In late February/early March, Jessica Biel finally officially opened her long-gestating “kid friendly restaurant”, Au Fudge. She seriously worked on Au Fudge for YEARS, before she was even pregnant with baby Silas. When the restaurant was opening, Biel told E! News that she wanted Au Fudge to be the place parents could bring with their kids without “anxiety” and “We just want you to feel stress free about it.” You know why she envisioned the parents feeling no stress? Because the menu has two full pages devoted to alcoholic beverages. And there’s no kids’ menu. And everything is overpriced. And the food is kind of terrible, but the parents will be getting hammered so no one will notice.
What the fudge is going on with Jessica Biel’s new kid-friendly restaurant? Nothing good, groused dissatisfied customers, who are throwing toddler-size tantrums over the “chaotic” and “overpriced” Au Fudge eatery. The seating is “really cramped” and there’s “no room to even get our strollers through,” complained one diner. “Not sure why they call this a restaurant for kids…?”
Then there’s the bafflingly booze-heavy menu. “[There are] two pages of alcohol with no kid-menu options, and one page of overpriced food,” said a guest, while other reviewers were left scratching their heads at the $18 plate of “mediocre” pancakes: “Either lower the price or put some love into the dishes.”
Another customer’s complaints go beyond the price or presentation and cites Au Fudge’s basic lack of sanitation!
“[My cup’ still had lipstick stains,” fumed the guest. “We waited 45 minutes to get our crappy food and when it arrived it had dirt all over the side of the plate… [the staff] didn’t even apologize.”
[From Star Magazine, print edition]
You could probably say that every first-time restauranteur will have some growing pains and make a lot of early mistakes, and there’s a steep learning curve. Sure. All of that is true. But given how much time it took for Biel to get Au Fudge off the ground, it does seem like she actually didn’t start this project with a solid concept? If she was trying to make a family-friendly restaurant, did it really not occur to her or to anyone else to have a kids’ menu? What I thought was meticulous planning on Biel’s part now seems more like this whole project was shoddy from start to finish.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
As someone who runs a restaurant all I can say is if you can’t even get the basics right aka having a clean restaurant then your restaurant is going to fail.
THIS. I have no restaurant experience, whatsoever. But pretty sure ANY kind of business should at least manage to be cleanly. And if it involves eating/drinking – you absolutely need to be hygienic. Mistakes happen, but there are so many points where dirty dishes should have been noticed – it’s a simple case of people not giving a crap.
And it’s disgusting.
Cramped walkways, the place being hectic – sure. Fine. Those are things that you learn to control as you go. But if not a single person noticed the dirt and didn’t have the common sense to say ‘woah these are dirty, let’s scrap this and start over’ then you don’t have much hope.
I’m more than a little shocked that they can’t seem to meet the basics of their theme. It’s centered around bringing kids but NO ONE thought of strollers moving through there or having an actual kids menu?! That somehow seems more ridiculous to me than struggling with the typical restaurant problems. I would have thought theme issues would have been worked out in the years of planning.
I admit my only restaurant experience comes from watching Hells Kitchen and other such Gordon Ramsey shows, and this seemed like “well duuuuuuuh” to me.
But then I remember that “opening a restaurant” was a sort of gold rush dream of a lot of people about 10 years back. Tons of people with no business running a restaurant decided how hard could it be and found out that it’s very hard, actually. Even with unlimited money to throw at the venture, you can’t guarantee success.
AND beyond anything else, the staff didn’t even apologize for it! I’ll forgive almost anything at a new restaurant as long as the customer service is good. Apologize and comp my dessert or drinks, and I’ll come back and give you another shot. This place is doomed to fail. Even if they fix everything, at this point everyone has read this and it’s over.
Staff sending out dirty cups and plates is due to a useless manager, rotten pay or staff shortage. One of those or the while trifecta. Not good at all.
Ankhel – I wouldn’t even blame it on outside forces. If you have ANY kind of pride in your work – you don’t send out disgusting, unhygienic plates of food. That’s just gross. It’s not a managers job to teach adult humans that dirty plates aren’t okay.
To me the restaurant biz seems as stressful as being a brain surgeon. Seriously. It takes a certain type of person to run a successful restaurant and not just someone who’s hubby has a lot of money to throw around. I have always heard, “If you want to have a successful restaurant, open two.” Also, I envisioned Au Fudge to be something like Dave and Busters meets Jason’s Deli, not something that was trying to be a high end and boozy restaurant, but one that wouldn’t side eye you and spit in your food when your kid orders a corn dog and then when that comes out decides he wants the macaroni and then when that comes out decides, no, he really wants a corn dog with french fries and then when that comes out decides he wants spaghetti and when that comes out decides he wants the pizza with pepperoni and when that comes out decides he doesn’t want the pepperoni, and when you pick of the pepperoni and try to tell him it was really just a cheese pizza all along, he decides to throw a freaking tantrum and yell that you are wrong and that he can taste the pepperoni, and besides he wants a “ccccccoooorrrnnnnnndddaawwwwgggg!!!”
Rhiley, I have a 3 year old son. Your comment just made my day.
That was a journey Rhiley, a haunting yet familiar journey.
Rhiley, lol. I hear you. As do many parents, I’m sure. Basic hygiene aside, I can’t believe she got the concept of a kid-friendly restaurant so mind-bogglingly wrong.
Kid friendly should be just that. Kids need space and there should be a play area. It should be clean with simple food. This had disaster written all over it.
Christ, that just gave me anxiety. Give me the booze-only menu!
Because god forbid at any point during that brain melting vat of terrible public obnoxiousness should the little darling hear the word “noooooooo’.
I hear you Ange, but have you ever tried to reason with a toddler? My youngest is now 11, and I consider myself a really good mom with great kids, but those younger years can still make me cringe when I think of them. Tying to talk sense with a toddler in tantrum mode is like trying to reason with a litter of puppies. Good luck with that…
😉
Yikes. I’m having flashbacks to dinner last night now, thankyouverymuch. Weebyland #2 is not adjusting to no longer being the baby as well as he seemed to be a few months ago.
@shannon1972
Thank you! My son is approaching three and he is getting more unreasonable everyday. He used to be so good in public that I would get compliments but he’s been slowly pushing the boundaries like every kid does. Anyone with kids knows that the word “no” doesn’t automatically shut down your kids emotions. They are just figuring the world out and can’t control them like adults are capable of, well most adults. Once they are on that roller coaster it’s hard to get off and trying to reason with them is like trying to reason with a drunk narcissist but you try your best and hope they come out of the toddler years an emotionally stable kid. Also, at this point I make dinner and if he doesn’t want it I tell him he doesn’t have to eat it but that’s what we are having. He used to be so good at trying new things too but is so stubborn now. Threenagers are real.
THIS. There’s a reason for a high failure rate in the first year. If you don’t have a clean restaurant (GROSS btw) then you will never make it
Kudos to you its a hard business (this is coming from someone whose parents have owned several). Most restaurants fail in the first 2 years. Not a good investment IMO and you have to be on top of employees all the time.
Whats the mission statement to an advertised kid friendly place that sells $18 pancakes and has no kids menu again? Is this supposed to be a place you can get drunk and let your kids come with? Recipe for disaster.
Lots of reviews on YELP. Reservations? Valet parking? Bad food? $120 for a grilled cheese and a salad (plus drinks)? Curated items to buy with snooty salespeople? This idea of “kid friendly” could only exist in CA.
I did not realize the name comes from a book. Sounds like a vanity project for Mrs Timberlake..
Is she wearing bloomers in the first photo?
I kind of like the pants. She doesn’t look as prim and stuffy as usual.
But she doesn’t look good either. I think the dress in the header photo is very cute though. She looks pretty in bright colors.
I think she looks gorgeous in that blue dress. Even the blue eyeliner somehow works on her.
She looks great in the dress but holy cow, that pants outfit is frumpy.
Opening a restaurant isn’t the job for amateurs. It sounds like she didn’t bother to hire competent staff or create a solid business plan. Stick to what you do best, Biel… which is what?
Having personal relationships that keep her relevant.
Time for every out-of-work actresses’ Plan B
(or in Biel’s case Plan C) : a lifestyle blog.
Lifestyle blog!
Buy this vintage stump for $300 dollars! Put it next to your antique chaise! Stare out the window pensively onto your sprawling 3000 sq ft. swimming pool and think of a simpler time! Pretend I’m not talking out of my toned ass!
ESE, LMAO.
I just don’t get it. Her husband is, for lack if a better word, a restaurateur himself, non? How could this have gone this badly? What? Y’all don’t talk anymore?
–TheRealPinky
You totally just reminded me he does have restaurants. Damn that’s even more a fail, one thing to be starting from scratch out of your own pocket. Another when your husband literally has a hotline list of names that could have saved you.
That’s what I don’t get, she could have easily hired experienced and talented people to make it a success.
Um his restaurant failed a health inspection
Nothing. She was a disaster as an actress and she’s a disaster as a mocktress.
Mrs Timberlake has always gone the lazy route and it shows here too.
I think it’s hilarious that the alcoholic offerings are twice the length of the food offerings. And no kid’s menu. And cramped seating. What a mess. 🍺🍷🍸🍻
Maybe the nanny is supposed to drive and sit somewhere else with the kids while mom gets tore up with her friends. Then that night mom can tell her husband “oh, yes. I took the kids to lunch today”
Yes! We all had fun!
LA really is a different place from the rest of America. I just checked out the website, the restaurant also hosts $40 kid Yoga class. $40 for one class? Oh and a $20 movie night (popcorn included!). $40 for one class, for one kid – really?! I live in Toronto which is pretty expensive and the standard cost of more expensive kids classes are $20 and remember, that’s Canadian Dollars, so it’s more like $16 in USD.
@Andrea: My daughter takes a yoga class once a month at a kid’s art studio and it’s $18 and that includes time in the art studio. We live just outside of Baltimore.
It sounds exactly like a place I’d choose (minus the dirty dishes). Which is a red flag for anyone who is thinking “kid friendly”. I am NOT the target customer she envisioned.
Im just trying to wrap my head around TALKING about a kid-friendly restaurant for years and then having NO kid’s menu.
How is that kid friendly? They smile and wave to the hungry children while Mommy has her fourth Chardonnay?
I like Jessica but this is an epic fail. Time to go back to the drawing board or gracefully bow out.
All I can figure (besides flagrant idiocy) is she felt the menu was basic and inclusive enough that a kids menu wasn’t needed. I have no idea what else they’re serving there but pancakes sound pretty universal. If there’s already things like burgers and hot dogs on the regular menu, why have a separate kids menu.
Or maybe she feels that kids should just eat off the adult menu. My parents did, and if I didn’t like anything they handed me a bag of cheerios and enjoyed their meals. But they weren’t running a business so they didn’t have to consider what other people wanted.
I feel like $18 pancakes are excessive for kids even in LA. They certainly could have just had a miniaturized version of some of those dishes for a reduced cost for kids.
This smacks of a woman who is never hands on with her baby. In LA you can get parents with nannies with kids who never murmur a single word to their children. You get in between and then hands on, no matter their income level or celebrity status.
A mother who is used to children and wrangling them would not have made such a glaring mistake. Higher end places even have go to items for children, you just have to ask. But this is supposed to be for kids and that should be the obvious first thing she organized.
Maybe she thought the menu offerings were kid friendly foods and didn’t need a kids menu?
Just looked online at the menu and there is defo lots of kid food on it.
I think we might have different definitions of a lot and kids food. My impression was this was a restaurant for parents with very young children. I saw two options for veggie purées’ costing $8 each and one kids chicken nuggets at $12. That seems both limited and pricey, particularly when it’s a new place supposedly geared towards families and not established in reputation as having great food.
I don’t know why celebrities think they can do anything they want to do successfully, just because they have money. Owning a restaurant, clothing line, writing a book…all of these things take time, research and education. So annoying when people half ass things. You know most of these people do it because they’re bored or need a quick dollar.
I actually had no idea it was meant to be a family friendly restaurant, it seemed more of a hipster/overpriced typical LA place. But I agree with you, now all the celebrities want to write books, have a lifestyle blog, clothing line, etc. I mean good for them if they want to branch out but some of them don’t put in the work at all (Blake Lively, Kate Hudson, Katherine Heigl) & think they’re going to succeed based on idk them being “actors” & “famous”.
They’re too stupid to know that you have to hire the right people and moniter the work done. Most business people don’t have specialization in everything they put their money towards but you better believe they’ll hire someone who knows how to wash dishes before bringing them to someone’s table.
Ego. Plain and simple. Some confuse fame with abilities they don’t possess. They think they know more than they know.
Interestingly, you don’t hear as much about *actors* branching out. Sure, a few might open a restaurant or perhaps a vineyard,snap up some property and maybe they’ll buy part of a pro team. But beyond that, most (but not all) actors don’t seem to get into lifestyle stuff. They aren’t creating and selling a line of clothes or shoes or anything like that that tends to rely on their personality to make it a success. It seems that if actors branch out, they do it almost under the radar.
It’s actually not 3 pages of drinks but 2 cocktails/wine sep. I had a look and only 1 kid item which seems odd. It wouldn’t be anywhere I would go with a child I am sure there are far better places. Price wise it’s LA/NY prices it is what it is but should be good and the place HAS to be clean for crying out loud. Word of mouth can sink a place.
I had a look too, and it seems like a pretty normal menu. Wine list plus cocktail list does not seem excessive, but maybe I’m a lush.
The ‘Petites’ like mac and cheese, chicken nuggets and rainbow pasta sound like kids stuff. They’ve even got carrot puree for the babies. I think she’s just a target and I’d take the whole article with a grain of salt.
I thought exactly the same thing. There are plenty of small plate options kids would enjoy. Doesn’t have to be a “kid’s menu”. So easy to pick apart someone from our computers. Ridiculous.
You’re missing the point. It’s about concept, not about how “normal” the cocktail list is. For example, my friend just opened a restaurant, exact same concept. He has no alcohol list whatsoever-it’s basically a cafe menu with a very large kids menu. There are plenty of open places to play, and communal tables for the adults to sit at and talk and drink coffee. That’s how this concept is supposed to be executed.
GMAFB, poor little Biel is a “target.” Cry me a river.
So wait, because your friend has a alcohol-free restaurant with a large kids menu, that’s the only concept that works?
Different strokes for different folks you know, and I think Star would happily make the whole thing up knowing that people who don’t like her/want her to fail will eat it up with a (kid-friendly) spork.
Lizabeth, have you go to an actual kids friendly restaurant? (No snark, just asking) Because everything anon33 said makes a huge difference. Kids love to have their own menus, areas to play, perhaps even games, etc. it is supposed to be for kids.
I dont dislike Biel but her concept seems, at best, unfinished
No Saks, I don’t have kids. I have had a look at Au Fudge’s instagram and it looks pretty kid-friendly to me. Lots of activities- movie night in jammies, stencil classes, making flower crowns.
I think it’s a pretty cute concept, and I’m not fan of Jessica Biels. I also think agree with Ginas that we ought to consider the source. It’s star magazine… but maybe they’re right, who knows.
lizbeth- It looks one way but people with kids see through the pretty lighting. The creative space is a joke. The seating is a joke. Two year olds need room to move and explore in a play space. You need more than one chalkboard etc. Kid friendly means that some kids aren’t sharers and like to take over, sparse activities make it a recipe for problems.
The menu should be separated in sections for kid friendly and adult (ish) offerings.
I’m ok with some wine and beer.
She should have done a gastro pub that is kid oriented. It doesn’t even look comfortable.
The prices are high for what she is offering and it not being a chef owned restaurant.
The cramped seating looks good for photos and quaint but a joke for real use. Kids can’t get antsy when squished into small environments and it stresses them.
According to Yelp, there is a play area for the kids. I don’t know where the reviews in the article come from, but I am taking them with a grain of salt.
Looking at their website, it looks like they have a play area (kind of like kitchen or housekeeping in a preschool/daycare) and a creative space upstairs (it looks like that costs $15).
I’m not looking to bash Biel. That said, a restaurant marketed as kid-friendly should definitely have the basics that kids need to feel comfortable and for parents to feel comfortable and that means space, kids’ favorite foods at reasonable prices, and mostly, an atmosphere conducive to high energy and play with parent set-ups nearby in an open layout so they can watch their kids while visiting with other adults. Just hearing the word ‘cafe’ says alot because when I think about what would be kid-friendly, I immediately think of big open booths – not chairs – a place where nobody cares if a kid turns around in their booth and stares at them while they eat until a parent tells them to stop. Biel’s restaurant sounds more like an adult wine & dine with some meals for kids – as though children are a secondary thought – not the priority. As far as a family spot where kids can play, be loud, eat food they like at affordable prices, and the entire atmosphere is geared toward kids’ , I’ll stick with the local bowling alley/burger joint/pub.
@liz I am sorry if I came off harsh but this kind of stuff grates on my nerves. She opened a place that is style over substance, using the mother card as if that is enough to run a restaurant. There are so many experts who she should have consulted and a filthy environment like this makes for sick kids. It’s irresponsible. Add in a crappy day into the mix too.
Again sorry. Maybe I need to drop on by her place for a few drinks. Ugh.
They have Mac and cheese, grilled cheese and chicken nuggets so no it’s more than one item
It should be all child oriented as advertised. Have a small cutesy menu for the adults but put the emphasis on the children’s menu. As a parent I would based on the fact it’s advertised as a childrens restaurant, expect a cafe geared towards small, hungry, picky, active children.
She’s opened a kid friendly restaurant and she has no children’s menu??? As she has really played this restaurant up as a family restaurant I would have at least expected a kid’s menu, activities for the kids (colouring books ect ect…..) and a well thought out and accommodating seating plan. In reality she has created an overpriced restaurant which is no different than any other in Los Angeles.
I agree with everything you wrote! When my children were young we had a favorite restaurant where they had fun and we could relax. The tables were covered in white paper and each child was handed a small box of crayons to draw on the paper. (and the crayons were a gift, so that every child got to enjoy new crayons) The food was Italian, so the great kids’ menu offered their own small servings of spaghetti etc., plus pizza, small hamburgers, etc. They always had plenty of high chairs, and if you had a baby with you the servers always asked if you needed a bottle heated. The only alcohol was wine, and there was a price range for just about any pocketbook. In both Women’s and Men’s bathroom there were changing tables, and that alone made me love them. It was always clean and with three young children we had many happy times there. That’s a child friendly restaurant!
There is a children’s section on the menu, it’s labeled “Petites” and has several child-friendly dishes (Mac & cheese, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, etc).
Trust Star to get it wrong.
Lots of booze. My kid wants the happy meal and I just want to get happy. Check please
No kids menu for a “kid friendly restaurant”?
a family friendly restaurant with no kids menus, good start
No kids menu for a child-friendly restaurant? That is hilarious. How clueless.
Right? You pay $20 for their meal and they take two bites.
I thought ‘petites’ was the kids menu. But that could just be more of an app menu, I suppose.
The Petites menu is the kids’ menu
When my husband was working two weeks each month in Paris, we took the kids for spring break. Only one restaurant we went to had a kids’ menu. But that was Paris, not a “kid-friendly” restaurant. Maybe she’s hoping to get kids away from standard kid food (more like how it seems to be done in Europe) with the petites menu others have mentioned?
I don’t understand why non business savvy people don’t hire someone who knows what to do in order to make a place to work.
…
How the hell do you have a kid friendly restaurant with no kid’s menu? While she was working on this for YEARS, that never crossed her mind?
I saw an interview with her explaining the concept. she said the parents would come and bring their kids. The kids would go with the “helpers” to a kid friendly area with toys to play with while their parents had dinner and drinks. It seemed that she didn’t actually envision the kids having dinner with their parents but more of the restaurant having built in babysitters. So the babysitting fees must be incorporated into the menu prices?
Restaurants are a hard business. She needs to course correct or she won’t be open long. And basic cleanliness is expected. If you can’t get that right, you don’t have much hope.
So are you supposed to just let the kids starve? That seems harsh.
GNAT- I thought the same thing when I saw the interview. I thought maybe the parents would bring their kids to the table to eat and then the kids could go back to playing. I guess she expects the kids to eat before coming.
If those kids don’t learn at a young age that carbs and calories are an enemy to be avoided only until you’re too drunk to care about ordering the cheesecake then when will they learn GNAT? WHEN?!
ESE, you are on fire today with your comments. *wipes tears*
I don’t understand the concept of this restaurant at all????? Check out the blurb for the “Creative Space”, oh and make sure to also read The Commandments
http://www.aufudge.com/creative-space/
Omg ESE, what was I thinking?!? It’s for their own good!
ESE-lol. If a kid doesn’t know the words gluten free by 3 then what’s the point. Doomed for life.
Reading the creative space page, it looks like it costs $15 for the kid to do that but you can get an Au Pair for $40 and hour if you arrange ahead of time.
Plus it sounds like from above posts there is a kids menu with dishes kids like in smaller portions, just not called a kids menu.
And the parent drives the kid home under the influence? Doesn’t seem child-friendly.
So it’s basically a high end Chick fil a? Except I’m sure your kids that aren’t old enough for you to leave at home should probably be in bed when you’re having a boozy dinner. This is what babysitters are for.
The concept is high end McDonald’s with a fun house and liquor. And you’re supposed to drink and then bike or walk your kids home to work off the baby weight. duh.
It looks like there are 2 rooms or spaces where the kids are sent off to play. I guess the parents can sit there and drink and know someone else is watching the kids? Not very safe especially in LA, where most people have to drive everywhere.
I think she spent a lot of time working on the decor, and forgot about the actual restaurant part.
According to Yelp, they charge $15 a kid for the honor of helpers watching over your kids. The babysitters aren’t very good either apparently.
It almost sounds like Smaland at Ikea (except that’s free). You pay $15 per child for them to go to the “creative space” but you can arrange a one on one Au Pair for $40 and hour. The babysitters probably don’t get paid very much.
The babysitting is extra, it’s $15 per child (per hour? I don’t remember). My friends who have gone have basically said everything this article is saying – cramped, bad food, bad service, very long waits and the food is ridiculously priced (and we live in LA!). The play area is fairly small and with the food prices, it seems ridiculous to pay extra for the kids to play, it should be free!
I can’t belive the over inflated food prices and then you have to pay to go upstairs to play?
Sounds like she’s as talented a restauranteur as she is an actor.
I thought the same…just like her acting.
Um, if you go on their website, there is a BIG section with kids dishes, under ‘petites’ (french for ‘little ones’), that even has some pureed food. Do your effing research, Star
It’s Star, what do you expect? There is no way they do research.
But there was almost nothing of substance on that ‘petites’ menu. About the only things on there that a kid would eat was the chicken nuggets and the grilled cheese sticks. And the fries.
The petites section looks like a mash up of appetizers, side dishes and kid’s plates.
What has she been doing?! Obsessing over the furniture?! Gross.
These kinds of places (ie kids play cafes) are notoriously difficult to run. The insurance is astronomical, and I would imagine that Au Fudge’s is even higher than normal since you’ve involved nannies (which may mean they needed to be licensed as a daycare or something like that). And they are incredibly hard to keep clean. It’s why they’re always so expensive, too.
I also wonder about liability issues if you are temporarily in charge of someone else’s child. What if they get hurt?
The parents are still on the premises. Anything else would just be covered by a higher insurance rate.
Lots of those kinds of places have waivers for the parents to sign and they have to stay on the premises. The insurance is very high on those kind of places. My daughter had a birthday party at a “creative indoor gym” and there was a huge waiver with a long list of rules (no candy, goody bags had to be kept up front with the staff, no outside food at all except for cake and ice cream). I do imagine it’s quite hard to run a child friendly place that’s not a national chain.
The parents on the premises doesn’t negate responsibility. Gym childcare (for example) has a ton of regulations that they need to follow, and the parents are still on the premises. Any time you are handing over responsibility of your child to someone who is paid to watch them, there is a crazy amount of rules. Again, the insurance rates on play cafes is astronomical, and kids are HARD on the items. It’s a pretty tough business model.
http://www.aufudge.com/restaurant/
I’m not a fan, but the menu looks a little better than stated, and not as “cramped” as I pictured. Lots of kid friendly spaces too. That being said, it’s LA trendy with dirty dishes.
LMAO? Get this:
Children under 2 must be accompanied by an adult, a $15 entry fee still applies, however they will not be charged hourly on top of that.
For a fee of $40 an hour personal au pair’s are available for hire for one on one, this must be arranged in advance.
So apparently it’s $15 an hour, once they check in the kids can’t leave until the parents check them out. And it’s $40 an hour if you actually want your kids to get attention from someone. And if they’re under 2 you have to pay AND supervise them.
Just hire a babysitter!
The menu I saw online was a lot more abbreviated. Maybe it was a lunch menu? This one had more, but still…..that’s a whole lot of money for what doesn’t look like much.
Do children under 2 frequently go to restaurants without adult companions?
Lol. To use the ‘creative space’. If your 18month old wants to use the creative space, you have to pay $15 for the privilege of them going in, and you have to supervise them. Or you have to hire A $40 Au pair.
Too stupid for words. Who would pay this for some third rate food offered by the great Mrs Timberlake. So LA stupid.
Seems like people would be better off taking their kids to an actual kids’ play space, and then hiring a babysitter and going out for dinner later.
It’s usually also because children under two are typically not potty trained. I know at certain places that have parent’s night out or drop off camps, the child must be potty trained because they are not licensed to change diapers.
Oh for goodness sake. Given the amount of paraphernalia parents lug around for their kids, plus strollers, you’d think she would have designed the place with decently wide aisles and not tried to cram tables in.
Poor cleanliness – need to hire a better restaurant manager and possibly a front of house manager if it’s so chaotic. Also needs to be hip pocket friendly if your target demographic is families.
More money than sense.
*Eyeroll*
You do realize where this restaurant is located, no? It’s not in Des Moines. Price point is a different game out there. If you have ever spent anytime rubbing elbows with folks from LA you’ll know that those ladies do not play. Their asses are tight, their Lulu Lemon game is on point, and if they’re not paying over market value then it must not be good enough.
True but if the food sucks and it gets around its not clean and a pain to go then it will tank. She’s not even doing the overpriced game right.
You know I’ve been to trendy restaurants in la. The prices in this one are ridiculous
I actually loathe kids’ menus. Regardless of the cuisine, they are often just: hot/corn dogs, burgers, fries, and chicken nuggets. Italian restaurants will have spaghetti with meatballs. Mozzarella sticks. Bistros will have Mac n’ cheese and grilled cheese. What is the point of going out to eat at restaurants? Why not just go to fast food joints? That said, her restaurant sounds terrible, but who would go there? Who actually wants to tell people that they went to Jessica Biel’s restaurant? A very select and non-discerning demographic, I’d say.
All you have to do is read the Yelp reviews to get an inside view of how this place is run: https://www.yelp.com/biz/au-fudge-west-hollywood-2?sort_by=date_desc
Some of the reviews were downright funny.
Getting parents drunk and then having them drive their kids home is such a terrible idea. That’s probably why a bar-slash-daycare had never been attempted before — because it’s DUMB.
Yeah, major concept flaw there.
It’s true. It is LA. It’s a car town and often places aren’t around the corner. She should know that.
Jezebel did a review of this place that had me laughing. I don’t have the link, but a quick search of their site will make it pop up.
I’m cool with that menu.I will be ready to be ” boozy “after this dastardly week I’m having.Also someone please put me in a stroller on the way out.
In the words of Jon Taffer: SHUT IT DOWN!
They obviously spent more time instagram-promoting the place than actual work. The instagram is pretty busy. I’d never make a big deal out of taking my children to a dessert-heavy place like that. They’re going to think loads of cream = special, happy occasions.
Will be interesting to see the restaurant health inspection results. Sounds like a half-cooked concept (pun intended).
As charming as the “golden glittery spiral staircase” looks in the picture, how could you keep toddlers and small children off the thing. Is it in a separate playroom with a locked door?
Not at all shocking that a celebrity doesn’t understand how to run a restaurant. It really is common sense that if you’re advertising that the place is kid friendly that you should have room for strollers and a kids menu.