As parents, we’re always looking for ways to save a buck when it comes to eating out with the family. This has become especially important these days because of the current state of the economy. The more kids you have, obviously the more that restaurant bill will be. That’s why it’s critical to know which places let children eat free and which ones don’t. Those types of places usually offer food that children like and provide a family-friendly environment as well.

Parents usually have to keep a mental note of all these kid-friendly establishments that provide special deals where your children can eat for free or at a discount. Well, not anymore. KidsMealDeals is a new website that tracks all eating establishments that offer special deals for children and their families. How does it work?

To see all of the places that offer free meals for kids you simply enter your zipcode and how far you’re willing to travel and which days you want to eat out and KMD will list them all for you in seconds. The results will be sorted according to the proximity of the restaurant with the closest ones coming first. Coming soon with be the ability to even search according to the type of food (mexican, Italian, Chinese, etc.)

The results were accurate from what I could tell based on my knowledge as a dad eating in the Alpharetta area of Georgia. There were an impressive 49 listings within a 15 mile radius.
Another nice feature is that you don’t just get a listing of restaurants which would have been good enough. Instead, each listing provides a link for even more information about the establishment such as contact information, address, and the exact details of the deal (i.e. is it really free or do you need to purchase an adult entre first, etc.). There’s also a Google map link that will provide directions and exact location of the restaurant.

There’s a twitter account for KidsMealDeals that can keep you informed of any news and new listings which is pretty cool. Just follow the account and stay informed.

They also offer a way to earn some extra income by becoming a recruiter for their service. You can get $50 per restaurant that you get to join the KidsMealDeal service which only benefits them because it exposes their business to their primary target: Families that are hungry and looking to save a few bucks.

I know there are other ways to find places that offer special deals in your area such as searching on Yelp or CitySearch but that involves a great deal more time and effort. Plus, you still won’t be able to capture all of the places that offer deals in the area you’re targetting. I think this is a simple and extremely useful service for families with children. It becomes even more valuable as we travel and become even less familiar with eating establishments in that new terrain. Just punch in that area code and up pops all of the places you can grab some grub with big savings. Best of all, the price is right for the service. It’s free. 🙂

Doriano “Paisano” Carta is the proud pappa of three children, Nicholas (9), Matthew (5) and Rachel (3). Besides being a contributing Executive Editor for Dad-o-matic, he also writes for other blogs such as Mashable, Pistachio Consulting as well as his own two blogs, ThePaisano and Seizing The Day. He has also contributed to other blogs such as SarahLacy and SocialMediaMom. Pai can be found on twitter as Paisano.

ÂÂ

ÂÂ

ÂÂ