Casimiro - A Parent's Dream!

Those of us in Hawaii who have taken our kids to Chuck E. Cheese know that there's a hint of a good idea there, but it usually falls short of being a great one. For one, I can't stand the barrage of video game noise at jet engine decibel levels; second, the food isn't exactly the healthiest; and most importantly, with young kids one has to be with them the entire time rather than being able to hide under a cone of silence or in some air conditioned room where ESPN or better yet non-stop water polo game videos are shown on huge HD television screens.

Well, Buenos Aires has the greatest alternative: Casimiro. This restaurant and others like it have a separate kids area that is filled with entertainment for children, their own eating area and menu, and best of all, supervision! We joined the Adams family for dinner a few weeks ago and enjoyed a five-hour-long mostly adults-only meal, while the children had a ball on their own.

As soon as we entered the restaurant the kids headed to the kids area, which is separated from the adult area by windows that are tinted to allow visibility but some sense of "privacy" for both sides. There were at least three or four young women who greeted the kids and right away began taking their dinner orders and showing them all the games and entertainment. Hanno, Paula, Erin and I sat contentedly, once the kids were situated and comfortable, for the rest of the night in our booth next to the tinted window and with a clear view of the asado area (it was a parilla, of course). We ordered appetizers and wine and enjoyed good conversation and a view of all the fun the kids were having.

Through the window we watched the kids draw with ample amounts of paper and colored pens, play on computers that had internet access (to be honest I'm not sure if they could "go" anywhere they chose...) and simple video games, run through an indoor play structure with the requisite ball pit they could dive into, and best of all dance together to music the young women played while leading the gang's "moves."

We enjoyed ourselves so much that while Erin and I had planned to be home by midnight, since I had to wake up early to depart the next morning on a seven-hour-long bus ride to referee a game in Santa Fe 400km away, we found ourselves standing on Av. Libertator at just after 1am hailing a taxi for the ten minute ride home!The boys had the best time - Jack left with some kind of lighting bolt and stitches painted on his left cheek, and Quinn was pooped from all the dancing and running around he and Tim did. Hanno, Paul, Erin and I had our first fairly uninterrupted adult conversation - the kids, usually Jack, would occasionally return to our table to deposit handfuls of hard candy they got as dance prizes - and for the first time in a while (well, since the last time I abandoned the family for a water polo trip) I wasn't cutting up the kids' meat or reminding one or both to chew with their mouths closed. If you listen closely to the video you'll hear Hanno talking about a slightly altered kid area viewing window where the lower half of the window is completely blocked so the kids can't see the adults (perhaps discouraging them from even considering running out to deposit candy on the dinner table) while still allowing the adults a clear view of their children having fun - not a bad idea, building on an already ideal family restaurant

At the end of the night I think we owed $40 pesos ($10 American) for the kids' meals and supervision - an amazing deal. I'm sure there's no way a restaurant like Casimiro would start up soon from scratch in Honolulu - not the way things are going economically at the present, at least - but I wonder if the Fun Factory or Chuck E. Cheese experience (if I'm ever forced against my will to go there again!) could be easily altered to resemble the both parent and kid-friendly model we're anxious to return to soon.