RFK Rankings · Worldwide
Best Restaurants for Family-Friendly in Worldwide (2026)
Family-friendly dining · Worldwide · 6 destinations ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published April 18, 2026 · Updated June 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
This is a list for the family that travels. We have crossed continents for the restaurants worth planning a day around with children — the ones with a sand floor, an animatronic jungle, a glass-walled dumpling kitchen or meat carved at the table — rather than the nearest reliable chain.
1.Rainforest Cafe, Disney Springs, Orlando
The defining family theme restaurant: animatronic elephants, simulated thunderstorms and giant aquariums turn an ordinary dinner into pure spectacle.
Rainforest Cafe at Disney Springs in Orlando is the theme restaurant every family one eventually visits, an indoor jungle of animatronic elephants and gorillas, periodic simulated thunderstorms, talking trees and floor-to-ceiling aquariums. The food is straightforward American comfort cooking; the spectacle is the entire point, and it is aimed squarely at children.
It sits in the Disney Springs marketplace and is included in the 2026 Disney Dining Plan, so it folds into a wider day out. The London branch closed years ago, so this Orlando location is the cleanest pick; the erupting volcano dessert is the finish children remember. Mains run roughly twenty to thirty-five dollars.
2.Hula Grill Kaanapali, Maui
A beachfront grill where the Barefoot Bar has a real sand floor, nightly music and a keiki menu, steps from Kaanapali Beach.
Hula Grill on Kaanapali Beach is the family beachfront dinner the rest of Hawaii measures itself against. Its Barefoot Bar has an actual sand floor under thatched umbrellas, tables a few steps from the water, and a keiki menu, so children come straight off the beach with sandy feet and nobody minds.
The Barefoot Bar is walk-in only, which suits a day with kids, while the main room takes reservations for a calmer meal. Live music plays nightly from half past five, the prices sit mid-range, and the sunset over the water does half the work of entertaining the table.
3.Dishoom, London
A Bombay-Irani cafe with a real children's menu and famous cinnamon-bun pancakes, where parents get a proper meal and kids are welcome.
Dishoom recreates the old Bombay-Irani cafe across eight London rooms, from Covent Garden to Shoreditch, and it has quietly become one of the city's most family-loved tables. There is a dedicated all-day children's menu — gently spiced murgh malai, paneer tikka, the much-requested cinnamon-bun pancakes — in grown-up rooms that still genuinely welcome kids.
The trick it pulls is letting parents get a real meal, the house black daal and bacon naan rolls, while children are properly catered for rather than tolerated. Prices are very reasonable for London, and the relaxed Bombay-cafe styling absorbs a lively family without strain.
4.Din Tai Fung, Taipei
Soup dumplings hand-pleated behind glass, fast and shared, in a kitchen children can watch — the dumpling house the world copied.
Din Tai Fung began as a Taipei cooking-oil shop in 1958 and became the dumpling house the world copied, its Xinyi flagship still the benchmark. For families it is close to ideal: the xiao long bao soup dumplings are fast, shared and no-fuss, and the glass-walled kitchen lets children watch chefs pleat each one eighteen times.
The quick turnaround suits short attention spans, and the food is approachable enough that cautious eaters find something. The New York Times once named it among the world's ten best restaurants, which is rare company for a dumpling shop — and it earns it without a hint of formality. Affordable, and worth the inevitable queue.
5.Fogo de Chao
A Brazilian churrascaria where gaucho chefs carve fire-roasted meat tableside on a flip-card cue — built-in theatre kids adore.
Fogo de Chao, founded in southern Brazil in 1979 and now across Brazil and the United States, turns dinner into theatre in a way children love. Gaucho chefs carve fire-roasted meats at the table, summoned by a card you flip green for more or red for a pause, and a vast market table of salads and sides surrounds the meal.
The flip-card mechanic alone holds a child's attention through a long dinner, and the economics help: children under six eat free and ages seven to twelve are half price. It is a prix-fixe splurge softened by those discounts; the signature picanha is the cut to wait for.
6.Doyles on the Beach, Sydney
Australia's oldest fish-and-chip restaurant, reached by ferry across Sydney Harbour, with a garden bar and a casual multi-generational welcome.
Doyles on the Beach at Watsons Bay has fed Sydney families since 1885, which makes it Australia's oldest continually running fish-and-chip restaurant. The approach is half the pleasure — a ferry across Sydney Harbour to a harbourside table — and the format, casual fish and chips with a garden bar, is a multi-generational tradition.
Children get the simplest, most reliable plate going in a setting that feels like an outing rather than a meal, with the harbour and the ferry ride doing the entertaining. It runs lunch and dinner daily at mid-to-upper casual prices; arrive by water if you can.
Not for everyone
World-famous, and not for children
El Celler de Can Roca. The three-Michelin-star room in Girona, a former World's Best, serves a single thirty-odd-course Festival tasting menu at around 315 euros a head over many hours, built for adult fine-dining pilgrims. Its fame draws families who quickly realise it is the wrong fit. Make this the trip you take without the children.
Noma. Copenhagen's famous World's Best closed its old format in 2025 and reopens in August 2026 as a renewed concept, with tasting experiences running into the hundreds of euros. It is a destination temple for committed adult diners, emphatically not a family outing. Admire it from afar and feed the kids at Din Tai Fung instead.
How to plan a family dining trip worldwide
The best family restaurant destinations cluster around spectacle and a genuine welcome rather than a kids' menu alone. Theme rooms like Rainforest Cafe, beachfront grills like Hula Grill, glass-walled kitchens like Din Tai Fung and tableside carving like Fogo de Chao all give children something to watch, which is what carries a long meal with a young family far better than crayons.
Spread your picks the way this list does — the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Pacific and Australia — and book the few that need it, since Din Tai Fung, Doyles and the Disney Springs rooms all draw queues at peak. Keep the great tasting-menu temples for a trip without the children; their fame is real, but so is the mismatch.
Frequently asked
What is the best family restaurant in the world?
There is no single answer, but a few are genuine destinations worth planning a day around with children: Rainforest Cafe in Orlando for sheer spectacle, Hula Grill on Maui for a sand-floored beachfront dinner, Dishoom in London for a real kids' menu in grown-up rooms, and Din Tai Fung in Taipei for soup dumplings made behind glass.
Which famous restaurants are good for kids when travelling?
Look for spectacle and a real welcome rather than just a children's menu. Rainforest Cafe's animatronic jungle, Hula Grill's sand floor, Din Tai Fung's glass dumpling kitchen, Fogo de Chao's tableside meat carving and Doyles' ferry-reached harbour table all give children something to watch, which carries a long meal far better than the nearest reliable chain.
Are Michelin-starred restaurants family-friendly?
Usually not the top tasting-menu ones. Rooms like El Celler de Can Roca and Noma run long, expensive, hushed multi-course menus built for adult diners, and their fame draws families who find them a poor fit. Some casual bistros and a few relaxed one-star rooms welcome children, but the destination temples are a trip to take without the kids.
Is Fogo de Chao good for children?
Yes — it is one of the most child-pleasing formats on this list. Gaucho chefs carve fire-roasted meat at the table on a flip-card cue, which is built-in theatre that holds a child's attention through a long dinner, and a big market table covers fussier eaters. Children under six eat free and ages seven to twelve are half price, which softens the prix-fixe.
How do I plan a family dining trip with kids?
Choose restaurants that offer spectacle or interaction — theme rooms, beachfront grills, open kitchens, tableside carving — rather than relying on a kids' menu alone, and spread them across the regions you are visiting. Book the few that draw queues, like Din Tai Fung and the Disney Springs rooms, and keep the great tasting-menu temples for a trip without the children.
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See the worldwide field across other occasions in the worldwide brunch ranking and the worldwide solo-dining ranking, compare a single family city in Maui or Seoul, or start from the occasions index.
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