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.