I Bought the Pottery Barn Kids Lunchbox — Here’s My Honest Review

My daughter picked out her first backpack and matching lunch box in the summer before kindergarten. I let her get whatever she wanted, and she picked out the Pottery Barn Kids Mackenzie Lunch Box. 

I was dubious at first because it wasn’t completely neoprene, which meant it couldn’t go in the washing machine. I also figured I’d be replacing it partway through the year due to wear and stains. But my daughter is about to go into fourth grade and the same lunch box she picked out in kindergarten is still going strong. My son, for whom I got a construction-printed version during his last year of preschool, is not known for his neatness, and his lunch box also continues to thrive with minimal damage two years later.

• It can fit a whole meal, plus snacks and a drink. In addition to the main compartment, there is a zippered section can hold small snacks, a napkin, utensils, a note, or whatever else. The mesh sleeve on the side is also deep enough to hold my kids’ water bottles without constantly falling out, which has happened with other beverage sleeves. 
• It keeps food cold. The lunch box is insulated and has a couple options for an ice pack. If you’re not using the zippered section for something else, it can fit a small ice pack. You could also fit an ice pack in the main box and still have room for a bento box or a full lunch. Even when yogurt or cheese comes back home at the end of the day, it’s still fairly cool with the ice pack in there.
• It prevents food from getting smushed. The hard, molded box on the inside keeps the food from getting too squished when the backpack is jammed full of books, sweatshirts, and various nature treasures from the playground.  

• It’s food-safe, water-resistant, and comes in a ton of designs. I appreciate the recycled and food-safe materials, as well as the water-resistant exterior fabric. My kids appreciate the cool designs. Some glow in the dark if you leave them out for about half an hour, which has been very exciting for my children — it makes it easy to spot a left-behind lunch box in the dark car at the end of the day. You can also personalize the outside with a monogram, picture, or name, and there’s also a name plate inside which is easy to fill in with a Sharpie.
• It’s easy to clean. Cleaning doesn’t end up being an issue, either. When I need to, I wipe out the inner molded box and spot clean the outside. Using a bento box inside the lunch box cuts down on my need to clean it, anyway.  

Pottery Barn makes a larger “cold pack” version with a nesting ice pack inside, which can be a divider for food and will keep things cool from the sides. The difference between the classic and cold pack lunch box from Pottery Barn is that the Pottery Barn classic lunch box has interior dimensions of 7″ wide x 3″ deep x 7.5″ high, while the Pottery Barn cold pack lunch box has interior dimensions of 8.75″ wide x 3.5″ deep x 7.5″ high. The cold pack lunch box also has a nesting ice pack that can be used as a divider for the main compartment.

According to the stated dimensions, the Pottery Barn cold pack lunch box will fit an OmieBox lunch box, an OmieBox UP lunch box, the PlanetBox Shuttle lunch box, and the PlanetBox Explorer lunch box. The Pottery Barn classic lunch box is too small for all this

There’s not much I don’t love about this lunch box. The only two things that keep it from being perfect are that it doesn’t come in a standard lunch box size and it can’t go in the washing machine.

Overall, I’m thrilled that these lunch boxes have held up all these years and would buy one again only if my children desperately wanted a change in design. Otherwise, there would be no need to replace the original.

Buy: Pottery Barn Mackenzie Lunch Boxes, starting at $22.50