California restaurant forces parents to compensate if their children are disruptive

Customers who come to You You Xue’s restaurant in San Francisco will have to pay compensation if they let their children destroy things or harm others.

Chez Xue restaurant in the south of San Francisco, California, is attracting public attention with its policy of forcing parents to pay up to 327 USD in compensation for their children’s disruptive behavior inside this establishment.

You You Xue, restaurant owner, said he decided to apply this policy after many times witnessing children running, screaming, and causing disorder in the restaurant without their parents stopping them.

“The wait staff is forced to take on the role of babysitter for them. That is not the job of restaurant staff,” Xue said, saying that the way some families raise children these days is too permissive. “If I had behaved like some kids do now as a child, I would have definitely been severely punished by my parents.”

When customers enter the restaurant and scan the QR code to select the menu, a message will appear “Please control your children”. The restaurant prohibits children from running around, shouting or making noise with knives, forks and eating utensils, warning these behaviors “will not be tolerated”.

The notice states that customers may be asked to leave the restaurant if they do not comply with the regulations, and parents will be responsible for compensation for any damage caused by their children.

You You Xue’s restaurant also publicized a number of incidents, such as the case of a child dropping the credit card reader, causing the screen to break and the family had to pay 327.03 USD in compensation, or another child using a knife and fork to carve on the table and the parents were charged an additional 109.38 USD. A family had to pay an extra $5.47 after their child broke a teacup in a restaurant.

Xue said the policy was introduced last year but only attracted widespread attention on social media in June. He felt the public reaction was generally quite positive, although there were a few comments that charging compensation for broken teacups was too strict.

The restaurant owner confirmed that diners will not be charged if the accident happens completely unintentionally. The goal of the regulation is mainly to remind adults who Xue considers “irresponsible”, not to target children.

“We don’t blame the kids. I’m very proud that this is a restaurant where families are welcome,” he said. “We just want to remind a few parents to do their job well so we can do our job well.”

After the policy spread on social networks, many people expressed their support, saying that restaurants are not playgrounds and parents need to be more responsible in managing their children. Xue said that since posting the notice, the number of disruptive children at the restaurant has decreased significantly.

“I feel like the story has sparked a big discussion. It’s very normal to respect the restaurant and other diners and not turn this place into a children’s playground,” Xue said.