Seems to me that is the restaurant's responsibility, not other patrons.

I have walked out of a restaurant more than once, was most of the time that it took them like 20 minutes before taking the order.

Another time the dice I saw on the menu outside wasn't available anymore and this was the reason I went in tot the restaurant.

The restaurant should tell the parents they need to control the kids, but at the same time, why shouldn't a patron also tell the parent about the child?

I expect the restaurant manager to tell the parents to leave. I've had exactly this situation occur, and I told the manager that, though I very much had looked forward to having dinner at the restaurant, the environment was absolutely non-conducive to a pleasant evening so we were leaving. He immediately kicked out the offending parent, apologized, and bought us each a drink. We stayed.

Moderator's note: We are NOT turning this in yet another tiresome rant-about-parents/children thread.

A word to the wise.

Thank you.

cblaisd, Moderator, Dining Buzz

Come on... we all know where this is going without such a reminder. And even then...just state that the loud/obnoxious children/parents were why you left and leave it at that.

Yes, 4 years ago in Missouri about 15 miles east of Kansas City. I was at an Applebees with my wife and youngest daughter. We ordered drinks and and put our order in. After about 30 minutes we noticed first one table and then another got served. Eventually (I am a stiff upper lip Brit) - probably about 45 minutes (not once did a server come by and say "I will check on you order sir") , I asked for my check (for the drinks) and said "We are leaving, everyone is getting served before us and we have been here for at least 45 minutes". The waitress and manager said - your order has obviously been lost and there is no check and the drinks are on us. We drove off and got KFC about 300 yards up the road. It took me 18 months before I went back to an Applebees again.

My wife was most impressed by my assertiveness and not shown my usual weakness for American females. I got laid that night too! True story I swear.

i have walked out of high end restaurants when:

no cell phone control
really loud music
half the menu not available
sit at bar half an hour with a reservation
kids running uncontrolled in restaurant
bunch of party drunks nearby.

I can see some managers telling parents to leave, while others would tell the person complaining to leave. I just don't think that one should depend only on a manager to handle the situation.
I've walked out when I've found out the restaurant has been out of several items as well.

On one or two occasions, I have walked out after looking at the menu and not finding anything I wanted to eat. (I rarely go into restaurants that don't post the menu outside, partially for this reason.) But in those cases I was apologetic to the server; no harm, no foul.

Only once have I walked out for service reasons. I was at the Capital Grille in Tysons Corner. (This was a decade ago, and this counted as treating myself to a nice meal after a successful week.) Sat down alone and waited for about 20 minutes. A few servers hustled by, made eye contact, but didn't stop. (I was, perhaps foolishly, not about to raise my hand or otherwise make a more overt attempt to get their attention.)

I finally got up and left. On the way out, the hostess asked how I enjoyed my meal, and I said, I didn't, no one bothered to serve me. The manager hustled over, apologized profusely, offered to seat me for a free meal, give me a bottle of wine to take home, etc. I refused; I left my business card on his request, and he mailed me a gift voucher.

Good service recovery on his part, but I never used the voucher and never have been back (in fact, never have been back to any branch).

I think you came out ahead, if my meal at that exact same restaurant was any indication.

In cases like that, I'd probably have used the voucher somewhere. It might be possible that most of the servers assumed you were waiting on someone, although that doesn't explain the lack of asking if you'd like a drink.

always nice to see threads with standards, and no "how dare you have standards" replies

A group of four went out to dinner in Newport Beach. We ordered cocktails and then waited and waited for our server to come back and take our dinner order. We finally flagged her down and she was so rude we decided to leave and told her we didn't appreciate her attitude. We called the manager over, explained what had happened and asked for the check to pay for the drinks but he said they were on the house and we left. As we were walking out, our server chased us outside and told us we forgot to leave her tip and then started screaming at us when we told her we had not forgotten and she didn't deserve one.

I don't like confrontation, particularly when I think it will be pointless. It is the restaurant manager's responsibility to assure an appropriate dining environment.