saw it!” a comment from New Jersey resident, Jeff Turlip, reads, implying that the post seemed so absurd, it had to be satirical, like something from The Onion.

“I have grown kids. They were really well behaved, and nobody likes misbehaved kids (barbarism begins at the home!), especially while dining. But this might be harsh…”

The division is nearly neck and neck. The top two comments are from people in opposing camps.

“That is really sad to hear. I was looking forward to trying out your place but with a well-behaved nine-year-old, I’m not welcome. Sad,” said Laura Jones.

Jill Sorrentino-Wilson, who says she’s been working in the food industry since she was 14, thinks the idea is fantastic.

“I’ve never seen anything like I have in the recent past. Kids are out of control and most parents are oblivious,” she wrote under the post. “The disregard for manners and common decency is unreal. I worked in [food handling] and was disgusted by the behaviour. Good for you for taking a stand 👏🏼”

The restaurant also responded, saying that kids running around the establishment when staff are trying to carry trays of food and drinks has made doing their jobs “extremely difficult.”

Thousands of people who have shared the post from the restaurant say this policy should be normalized.

“If this place was local to me, I would spend ridiculous amounts of money here. There is nothing worse than listening to somebody’s uncontrollable [children] while I’m trying to enjoy my meal,” one person said.

“I would ban kids from a spaghetti restaurant, to be honest. Have you seen little kids eat spaghetti???” another pointed out, adding that he would “quit his job so fast.”

Some also think the restaurant should find a middle ground and implement this policy on a case-by-case basis, ejecting any offending parties that cannot control their children.

Do you think Nettie’s new policy is unfair to people with young kids? Or should more spaces be allowed to stay child-free? Canadian restaurants could look into it… 👀