When we had our first child, we took her on a trip to Napa around the age of 1 year, and had several memorable meals .
At Auberge du Soleil, our daughter started getting fussy. The wife ate her meal while I walked around outside with our child, then I ate my meal while she walked around with her.
It never would have occurred to either of us to sit there and subject the other diners to her fussing.
At some other restaurants she did great. Funny thing was about 25 years later, she went and had dinner at Auberge du Soleil, without knowing it was her second time there!
I also don;t understand a parent that could sit at a table (or eat or talk for that matter) with a child screaming for 40 minutes, and not try to remedy the situation.
As i recall, non-stop crying meant either a poopy diaper, and empty tummy, or a sleepy head.