Restaurant sparks debate with 'no children' policy

A restaurant in Florida has sparked huge discussion amongst local residents after introducing a 'no children' policy.

The debate arose after a picture of Hampton Station's front door, which makes the development very clear, was shared to the Tampa Bay Moms Group Facebook group.

The poster admitted that after being sent the snap, they were 'curious' about the establishment, and so had gone to investigate for themselves.

'It does seem they serve pizza and some bar style dishes but really... It's a bar with food. The focus here seems to be clearly on the alcohol (which is where most eateries make their money anyway),' the wrote.

'But some parents are upset that a place near family neighborhoods, a place they say they've been before with their family to eat, is no longer admitting minors.'

'I checked their social media and websites and it looks like a super cool and chill adult hang out. And parents or not, everyone deserves a little kid free time and really, like it or not businesses can make these changes.'

https://www.facebook.com/TampaBayMomsGroup/photos/a.389266324436543.104037.277404815622695/1813382195358275/?type=3&theater

Since the original post went up, they have added an update from the restaurant, who explained that they'd had a few incidents where 'kids were endangering themselves and other patrons', and so had taken the difficult decision to ban children from dining there.

'It's a hard decision and I'm sure it's going to hurt our business, but I just couldn't live with the fact that a child might get hurt at Hampton,' they admitted.

'I know we are probably going to face a social media backlash and probably lose some of our longtime customers, but hopefully we can make it through this. We had a lot of great kids come in to Hampton and we are going to miss them, but this had to be done for everyone's well being.'

Many families in the comments were actually in agreement with the policy, with one writing: ' We need our adult nights as well. People need to get over it and go somewhere more kid friendly with their kids.'

'I think it's perfect. Specially on our dates nights that we love to escape kids,' another applauded.

However other felt that the ruling was too harsh, and was tarring all youngsters with the same brush.

'My child is extremely well behaved she's like a little adult at almost 8,' one argued. 'She sits still and behave. That's horrible just because they had a few bad eggs to band all kids.'

'Not all adults act appropriately either are you going to ban them too? I've seen more loud annoying adults who start fights at restaurants/bars than misbehaved kids.'

Would you go to a 'no children' restaurant? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below!