What do y’all do to entertain a 12 month old at a restaurant? 
My husband and I are dying for a date night but our 1 year old is a lot more mobile and vocal now than he was last time we went out for dinner 
Any tips help!
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Honestly I would find a babysitter. There will be a lot of redirecting the 1 year old and they’re not old enough to understand or even comprehend that they have to sit down for a long time in a restaurant. Plus they might get overstimulated or overwhelmed by so many noises and people which could cause them to have a meltdown which than you parents will get stress out which the 1 year old will be able to sense which will stress them out more.
Find a babysitter. I only started going out to places to eat once my child was able to sit at the dining room table first without having to get up a lot or could entertain themselves somehow.
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We would give ours a tablet 
or crayons and paper
We always brought a couple of their favorite toys. If/when they got bored with that given them crayons and paper that most restaurants offer. You can also bring their favorite snacks I always took a baggie of cheerios and placed a few in front of them. It not only gave them something to play with but also kept them entertained eating something.
Playdoh, duplos, hot wheels,
Really anything they like. We take our kids out to dinner every week. My youngest started at about 6/8 months old. Super easy
Get them out and used to it! If you keep them secluded from the public, they won’t know how to act when they do go out. They are a child! If others don’t understand, they will get over it! I have 5 kids and I have never let mine stop us from going out to dinner bc they are mobil and vocal! You just have to teach them little by little.
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Why would you need to entertain someone who have been in this world for just year? Restaurant himself would be entertaining for him
coloring, games like I spy, … and baby shark or whatever YouTube special your baby likes on your phone.
Take a mini backpack with snacks and toys/books.
I did toys she likes and iPad with coco melon. We would also order food with the drinks to speed up the process. And bring snacks for little one as well
We bring some toys and order him food he loves to people watch so most of the time he is observing what’s going on around him and enjoying his meal. My son is 17 months old my hubby and I go out to eat about once a month and normally our son is with us so we make sure to bring things to entertain him and definitely include him in the meal time. It’s basically like eating dinner at the table at home for him at this point. We have fun, make it fun and keep him busy. We haven’t had much trouble but he’s also a pretty mellow toddler lol.
Books , toys , coloring favorite toy bring snacks put something on your phone
Sing songs with them in the highchair
Download the wonder weeks app (its free). It tells you what developmental stage your baby is at and also what games they find interesting at that age
Take a coloring book and crayons
I know a lot of people are saying give them a tablet or a phone and let them watch something and I am NOT judging these people, everybody parents their children differently and every child has different needs, but I will say, from experience with my step son, if you let them have a screen now at this age and use that as your “distraction”/“entertainment” it will be a very hard habit to break as they grow into toddler years and even beyond. And if you are okay with that then by all means do what you are comfortable with. You do what you feel is best mama! No one knows your baby better than you. We personally chose to go a “no screen” route with our 3 young kiddos as my 10 year old step son is addicted to his (his mom got it for him and pretty much stuck it in front of him for entertainment purposes when he was like 6 months old) and throws a fit everytime he can’t have his tablet or watch TV. It makes getting him to do homework at our house very hard because we don’t allow it. I didn’t want to battle with my kids over it everyday, I don’t have the energy for that lol. Our kids love their toys, art stuff and playing outside. For our 13 month old we take her suction cup toys or a toy we can wrap a sippy cup strap too and we take snacks/get food. She likes to eat when we eat. Also, babies at that age are VERY curious and love to people watch.
Depending on where you go, little diners have those jelly and butter packets and my husband and I would push them on the corners so they’d flip and then we’d make it sound really awesome with sound effects. We always ordered baby’s food first if they can eat, like mashed potatoes or soups, and then did that to distract them until food got there. Or used them as like air hockey and let baby slide them. I still do that with my 7, 6 &5 yr Olds and now they’ll sit there and build with them