There are three things I look for in a restaurant at the beach: good seafood, a nice salad (surprisingly hard to find in Ocean City), and anything to trigger a pause in our children’s ongoing arguments.

Our kids, ages 12, 9, and 7, have intense and idiosyncratic tastes. Our son could eat wings for every meal, but is horrified by tomatoes. Our older daughter’s favorite food is lettuce with blue cheese dressing, which she often eats for breakfast. Our younger daughter will excitedly order from the kids’ menu and then forsake her buttered noodles to pick from my plate.

Yet on a recent trip to Ocean City, we managed to find six restaurants that made all of us happy. Although somehow my kids still found something to argue about at almost every one.

Ropewalk

8203 Coastal Highway

It’s a family tradition to head to Ropewalk after the long are-we-there-yet-filled drive to Ocean City. There’s a great playground with lots of things to climb, ring toss games and cornhole boards. A beautiful view of the sunset over the bay. And much better food than you would expect from a restaurant with a playground. Everyone wolfed down the crab and artichoke dip and my son declared the wings among the best he’s ever had. My husband and older daughter split a wedge salad with blue cheese, of course, and I had the day boat scallops, which were delicious, although the orzo, corn and crab that accompanied them was bland and uninspired. Our youngest ordered what she calls “fried strimps” (please don’t correct her), which were surprisingly good for food served on a frisbee.

What the kids argued about: Did the middle child intentionally kick her older brother in the head while performing a cartwheel on the playground? Or was it an accident?

Malia’s Cafe

1800 Baltimore Ave.

Malia’s Cafe is tucked away in the Spinnaker Hotel and I would have never found it if I hadn’t Googled “healthy breakfast Ocean City,” but boy, am I glad I did. I had a fantastic (if nontraditional) huevos rancheros garnished with tomatoes, radishes and cucumbers and my husband had an equally fresh and light western omelette. Our girls delighted in the pig-shaped pancakes decorated with whipped cream and sprinkles. The prices are great, the staff was friendly and the decor is a little girl’s dream: mermaid murals and candy pink accents.

What the kids argued about: Who was going to put creamer in the adults’ coffee? Were the white crystals in the sugar container salt or sugar? Who spilled creamer and sugar all over the table?

Longboard Cafe

6701 Coastal Highway

Why did it take us so long to find this place? Longboard has everything I want from a beach restaurant in a cute airy space. We started with the signature flash-fried green beans, to try to get some vegetables into the kids, and the exquisite lump crab flatbread. My son rhapsodized about the perfect balance of acid and heat in his Buffalo wings (he watches a lot of cooking shows). Our girls, exhausted from a long day at the beach, melted into orders of mac and cheese and chicken tenders from the kids’ menu. I loved the tuna, crab and avocado tower, served on a bed of field greens, the perfect light, fresh dinner.

What the kids argued about: Were they too tired to play mini golf after dinner? (Yes)

Hop In Bakery

207 S. Baltimore Ave.

We were walking out of Ocean City’s delightful new history museum when my husband spotted the Hop In Bakery’s cheerful hand-painted orange sign. The interior of this little mom-and-pop-owned shop was even more delightful with comfy armchairs, cheerful black-and-white tile floors and display cases filled with co-owner Nasim West’s opulent homemade pastries. The kids ate rainbow bagels and sipped on a strawberry-kiwi sugarcane juice that West pressed by hand while they watched. My husband and I had excellent iced coffee (strangely hard to come by in Ocean City) and fresh bagel sandwiches before we all descended on slices of Snicker’s cheesecake and a strawberry shortcake.

What the kids argued about: They were so busy playing with the owners’ adorable 4-year-old son that they forgot to fight!

Toast

221 Wicomico St.

“I hate bars!” our middle daughter announced as we walked into Toast, a restaurant in Emerson Towers Condominium on the south end of Ocean City. Fortunately, we were just passing by the bar on our way to a table on an outside deck overlooking the bay. It was our last meal before heading home and everyone was grumbling about something or another until a plate of freshly fried calamari arrived. My bar-hating daughter and I shared a crisp house salad, but the real star of the meal was a giant slice of New York-style pizza, decadently cheesy, perfectly crispy-chewy and large enough for all of us to share. Toast boasts that they make the best pizza in Ocean City, and I think they might be right. As a bonus, a kindly patron of the aforementioned bar popped his head outside to point out a dolphin frolicking in the bay.

What the kids argued about: Should the middle daughter be prancing around with a palm branch she found on the deck? The eldest was mortified and the youngest was jealous.

By the Bay Creamery

7801 Coastal Highway

What’s a trip to the beach without a stop for ice cream? Everybody has their old favorites in Ocean City, whether it’s Dumser’s Dairyland butter pecan or an orange and cream custard twist from Kohr Bros. But it’s always fun to discover an off-the-beaten path ice cream shop. By the Bay Creamery offers interesting flavors such as a vegan, oat milk-based chocolate chip oatmeal cookie and my favorite, the Exhausted Parent, which combines chocolate, bourbon and espresso — the parents’ food pyramid. My daughters opted for a scoop of rainbow-colored Super Human and my son chose Blue Moon, which tastes just like Froot Loops.

What the kids argued about: Which is better: ice cream or frozen custard? We’ll have to keep doing field research on this one.