Waiting to take toddler out to eat

We have a 19 month old girl. She is fiercely independent and won’t (willingly) stay in her high chair a minute longer than she has to. As such, my husband and I have actually never taken her out to eat at a restaurant. Heck, when we do takeout, we have it after she goes to bed because she eats her dinner in 5 minutes and then is screaming to get out of her chair.

It has honestly never even caused us an issue with plans. She goes to bed at 6:30-7 so when we do date night or go to a social dinner kind of thing, the babysitter arrives at bedtime and we are out. We kind of just thought we would bring her down the road when she can sit still longer, especially with how much it costs to eat out. We do take her in public a LOT, so it’s not like we just avoid taking her in public at all. When we go out, we work on listening, being safe, etc. Grocery shopping, mall, library, etc., many different places every weekend. We don’t let her run off and once she starts throwing a tantrum, we give one warning and then we pick her up and just leave immediately.

She has never gotten better about screaming in her high chair at home so I don’t know that there would be any point trying to get her “used to” a restaurant.

Just wondering what everyone’s thoughts/experiences have been with their own children.