Dining out is part of the vacation experience. And if you’re like me, it’s usually an afterthought. But with a little planning, you can transform “eating out” into a unique dining experience that becomes the highlight of your vacation.

That’s where planning at least one dining experience ahead of your Ozarks family trip comes into play. We’ve compiled this bucket list of incredible dining experiences that your kids and entire family will love and cherish!

Without further ado, our bucket list of unique and fun dining experiences for kids in the Ozarks begins now.

Skip ahead if you’re looking for something specific:

Train-Themed Restaurants | Pizza & Fun Restaurants | Unusual Fun for the Whole Family | Snacks, Sweets & Sodas | For Mac ‘n Cheese Lovers

Train-Themed Restaurants

If you love locomotives, you’re in for a treat. There is no shortage of train-themed restaurants in the Ozarks. Who knew it? Here are a few train-themed restaurants that we found worthy of adding to the bucket list of unique dining experiences.

Photo Credit: Google Maps User

Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant – Kansas City, MO

|📌 2450 Grand Blvd Ste 1↗ | Full Menu |

This extraordinary dining experience kicks off when you pick up one of the old-fashioned telephones hanging on the walls inside the restaurant to place your order! From there, you can take a look around at all the train-themed decor that’s been accumulated over the past 70 years that this gem has been open.

Make sure you take photos of the overhead choo choo train delivery system that winds throughout the entire restaurant. It even delivers your meal! Plus, kids get a cool engineer’s hat to wear and keep as a souvenir.

On the Menu: Food includes all the kids’ favorites from grilled cheese to chicken nuggets. They also have some great burger choices, BLTs, and other entree choices for greater variety.

Ollie’s Station – Tulsa, OK

|📌 4070 Southwest Blvd↗ | Full Menu |

Open for breakfast and lunch only (closes daily at 2pm), Ollie’s Station in Tulsa is another locomotive-themed restaurant that the kids (and kids at heart) will love. It’s a restaurant with so many cool train collections that it’s also deemed a railroad museum.

Although your food won’t be delivered by the train, there are plenty of models in motion to marvel at while you’re enjoying your meal. The place has a whimsical feel, with train memorabilia hanging from everywhere you look.

On the Menu: Food is offered up buffet-style or choose from a small selection of American comfort foods on their menu. Kid-preferred entrees here include chicken fingers and burgers.

All Aboard Restaurant & Grill – Little Rock, AR

|📌 6813 Cantrell Rd↗ | Full Menu |

Enjoy a unique dining experience where your food is delivered to your table—again, by train! This place has a similar overhead delivery system to Fritz’s, but takes it a step further, by adding a mechanism that lowers the food down to the table level. It’s a site to see! Kids get to wear an engineer’s hat and there’s also a small gift shop for your train-lovers to take a piece of the experience home.

On the Menu: American burgers, grilled cheese, mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, fried pickles, and more.

Pizza & Fun Dining Experience Restaurants

Pizza is a staple when it comes to a budget-friendly family meal on vacation. Amp up the enjoyment by adding some sizzle to the experience with these pizza restaurants that have flair.

Photo Credit: Google Maps User

Hook and Ladder Pizza Company – Hollister, MO

|📌| 26 Downing St↗ | Full Menu |

This is the dream place for little firefighters to try on real gear and see a fire engine up close. Even the workers behind the counter get decked out in firefighter attire from time to time. The staff here are fully-committed as real-life volunteer firefighters in the local community.

On the Menu: Food served here includes subs, salads, build-your-own calzones, pizza, and pasta and more.

Incredible Pizza Company – Multiple Locations

|📌 Springfield, MO↗ | Tulsa, OK↗ | STL, MO↗ | Full Menu |

This next one offers multiple hours of entertainment (for additional, but affordable a-la-carte fees) along with your meal. The trampoline pass, for example, is just $5.50 in addition to the buffet.

The Incredible Pizza Company has three locations inside the Ozarks with different attractions at each one along with an all-you-can-eat buffet serving kid-friendly foods like pizza, tacos, pasta, and more for picky eaters.

Here’s a sampling of the fun that you can have at the Incredible Pizza Company:

• Go Karts
• Indoor Roller Coaster
• XD Theater
• Laser Tag
• Bumper Cars
• Mini Bowling
• Mini Golf
• Trampoline Park
• Lost-in-Space Tilt-a-whirl
• Arcade Games

On the Menu: Buffet-style salad bar, hot dogs, taco bar, over 100 varieties of pizza, noodles, and of course an entire buffet of desserts!

Fast Lane Entertainment – Lowell, AR

|📌 1117 N Dixieland St↗ | Full Menu |

Open-late, another entertainment-haven with great food can be found in Northwest Arkansas: Fast Lane Entertainment.

Here’s a taste of the entertainment you’ll find at Fast Lane:

• Bowling
• Laser Tag
• Hologate Virtual Reality
• Bumper Cars
• Indoor Roller Coaster
• Arcade

Come during the week before 2 pm to get a free kids meal included with your child’s $8.00 play structure ticket.

On the Menu: Food here includes sandwiches, burgers, pizza, salads, and more. The kids’ menu includes favorites like chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, pizza, mac & cheese, mini corn dogs, and more. Full selection of appetizers, street tacos, quesadillas, burgers like the B.O.M.B., holy pepperoni pizza, and mudtown delight for dessert.

Unusual Fun for the Whole Family

Looking for a quick bite to eat, but also a different kind of experience that will have you leaving in lifted spirits? We’ve got a couple spots that you’ve got to check out.

Lambert’s Café – Multiple Locations

|📌 Sikeston, MO↗ | Ozark, MO↗ | Full Menu |

If you really want to add an element of surprise, keep your family in the dark before heading to Lambert’s Café. They’ve got something up their sleeve just for fun. Just what is that, you ask? Well, it’s the “home of the throwed roll,” in other words—they throw their fresh & fluffy rolls at you. Get a laugh, practice your catching skills, peruse the gift shop, and enjoy this unique experience in the Missouri Ozarks with your family.

>> Read Our Full Review of Lambert’s Cafe

Plus, fill up on generous portions of great Southern food that include free “pass-around” extras like black eyed peas and fried okra in addition to their famous rolls. Leave with a full belly and a smile on your face!

On the Menu: There’s a huge assortment of meals to choose from here! Adults will enjoy steak, salads, grilled chicken, wings, fish, hot beef sandwich, pulled pork sandwich, and more. The kid’s menu includes the usuals including tenders, burgers, grilled cheese, mac & cheese, and more.

Hangar Kafé – Miller, MO

|📌 3103 Lawrence 1070 #2↗ | Full Menu |

There is something about watching airplanes take off that brings out the kid in all of us. Bring out your inner child (and bring the kids, too) to get a front-row seat and watch small planes depart and land while also getting a belly full of delicious food!

You might even catch some skydivers jumping on the lawn next to the outdoor seating area while you’re there. We discovered Hangar Kafe when a family member decided to try out skydiving in the Ozarks. >> Read about his skydiving experience here. <<

>>Read Our Full Review of Hangar Kafe

Planes and skydivers aren’t the only cool thing to check out at Hangar Kafe. There’s also a really cool display of antique trucks and cars next to to the outdoor seating.

On the Menu: Hangar Kafe serves up American cuisine favorites, including burgers, wraps, salads, chicken, fish, tenderloin, and philly steak. Kids will love the grilled cheese, chicken nuggets or strips, or corn dog. Rumor has it that Hangar Kafe serves a special steak menu on Fridays & Saturdays.

Photo Credit: Google Maps User

Mel’s Hard Luck Diner, Branson, MO

|📌 2800 West Highway, W 76 Country Blvd↗ | Full Menu |

Next up, Mel’s Hard Luck Diner is a heart-warming dining experience that you’ll never forget. Featured in our 10 Best Places to Eat in Branson post, this unique retro-style diner will set you back in time to the 1950s while the sweet singing servers hold a tune as they bring you great food!

Fast service, great food, and amazing desserts.

On the Menu: The kid’s menu includes mini corndogs, mac & cheese, grilled cheese, burger, hot dog, chicken tenders, and spaghetti. Patty melts, burgers, chicken fingers, and great balls of ice cream!

Snacks, Sodas, & Sweets

If you’re looking for something sweet, we’ve got some unique spots for you to check out in the Ozarks to excite your taste buds and satisfy your cravings.

Fitz’s Root Beer – St. Louis, MO

|📌 6605 Delmar Blvd↗ | Sappington, MO↗ | Full Menu |

For dessert, sodas, and light snacks in St. Louis, Fitz’s is the place to be. They have two locations in and around the Gateway City. Favorites here include a huge selection of Fitz’s sodas like orange cream and grape flavors, and some burgers, wraps, and salads—but the real attraction here is the huge assortment of floats!

Get ready to get sticky and sugared up! Here’s a taste of the selection of ice cream floats available at Fitz’s:

• Root Beer Float
• S’mores Float
• Cookie Monster Float
• Trolley Car Float
• Trouble Float

On the Menu: Shakes, floats, and sodas. Plenty of food items to choose from including fish and chips, monster burrito, grand coney, and kids items include burgers, mac and cheese, pizza, chicken fingers, nachos, mini corn dogs, and more.

Crepes Paulette – Bentonville, AR

|📌 100 SW 8th St #4↗ | Full Menu |

Get fancy with the fam and head to another favorite that made our Top 10 Places to Eat in Bentonville post: Crepes Paulette, located downtown in the mountain biking capital of the world. Whether you’re looking for a sweet dessert or a light savory snack, you’ll find something on the menu here that will pique your interest and tantalize your tastebuds.

Plus, kids seem to be enamored with their ‘pancake tacos,’ which is unofficial kid lingo for crepes. See and be amazed as you and your kids get to watch the art of crepe-making in front of your eyes!

On the Menu: Everything crepes from sweet ones like the strawberry & Nutella to savory crepes like la rancher which combines chicken, bacon, ranch, cheese, and egg in crepe form. There’s even a grilled cheese crepe!

If you’re looking for a more traditional sweet spot in Northwest Arkansas, check out Rick’s Bakery in Fayetteville or Rogers, which serves up lots of sodas, donuts, pastries, fudge, and more sweet stuff that kids (and adults) love!

For Mac ‘n Cheese Lovers

Last on our list, we had to include this restaurant that is dedicated to the all-time favorite kids meal: mac ‘n cheese. Don’t make a special trip, but if you happen to be in town or driving through, it’s worth a stop.

MacCheesy – Multiple Locations

|📌 Springfield, MO↗ | Joplin, MO↗ | Full Menu |

With two locations in the Missouri Ozarks, MacCheesy’s is worth checking out with the family for a unique dining experience centered around this special food. Plus, the dessert menu includes some amazing deluxe shakes to top off a perfectly cheesy meal.

On the Menu: Everything mac & cheese from classic traditional mac ‘n cheese to chicken bacon ranch mac to philly mac, pizza mac, and more!