I think the opposite is a better strategy. We've been taking our daughter to sit down restaurants since she was an infant. She's 2.5 now and such a pro at it that we almost never leave a restaurant without other diners coming to our table to tell us how well behaved she is. It's kind of become a running joke with my husband and I. No tablet either. She brings a toy or two, but only quiet, unobtrusive things like a small stuffed animal or a couple little plastic dinosaurs. She looks at the menu, interacts with us, she's learning how to be a person out in the world. If you want your kids to be able to do something, you've got to just start them doing it.