Kid-Friendly Restaurants in Downtown Halifax
An honest guide to eating out with children in downtown Halifax from a Filipino restaurant on Barrington Street. What kids actually order, what to watch for, and why Sunday is the easy day.
Barrios Restaurant & Bar
10/11/20265 min read
Kid-Friendly Restaurants in Downtown Halifax: A Parent's Honest Guide
Start with the honest part. This is not a roundup of every kid-friendly restaurant in downtown Halifax. We are one restaurant, a Filipino one at 1571 Barrington Street, and what follows is a straight account of what works here with children and what does not.
If you are weighing up whether to bring your kids to a Filipino restaurant for the first time, that is the question this page answers.
We do not have a children's menu
No separate page for kids, no chicken fingers in a basket. Better to know that before you arrive than after.
What we have instead is a menu with a lot on it that children already eat, and plates that are meant to go in the middle of the table. Most families end up sharing rather than ordering four separate dinners, and nobody gets stuck with the sad plate.
What to order for children at a Filipino restaurant
Prices shown are from our current menu and may change.
Barbecue skewers, $15. Three marinated pork skewers grilled sweet and smoky. Handheld, not spicy, and marked gluten free on our menu. The easiest first order there is.
Spring rolls, $9. Crisp, a familiar shape, served with sweet chilli sauce that they can ignore.
Teriyaki rice bowl, $18. Grilled chicken in teriyaki sauce over vegetable egg fried rice. Sweet, mild, all in one bowl.
Pancit bihon, $17. Thin rice noodles and vegetables. Noodles are usually an easy yes.
Steamed rice, $2.50. Some nights a bowl of rice and a few things off a parent's plate is the whole meal, and that is fine by us.
Chicken wings, $19. Ask for the mild sauce.
If they would rather have something they already know, it is on the same menu: the angus burger at $18, the grilled chicken burger at $18, fish and chips at $22 made with Nova Scotia haddock, poutine at $13 or nachos at $20.
For dessert, ask whether the chef has a special on. Desserts are occasional specials rather than menu items, so some days there is none. When halo-halo is on it is $12, so share one and ask for extra spoons. It is shaved ice with evaporated milk, sweet fruit, ube, which is purple yam, and leche flan on top. Be ready for the sweet beans in it, because that is the part that surprises people the first time.
What to watch out for
This is the part worth reading before you order for a table with children at it.
Peanuts. Kare-kare at $22 is built on peanut sauce and it comes with bagoong, which is shrimp paste, so that is two major allergens on one plate. Pad thai at $17 is topped with roasted peanuts, and it is the dish parents pick most readily because the name is familiar.
Shellfish. Palabok at $20 is topped with shrimp and boiled egg, and gambas ala jillo at $17 is a shrimp dish. All four of our noodle dishes offer shrimp as one of the three protein choices, so say which one you want.
Heat. Most of our menu is savoury rather than hot. Where the heat is, it is in the sisig, the sisig tacos, the gambas, and whichever wing sauce you pick.
Filipino spaghetti is the one children ask for by name, and we do not serve it at the table. It is a special order party tray at $40 with 24 to 48 hours of notice, so it is a birthday answer rather than a Tuesday answer. Do not promise it in the car on the way in.
High chairs, and what we do not have
We have high chairs. We do not have booster seats and we do not have a change table, so if you need either of those, plan around it before you leave the house. There is one step at the front door, and the washroom is downstairs, which is worth knowing if you are bringing a stroller.
If you want a high chair held for you, say so when you book or call 902-444-2515.
Sunday brunch is the easiest day with children
Our Filipino brunch runs every Sunday from 10:30 AM to 4 PM. It is $29 for adults and $15 for children aged twelve and under, and children five and under eat free. It is a spread rather than a plate, so a child can see everything before deciding, which takes most of the argument out of the meal.
There is familiar breakfast on it every week alongside the Filipino dishes: bacon and scrambled eggs, hash browns, pandesal, which is a soft bread roll, and tocino and longganisa, cured sweet pork and sweet pork sausage. It also happens in daylight, which is the other reason it is the easy day.
Walk-ins are welcome. If you can, book a table and tell us how many children are coming.
What time to come
Tuesday to Saturday we open at 11:30 AM. We close at 9 PM Tuesday to Thursday and 11 PM Friday and Saturday, and Mondays we are closed.
With small children, earlier in the evening is the easier call, and a five o'clock table midweek is an unhurried dinner.
Birthdays and family parties in Halifax
For a party at home, our party trays do the work, and that is where the Filipino spaghetti lives. Trays need 24 to 48 hours of notice, your pickup date and time go in at checkout, and pickup runs Tuesday to Saturday 11:30 AM to 8 PM and Sunday 11:30 AM to 4 PM.
Quick answers
Is Barrios kid friendly?
Yes, with the caveat that we are a restaurant and a bar rather than a family chain. There is no children's menu, but there is plenty on the menu that children eat, and a smaller side of fries or salad is about $5. Sunday brunch and early evenings are the easiest times to bring them.
Do you have a children's menu?
No. Most families order plates for the middle of the table instead, or pick the mild dishes off the regular menu.
What should I order for a child who has never had Filipino food?
Barbecue skewers at $15 and spring rolls at $9. Both are handheld, both are mild, and between them they get most children through a first visit.
Is Filipino food spicy?
Not most of it. On our menu the heat sits in the sisig, the sisig tacos, the gambas ala jillo and the wing sauce you choose. The rest is savoury rather than hot.
Which dishes have peanuts or shellfish?
Kare-kare is peanut sauce and comes with shrimp paste. Pad thai is topped with roasted peanuts. Palabok and gambas ala jillo have shrimp, and shrimp is one of the protein choices on all four noodle dishes. Tell your server about any allergy before you order.
Can children order Filipino spaghetti?
Not at the table. It is a special order party tray at $40 with 24 to 48 hours of notice.
How much is Sunday brunch for a child?
$15 for children aged twelve and under, and children five and under eat free. Adults are $29. Brunch runs 10:30 AM to 4 PM.
Do you have high chairs?
Yes. We do not have booster seats or a change table.
Where is Barrios?
1571 Barrington Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J 1Z7, in downtown Halifax. Call 902-444-2515.