I am so steamed right now, I need to get it off my chest & ask advice on what we should have done. To set the scene, my husband has been on the road for 2 months, just came off an intensive sales meeting & flew into San Francisco to run a trade show yesterday. He suggested I fly up & meet him to get some time together alone away from the kids & everyday life. Due to Chowhound.com's & our Concierge's excellent rec's, made a 7:45 resv at a very upscale restaurant here in the City.

Started off great - wonderful appetizers, great service, etc. Right as main course was served, a huge shriek came up from across the restaurant - sounded like Minnie Mouse on helium. We were at opposite corners of the restaurant, with a bar in between, yet could hear every scream, shriek, whine, word from this kid like he was in the booth with us. Tried to ignore, but it just kept getting louder & louder & I kept getting more irritated. Our server was apologising profusely & said the kid was driving all of them nuts too - that they were trying to hurry the party, but they would not be rushed. We decided to forgo dessert that this restaurant is very much known for & we were looking forward to & had our server give us coffee to go to drink outside away from the din while we waited for a taxi. Our $200 romantic dinner was ruined & we had to cancel the hotel's car back as he couldn't get there earlier to get us out of there & pay for an expensive taxi ride.

I'm a mom & would never take a 2 year old into an upscale restaurant at 8:15 & even if in a family restaurant, short of Chuck E. Cheese, I would have pulled my child out of there so fast at the first scream & forgone dinner myself. The male of the group trotted smugly through the restaurant in a grubby tshirt & shorts as the child was wailing - further irritation.

Ok, Think I feel a little better now - am I totally over-reacting? What should we have done - the server knew we (& the rest of the restaurant) were upset. Advice please?

(This also posted on chowhound.com - Not About Food & many interesting responses)