Former SFist writer Mary Ladd just wrote this wildly helpful article about taking your little blessings to restaurants. Her thorough recommendations? Pick a noisy place, take the monster(s) outside if they act up, keep them busy, and never forget dessert. Read all about it at the Mercury News. (As for bringing babies to bars, do it. Do it often; do it soon. It's loads of fun. Best of all, the crumpled look on the faces of your PBR-swilling hipster patrons -- mere years away from spawning themselves, unbeknown to them -- is priceless.)
Some restaurants, like Chenery Park, even have a 'kids' night' for the wee ones. Yelp even has a handy 'good for kids' filter.