Trying to find a kid friendly restaurant wherever you travel is HARD. It’s one of the most challenging parts of travel for me and many other families out there. Here’s our trick that has saved us from low blood sugar meltdowns more times than I could count. With this family travel hack, your kids will never go hangry again!

Raise your hand if you’ve been there: You’re on vacation with your family. You’re traveling to a new place. It’s time to eat—but you don’t know where to go. You end up googling and Yelping, and the kid friendly restaurant searches are coming up with nothing that looks good (to you or your picky kids). Meanwhile, your kids are getting more hangry by the minute, and you’ve run out of granola bars and fruit leather. DISASTER! Or is it?

You see, my kids went through the pre-meal meltdowns so many times that I just knew there had to be a better way to find a kid friendly restaurant no matter where we traveled.

Then I figured it out: Pretty much wherever you go, you can find a midrange to high-end grocery store that’s guaranteed to have plenty to keep any kids happy and well fed. When we’re on a family vacation, we often eat at Whole Foods, local natural food stores and even Safeway—and we always find something good to eat.

Read on for my tested tips and recommendations to find a kid friendly restaurant on vacation—at the grocery store!

Find a kid friendly restaurant ANYWHERE

Picky kids? Impatient husband? Gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, Paleo, keto, vegan? No matter what the combination of your dietary requirements and preferences, most grocery stores can satisfy your whole family.

First of all, even picky eaters can find something to eat at a grocery store. Hot delis have corn dogs, cold delis have sandwiches, and the rest of the grocery store is a treasure trove of ready to eat, kid friendly food.
Secondly, eating at a grocery store is waaaay cheaper than a restaurant (especially considering that your kids might not eat anything at the Thai place you picked after an hour of searching for family friendly restaurants on Yelp.)

Yes, you’ll want to branch out and explore other (actual) restaurants, but if you’re ever in a pinch and need to find a kid friendly restaurant like NOW, the grocery store is your best bet. Here’s how to make the most of the grocery store for any meal.

Rock the hot deli

For my older daughter’s fifth birthday, her Grandma offered to take her to lunch anywhere she wanted. Where did Edie choose? The fancy grocery store 5 minutes from our house.

She and her sister love the macaroni and cheese there. I also get them jojos, and occasionally a corn dog.
Other common hot bar options to turn the grocery store into a kid friendly restaurant: pizza, chicken tenders, stir fry and much more.

Many higher end grocery stores also serve made to order foods. Our neighborhood store, for example, serves customizable burritos and burgers.

Don’t forget the salad bar

My kids love salad—what don’t yours? OMG kidding! My girls have literally never eaten a piece of lettuce. But that doesn’t mean the salad bar is off limits.

Even when the girls get mac n cheese (which is, let’s admit, every single time), we stop by the salad bar to make our yellow and beige meal slightly more colorful.

One more thing I love about supplementing our meal with goodies from the grocery store salad bar: I can get a wide variety of healthy foods in small portions. I can also satisfy both of my girls. (For example, Edie loves beets because they turn her mouth purple, and Maxine almost always will eat hard boiled eggs.) Finally, I let my kids choose what they want (and how much), which gives them power over their meal—and makes them more likely to actually eat it, research shows.

The most common delicious (and healthy!) tidbits we get from the salad bar to make the grocery store into a kid friendly restaurant:

• Cubed turkey
• Grilled chicken
• Cherry tomatoes
• Beets
• Hard boiled eggs
• Raisins
• Peas
• Bell peppers

Find your jam at the cold deli

Many grocery stores have a huge spread just waiting to get on your table. And with so many options, there’s something to please all the members of your family.

In addition, the deli staff are happy to serve you whatever size portion you need. So if your littlest is the only one in the family who likes quinoa salad, get just a scoop and let everyone else pick what tickles their fancy.

Don’t be limited to the potato salad and coleslaw though. Although those picnic favorites are familiar, many grocery stores have so much more. Take for example my local grocery store, which serves teriyaki salmon skewers and chicken pot pies they’ll warm for you while you wait. There are so many options!

You can also get, say, a quarter-pound of your favorite deli meat and pair it with an avocado and a piece of fruit. That’s a gluten-free, keto-friendly meal I’ve taken advantage of many times while traveling.

Sandwich bar #ftw

This is the area of the grocery store I first head to when I eat at the grocery store. There’s something for everyone at the sandwich bar, even those of us who are gluten free, since most grocery stores now offer GF bread.

I usually choose a build your own option and load it up with all the veggies (which is even more important when you’re on vacation and get out of your healthy eating routine). My sandwiches usually include lettuce, tomato, spinach, cucumbers, avocado, pepperoncini and even shredded carrots.

Not everyone loves a sammie loaded with all the fixings though. Kids can pick the toppings they like, including the plain turkey and cheese option.

What’s more, many grocery stores offer a kid friendly peanut butter and jelly sandwich too. You can’t go wrong with that!

Finally, if you’re in a hurry, there are usually premade sandwiches ready to grab and go next to the sandwich station.

Groceries for lunch make the fastest meal ever

Sometimes when you’re on vacation you just want to eat something familiar —and the same goes for your kids. (Probably even more so for your littles, whether they’re picky eaters or not).

So when you’re on a family vacation, it’s 100% legit to put together an entire meal from ready to eat groceries.

Don’t feel any guilt whatsoever: you’ll end up eating well, with fewer complaints from the kids.

If they (or you) need any persuading, consider this: Picking up ready to eat food from the grocery store is perfect for getting a picnic ready in record time.

Ideas to make a meal out of grocery store options:

• String cheese
• Yogurt
• Sliced lunch meat
• Sliced cheese
• Baby carrots
• Premade crudités with hummus
• Avocado dip
• Fresh fruit
• Peanut butter and crackers

Yes soup for you!

I’m a giant fan of soup, especially on the chilly days we’re famous for here in the Pacific Northwest. It’s no surprise that I regularly get a cup of soup from the grocery store when I travel.

Pair soup with a sandwich, wrap or even a roll (usually found next to the soup or in the bakery section) to round out the meal. You can also get a grilled cheese from the sandwich bar to go along with your kids’ tomato soup for the classic, kid-friendly combo.

Grab and go sushi

A friend of mine has a daughter who literally turns up her nose at pizza but will eat like three sushi rolls. You just never know!

Even if your kids don’t like raw fish, the all-veggie sushi and freshwater eel rolls are delicious meals.

And the freshly made sushi available at most grocery stores is a great option for adults of kids who just want chicken fingers and fries. After all, one of the beautiful things about turning a grocery store into a kid friendly restaurant is that everyone can choose something different! So if you want sushi, one kid wants a corn dog, your partner wants soup and another kid wants yogurt, you’re totally good to go.

Level 10 travel tip: Make sure to get chopsticks and soy sauce at the sushi counter. Most grocery stores don’t have these utensils and condiments where they have the other plastic silverware.

(Want to get your kids to branch out? Click over to a post I wrote on my motherhood blog about getting even picky eaters to try sushi!)

Save the best for last

Chances are, when you hit up the grocery store for meals when you travel, the whole family will happily find something they want to eat. My kids are always thrilled!

Then again, if anyone in the family is underwhelmed, you can always tantalize them with a promise of dessert.

Grocery store bakeries make cupcakes, cookies, cakes, and even other goodies like mousse and gelato. Many places will also sell these treats a la cart, so you and your kids can each choose what you like.

My local grocery store makes amazing flourless peanut butter cookies, and the girls swoon over their cupcakes. Just make sure to save room for dessert when you eat at the grocery store—uh, I mean the kid friendly restaurant! 😉

Your kids will never go hangry again

With this vacation-saving family travel hack in your back pocket, you’re pretty much guaranteed to find a kid friendly restaurant anywhere you go. So instead of wasting precious vacation hours searching for a kid friendly restaurant with a play place, simply find a decent grocery store nearby. It’ll feed your whole family on a budget—and everyone will leave happy.

Have you ever stopped at a grocery store for lunch or dinner? What do your kids think of it? How else do you find a kid friendly restaurant when you travel?

And don’t forget to pin this post for later!