Christmas is coming and we’re all starting to panic a bit about Christmas shopping. The leisure parks are getting busier and the lights and trees have gone up making everywhere wonderfully festive. We live within 15 minutes drive of the Cheshire Oaks retail park and next to it is a great Leisure Park called The Coliseum Leisure Park with loads of restaurants, a Vue cinema and shops including Next, Boots, Mamas and Papas and Argos. Last weekend we were lucky enough to be invited to enjoy a meal at their branch of the American Italian restaurant Frankie and Benny’s. While we were there Santa even came for a quick visit! It seems that his reindeer wanted to visit their cousins at the tree and reindeer farm round the corner on Stanney Lane so he dropped them off there and decided to say hello to the children in the Coliseum Leisure Eateries. My kids were so excited to see Santa, it was their first view of him this year and they watched as he got closer to our table. When Santa came to sit next to them my son was very clear about wanting a “Thomas Castle” for Christmas. My little girl was a bit more shy, although at home she will tell anyone who will listen that she wants a “Pink Horsey Present” from Santa.

For an all round shopping experience the Coliseum when combined with Cheshire Oaks has pretty much everything you could want within 5 minutes walk. Frankie and Benny’s is one of our favourite places to eat with the kiddies, we go at least once a month and find it so family friendly. There are children’s activity packs to keep them entertained, balloons when we leave and the staff are always great at getting the kids’ food out quickly so that they don’t get too unsettled. Since my husband and son’s favourite food is spaghetti bolognese and my daughter’s is pizza we are perfectly suited to the menu there. I tend to have the steak and fries as a bit of a treat. We all love their garlic bread and the Icecream Sundaes are fabulous (though probably not good for my diet!).

Frankie and Benny’s is great for families, the kiddiwinks can be boisterous without worrying what the other customers think (because their kiddies are probably being noisy too). If you don’t have children or have escaped from them for the day you might find Prezzo or the Miller and Carter Steakhouse a bit more restful. We have been to both on days when we’ve palmed the kiddies off on grandparents and always enjoyed the food and quality of service.

Disclaimer: We were given a complimentary meal at Frankie and Benny’s in return for publishing this post, all the other visits which I have mentioned have been paid for by ourselves. All views expressed in this post are my own.