OpenTable Diner Reviews Reveal Top 75 Kid-Friendly Restaurants

SAN FRANCISCO, June 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Just in time for Father's Day and summer vacations, OpenTable (NASDAQ: OPEN), a leading provider of free, real-time online restaurant reservations for diners and reservation and guest management solutions for restaurants, is pleased to announce the 2012 Diners' Choice Award winners for the Top 75 Kid-Friendly Restaurants in the United States.  These awards reflect the combined opinions of nearly 5 million reviews submitted by verified OpenTable diners for more than 15,000 restaurants in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Mangia was the word on tiny diners' lips as Italian cuisine, especially that which is served at nationwide Bucca di Beppo restaurants, proved extremely popular for the second year in a row. American fare was also a hit with kids and their families, with 17 restaurants offering homegrown dishes. Healthful choices were also crowd-pleasers, as Japanese food and seafood each accounted for 8 wins. Other popular cuisines included comfort food, Mexican, and steak.

Regionally, winners spanned 21 states and Washington, D.C. California restaurants excelled at pleasing kids, with 22 winning restaurants representing the Golden State. Massachusetts and New York have 8 honorees apiece, followed by five winners in the state of Illinois, four in Hawaii, and three each in Florida, Minnesota, and Ohio. Colorado, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington all boast two winning restaurants. Other states represented include Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Virginia.

"These winning restaurants are creating a child- and family-friendly dining experience that has more to do with food and fun than merely price and portion size," said Caroline Potter, OpenTable's Chief Dining Officer. "They offer inventive menus that can satisfy any child, from those with picky palates to adventurous young eaters – as well as mom and dad. With cool cocktails for the adults and delectable desserts sure to please everyone at the table, the best kid-friendly restaurants are making dining out more popular than The Hunger Games."

The Diners' Choice Awards for the Top 75 Kid-Friendly Restaurants is generated from nearly 5 million reviews collected from verified OpenTable diners between June 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012.  All restaurants with a minimum number of qualifying reviews were included for consideration. Restaurants were then scored and sorted according to the percentage of qualifying reviews for which "kid-friendly" was selected as a special feature.

Based on this methodology, the following restaurants, listed in alphabetical order, comprise the Top 75 Kid-Friendly Restaurants in the U.S. according to OpenTable diners.  The complete list may also be viewed at http://www.opentable.com/kids.

2012 Diners' Choice Award Winners for the Top 75 Kid-Friendly Restaurants in the U.S.

Aquarium Restaurant – Denver, Colorado
Benihana – Encino, California
The Brooklyn Diner Times Square – New York, New York
Buca di Beppo – 25 Winning Locations Nationwide
Burger Jones – Burnsville, Minnesota
Burger Jones – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cafe Pesto – Kawaihae, Hawaii
Crown & Crumpet – San Francisco, California
Deerfield – Newark, Delaware
Dee's – Forest Hills, New York
F. McLintocks Saloon & Dining House – Pismo Beach, California
Genji Japanese Steakhouse – Dublin, Ohio
Graziano's – Niles, Illinois
House of Japan – Dublin, Ohio
House of Japan – Polaris, Ohio
The Kitchen at Hard Rock Hotel – Orlando, Florida
Kyoto Palace Restaurant – Campbell, California
Landmarc at the Time Warner Center – New York, New York
Margaritaville at Universal Orlando Citywalk – Orlando, Florida
Marleys Island Grille – Hilton Head, South Carolina
Max Brenner – New York, New York
Max Brenner – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mikado at Desert Springs JW Marriott – Palm Desert, California
Miyama Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar – Lone Tree, Colorado
Mythos at Universal's Islands of Adventure – Orlando, Florida
NINJA NEW YORK – New York, New York
Not Your Average Joe's – Acton, Massachusetts
Not Your Average Joe's – Arlington, Massachusetts
Not Your Average Joe's – Beverly, Massachusetts
Not Your Average Joe's – Lansdowne, Massachusetts
Not Your Average Joe's – Needham, Massachusetts
Not Your Average Joe's – Norwell, Massachusetts
Oceanarium – Honolulu, Hawaii
Pagoda Floating Restaurant –Honolulu, Hawaii
Paradise Cove Beach Cafe – Malibu, California
The Pirates' House – Savannah, Georgia
The Prickly Pear Cantina – Danville, California
R J Grunt's – Chicago, Illinois
Rawhide Steakhouse at Wild Horse Pass – Chandler, Arizona
Riptide – Mission Viejo, California
Rizzuto's Restaurant and Bar – Westport, Connecticut
Rosebud Italian Country House and Pizzeria – Deerfield, Illinois
Rye Grill and Bar – Rye, New York
Sarabeth's TriBeCa – New York, New York
Snow City Cafe – Anchorage, Alaska
Summer Shack – Boston, Massachusetts
Summer Shack – Cambridge, Massachusetts
Summer Shack – Dedham, Massachusetts
Table 24 – Orinda, California
Virgil's – New York, New York
Yankee Pier – Larkspur, California

Diners can also read more about the Diners' Choice Awards for the Top 75 Kid-Friendly restaurants in  the U.S. by visiting OpenTable Chief Dining Officer Caroline Potter's "Dining Check" blog.

About OpenTable Reviews

Originally launched in November 2008, the OpenTable Reviews program helps diners find restaurants that best fit their dining occasions.  Diners who recently honored an OpenTable reservation are invited via email to submit restaurant feedback using an online form. Visitors to OpenTable.com can access reviews for thousands of OpenTable restaurant partners across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.  The OpenTable Reviews program has generated more than 15 million reviews by verified diners, establishing OpenTable.com as one of the largest and most trusted sources for restaurant reviews. 

About OpenTable, Inc. 

OpenTable is a leading provider of free, real-time online restaurant reservations for diners and reservation and guest management solutions for restaurants. The OpenTable network delivers the convenience of online restaurant reservations to diners and the operational benefits of a computerized reservation book to restaurants. OpenTable has more than 25,000 restaurant customers, and, since its inception in 1998, has seated more than 325 million diners around the world.  The Company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and the OpenTable service is available throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and the UK. OpenTable also owns and operates toptable.com, a leading restaurant reservation site in the UK.      

OpenTable, OpenTable.com, OpenTable logos, toptable and other service names are the trademarks of OpenTable, Inc. and/or its affiliates

SOURCE OpenTable