Depends on the restuarant, honestly.<br><br>
I have a diner in town that my boys and I frequent. All the waitresses know us & my two yr old walks/runs around the circle (the diner is a round setup, with the counter in the center), none of the waitresses mind nor do the regulars.<br>
Sometimes there are grumpy old ladies and strangers who give a weird look or an evil eye (or at worst, make snide comments...), but they are also the SAME ones who shoot me dirty looks and make nasty comments if my 2 yr old is crying and hollaring because I WON'T let him down to run/walk. There is *nowhere* outside to take him, either - the diner is right off of the main highway through town and there is no safe place to stand, no less walk. There is no lobby and the diner is usually pretty quiet, so there is little chance of any "accidents" by dropping trays. Either my older son or I is always right there with the little one and he never approaches other diners, he just walks around and around and around, giggling.<br>
I'd rather have him walking and giggling then stuck in the booth, fighting with me and his brother, crying hysterically. Any GOL or strangers who have such a major problem with it can either get over it or leave. It's *my* hometown diner, where I spend my money every other week, know the waitresses (actually, "our" waitress even came to T's baptism party) and it is a "Family Diner"... that means kids. Kids are not silent little beings who sit nicely and eat quietly (well, unless you live in Stepford...). If one goes to a "Family Diner" then one should expect children and child like behaviors (including giggling, walking around, running and even crying at times).<br>
You know, in the years I've been going there, I've never actually had a problem with strangers - just 2 or 3 little grumpy as hell old ladies.... I wonder about that. Do they forget what little kids are like? Do they still believe that old adage that children should be seen, but not heard? It is a family diner, after all - not a hoity-toity "restaurante".<br>
I mean, this is a place that removes the ketchup and sugar and puts in plastic ashtrays in after 9pm on Friday and Saturday nights, so that when the drunks come in, they can't do any real damage, so... a wandering tot during the daytime shoudln't rile feathers.