When I first had my son, I used to panic a bit about where to meet my friends and family for lunch. I needed somewhere that was child friendly, big enough to fit a buggy (or several buggies) and with baby changing facilities. It is astounding how many pubs and restaurants in Salisbury don't have baby changing rooms or have steps up to the toilets.
So, in the last 8 months, these are the places that I have found to be most child friendly. I haven't been everywhere, so if you have any recommendations then please let me know and I'll update this little post. I was going to take photos of the changing rooms, but I concluded that would be just strange!
Happy lunching mothers (and fathers)!
Cosy Club
When eating at the Cosy Club, you can choose to eat in the bar area, the restaurant or outside in the courtyard garden. The best for buggies and babes is probably the bar area where they have sofa sections that are perfect for little ones. However, you can book tables in the restaurant online and request extra space for strollers and in my experience they have been very accommodating. The changing rooms are stand alone which means both mums and dads can change the little ones. They are on the ground floor round in the restaurant.
Salisbury Cathedral Refectory
This is a staple Tuesday destination for me and my Mum friends. The toilets are large and smell nice and never seem to be occupied. Again, they are stand alone so not just women have to do the changing. There's lots of space for buggies and they have large booth areas that are perfect for families and groups of parents. They have really nice high chairs, not those dreadful wooden ones which large kids can escape from and small kids wobble around in. They also have a kid's toy area, so all-round a great choice.
Another great thing about the Cathedral, is the Cloisters area is calm, quiet, dry and sheltered. I used to spend hours walking with my buggy round and round there on windy and wet days. The tap tap of the paving stones worked every time to lull my baby off to sleep. I guess it'll probably be less quiet during the height of the tourist season!
Chapter House
I have written about this place in my blog before as it is very friendly and allows for dogs in the bar area. They are also very child friendly and have even offered to hold my little one during a meal! He was going a bit mental at the time!
Lots of space in the bar area for buggies and stand alone baby changing rooms through the restaurant, round by the hotel reception.
Starbucks
I thought I would mention Starbucks because I think it is the most child friendly of the coffee chains in Salisbury. I wouldn't even go into Costa on the Market Square as its a nightmare trying to navigate round all the tables and chairs. Really nice staff, stand alone baby changing downstairs and lots of room for buggies.
ASK
Out of all the Italian chains in Salisbury, this is probably the best with babies. The tables are well spread out, so lots of room for buggies (unlike Prezzo which is a nightmare!) and baby changing downstairs.
Waitrose
I've only been here a couple of times because it is a bit of a walk out of the town centre. The main cafe (there are two now) is large and spacious, plus you get free coffee with your Waitrose card. Toilets can get pretty busy and can therefore be a bit dirty sometimes (but nowhere near as bad as the ones in Debenhams). But the toilets are stand alone so men and women can do the changing.
I don't want you to think I have spent my entire maternity leave being a lady who lunches. But there has to be some benefits to all these sleepless nights and weight gain!
I look forward to hearing from you with your suggestions of new places we can try.
Especially, I like the piece called The Lady Hare. This is a huge wire sculpture of a hare combined with a human (apparently the artist's body). There was another wire statue that they were assembling as I walked through called the Kiss. This will straddle the North Walk and also looked pretty immense. 
