Signs

Toronto was in the midst of its annual Summerlicious event, where restaurants across the city offer special prix fixe menus, typically cheaper than their regular menu, albeit only slightly, in most cases. My husband and I decided to look for a restaurant that was marketed as both good for kids and wheelchair accessible (for stroller purposes).

Restaurant: Signs
Location: Downtown Core
Meal: Dinner
Day: Friday
Son's Age: 14 weeks

Signs is an interesting restaurant in that the servers are deaf and the menu teaches you sign language. It helps create awareness and gives people a chance to try their hand at sign language in order to communicate. There is also a "cheat sheet" at every table that teaches you how to sign things like "thank you", "water", "everything is good", etc. I think it's a really cool concept, and I would love to learn sign language beyond the chorus of Savage Garden's Crash and Burn (check out the music video - so much love!)

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This restaurant advertises itself as wheelchair accessible, which usually bodes well for strollers. The entrance has a ramp to get in, and they had us fold the stroller and put the car seat on the seat next to our table.

The table beside us had also folded their stroller against the wall, but their baby was old enough to sit in a high chair. The washroom is also indeed wheelchair accessible and quite large.

I struggled with how to rate this because the restaurant is very good for strollers and babies; however, as you can see, there was no change table provided and no counter top I could have used instead.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If you are concerned about any language barriers, don't worry. The service was great and the servers were very friendly and interactive. We were greeted at the door by a hostess that explained the concept of the restaurant and then introduced us to our server. My husband and I struggled with some of the signs but she quickly caught on to what we were trying to say and demonstrated how to sign correctly. She did comment (via sign language) on my decision to order a glass of wine, asking if I was breastfeeding my son since that wasn't advisable. While I'm not a big fan of commentary on my choices as a mom - I've learned that you just can't please everyone and someone always thinks you're doing something wrong - she was friendly about it and she didn't withhold my wine when I insisted that I still wanted it. It's actually quite surprising how much we were able to communicate without talking. I also did not have any issues when I ultimately did have to breastfeed my son during dinner.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
As far as the food itself, I found that everything was quite good, but not particularly memorable. I started with the escargot and garlic bread.

It was tasty, but not a standout as far as escargot goes. I followed this up with a main course of grilled lamb tenderloins with mashed potatoes and ratatouille.

As a mother, I very much appreciated that the lamb was served off the bone, as this made it significantly easier to eat while holding my son, who at this point decided he didn't want to sit in his car seat anymore. Other than that, everything was fine, but not outstanding. Finally, for dessert, I ordered the mango sorbet.

I should probably disclose that I live really close to delicious gelato and sorbet, so perhaps I am just not easily impressed, but again it was fine but not amazing. My husband's meal consisted of the Caesar salad, fried frog legs, and chocolate avalanche, and he had the same assessment of his food as I did of mine.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
This is a restaurant where the service is great, the accessibility is good, and the food is decent, which overall contributes to a pleasant experience eating out with baby.

Emma's Country Kitchen

I'm not sure how relevant this post is because the beloved (by me) Emma's Country Kitchen has officially closed. Not all sad news! It is relocating to a larger location just down the street. At the time of announcement, though, they didn't have an official reopening date and I couldn't bear to go so long without their buttermilk biscuits, so I decided to come in for brunch with my little one. 

Restaurant: Emma's Country Kitchen

Location: Corso Italia

Meal: Brunch

Day: Wednesday

Son's Age: 13 weeks

Weekdays here are vastly different from weekends in that I had my choice of table (in theory), whereas on weekends there is typically a line going out the door. The restaurant itself is very charming and somehow distinctly feels like a live action version of Diner Dash - while waiting in line, there are newspapers on the counter to read and you can order something to drink while you're waiting. Also, on weekends they have the most fantastic donuts with unusual flavours like maple bacon or cookies 'n' cream. I digress, of course, because as I am describing their weekends, this particular visit was firmly in the middle of the week.

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I said earlier that I had my pick of table in theory. This is because I still came with my baby in a stroller so the fine print is that I needed to sit at a table where my stroller wouldn't block the aisle. Luckily, this was not a problem. 

I had no issues navigating the stroller to my table. The washroom also had a change table available. 

Unfortunately, I removed a star because the single washrooms are quite small (hopefully this will be corrected at the new location), so I could not fit the stroller into the washroom and also use the change table. Luckily, the staff is very friendly (more on that later) so I felt comfortable leaving my stroller outside while I brought my son's car seat into the washroom. 

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Whenever I come to Emma's, I always see the same two ladies working here, and the last time I was here I was visibly pregnant and was told that I absolutely must bring my baby in once I'd given birth. When I walked in the door, I was a bit disappointed to see that neither of them were working, and a gentleman I had never seen was my server. Luckily, it appears that they are quite consistent in hiring pleasant servers, because he was extremely friendly and helpful. At one point, I had to breastfeed my son, but I was still hungry, so I fed him under a cover cradling him with one arm and continued to eat my brunch with my other. The couple at the next table were visibly uncomfortable and quickly scarfed down their food and bolted. This has nothing to do with the restaurant, of course, but I mention it because I started feeling ashamed about it for a split second, even thoigh breastfeeding is natural and no one should be embarrassed to feed their baby in public. My shame quickly subsided when my server pleasantly came by to refill my coffee as if everything was normal, also asking if I needed anything else, and noted that I was still working on my plate. It seems like such a small thing but it made me feel infinitely better. Once I had finished eating, he followed me to the door and held it open so I could push the stroller out. The experience was a perfect example of excellent service. 

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you didn't figure it out from my intro, I love the food here. As soon as they reopen, you need to come here immediately. I ordered the break-wich sandwich and a side of watermelon salad. 

The photo does not do it justice. This place has the best buttermilk biscuits ever; it's as if they melt in your mouth. The sandwich is customizable, and I had mine with an over easy eggs, bacon, and cheddar cheese. The watermelon salad had mint, cucumber, feta cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette, and it perfectly hit the spot on such a hot summer day. Bonus points: the coffee is bottomless. 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½

Obviously, I love this place. I'm sad that they are closed, even if only temporarily. This restaurant has amazing food and amazing service, which I'm sure will carry over to the new location. The only thing that needs improvement is the size of the washroom, so hopefully this will be fixed after the move, but if not, it wasn't a particularly large hindrance on my overall experience. Keep an eye out - they should be reopening in August. 

L'Express

I have now come to my last restaurant destination in Montreal! At this point, I have come to accept that restaurants here do not appear to be as accessible as my encounters in Toronto, or at least not the ones that I have been going to. Luckily, the city has numerous benches outside so I had no trouble overall finding a place to change or feed my son. Our final stop, again at my husband's coworker's recommendation, was L'Express.

Restaurant: L'Express

Location: Montreal

Meal: Dinner

Day: Saturday

Son's Age: 12 weeks

Once again, we made dinner reservations for 5pm. I find early dinners are good because I don't feel guilty about interrupting other diners. I mean, how many romantic dinners happen at 5pm?

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The good news is that there are no stairs! This means we were able to easily wheel our stroller into the restaurant. Once inside, though, we had to fold the stroller and leave it with the coat hangers, as there was not enough room to bring it to the table. Our server did help us set up two chairs next to the table to make sure the car seat wouldn't tip over. 

By the way, your eyes do not deceive you - my son has a new interest in his socks, and this leads to him pulling them off his feet on a regular basis. Don't worry, we still have both blue panda socks. Back on topic: similar to the other restaurants, the washroom did not have a change table.

Again, there wasn't even enough counter space to change a baby. I'm not sure if it's just that we only went to restaurants that people wouldn't typically bring babies to, or if others would normally just change a diaper in the dining area.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As previously mentioned, the server was accommodating enough to put chairs together for the car seat as well as make sure the seat wouldn't tip over. He was also both patient and attentive and kept my water glass full when I needed to breastfeed.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I know I was at a French restaurant but I've become cognizant of what food I can eat with one hand, since my son has gotten fussy sitting in the car seat without moving (i.e. in the stroller or car). As such, I ordered the shrimp risotto.

I watch a lot of Top Chef and I know Tom Collichio always makes a big fuss about how a good risotto is supposed to spread. I think he would agree that this was a great risotto! It was perfectly smooth and creamy. It was served piping hot, but cooled down while I was breastfeeding, and even then it was still just as delicious - I find sometimes when food gets lukewarm it's not as tasty anymore. My husband ordered a hangar steak that he was very happy with as well. We ended up taking a look at the dessert menu, and even though we were both happily satiated, my husband saw that they had a floating island with caramel and felt the need to order it.

I personally don't care for floating islands (or ile flottante, as it is properly called), because I find they taste like diabetes, but my husband has quite the sweet tooth and said that this was divine and airy, albeit filling.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
The food is delicious and the service is outstanding, so while the restaurant itself isn't particularly accessible, it's worth it to come with your baby anyway.  

Maison Christian Faure

Yes I'm still posting about Montreal! My husband's coworker told us that if we were in Old Montreal and we wanted to have the best croissants ever, he knew just the place.

Restaurant: Maison Christian Faure
Location: Montreal
Meal: Brunch
Day: Saturday
Son's Age: 12 weeks

This restaurant is also a pastry school, so I had high hopes for these croissants.

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️
This isn't actually particularly accessible because there is a set of stairs just to enter the restaurant, so if you have a stroller, you need to fold it as soon as you get here. Once inside, however, I was able to park my stroller at our table without blocking anyone.

As I mentioned, this is also a pastry school, so there is an elevator to go up to the other floors (so close to being accessible!). The washroom is on the fourth floor, which as far as I could tell was only accessible by elevator. Alas, the washroom is not equipped with a change table.

It is a single washroom but there is zero counter space if I had needed to change a diaper. I do like that they have Spectro, although I don't know that I would necessarily recommend it as a hand soap per se, but I digress.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Our server was great at providing recommendations when I couldn't decide exactly which croissant I wanted (more on that later), and the staff was gracious enough to give us a table for four so that we could comfortably park the stroller. Side note: I guess they didn't exactly have anywhere to put the extra chair that they removed for us, so they stashed it in the elevator, which I found amusing. I also didn't have any issues when I needed to breastfeed during brunch, which was a nice plus. The only reason I didn't give five stars was because we weren't offered any assistance with the stroller or the door upon entry and exit, and given the stairs, the extra help would have been greatly appreciated. But other than that, service during the meal itself was excellent.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
So my husband's coworker did not lead us astray! We both ordered a brunch plank, which included a choice of pastry and drink. At the server's recommendation, I opted for an almond croissant.

This was by no means a light croissant. There was still an airiness to it, but also a sticky sweetness that was very satisfying. The almonds adders a nice flavour and crunch as well. I also got a latte, which I found to be a perfect pairing with my pastry.

The main event, of course, was the brunch plank itself. Eggs benny on puff pastry with smoked salmon, accompanied by brioche and caramel sauce, with a side of fresh fruit.

Every part of the meal was light, including the hollandaise, to the point where I somehow convinced myself that the entire meal must be healthy. Nevertheless, by the time I had finished eating I was incredibly full. This place really knows how to make their baked goods shine while still providing the substance that people expect from brunch.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
The food is definitely worthwhile, especially if you like croissants and pastries. That being said, it isn't easy bringing a baby here, and there is definitely an upscale vibe to the restaurant (although I did see a couple other families with young children, albeit not babies). I wouldn't try to come here with the baby by myself, but if you have someone to help you get your stroller in and out then this is worth a try.

Au Pied de Cochon

I hope my last post didn't discourage you from eating out in Montreal. One of the perks of living in Toronto is that I have a registered nurse that regularly comes to my house from Healthy Babies Healthy Children. She recommended that when I go to Montreal, I take my baby to Au Pied de Cochon, so that's what I did!

Restaurant: Au Pied de Cochon
Location: Montreal
Meal: Dinner
Day: Friday
Son's Age: 12 weeks

We made a reservation for 5pm indicating that we would be bringing a baby, so the staff was prepared for us. It also happened to be St. Jean Baptiste Day, but I'm not sure what impact that might have had on the restaurant.

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️
Upon arrival, we were led to a table in the back of the restaurant. We were able to wheel the stroller over but it became apparent that we couldn't leave the stroller open, so I placed the car seat on the chair next to me while my husband folded the stroller and propped it on the wall.

I should probably acknowledge that yes, that is a Habs onesie on my son. It made him a big hit with everyone but I swear I'm a Leafs fan at heart. Let's turn our attention to the stroller!

I only gave two stars, however, because moving the stroller through the restaurant was quite cumbersome, and also there were no change tables available. The restaurant has two washrooms and I ended up using both (I have a small bladder!). The first one was smaller and I don't think I could have even brought my baby with me.

Unrelated to accessibility but the toilet has those buttons like in Japan and Korea with the bidet and no I did not try it. There is also a TV on the opposite wall with sports playing so I feel someone could just sit in the washroom to escape a bad date.

The larger washroom is confusing because it is a single person washroom but for some reason there are three faucets (I know I only got two of them in the photo) - not sure what situation would require one person to need three faucets? Again, no change table but you can see in the mirror that this has a TV as well. At least this is big enough that if you did want to change your baby on the floor, you could, but I think I've mentioned my opinion on this enough times already.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The service here is fantastic. Our server helped us navigate our way to our table and was very friendly. He made good recommendations for our meal and seemed genuinely delighted to see our baby (although I think the Habs outfit helped to curry his favour). I also ended up having to breastfeed in the restaurant and I did not feel rushed or ignored.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Our meal started with a complimentary baguette, which was appropriate for the French setting.

We decided to order an appetizer of the charcuterie. I did not realize until after we ordered that this was in fact my first charcuterie since I found out I was pregnant.

The charcuterie was decent enough, particularly because it's been so long since I've had any, but this is not a top recommendation for me and certainly not the reason I give this place five stars. That honour goes to the pièce de résistance - the aforementioned pied de cochon!

That's right - you are looking at a stuffed pig's foot with foie gras! This dish easily serves two people and requires 45 minutes to prepare, but it's totally worth it. The meat was tender while the skin was crusted to add a perfect crunch. The foie gras was smooth like butter (I should note that there is an entire section of the menu dedicated to foie gras if you are an aficionado), and the juices kept the meat nice and moist. After sharing this, neither of us had any room left for dessert.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
While accessibility is not ideal for babies and strollers, the service makes up for this and the food is decadent and unique. I understand now why this restaurant was so highly recommended to me, and it serves as a nice reminder that you can still enjoy good food even when you have a baby.

Arts café

I have some big news: at 12 weeks old, I decided to take my baby on a plane and head to Montreal! I'd tell you all about it except there are tons of blogs about travelling with baby, many of which I relied on myself when preparing for this expedition, so I will leave those details to the experts (but if you are planning on flying with baby, preparation is key! He was a perfect angel but the situation could have been disastrous if I wasn't adequately prepared). What I will do is tell you what it was like eating in Montreal with a baby in tow - and let me tell you, it's not like eating in Toronto!

Restaurant: Arts café
Location: Montreal
Meal: brunch
Day: Friday
Son's Age: 12 weeks

My husband decided to meet a coworker and his wife and baby for brunch. Since his coworker is quite the foodie, I heartily agreed, thinking he must have scoped out baby friendly places with good food. He recommended Arts café.

Accessibility: ⭐️
Apparently his definition of baby friendly is vastly different from mine. First of all, there are stairs to enter the restaurant, so it's definitely not stroller friendly. My husband's coworker offered to store the stroller in his car, which is good because I don't know where I would have put it otherwise. Once we sat down, I was able to put my son's car seat on a chair, but they did not have any high chairs for the other baby, who ended up sitting in her mom's lap. I admit I forgot to take photos of the place because I wasn't sure if I would blog about it or not, but it's quite a small restaurant. There are two washrooms, neither of which have changing tables or counter space. One of the washrooms is very small and the other (yes, I looked at both) is a bit bigger, so hypothetically I suppose you could change your baby on the floor, but since I get grossed out by public washroom floors, I would likely have taken my son outside and changed him on a bench instead of it had come down to that.

Service: ⭐️
This is the first restaurant I've taken my baby to where the server made it abundantly clear that babies were not welcome. We were offered no assistance in settling in with our babies. Our server was slow in attending to us. Since my husband's coworker's daughter was eating solids, the dad asked the server if they could get a simple French toast made for his baby, assuring him that he would pay whatever. The server very snootily responded that there was nothing simple about the French toast on the menu and it was in fact quite a complex dish. Our companion tried again, asking if the server could ask the chef just to prepare a simple French toast, again emphasizing that he was willing to pay for the trouble. The server refused to accommodate, agreeing only to compromise by serving the syrup on the side. Later on, the other baby accidentally knocked over her mom's latte. At this point, our server avoided us until it was time to bring out the bill, which meant that we did not get extra napkins to clean up and the mom did not have the opportunity to order another latte. I have been assured that service is typically much better than this, but based on this experience, I found service to be terrible.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Just when you are probably thinking that this restaurant is irredeemable, let me tell you about the food. I ordered the shakshuka with cumin cardamom sauce, Swiss chard leaf, quinoa, merguez sausage, and toast.

My egg was baked perfectly and the sauce was divine. I'm also a giant sucker for quinoa, which I found really added to the dish. I would definitely recommend coming here for this. My husband, embracing everything Montreal, ordered the poutine with duck confit, poached egg, caramelized onion, fingerling potatoes, cheese curds, and hollandaise.

I had strongly considered ordering this myself except we had just gone to poutine fest the night before so I was ready to eat something else, but this was also an excellent choice. I only caution that the poutine being served over fingerling potatoes rather than fries is a bit jarring at first, but once you get over that, this meal is highly enjoyable.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️½
The food makes this place worthwhile, so I can see why my husband's coworker recommended the place. If you want to come here with a baby, though, be prepared because it can be a hassle. I was lucky that I didn't need to feed or change my baby during my visit as it seems I would have had some difficulty accomplishing either.

Jamie's Italian

In case you haven't noticed, I have gone back and retroactively updated my overall ratings to include half stars. I decided that, with only three criteria, it wasn't fair to round it all the way to full stars. Anyway, on to the review: I had finally scheduled some time to meet up with my good friend and fellow foodie. Since we are both fans of Jamie Oliver, we decided to bring our babies to his first restaurant in Toronto: Jamie's Italian.

Restaurant: Jamie's Italian

Location: Yorkdale

Meal: Lunch

Day: Thursday

Son's Age: 11 weeks

My son was 11 weeks old and her daughter was 10 months, so I can actually evaluate how they accommodate babies at both these ages! I should note that while the restaurant is technically connected to Yorkdale Mall, the entrance is actually separate; you have to exit the mall in order to enter the restaurant. This is important if you are like me and like to park in the mall's underground parking lot, thinking you don't need to take your stroller outside at all. Not an issue on this occasion, but I had previously been here while pregnant in December when it was snowing.

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We were clearly not the only mommies at the restaurant, and they were more than prepared for us. They gave us a table for four inside but near the patio so we could look out, and they removed a chair so I could park my stroller.

As for my friend, they brought her daughter a high chair so she could sit at the table with us, which seemed to please her.

I had no trouble navigating my stroller to the table as the aisle was sufficiently wide for me to go through effortlessly. They also have a wheelchair accessible washroom with a change table, and there is even a button for the door to open automatically, which I don't see often in restaurants.

The restaurant was clearly designed with the expectation that people would bring their babies, which is no surprise given how family friendly Yorkdale Mall is (note: I did most of my stroller research at Yorkdale while pregnant by observing others and occasionally asking parents about their strollers).

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The service was great! All the staff were happy to help us get to our table and arrange ourselves, point out the washroom, and answer questions about the menu. Everyone was very friendly, even though my baby started fussing to the point where I had to carry him, and my friend's baby was very vocal about how excited she was to be there. I felt very comfortable taking my time to calm my son and slowly enjoy my food.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Speaking of enjoying my food, my experience here was stellar. The menu allows for smaller portions of the pastas and the salads, so I started with the small size super food salad, which had grilled avocado, roasted beets, pulses and grains, sprouting broccoli, fennel, pomegranate seeds, and spicy seeds, with harissa and cottage cheese.

This is the best super food salad I've ever had. I don't usually rave about salads but this one was quite substantial so I didn't feel like I was just munching on rabbit food. There was a nice kick of heat from the spice, offset by the harissa and pomegranate seeds, making a perfectly refreshing dish for the summer. I could have eaten a full size as my main if I wasn't so eager to try some handmade pasta as well.

I ordered a small portion of the tagliatelle bolognese. I used to think that there wasn't much difference between fresh and dry pasta if the pasta wasn't stuffed, but the tagliatelle proves me wrong. I could appreciate the freshness of the pasta, and it went well with the hearty bolognese. My friend ordered the small size porcini fettuccine.

She was very happy with her dish and declared that she would have to return to try other menu items as well.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My friend and I both came here with very high expectations, and neither of us were disappointed. The food is delicious and the restaurant is perfectly accessible for babies of all ages. The music is at a good volume so that we didn't feel like our babies were disrupting other patrons, but we could still easily have a good conversation. I highly recommend bringing a baby to Jamie's Italian!