Texas-style barbecue with a real kids menu and a large fenced backyard for cornhole and running around. The green space is the difference between eating with children here and carrying barbecue home.
A Thai restaurant on Philips Highway next to Starbucks. It says it is family owned and serves original recipes, and it offers carryout, delivery and catering.
Italian-American on North Main in a historic Springfield building, with the neighborhood's art on the walls. One of the anchors that stayed while the district turned over around it.
The Riverside room of a Jacksonville family-owned group that has been here for more than 40 years. On Mondays, children age 12 and younger get a free meal and juice box with a regular adult entree and beverage at all three locations.
BellyUp! Jax / Family
Family-friendly fun in Jacksonville!
Beyond the kids' menu are rooms to wiggle in, memorable favorites, and fun for the grown-ups too.
7 spots
A Thai restaurant on Philips Highway next to Starbucks. It says it is family owned and serves original recipes, and it offers carryout, delivery and catering.
Italian-American on North Main in a historic Springfield building, with the neighborhood's art on the walls. One of the anchors that stayed while the district turned over around it.
The Riverside room of a Jacksonville family-owned group that has been here for more than 40 years. On Mondays, children age 12 and younger get a free meal and juice box with a regular adult entree and beverage at all three locations.
A Northside seafood house backed by three generations in the seafood business. Children eat free on Mondays with an adult entree, which makes it the useful post-zoo choice when the family still wants local seafood.
The beach location of the family-owned sports brewery, inside the old Terry's Country Store. It keeps the same useful family formula: a scratch kitchen, kids food, games, and room to shoot baskets instead of asking children to sit still.
A family-owned brewery in a restored Springfield building where the full-size basketball court and games give children something real to do. The kids menu includes popcorn chicken and grilled cheese.
A Beach Boulevard Thai restaurant whose own site says it has been family owned since 2018. The menu lists pad thai, drunken noodle, panang curry and pineapple fried rice.
Let the kids be kids
These Jacksonville spots give them room to move while the grown-ups enjoy the meal too.
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