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A Chick-fil-A location in Pennsylvania is banning all unsupervised kids under the age of 16 from dining in the restaurant.
The Chick-fil-A in Royersfod, Pennsylvania — approximately 30 miles from Philadelphia — announced the ban in a post on social media. The message said the decision was made after “unacceptable behaviors” from groups of children who were not accompanied by an adult.
Kids under 16 can enter the restaurant to order food, but they must leave immediately upon receiving their order and cannot remain in the dining room.
“We contemplated long and hard before posting this, but decided it was time. Often on Saturdays and days when schools are off, we have school-age children visiting the restaurant without their parents,” a statement on Facebook read. ” Usually, these children and teens are dropped off for several hours at a local bounce park and groups of them then walk over to our restaurant.
“While we love being a community restaurant and serving guests of all ages, some issues need to be addressed. When groups of unaccompanied children and teens visit our restaurant, the following unacceptable behaviors often occur:”
The post went on to list:
*Volume. They are loud, and their conversation often contains a lot of explicit language. We are a family friendly restaurant where this is not tolerated.
*Mistreatment of property. Food and trash are often thrown around and left on the tables, chairs, and on the floor. Tables and restrooms are vandalized. Decorations are stolen.
*Disrespect of employees. Employees are laughed at, made fun of and treated rudely. Employees are cursed at and ignored when they ask the children and teens to either change their behavior or leave.
*Unsafe behaviors also occur walking through the parking lot and drive thru lanes.
The restaurant acknowledged the parents and said they are not being blamed for the unruly behavior, but the restaurant could no longer allow the kids to continue pushing the limits. As for the kids who can actually behave themselves, the location issued an apology.
“To those unaccompanied children and teens that have visited us and acted appropriately, we thank you. But we also apologize,” the post read. “Due to the numerous extreme behaviors of many of your peers, we must make a blanket rule covering anyone under the age of 16.”
