When Luke was small and I wanted to go shopping or run errands, I would just take his car seat out of the car and connect it right to the stroller, or put it in the shopping cart. I know you aren’t supposed to do that, but at Target, his car seat fit so perfectly into the top of the cart. So shoot me. However, his car seat did not fit so well into our local grocery store’s cart, so I tried putting him in the carrier or wrap. This sort of worked, but he would fall asleep, and when I would bend down to pick up items on the bottom of the shelf, it would wake him up. And I also hated that I had to wake him up, get him out of his car seat to go into the store. This is when Giant's Peapod saved my life. Thanks to the recommendation from my friend Sarah, I started ordering my groceries online a day or two before, selected a pick up time and date, showed up, they loaded my car for me (didn’t even have to get out), and never had to wake Luke up! GENIUS!! I don’t do it anymore, but for those first few months it was a life-saver.
Some restaurants had what they called a sling, that the car seat sat on and was then strapped to. I was a little unsure of it, but it seemed to work ok. However, not all restaurants had these, so typically, I placed his car seat on a chair or in the booth next to me. Then, one night we were out to dinner and the server showed us that the car seat would fit nicely into the wooden high chairs they had, all you had to do was flip it upside down. So of course, we gave this a try. I think we only did it once or twice, but it really made me nervous. Those high chairs are not that sturdy, and I was paranoid something was going to knock it over. Since then, I’ve read horror stories where someone walking by has bumped it and the baby and the car seat fall out, so I will never be doing that again. So right next to you in the booth is really the safest bet, or on the floor, but I was never a fan of that. 
Sidebar: As a matter of fact, a few weeks ago I was at my new favorite restaurant (The Mill in Hershey), and there was a Mom who left her baby in the car seat (I'm ok with this) on the floor (fine) with a canopy over the entire car seat (these are ok if used appropriately)....for over 2 HOURS! I get that the baby was probably fine, but she could have gotten really warm and stuffy in there! I almost said something, but she did peek in at her every 30 minutes or so (still not often enough for me though). But come on, just lift up the side of it so she can get some freaking fresh air please!
In the beginning it was easy taking him everywhere because we could just keep him in his car seat and he'd just sleep. But that didn't last too long, and he wanted out of that damn thing. So now we schedule our grocery shopping around nap time, and we of course use high chairs at restaurants.
One of the things that has made these trips much easier, is the shopping cart and high chair cover. What is so great about this thing, is that it provides a bit of a cushion for them to sit on, it covers the handle (so he can’t his mouth on the metal cart), things can’t fall out as easily, and it has some connections for keeping toys secure. The one we got fits into the high chair and the shopping cart really well. We don’t go anywhere without ours now. It holds him in the high chair a bit better, keeps him protected from the chair germs (who knows what unvaccinated kid was in that high chair beforehand...don't get me started), and again I can attach toys to it so he has something to play with that won’t end up on the floor. 
This particular one sold me cause I liked the color and design, but mostly because of the dual use. We go out a lot and typically take Luke with us everywhere, so we have gotten so much use out of it. It doesn’t fit perfectly on all carts, but I haven’t found one yet that I can’t make work somehow.And when we’re not using it, it rolls up and has a handle. This is one of those things that my mom tells me is a totally unnecessary luxury, but I think she’s seen the convenience of it and now agrees.
So this is definitely one of my “Can’t Live Without” items, but we really didn’t use it until around 6 months. The baby has to be just about sitting in order to sit in a shopping cart or a high chair, so it really isn’t necessary until that point. This Infantino one we have was $25 on Amazon, and runs $29.99 on the Infantino website, and we've definitely gotten our money’s worth since we use it every week. On Amazon, I've seen them as low as $15 (with prime shipping), but here is an Infantino one for $18. There are some slightly less expensive, and some a bit more, but really any should do. I do recommend the dual use, cause having two different ones would be a bitch. I’ve seen some of the shopping cart ones that have extra padding on each side, which looks great, especially for when they are smaller, but just make sure it works with a high chair. This one has worked for us, and we will continue using it as long as Luke fits in a shopping cart and high chair, but there are lots out there that work!
Treat yourself and your baby, the sheer convenience is worth it :)
With Love,
Claudia
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