Ever have dinner at a restaurant by yourself?

[Anonymous]

Is this a real question from an adult?

No need to bring a whole book anymore since you can have a book on your phone.

[Anonymous]

When I am way way way too tired to cook and just want to be pampered with food and a good beer. This hadsn't happened often but some home projects will do just that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m having sushi at a restaurant by myself this evening.

All the time. A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.

As long as I have the money to pay for my meal what's to stop me? I do remember once going to a Turkish restaurant and the maitre'd tried to seat me in the back by the bathrooms. I refused and told him I liked another table by the window. There was no "reserved'" sign in the table and I sat down. He was practically apoplectic.

This is awesome!

[Anonymous]

Yes. Many times in business travel. Love it.

[Anonymous]

Of course.

Learn to love your own company.

[Anonymous]

Yes, often. I've done it in about a dozen countries.

Next week I will be in Japan and will eat alone in a different restaurant twice a day for the entire week.

I never realized eating alone in a restaurant was odd to anybody? If you don't do that, what do you do if you travel for work? To me, eating alone in a hotel room for a week would be much stranger, and also very depressing.

I always assumed anyone I saw eating alone was on a business trip, or even that they...like eating alone sometimes.

[Anonymous]

I’ve been doing this for years, mostly on business trips. It never occurred to me that this might be strange or that I should bring a book as a prop. I also enjoy staying an extra night whenever I’m in NYC to catch a sow, solo.

[Anonymous]

Catch a show not a sow!

[Anonymous]

I love it for work travel in major cities. It can feel awkward in certain environments like an area that is suburban with lots of families.

[Anonymous]

Yes, and I have been doing so since my early 20s. I was a solo international traveler a lot in college, and later on I did business trips in addition to solo travel for fun. I do it at home somewhat less often, but that’s more because I prefer my cooking to restaurant food. I do lots of things by myself- movies, other shows, etc.

[Anonymous]

Yes- lots of business travel in my past. I didn’t love it.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I go out to bars by myself tii

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, always bring a book.

+1

[Anonymous]

Those calling it "enjoyable" must be misanthropic loners. It's awkward and sad, if we're being totally honest. Eating out is a social event. Table for one or eating at the bar by yourself and scrolling on your phone or pretending to care about the sports match on the TV (if they have a TV) is embarrassing. Just get it to-go and save yourself the embarrassment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those calling it "enjoyable" must be misanthropic loners. It's awkward and sad, if we're being totally honest. Eating out is a social event. Table for one or eating at the bar by yourself and scrolling on your phone or pretending to care about the sports match on the TV (if they have a TV) is embarrassing. Just get it to-go and save yourself the embarrassment.

I think people who enjoy it do so precisely because they don’t HAVE to do it all the time, because they aren’t pathetic loners. The one period of time I hated eating out by myself (or going to a movie or museum or anything by myself) was a prolonged period of being single in my early 30s, with all my friends attached and starting to have kids. I would eat in my car rather than even eating by myself at, like, a Panera or something. Now, I don’t seek it out but if I’m out shopping and want to stop for a bite I really enjoy going to a decent restaurant by myself. If I am meeting DH or a friend for dinner, without kids, I always go early so I can savor a little time by myself at the bar or the table first. If I was lonely or didn’t like people, that’s when that would suck.