Want to give the kids an awesome restaurant experience?  Consider any of these cool restaurants for kids of all ages. Eating out doesn’t have to be an average experience.

 Alice’s Tea Cup

This cute little cafe offers kids a proper tea service tailored especially for them. The “Wee Tea” includes herbal tea or juice, tea sandwiches and scones ($23), served on charmingly mismatched china. There’s also a “Menu for the Small” with kid-friendly sandwiches (like PB&J on banana bread, $9) chicken fingers ($10) and an assortment of sweets. This is your ticket to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. Enjoy!

American Girl Café

For all the American girl fans, this mega store is a dream, and an afternoon tea at the cafe seals the deal.   Even dolls get their own custom-sized “Treat Seats,” and just as each doll has a place in history, the menu items have historical significance. Kids can enjoy a 1930s-inspired garden sandwiches and a WWII-era “victory garden chocolate mousse flowerpot.”   Make sure to make reservations.

Barking Dog Luncheonette

Don’t want to leave your pup behind for Sunday brunch? No worries.  At this canine-themed chain of luncheonettes, pups are welcomed to munch on doggie treats from your family’s patio table.  This great brunch place offers an array of pancakes, waffles, omelettes, frittatas and more.

Big Daddy’s, Flatiron

If you want a larger than life dining experience, you’ll love this place.   Kids can order from their very own menu,  then check out the pop culture memorabilia that lines the walls of this diner. Bring your whole family for their monthly family trivia night, or  host your child’s next birthday in the restaurant’s party room.

Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain

Brookyn Farmacy invites kids to pull up a stool at the counter and order root beer floats and chocolate egg creams using artisanal sodas and syrups. It’ll bring you back to the 1950s.

Cascabel Taqueria

Order at the counter and enjoy an array of Mexican dishes like braised Hudson Valley duck tamales with roasted poblano chiles or, for brunch, chilaquiles with sunny-side-up free-range eggs strewn with Amish chicken and cotija cheese. Kids will enjoy the food almost as much as the colorful Mexican wrestling decorations that light up this taqueria.

Cowgirl

The kids’ menu at this Southwestern spot features lots of reasonably-priced dishes, including the famed Frito Pie ($6–$7), old frontier-themed favorites include “corndoggies” ($6) and pulled pork sammys ($6), served with French fries and corn on the cob. And the best part of the meal is the  “#1 best dessert ever,” a sharing-sized ice cream sundae ($7.95) that looks like a baked potato.

Ellen’s Stardust Diner

Come for the food and stay for the singing waitstaff—many of them Broadway actors.  Kids will be entertained while they wait for their pancakes or burgers. The performing servers even take requests.  And don’t miss their  nightly scheduled performances.

Hard Rock Cafe

Hard Rock Café in Times Square is nirvana for little music fans raised on the Beatles and the Stones. While you wait for your table, check out the cool memorabilia filling the walls. The Roxtars kids menu is a great value and meals are served on guitar-shaped platters that come with an activity book to keep kids busy while they’re wait for their food.

Jekyll and Hyde Club

Older kids will enjoy Jekyll and Hyde as they mingle with the cast of ghoulish characters, including a sinister butler, bloodthirsty vampires and groaning mummies.   The restaurant is packed with gargoyles, haunted pictures and eerie wax figures that come to life and chat to the guests. Kids can enjoy Jekyll burgers, spaghetti, mac ‘n cheese, cheese pizza and chicken fingers, then finish it all off with desserts like Death by Chocolate cake.

La Lucha NYC

This wrestling-themed restaurant features masks, action figures, posters, even movies projected onto the wall.  It pays homage to the Mexican tradition of “lucha libre.” Each menu item is named after a famous wrestler.  Kids will love all the tasty taco options.

Max Brenner

This is a chocolate oasis.  Even the menu instructs guests to “Get addicted, be happy.” Expect chocolate to show up in waffle fries dusted with chili and cocoa powder and a dessert pizza made to share. The kids’ menu is special and includes a Chocolate Oatmeal Trophy and the Melting Marshmallow Crepe (with gummy bears, vanilla ice cream and lots of chocolate).

Ninja

This Ninja themed restaurant is nothing less than entertaining. The black-masked martial artists welcome you by guiding you through wooden bridges and through castle-like halls to find your table.  En route, other Ninja’s may startle you by yelling “Ninja!”  It’s all part of the experience.  The kids’ menu is a little expensive, but when the Ninja magician performs tricks at your table after the meal you’ll forget the cost.

Planet Hollywood

Got a star-struck kid? The funky chain of celeb-worshipping restaurants offers American food (including kid faves like cheese pizza and spaghetti) in a tourist-saturated setting. Little ones will love checking out the restaurant’s iconic Hollywood memorabilia from famous films.

The Burger Garage

This cool, auto-body shop and gas station theme joint opened in August 2010 and has returning customers.  This onetime garage serves up an inviting atmosphere along with some pretty choice patties, not to mention a lengthy gluten-free menu.