Top Family Friendly Western Restaurants in Shanghai

By Sara Naumann

Updated 07/21/17

What do we mean by "Family Friendly" in Shanghai?

There's really no specific meaning to "family friendly" or "kid friendly" when it comes to restaurants in Shanghai - or in China for that matter. On the mainland, almost all restaurants, even high-end ones, accept children. And most welcome them.

It is quite common to see extended Chinese families in fancy restaurants. The adults in the group may be enjoying a fine dinner and the child or children will be glued to iPads or other screens or running wild around the table.

Chinese Food or Non?

While I hope you included plenty of Chinese restaurants on your tour, by the time you end up in Shanghai, you might very well be ready for a pizza. And your whole family might be craving something familiar. So while I know you didn't fly all the way to China to eat at McDonald's. The list below includes restaurants where you can enjoy familiar food in a nice atmosphere that your children will also enjoy.

  • 01 of 05

    Pizza Express

    pizza express shanghai
    Pizza Express Restaurant in Shanghai. Photo courtesy of Pizza Express
    • Description: pizza, pasta and salads with attention to kids' needs
    • Cuisine: Italian
    • Address: multiple locations across the city (they're in Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong too
    • Opening hours: daily lunchtime until 10pm
    • Features: Special kids' menu and activity set with crayons and stickers, kids' utensils and high chairs
    • Comments: If you're going to have pizza then this is a really good option for families. We've had multiple kids' parties here and the staff is always really great (and patient).
  • 02 of 05

    La Saleya

    la saleya restaurant shanghai
    La Saleya's garden restaurant. Photo couretsy of La Saleya. All rights reserved.
    • Description: French bistro with outdoor garden
    • Cuisine: French
    • Address: 570 Changle Lu, near Xiangyang Lu | 长乐路570号, 近襄阳路
    • Reservations: 021-6426-1262 (recommended if you want outdoor seating)
    • Opening hours: daily lunch 11:30am-2:30pm, dinner 6:30pm-10:30pm
    • Features: typical bistro food that most kids will like - steak with fries, simple grilled fare, etc.
    • Comments: If you've got active kids, you'll appreciate the outdoor seating where kids can get out of their seats and wiggle a little.
  • 03 of 05

    Garlic

    garlic family restaurant shanghai
    Our favorite table for family dining at Garlic. Photo courtesy of Garlic restaurant, Shanghai.
    • Description: Turkish restaurant serving delicious, fresh cuisine in a family-friendly atmosphere
    • Cuisine: Turkish
    • Address: 698 Yong Jia Lu, Shanghai | 永嘉路698号
    • Reservations: +86 13564861208
    • Opening hours: weekdays 6pm to 10:30pm, weekends noon to 11:30pm
    • Features: Upstairs the restaurant is lovely - white tablecloths, flower arrangements and big windows. Downstairs is a big playroom for kids. So you can send active kids downstairs to jump around before and after dinner while you stay upstairs and enjoy delicious Turkish food.
    • Comments: This is our favorite choice for dinner with multiple families (and multiple kids).
  • 04 of 05

    Kagen Teppanyaki

    • Description: Japanese-style Teppanyaki restaurant that is very kid-friendly
    • Cuisine: Japanese Teppanyaki - where everything is cooked on a hot grill in front of you
    • Address: 28 Taojiang Road | 桃江路28号
    • Reservations: +86 (0) 21 6433 3232
    • Features: Every seating is in front of a large Teppanyaki grill so this is fun for kids because you get to see your food cooked in front of you.
    • Comments: You can order a la carte but the menu is set up so that for a set price, adults eat an all-you-can-eat (and drink) menu and kids (under a certain height) eat for half-price. If your kids are craving steak or fish (as mine do after a while eating only Chinese food), we head to Kagen to get our protein fix.
    Continue to 5 of 5 below.
  • 05 of 05

    Green & Safe

    • Description: organic grocery and kitchen
    • Cuisine: Western and Continental
    • Address: 6 Dongping Road, near Hengshan Road | 东平路6号, 近衡山路
    • Features: On the ground floor is a large grocery selling organically grown and sourced produce and dry goods. You can stock up on all kinds of things for your hotel room. There's a large counter downstairs serving ready-made salads, soups and sandwiches for a quick meal. Head up to the second floor for a larger kitchen where you order and then it comes to your table. The cuisine is very kid-friendly, especially the brunch options.
    • Comments: This is a regular stop for me for groceries so I can highly recommend the produce. The restaurant food is great and delicious and it will give you peace-of-mind that most of it is made with organic ingredients.