Eat & Run: 14 Playgrounds with Kid-Friendly Lunch Spots Nearby

With this handy guide, a visit to a new playground comes complete with a great bite to eat because after all of that running, swinging, sliding and climbing, your kid is sure to work up an appetite.

By Anna Knoebel August 27, 2014

New York City parents need playgrounds as much as they need air: to stave off the tedium of our apartments and give kids a chance to roam. But when your closest playground starts to feel like your backyard and your neighborhood starts to feel like your living room, its time to cross some borders. With this handy guide, a visit to a new playground comes complete with a great bite to eat because after all of that running, swinging, sliding and climbing, your kid is sure to work up an appetite.

Play at Penny Park, Eat at Whole Foods

Battery Park offers ample settings for a gorgeous meal, but when you're really wishing for a table and chair, Penny Park is best. Pick up lunch from the prepared food section of Whole Foods, on Greenwich at Warren. Then, walk west on Warren to River Terrace where you'll find a stone path leading straight into the park, with its large cement picnic tables (perfect for large groups) and Tom Otterness installation ("The Real World" 1992). Kids spend long uninterrupted stretches of time delighted by the fanciful sculptures that give the park it's nickname.

Go: Penny Park, Warren St. at River Terrace; Whole Foods Tribeca, 270 Greenwich St., Battery Park