The field was already taken when Charlie and I pulled in. That is the first thing you notice at Camp Briteside: a real wiffle ball field, turf and all, right beside the tables, and a pack of kids on it who clearly got there before you. We walked to the far corner where nobody was, threw a football for a while, then played our own two-person version of wiffle ball until the burgers came out. It was a Friday at dusk, the sun was still up when we started, and it was dark by the time we sat down.
I have taken my kids to a lot of restaurants in Williamson County. I have never been to one built like this. It is a restaurant, not a play place with food attached, but the outdoor space is so big that the kids treat it like a park. They run, they fall down, they play soccer and football and wiffle ball, and a few of them just sit in a corner talking. Nobody is on a screen. You sit down, you eat, and your kid is in front of you having the time of his life.
The field stays busy after dark. We played in the far corner because the main game never let up.
Charlie is seven and does not stop moving, and this is the first restaurant where that is a feature instead of a problem. Noelle loves it too; she was at dance class this time, which is the only reason it was just the two of us. We each got a burger. The kids' burger is huge. He eats most of what is put in front of him and he could not get through it, which tells you what an adult one looks like.
What the place is like once you sit down
Seating is open, at least for now. You walk in, you pick a table, inside or out, and nobody makes you wait for a host. We went outside. The covered patio has a lot of tables and looks straight at the field, so you can eat and keep an eye on your kid without getting up. There are TVs everywhere, and they are good ones, which matters more to me on a game night than I would like to admit.
The covered patio faces the field, so parents eat while the kids run.
The food is good. I am not going to walk you through the menu, because we ordered two burgers and that is all I can honestly speak to. Both were the kind you have to pick up with two hands. Charlie's came in a basket the size of his head.
The kids' burger. He got about halfway.
The one thing that will annoy you
The parking lot. It is a dirt and gravel lot, and instead of painted lines there are painted rocks marking the spaces, which is a strange choice. It works out fine most of the time, but you will notice it, and on a busy night you will circle once. That is the whole list of complaints.
The other thing to know is that the field is popular. We rarely get to play on the main game because it is always going. That is not really a knock. The corner we ended up in was plenty of room for the two of us, and watching a full game from the patio is half the fun.
Here is the verdict, and it is simple. If the weather is nice, Camp Briteside is the best place in the area to take your kids to dinner. Not because of a gimmick, but because it is the only restaurant I know where a seven-year-old runs for an hour, eats a burger bigger than his hands, and gets back in the car without being asked twice.
