The simple answer is sometimes.  We too like eating out. We did before any kids were born, and we still do regularly even with 5. We keep it simple. Until they can sit in a high chair we bring one cloth book (same one, stays in the diaper bag). When they’re in the high chair we bring cheerios. Once they understand not to eat the crayons we’re done – not toys, electronics, etc, – you entertain yourself through conversation or whatever the restaurant provides for kids. We keep them in a high chair as long as possible – boosters are useless and a lot more effort to keep them from tipping over. Unless its a crying baby, the child has to stay in their seat until we’re paid up and ready to go. We don’t go to fancy restaurants with kids, but to regular family friendly ones – Margarita’s and Tokyo’s Hibachi are two favorites. Dead silence would be bad, but I don’t want to go someplace too loud either. And, we’re more likely to go at lunch rather than deal with tired, hungry kids though we still do dinner from time to time.

Other people’s houses are another matter. If they have kids, great; they just have to be contained where the toys are. 15m is definitely the hardest as all they want to do is explore, but that will get better in a few months. If they don’t have kids, it won’t be childproofed and the exploring can be a big problem. We definitely have people to our house more now (also because we overwhelm many typical homes). When they were young we used to go to our childless friends houses later and take the pack n plays. I’d often feed them at home first. We could park them in an upstairs bedroom, enjoy our evening, and then reclaim them when it was time to go home.