Places to heal your inner child as a New York City adult

It's easier than ever to be a kid again!

I remember being a kid and having Spongebob mac and cheese or an occasional Happy Meal after some sports practice and thinking absolutely nothing of it. Sure, getting fast food was more of an occasional treat, but the main desire for the golden arches was the potential to get a shiny plastic toy that would probably end up on the car floor. My dad, a self proclaimed almond dad, would always steal a nugget or a few fries and savor every bite as if it was the best thing he’d ever tasted in his life.

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I think part of growing up is realizing that adults want a kids menu more than a kid does. The Corner Store is the most popular restaurant in New York City because the kids menu is the menu. People are lining up an hour before opening to eat pizza rolls, drink martinis with lays chips on the side, and have girl scout cookies for dessert.

The trend of kid-ifying food and activities is becoming increasingly more popular to the success of new businesses, making me question why new parents these days would force their kids to expand their palettes to avoid picky eater-ship if they’re growing up to a (caviar) chicken nugget and ice cream sundae on every grown up menu.

Some childish standouts in dining scene are:

1. The massive goldfish at Time and Tide

2. Adult Happy Meal from Happiest Hour (they gave me a tiny burger keychain with my meal)

3. Crayons and paper tablecloths at Bernies, and now Funny Bar

4. Grown up Mac and Cheese (yes, it’s called this on the menu) at Gator

5. Monster cake that haunts Thai Diner dessert menu

6. Cheeto dusted mochi fry at Sip and Guzzle

7. The “DIY” Shirley Temple from Kid the Restaurant

I’m not sure if adult version of kid stuff has always been a thing, or if Gen Z and Millennials are taking out their fear of aging in this format instead of Botox. Personally, I’m living for the of pursuit of finding my inner child within the bounds of what being an adult in New York does best- consuming. So, here are the spots that scratch the itch of nostalgia for me:

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8 Spots that heal my inner child:

1. Cafe Mars

Going to a themed restaurant like the Rainforest Cafe is the suburban child’s Met Gala and going to a themed restaurant on a New York City family trip was even better. I’d like to think of Cafe Mars in Gowanus as the more mature version of the Mars 2112 restaurant that every Manhattan kid seemed to have their birthday party at (Chucky Cheese probably wasn’t cool enough) that closed down a few years ago over fraud allegations of the owners.

The original cafe mars (Mars 2112) that closed down in time sq

The Cafe Mars team was genius to open this dining experience knowing if Mars 2112 was still open, it would suddenly become an “ironically funny” hotspot again for unserious Gen-Z to get drunk at because we love wacky themed interiors and themed parties, in general.

The playful menu at Cafe Mars matches the otherworldly atmosphere with dishes such as the Negroni jello with olives, garlic knot monkey bread, and scrambled egg agnolotti. They also allow you to choose your own sippy cup (or chunky plastic wine glass) and start you out with bubbles on the house and end your meal with a huge dish of candy that your grandmother would have in her purse.

2. Haricot Vert

Maximalist charm bracelets are back and better than my coveted Juicy Couture bracelet that was *the* emblem of cool when I was a tween. Haricot Vert is a charm shop in Brooklyn that allows you to get lost in thousands of unique charms to build your own bracelet, bag charm, necklace, or whatever your heart desires.

While you choose your charms, you can sip on a ceremonial grade “charm” matcha latte with cereal milk and lucky charms on top, and consult the Sylvanian bunnies in their dollhouses throughout the store on which charms they think are best. It ain’t cheap, but making your own piece of jewelry forever feels the same as it did making bracelets at summer camp.

3. Brooklyn Clay Industries

My generation was addicted to Color Me Mine birthday parties (not sure if this is a suburb kid thing only) where you’d make and paint your own pottery, so when I got the gift of pottery at Brooklyn Clay for my 24th birthday, I knew it’d be nostalgic.

I showed up to the pottery studio in a white top and white pants [mistake] and the part that made me realize I was an adult and not a kid was that we were actually spinning the pottery ourselves. I think I thought it was going to be like 6th grade art class where you mold shapes and put them into a kiln. After a few failed attempts I started to get the hang of the pottery wheel and understood why people did this as a stress release- it was liberating, satisfying, and quite staining.

4. Dolly’s

Getting off the G into a late and hot afternoon- passing the car dealership, soaking up the distant summer sounds of water running through hoses in residential Bed Stuy, you’ll turn the corner to find the best ice cream in New York at Dolly’s.

Dolly’s bakery, [formerly Bread and Butter], does Ice cream nostalgia perfectly. There’s something about a fun colored ice cream on a summer evening with so many toppings that the hot pavement tastes them more than you do. The reason it’s so superior to every ice cream shop you visited in your childhood beach town is because they don’t have 31 flavors. They only have one or two, and they’re able to focus on making those absolutely perfect. The creamy watermelon and strawberry cheesecake are the best, but you can hope for other flavors like ‘nilla wafer or banana pudding on a rotating basis.

5. The Ripped Bodice

Going to Barnes and Noble and being able to order a Frappuccino and find a corner in the air conditioning to read amongst the massive bookshelves was my favorite activity over the summer when school was out. I would pick out 10 books, some for my summer reading list, some just because they had a cool cover, and sit for hours reading the first few pages of each.

The funny thing about the Ripped Bodice bookstore is that all of the books are romance novels that I certainly wouldn’t have been allowed to read as a kid, but hiding here on a rainy day on one of their pink stools with a coffee in hand is the same feeling as it always was. The smell of new book covers and calm music as people quietly tip-toe around you, reading the backs of different books surveying if it’s worth adding to their pile of contenders. The genres in your pile might age, but the magic of a day at the bookstore lives on forever.

6. Shan Fu

Thinking back to how important 7-11 slushees were to me throughout my childhood makes me laugh. Do people still drink those? The best part was always the neon straw selection with the flat spoon on the end that would create the most specific airy feeling when taking a sip.

My adult 7-11 slushee can be found at Shan Fu in Chinatown. I also can be found at Shan Fu in Chinatown on the first warm day of the season. You can play the game of getting an outdoor table at Le Dive, or you can sit on top of a plastic crate on the corner with a “real fruit” watermelon slushee in hand and watch all the same sexy people walk by. I’m not convinced that it really is only fruit in there, but it’s incredibly refreshing and the best reward on a bad day.

7. An-Me

My love for trinkets, dolls, and figurines has not faded one bit with age, and I realized all of the so-called “dust collectors” in my room as a child are now on all of my bookshelves as an adult. Same collectors, different dust.

An-Me’s description on google is as follows, “retro-inspired toys, whimsical books, and amusing novelties for the whole family”. If I had to guess, they started out purely as a toy store for kids, and then they realized annoying adults-kids like myself were coming in and spending hundreds on their incredible Sonny Angel or Calico Critter collection, which is now where the “whole family” part of the slogan comes from, (even though my generation isn’t really having kids).

8. Salty Lunch Lady

My grandparents are from the south, which means luncheonette counters with cream pie and swivel chairs have always been on the menu for me. (I hope you read that in a southern accent).

I come to Salty Lunch Lady in Ridgewood for a Saturday 3pm dessert and coffee, and always end up getting one of her massive sandwiches like the turkey dill party to-go to eat for dinner. My favorite part about this place is that everything is pink and lime green, which were the two colors recited by myself and every one of my friends when asked our favorite colors in 4th grade.

Where do you heal your inner child?