Thursday, September 09, 2010

Restaurant says "no" to screaming children

A restaurant in Carolina Beach is stirring up controversy over a couple of signs reading, "Screaming children will not be tolerated." The owner of the Olde Salty restaurant, Brenda Armes, is tired of having her customers complain to her about children misbehaving and screaming when others are trying to enjoy a quiet meal.

Armes says the signs have worked. "It has been a good thing for us," Armes said. "It has brought us in more customers than it has ever kept away."



Gary Gibson was dining at the restaurant for the first time and agrees with Armes. "It's not very enjoyable when you hear a bunch of kids screaming. It's nice to see a sign like that up," Gibson said. While many are for the rule, some families are against it.

"I've never seen a restaurant say, don't bring your screaming kids in here," said Ashley Heflin, who is a mom of two. "You can't help it if your kids scream." Armes says that if a child is screaming, a restaurant employee will ask the parent to take them outside to calm down. They will not be asked to leave the restaurant for good. "We want to attract the type of people that come in knowing they aren't going to have to sit behind a table with a bunch of screaming children," Armes said.

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