I have no problem taking my children out to a fine dining establishment/private clubs. My children are well-behaved in public for the most part. If they act up, we go have a "chat" in the ladies room. This has rarely been necessary. We expect them to use table manners wherever we eat - home, a friends house or a nice facility.
I get season tickets for the local theater's kids programs, and take one daughter at a time out on the town. We usually go with another mom and daughter, and get dressed up and go out to dinner at a fancy place before the play. The girls really get excited about it, and it gives them a goal to work towards in using those perfect table manners.

My brother and I were also very well behaved kids and were taken everywhere with my parents. Fancy restaurants, cocktail parties, even weddings. I remember hearing my mom tell a story about how a certain bride would got mad because there was a 2 year old (me) at the reception. But then she felt silly because I was just sitting on my mom's lap, quietly coloring in a coloring book and sipping milk from a kiddie cup we'd brought.
My parents did this all the time, and when and if I started to fuss they would just leave.
More often than not parents get selfish and try to continue socializing while their children throw hissy fits upon the floor. It doesn't work. Just leave!
Restaurant management will not be upset if you leave in the middle of a meal due to a fussy child. One parent should go out to the car with the kid, while the other pays and waits for the left-overs to be bagged. Then go home and put the kid to bed, and then you and the folks at the restaurant can finish your meals in peace!

I'm fine with well behaved children.
Anything else is unacceptable.

Too bad there isn't a litmus test for children.
Or their parents.

reflecting back...my parents accepted nothing less than good behavior when we were out in public. but i would agree fussy children do not belong in public.

I like seeing children everywhere. If the child doesn't have a significant behavior problem, then I would not mind one bit. I am not sure I would take a child to a really expensive restaurant though, because they can be picky eaters, and that's a lot of money to spend on food they wouldn't eat!

I am the opposite of many of you... I cannot stand going to a restaurant and seeing parents get dirty looks and be basically made to feel like freakin' pariahs because their two-year old is ACTING LIKE A TWO YEAR OLD in public. I am definitely in the minority, but the little happy shriek-y noises that babies make do not bother me; they make me smile! If a child is crying, screaming, whatever, that's just what babies do! Some people behave so rudely to moms and dads with upset children. Seriously folks, if someone's four year old is crying in the middle of Spago, they don't need the added stress of your disdainful glares! I would hope that the parent would remove their child from the situation and take it to the bathroom or outside, like AXO_MOM_3 said. If your child has behavior problems, then I agree, they do not belong in a nice dining atmosphere. Otherwise, I think parents should be free to eat wherever they wish with their children.

I'm okay with children in five-star non-national chain restaurants if they can be calm for an hour or two. Otherwise, no one's happy--not the kids, the parents, or the other patrons.

I'm sure we all think we were perfectly behaved children, and that our children are or will be perfectly behaved.

My nephew and I (he's three years younger) went to fine-dining establishments in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when we were very small. But that's because we had good home training and knew how to behave in public. My Mom and Dad would have our butts if we showed out. It truly is a generational thing.

Fine dining
 

I, too, was taken to nice dinners while very young on special trips or for special events. I actually remember eating at the Rainbow Room in the Royale Orleans before I was 2.
We always used table manners, even at home, so it was just not a big deal. Just something special. :)
However, I have been (once) at a very expensive ($180 per person) dinner and seen a child screaming and hitting his mother. I was shocked. Not so much because it was a nice dinner, but because I would have NEVER thought of screaming and hitting my mom! :eek:
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