I see the first chapter as providing background into the character of hobbits. They may be "tough as dragons in a pinch" but they don't like being put in pinches. They like getting proper meals and smoking pipeweed without Big Folk bothering them.
So when our heroes have to go on their adventure, we know that this is not the way things usually are for hobbits, and it makes what they do all the more impressive.
Also, this chapter is mostly light-hearted, but there are a few moments where the new, darker tone of the book creeps through, like when Bilbo doesn't want to give away the Ring. This is also to clue us in that there's something odd here, as readers of The Hobbit will find Bilbo's behavior very odd.
They were the first conservatives!