Payneham Tavern is a fantastic, newly renovated family friendly restaurant that includes one of the best playrooms we have seen in a long time! A short distance from the city, the $4m rebuild has brought new life to this Payneham Road spot, which is ready and raring to go for a great Christmas season and beyond.

We do love a hospo venue with a playground that caters for families, but we will be the first to admit sometimes the sounds (screeching?) of a bunch of kids screaming in a confined room can be a tad overwhelming. It can be a lot, and it can genuinely impact the dining experience. Payneham Tavern’s design has put tremendous thought into ensuring everyone has an enjoyable experience, with a large alfresco dining area for families, complete with a fully fenced large playground. Fully weather proof, but designed to allow plenty of airflow and noise to escape, they have constructed a gorgeous family space that is comfortable, relaxing and allows parents to comfortably see their kids playing from a number of nearby tables. We took 2 under 5s to road test this one and for fear of sounding like a horrible parent, they were hardly sighted! The playground was such a hit, that for the first time in living memory the adults actually had a conversation.

Catering for not just families with a sports bar, large and spacious bistro as well as a beer garden, look out for event nights including regular Quiz nights (hosted by the talented Adelaide crew at ‘Funny Quiz’) and DJ events. For the meals, which is all important for our picky eaters, the totally renovated kitchen offers a bit more than the usual pub fare (don’t worry, the nugget fiends will still get there nuggs) which is nice to have a few extra options outside a parmy and chips. With kids meals coming in at $15 bucks also including a soft drink and ice cream, we found the options catered for our fussy crew nicely. They have clearly marked vegan, low dairy and low gluten options for the kids menu too, which we appreciated and made our job that much easier.

Every Sunday from 12-3pm is also family day, with a variety of activities to keep the kids entertained including;

• Face Painting: Transform your child’s face into a superhero, princess, animal, or anything they can imagine!
• Character Dress-Ups: Meet all your kids fave characters, from princesses and superheroes to friendly farm animals.
• Animal Encounters: Get up close and personal with fascinating creatures like reptiles, birds, and small mammals.
• Balloon Artists: Watch the balloon artists create all sorts of shapes and animals right before your eyes.

They have brought on a brand new team for the opening, who had three days of training to ensure the customer experience here is spot on. Overall, Payneham Tavern has delivered a high quality venue that has gone that extra yard to cater for families.

Payneham Tavern
Location: 319 Payneham Road, Payneham. Adelaide, South Australia
Opening Times: Everyday 9am til 3am
Phone: 08 8471 3092
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