A restaurant in Germany recently sparked heated debate by imposing a "no children allowed" dinner policy to provide its adult guests an "oasis of peace".

The restaurant Oma's Küche, or Grandma's Kitchen, is a seaside restaurant on the island of Rügen on Germany's Baltic Sea coast. The ban on children under the age of 14 after 5 pm, took effect on August 13.

The ban was imposed after some youths damaged an antique photo in the restaurant, according to Rudolf Markl, the restaurant owner. 

Markl told Quartz that guests complained about children ruining their dinner time. "They throw food around, play tag, shout, and climb under the tables."

Markl, who has owned the restaurant for 11 years, said the behavior of young diners was getting worse and parents turned a blind eye to their kids' behavior. And some parents even got upset when asked to control their children.

Quartz reported that Markl received over 1,200 emails of support, some of which told him that his decision was "long overdue".

A Thai diner rated the restaurant "Excellent" on travel website TripAdvisor, saying, "It is always pleasant to have dinner in a normal atmosphere without being distracted by the hysterics of other people's children."

But the restaurant also received criticism. London newspaper Evening Standard reported that one man wrote on Facebook, "Without children you are not a grandma but just an old woman."

German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW News) quoted Germany's Anti-discrimination Office as saying that the decision might clash with the country's ban on age discrimination.

(File photo)

According to Lars Schwarz, the head of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association, restaurants are free to decide whether to allow children, so Markl's policy is completely legal.

Schwarz added that he was not very happy with the decision. "In this state we aim to be friendly to children," he told DW news.

Markl claimed his policy targets ignorant parents "who cannot control their children," DPA news agency reported. "It has nothing to do with discrimination. It is a restaurant and not a playground," said Markl.

While there's been some backlash, the ban has attracted attention and the restaurant's business is booming. Some other restaurants wrote to Markl that they are thinking of doing the same thing.

The Washington Post reported that Caruso, an upscale Italian restaurant in North Carolina, saw a "dramatic increase in reservations" from about 50 each day to around 80 after they banned children under five.

On top of fine-dining restaurants, where people expect an adult environment, some small restaurants ban children, citing safety concerns like what happened at Little Bistro in New Zealand.  At that restaurant, kids playing caused waiters to stumble, the Washington Post reported.

According to DW News, Markl's restaurant was the first restaurant in Rügen to ban indoor smoking in 2007, long before most German states implemented smoking bans.