Kids Restaurant – The Only Kid Run Restaurant in Antigua, Guatemala

Eating out for me is about the experience. Anyone can go to any old restaurant, but how about trying something totally new and different!

Living in Antigua, I can say we have tried 90% of the restaurants here. It was time to go for something new!

Find fun information about other restaurants in Antigua Guatemala.

Kids Restaurant – The Only Restaurant Run by Kids!

At first sound it’s hard to understand if it’s a restaurant for kids, or if kids are cooking it what kind of meal you’ll get. At least that’s what my husband and brother, with their full-on skepticism, immediately said after I told them we have reservations.

Here’s what makes Kids Restaurant so unique:

1. Kids restaurant is only open on Fridays at 5:30 pm and you need to make a reservation.

2. Kids do fully run the restaurant, but it’s all under adult supervision including a chef.

3. Every two weeks the menu changes – we had Indonesian night, but they’ve also had China, Mexico, Germany, and many more.

4. Kids restaurant is under the umbrella of an NGO run by Tess and these kids are actually in the program.

5. The kids that are in the restaurant come from extremely impoverished homes. They come to this house daily for free lessons in English, math, reading and many more courses.

6. All the money made from the patrons, after paying for the groceries, go to the children and their schooling.

7. TESS – the NGO – is actually an organization that works with children throughout Guatemala with severe Cleft Palate birth defects. They have doctors fly in four times per year to operate on children that come from extremely poor families and basically – save their lives!

Our Dining Experience

Kids Restaurant is located about a ten minute drive outside of Antigua. We have a car, but for tourists, there is a free shuttle that picks you up in the center of Antigua.

We were greeted by the volunteers and the children that will be our waiters and chefs for the evening, including Tess.

My kids immediately felt comfortable and the girls in the program couldn’t get enough of my baby and played with him in between meals, giving me some free time.

We got to see the action behind the scenes and get a sneak peak at the food preparation.

My oldest, 7 year old, is the pickiest eater on the planet. We literally had to bring pizza for him since he only eats three things. For some reason, not sure if it’s the anticipation of the place, or simply being here – he was asking Tess and us if he can have some of the chicken. This alone was worth coming here.

The food was delicious! Honestly, I’m pretty hard to please and my brother, visiting me from the States who likes to dine in Michelin rated restaurants, couldn’t believe how tasty the food was.

The feel inside the little dining area was warm and cozy.

But the fact that all this is for giving these kids and children born with cleft defects made the night so special, that it stays in your memory!