Kid-friendly restaurants in Baytown

Where the high chairs are, where the noise is welcome, and where you can leave before the meltdown.

The list. - Bocanegra's, 214 West Texas Avenue. Tex-Mex, fast, chips on the table before you sit down, which buys you ten minutes. Downtown, so Market Saturdays are a wait; closed Sunday. - El Toro. The institution; every kid in Baytown has eaten a bean-and-cheese here. Booths, quick, cheap, and nobody looks up when a cup goes over. Weekdays from eleven. - Rooster's, North Alexander. The burger, in a booth, with fries; loud enough that yours doesn't matter. The bar side is fine for a family at lunch. - Black Bayou, 1930 Garth. Crawfish season is a family sport here — kids peel, adults sweat — and the fried shrimp basket is the under-eight order. Bring wipes; they bring paper. - The Cuban Cafe, Decker. Breakfast at seven on a Saturday: pancakes for them, café con leche for you, out in twenty minutes, and the FR crowd doesn't mind a toddler. - Doughnut Wheel and Denna Donuts. The bribe. Kolaches and a glazed, before eight, in the car if you must. - El Rey Pupusas, 5622 Garth. A pupusa is a kid food that doesn't know it; cheese, a table, done. - The pizza places. Every town's answer; the directory has them with hours, and the one nearest the ballfields is the post-game one. - Thompson's Fish Camp. Picnic tables outside, boats to watch, gulls to chase, shrimp to peel, nothing to break. The best kid restaurant in Baytown and it doesn't know it. - The hibachi place on Garth. The onion volcano. That's the whole review. - Hooky Entertainment. Bowling, games, and food that's fine; the birthday dinner. - The trucks. A taco truck with a picnic table is a kid restaurant. Cash.

What to know. High chairs: most; the trucks and Thompson's, no. Changing tables: the chains, the hospital, the library, the Hyatt; the small places, in the car. Kids' menus: the Tex-Mex places and the chains; the seafood places do a basket; Rooster's does a smaller burger. Noise: welcome everywhere except the Hyatt's dining room after seven. The pages for each place carry a kids' line where we've confirmed it — a kids' menu, a high chair, a changing table — and a blank where we haven't; the gap-facts pass fills them.

The timing. Eleven-thirty or two for lunch; five-thirty for dinner, before the crews and the shift change. Sunday at noon is impossible everywhere; see the Sunday guide. And the Cuban at seven on a Saturday is the family breakfast that ends before anyone's tired.

Questions people ask. Which restaurants have a play area? The chains on Garth; none of the independents. Where can a kid eat for free? The chains' kids-eat-free nights are on their pages when posted. Best patio with kids? Thompson's, and Yepez on a Sunday afternoon.

En español. Restaurantes para niños en Baytown: Bocanegra's (totopos en la mesa, cerrado domingos), El Toro (cabinas, rápido, barato), Rooster's (hamburguesa en cabina), Black Bayou (cangrejo de río en familia), el Cuban Cafe (panqueques a las siete del sábado), las donerías, El Rey Pupusas, Thompson's (mesas afuera, lanchas, nada que romper), el hibachi de Garth (el volcán de cebolla), Hooky (bolos y comida). Coma a las 11:30 o a las 2, y a las 5:30 en la noche; nunca el domingo a las 12:15.