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I started eating out alone last year. I mean at a sit-down restaurant and not a pizza place or something. I really wanted to go out and have a nice dinner with a glass of wine, and there isn't anyone I could ask to go with me. So, I went to a local place I liked, and I went early, around 5:30, so I won't be made to feel as if I'm taking up a table that they could sell to a party of two or more, and sure enough, it was fairly empty. There was a hostess who looked as though she had just crawled out of the womb about three weeks earlier, and she seemed upset and confused that I wanted a table for one.
She put on this bright "happy face", and said to me, "Wouldn't you rather sit at the bar? You can watch TV there, and it would be so much more fun." I looked at the bar, and there were three COUPLES sitting there, each on one side of the three-sided bar. So, I'd be a turd in the punch bowl no matter where I sat. Fun. Yeah...no thanks, and anyway, I wanted to sit at a real table and have a real dinner and read my book and I told Ms. Fetus that. The waiter was a young man who didn't bat an eye at the fifty-something woman sitting alone. He brought my wine, took my order, dinner was great, and I enjoyed myself immensely. After that I had no problem going out alone again.
There are restaurants in my area I want to try, but I have few friends in the area where I live, and most of them are married/have S.O.'s, and if I don't go out alone I won't get to try them. Life is short. I wish I had someone to dine with but I don't, so I'm going anyway.
Oh my gosh, how insulting!!! I wouldn't have been as nice as you were. That hostess would have either got a lesson in manners from me or I would have tried to get her fired.
Go out and enjoy those restaurants you want to check out and I'm glad to hear your evening went well.
It's not common in the U.S..... Looks weird too lol
How so and what's so funny?
I'm not a ditto head. So what if it's not the norm. I could care less at what someone or others might think at the time. If I want to go out to eat I will do just that!
Personally I go out to restaurants for something social to do and the food is secondary. It just wouldn't occur to me to go to a nice restaurant by myself. I'll admit, if I'm at a nicer restaurant and I see someone sitting by themselves I do wonder why they came alone. Of course it's not like I even know these people, it's just a passing thought and they shouldn't care what I think. If I were out alone and needed to grab something to eat, I'd go with something quick and cheap. I like the idea of going to Panera or something with my laptop and eating/getting some work done, but have tried it before and won't do it again because their wifi is spotty.
I have gone to movies alone before and will admit I ended up feeling uncomfortable. It was last summer right before I was moving. I wasn't working at the time and didn't have many friends in the area. It was an extremely secluded area with pretty much nothing to do. I drove 45 minutes both ways to a movie theater (yes that was the closest) twice that summer just so I could get out of the house. The first time I ended up sitting next to a large family with several children who kept crawling over me to get in/out and I felt very awkward. The second time I thought I'd avoid a crowded theater by seeing a less popular movie at something like 1 pm. It ended up being me and only one other girl (also by herself) in the theater and she sobbed loudly the entire time. Obviously she was just looking for somewhere dark to be "alone." Again, it was a very uncomfortable experience. I do prefer to go shopping alone just because I take awhile to pick out what I want, but I will go with a friend if they ask.
It's not common in the U.S..... Looks weird too lol
You must not get around very much. Many people travel for work and eat alone almost every day. I was one of them for 15 years. I got to enjoy it thoroughly and now that the circumstances of my life dictate that I am rarely alone, I cherish having a quiet meal by myself. I know the places I can go that are quiet enough for my taste (no screaming kids), where the servers are friendly, and I can be undisturbed to dine slowly and read my book in peace. I make a point to do it at least once a week. If it looks weird to you, too bad. I'm enjoying my own company.
I read an article in the paper this past year that said that one out of every four households in my state (NJ) now consists of one person. That's a lot of people living alone, and so I suppose there will be more of us needing tables for one as time goes on.
I love to eat out by myself. It gives me time to collect my thoughts and just "sit with myself". I never understood that other people had a different view of this until last year.
I was having dinner alone while my SO was at an appointment across town, reading a book and enjoying my food. Some guy came over and started in with "A beautiful woman like you should never have to eat alone. Its a crime." and proceeded to take the seat opposite me and try and chat me up. When I explained that I enjoyed eating alone, that I did so by choice, and that I was involved, it just didn't compute with him. He spent a full five minutes trying to understand why someone would do this willingly ("didn't you have a friend you could have called?") He eventually left after I politely and directly asked him to so that I could continue enjoying my meal.
I think some of this stems from an old fashioned way of thinking about ladies being unaccompanied. I enjoy having time to myself and people watching.
I don't understand why people actively do this? I guess it's natural to look at other people, but I would find it very uncomfortable to have someone sitting alone watching me.
It's not common in the U.S..... Looks weird too lol
And this is the reason I would never dine alone. It's cliche to say no one really cares that you're eating alone or no one notices what you do, but the truth is that other people are constantly judging you in public (maybe not constantly but people still are to a certain extent).
I don't mind eating out alone and don't really care what others think. I enjoy savoring my food and eat a little bit slower, so its perfect not having to hold up someone.
For going out to the bar. Yeah different story. It's harder to strike up a convo with someone sitting around you as they just talk about Football 24/7 which I have no interest at all in learning, watching or talking about it. I enjoy sports, just not Football.
For me it has nothing to do with what other people think, Its all about how I feel about it...
I am widowed and learning to do more things on my own, I have learned to go to the movies alone without thinking much about it...
I can eat lunch and read a paper or book and feel okay...
But I haven't learned to eat at a nice restaurant for dinner yet without feeling lonely..
It was such a social event for my husband and me & more about the conversation than about the food...
If and when I am able to do dinners alone I won't worry about what others think..
I wouldn't be insulted at the hostess saying "just one "
I have seen a hostess ask 2 people if there are "just 2" They are just trying to decide about a good table
and often people come in and have others still arriving behind them..
and about the service...I get good and bad service alone & with others.
Last week we had terrible service for a party of 8.. I am not going to assume bad service is because I am alone .
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