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
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
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
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.