Caireann, who had her daughter Ava in her buggy and was understandably embarrassed by the whole situation, told the Hearld that the owner of the restaurant in Ballsbridge came up to her and said: “I'm sorry but we don't allow children in at this time, but that we were welcome to come back in the afternoon.”
Defending his decision, Robbie Fox said that while he doesn’t like refusing people, his clientele at lunchtime is “very, very corporate” and “the last thing they want is to have a child in the restaurant.”
Talking about the incident, Caireann said: “He just said that there is a no children policy and I didn't press him any further because there were quite a few people around. It was quite embarrassing for me, being told to leave in front of a busy restaurant. We ended up going to the Four Seasons instead."
However, her husband, local Fine Gael Councillor Dr Patrick Smyth, rang up the restaurant to have a word with Mr Fox, who explained that “he does not allow children into his Italian restaurant because it might disturb the bankers who eat there,"
The Belucci owner did point out that the restaurant’s website does state: “[they] cannot cater for children under 12 between noon and 2pm on weekdays and on any evening after 7pm”
"It's not anti-family, because on a Saturday and a Sunday, which are traditionally family days, we more than welcome families in here. There are restaurants that are for families and that's what they set their stall out for, and we're not one of them," he said.
However, this is not the first time a restaurant has sparked controversy over their no-kids policy. What do you think about the owner's decision?
