Dining out alone

You’re out of food at home, or you don’t feel like cooking anything, or maybe you just feel like getting out of the house. Your SO and/or friends are all otherwise occupied so you will be dining alone. You don’t want fast food and you want a beer or something stronger than a soda with your meal, so you head down to your favorite sit-down restaurant.

It’s busy but not packed so you can sit almost anywhere. There’s nothing notable going on at the bar (there’s no important game on, it’s not happy hour, etc.).

Do you get a table for one or do you just eat at the bar?

Table for one and I always carry a book.

It’s been a few years though - this typically only occurs on business trips for me.

Personally I prefer to just get a table. I don’t feel weird about it. I like the personal attention combined with the “going away and leaving me alone” of a server at a table. Plus I like to spread out a bit and not have to deal with all the jostling and general busyness of the bar (if I’m not there to hang out at the bar).

When I traveled on business, it was always dining at the bar. I’m not going to tie up a table on a server, when I can grab a single chair at the bar to eat, and linger afterwards with another beer. Like Moonlitherial, book in hand, and I’m good to go.

I prefer the bar even if I am not alone.

I voted “bar”, but if I’m traveling I’ll have a book with me, and I’ll ask for a table. But on those occasional nights that my wife is away with the kids or something and it’s just me at home, I’ll belly up to the bar.

I’ll do one or the other depending on how I feel that night. I always feel a little weird about eating at the bar, particularly if I’m not actually drinking anything, but it is really nice for a single person. Unless the place is packed I generally don’t feel bad about asking for a table, though.

This. I always read when dining alone, so a table is best so I don’t bother people or the bartender.

Ditto Moonlitheriel and silenus. Reading a book at the bar always seems to attract the attention of people who feel sorry for you and want to chat (not chat up, at least not anymore). Book in a small booth, please.

Same here. Luckily, my wife generally feels the same way.

It depends. If there are people at the bar likely to want to, ‘chat me up’, I’m getting a table for 1.

If the people at the bar seem involved with each other, and I don’t have to squeeze in, I’ll eat at the bar.

I checked off table for one, but what I prefer is a booth for four – I like a comfortable padded seat and I like to have a bit of space to lay out my book.

Table for one, with my iPad.

I’ll do table for one or at the bar if the place is busy. Always bring something to read though.

Table for one preferably, but the bar is OK if there’s a long wait for a table. And I bring a book, of course.

I used to feel wierd about it (like decades ago) but a: I got into visiting a nudist club (with friends often, but also alone) and b: I spent several years driving a truck over the road, so I relaxed about solo dining. I rarely do it any more, but it doesn’t feel strange at all.

A table for one. Many restaurants don’t have a separate bar.

This is pretty much how I feel.

Table for one, with good light for my book/nook. In some places, the bar is the smoking section, and I am NOT eating there.

Back when there were lunch counters, as opposed to bars with barstools, I’d be happy to sit at the counter with my book. I can’t climb up a barstool very comfortably, though, even if the bar is nonsmoking.

In general, I’d make it to go and eat at home. I really only go to restaurants with company. When I’m somewhere alone on business, I get some food and eat it in my hotel room. I prefer to eat my meal at my own pace while watching some tv, instead of the quick, rushed meal I would be having in a restaurant.

Always the table (you can read a book) except at Sushi place. I have no intentions of talking to stangers (in the OP hypothetical)