What's for Dinner?

There you have it, the dreaded question you hear over and over every night if you're a mom. Okay, dads hear it too, but not nearly as much, I'd think.

So where are the hidden gems in Redmond that you can take a family with munchkins to without getting the evil eye from other dinner guests? Here are a few of our family favorites, some for the charm, some for the food and some for the discounts (an added plus with larger families):

Black Bear Diner in Overlake has really great food, even if you have to wait for awhile for it to show up. And with Kid's Eat Free on Monday nights, sometimes it's worth it to take a coloring book or play I Spy to keep the kiddos entertained while waiting.

Ruby's Diner, in Redmond Town Center, offers Kid's Eat Free on Tuesday nights. Our kids love the train that is overhead and the old style cartoons shown on the TV under the register. The menus are printed on vehicles that they can put together and then spend the rest of the meal decorating with stickers. Plus, if you are sweet to the waitress and say ‘please’ you can have a free kid cone of ice cream. The ‘please’ part if very important to remember.

For brunch on Sunday, we love Desert Fire , also at RTC, but if you go on Monday nights, they also have Kid's Eat Free. I know my own really like staring at the fire in the middle and will zone on it. It's all we need to get a glance at the menu to order some southwest favorites.

Celtic Bayou , the place with the closest thing to hush puppies that I so miss from Oklahoma, has Kid's Eat Free on Saturdays and Sundays. You need to go before the bar crowd, but it's so noisy in there usually that kid's can be kids without disturbing the other patrons. An added bonus? Their kid menus can be washed off and reused, and they have little books to help encourage our little readers.

If you're in the mood for good fast food, but don’t want to go through a drive through, Taco Del Mar offers Kid's Eat Free on Sundays. My kid's swear that the one in Redmond makes the best rice and beans EVER (that emphasis is from them).

While not totally free, Las Margaritas in Bear Creek, does offer Kid's Meal's on Sunday for $1.99. Getting to practice Spanish and counting the parrots hanging on the ceiling are a draw for my girls. Except that every time we are there, they expect them to start singing like the Enchanted Tiki Room in Disneyland.

Claim Jumper has a free child's plate that they give out to the under 2 crowd. But make sure you check your receipt, as last time they charged us for it. It’s not much by any means, but why claim (pun intended) something is free when it's not, that's what I wanna know.

While Red Robin doesn't have Kid's Eat Free, it's a nice distraction on Tuesdays/Thursdays at the RTC location and Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturdays at the Overlake location when Red Robin makes visits at each of the tables. Since my girls are still at the age where this is cool, we are frequent visitors. An added bonus? It’s another great place to play I Spy.

Ooba is another one of those places without meal deals for kids, but they have a great table next to the register that kids can pick up a game (video or otherwise) and be entertained while you read the hand written chalk board menu. I like that's it's a local business that started in Redmond because it's a nice alternative from the main restaurant chains.

So, here you go, places in Redmond to get a break from cooking at home. There are lots of other restaurants in the surrounding towns that also have kid's eat free or other deals, but with gas prices going up up up, it's nice to stick close to home, without eating at home.

Koloud 'Kay' Tarapolsi
Co-author, Overlake Neighborhood