Fine Dining in Chicago.......alone? (fiance, important, range)

[emathias]

Originally Posted by chet everett

...to eat at a nice spot alone. For a whole lot of reasons from the logistics of making a reservation to wine to the reduced check / potential for a subsequently reduced tip (which is a signficant factor for the compensation of the entire service staff at most higher end places) it is better to try to find some friends to dine with. If you don't find it easy to have wide ranging social connections at work you may think about some of the "dining clubs" that exist for "foodies", some have gotten their start with well known online forum...

It depends on what you mean by nice places, but I've eaten many, many times at fine dining places alone, probably have spents tens of thousands of dollars on dining alone, particularly at places like Naha and Prosecco and Sumi Robata Bar among places still open and previously places like Allen's New American Cafe and Crofton on Wells and Zealous and Graham Elliot. I've always been treated well from the start, and at Allen's and Naha I was/am a regular who gets priority seating even on my own.

So, yes, dining by yourself is fine. Treat the staff with respect and you'll be treated well in return, it really is that simple. I do tend to dine earlier when I'm dining alone, which helps because they'll be more likely to have seats available. I also sometimes dine at the bar if a place has a bar and serves the full menu there - both Prosecco and Naha do. At the highest-end places (Alinea, L20, etc) it may be a bit different, but you certainly don't need to go to those places to get excellent food and excellent service here. Naha, Graham Elliot and Crofton all received Michelin stars, for example.

[ToriaT]

I dine alone quite often. Family is at work and a lot of friends are too cheap to eat out. I've done a fair share of traveling and have dined alone quite often at moderately high end places. You can't do Alinea but maybe others. I think it would work better at mid to low places ranging up to moderate high end.

[probablyimnotsure]

Originally Posted by coldwine

I almost always dined alone when I lived in Chicago.

When it is too hard to keep a relationship going, or you just do not have the time, you deserve to dress your best to remind yourself what dignity feels like. I invariably preferred high-end restaurants, and I never ate at the bar.

I always had my table, and after a while the waitstaff come to know you. For an evening of waiting on one person who will tip to match the bill, and for whom service is minimal, I was a highly prized guest. I care more about environment than cuisine.

Eating out alone is so taboo, and it is ridiculous that anyone finds it so. Many of us lead lives where the pleasure of our own company is the only available.

This is a sad and beautiful reply. Well written. I'm just curious, if you don't mind me asking, where did you move to after Chicago?

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by chet everett

There are six places as having "communal table" setups -- list of restaurants offering communal table dining| solodining.com

For some of us who are introverts, sitting at a table with a bunch of strangers might feel more awkward than dining alone.

I find it pretty easy to go solo in Chicago. Much more so than I did in my native Cleveland, where I felt strange even going to cheap restaurants alone. Chicago is so big and busy and dense which affords you the luxury of being anonymous if you wish, and nobody really cares what you do or is even paying any attention.

Remember the Seinfeld episode where Elaine likes the supreme flounder from a certain Chinese restaurant, but they won't deliver to her side of the street, so she pretends to live in a janitor's closet so she can have it delivered? When called on it she retorts, "It's better than eating it alone in the restaurant like some loser!" The reason that was funny was because such a point of view is so ridiculous.

[coldwine]

Originally Posted by probablyimnotsure

This is a sad and beautiful reply. Well written. I'm just curious, if you don't mind me asking, where did you move to after Chicago?

Los Angeles. Where going out to eat is such a chore.

Chicago is unique amongst cities worldwide; there isn't anywhere else quite the same population of well-educated women employed in high-paying professions.

[MassVt]

A offbeat original question, and even more strange responses.

I never knew that dining alone was some act of defiance, a blow for "dignity". On a scale of "imagined self-importance" this one is off the charts. This is more nonsense along the lines of "do you know who I am and where I dine, and how the waiters kowtow to me?"

This is just unbelievable....

[Larry Siegel]

Originally Posted by coldwine

Chicago is unique amongst cities worldwide; there isn't anywhere else quite the same population of well-educated women employed in high-paying professions.

Have you been to New York?

[Christine_565]

Originally Posted by probablyimnotsure

Is it weird to go to nice restaurants alone? Once I move to Chicago I'm not going to know anyone and I would like to experience the food scene in Chicago including the fine dining aspect. I don't care what anyone thinks, but do upscale food establishments treat you differently if you eat there alone? To be honest with you, I would prefer to eat at these places alone lol. Also, I never really did any fine dining here in Southern California so that's why I'm asking.

I've eaten alone at nice restaurants. While eating solo, I try to focus on the good food, instead of concerning myself with the thoughts of the wait staff and other patrons, because if you become overly self conscious, it will take away from your overall dining experience. I have never experienced negative treatment. If anything, the staff seemed a bit more attentive, but of course this varies -depending on which upscale restaurant you dine at.

This is a bit off the topic, but sometimes I travel solo. When I booked my upcoming trip to Negril with my travel agent, he initiated airline tickets for two, without asking me if I was traveling solo. I had to inform him that I was traveling alone. He actually asked, why was I traveling alone? My answer: Why not?

[probablyimnotsure]

Originally Posted by MassVt

A offbeat original question, and even more strange responses.

I never knew that dining alone was some act of defiance, a blow for "dignity". On a scale of "imagined self-importance" this one is off the charts. This is more nonsense along the lines of "do you know who I am and where I dine, and how the waiters kowtow to me?"

This is just unbelievable....

What's your problem? Not having a good day?

[coldwine]

Originally Posted by MassVt

A offbeat original question, and even more strange responses.

I never knew that dining alone was some act of defiance, a blow for "dignity". On a scale of "imagined self-importance" this one is off the charts. This is more nonsense along the lines of "do you know who I am and where I dine, and how the waiters kowtow to me?"

This is just unbelievable....

You have misread my post. Many people are clearly afraid of eating out alone, asking for a table for one. I did not say it was a "blow to dignity" where the waitstaff were sacrificial lambs on the altar of ego.

What I said, explicitly and without room for interpretation, was that dining out when you are "alone" is a healthy thing to do. We define ourselves so much by our relationships and our jobs, and we rarely spend time alone with our selves. And we deserve to take ourselves out, even if we have to ask for a table for one.

The mention of waitstaff was meant to address an earlier concern over not wanting to go out alone because you were worth less than a group of eight.

Originally Posted by Larry Siegel

Have you been to New York?

Yes; I lived and worked in Manhattan.

No one eats out in New York. They're way too busy working. It would be unheard of to go out to eat on a Tuesday evening, by yourself, at 7pm.