Before retiring traveled a lot and did read in restaurants. I always thoght it would be a great policy to ask single diners if they would like somebody else seated at their table. Then the next single person could be asked the same, and we’d have a chance to converse while eating.
Never found a place that did this.
Lou, if I’m eating out alone, it’s probably fast food. Very rarely do I eat alone in a restaurant.
By they way, I agree about holding open books; it has to be the right food. Which is why I like the crossword puzzles frequently; it stays flat.
At home I’m more likely to watch TV if eating alone.
I travel a lot and work remotely, so I am always eating alone at restaurants. I’ll always bring something to read unless I’m going to a Chili’s type place and I know there’s a ballgame on. I feel really self-consious sitting at a table in a decent place with nothing to do. I don’t actually read while I’m eating, but I read before and after the food is served.
It’s not the eating alone that bothers me, it’s the “What the hell am I supposed to do while I’m waiting” that is the problem.
That’s an interesting idea; I wonder how many people would enjoy that?
Because I have to say, I would always say no. I would really rather not dine with a random stranger. I could see that appealing to some people, though.
Yes, always. Newspaper or magazine, usually. Sometime one of those free things like New Times or Citylink (which I think Chicago Reader is similar too).
I never voluntarily eat out by myself. It doesn’t depress me or anything, I just don’t see the point of going out if there’s no one to share the experience with. There are a lot of things I don’t do alone, for the same reason – like travel, go to movies/concerts/plays, etc. But then, I’m one of those Type 1 people. 
(That said, I don’t think I would like KlondikeGeoff’s idea: I wouldn’t want to share any of the above experiences with a random stranger.)
The only times I’ve eaten out alone were when I was traveling for work, but that was with my old job (almost 4 years ago). I would read then, but preferred newspapers to books: I read a little faster than average, so I found that I was always having to put my fork down to turn the page (while the other hand held the book), but with a newspaper I could fold it so that it layed flat on the table, with enough content showing to give me several minutes of reading material.
Long time traveler. When on the road, I ALWAYS brought a book to the resturant to read while I ate. Some things are a bit messy to eat with only one hand, but you learn to adapt if you’ve done it enough.
Now that I don’t travel, I still have lunch every day… guess what? Still bring a book to read. I’ve also found a used bookstore near a sub shop I frequent, so if I’m out of reading material, I stop there, and have lunch at the nearby shop.
I also read at nearly every opportunity I have. Walking to the car, sitting on the can, having a smoke, etc…
It’s a habit (reading), but it’s better than most/all of the other habits I may have gathered over the years.
-Butler
I’m another in the “always has a back-up book” category. If I have to, I’ll stop and buy something. I read constantly. I read in the tub.
Me, too! Every day at lunch, it’s my ‘alone’ time for the day.
Suggestion: sit at the bar/counter with the rest of us losers. For a special treat, sit next to the drinks station, and the waitresses and bartender will harass you (friendly-like) when it’s slow. Hey, barstaff need friends, too, and it’s really boring to have those idiotic, thirty second conversations with drunks.
World Weekly News…the best! I don’t keep up with it regularly, but I do like catching up on the adventures of Batboy once in a while. Last I heard, he was in Afganistan helping the Marines sort out this bin Laden business, though I’m guessing he’s probably the pointman (bat?) doing pre-invasion infiltration for the upcoming overthrow of North Korea (coming to a Theater of Combat near you!)
I always bring a book…or two…or, uh, more. Or sometimes some nice math problems, or a sketchpad and pencil. And yeah, I keep one in the car (Jonathon Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and other Tales, right now) and two or three in the bookbag. I’ve been known to bring a book into the bar on occasion as well…okay, I’m not infrequently found in the back room of the Good Luck with a good book and a tumbler of Jameson. :rolleyes:
Books…they’re what’s for dinner.
Stranger
I’m so used to multi-tasking that I’ll read the paper over dinner while sitting down with the family. Of course, I still converse with everyone. Otherwise it would be rude. 
I’ve always got a book with me wherever I go. Sometimes two, if I know I might finish the first that day.
I don’t always read while eating though, sometimes I’ll people-watch instead. It just depends on the mood I’m in.
I always have a book when I’m eating out alone.
I’ve been known to stop at a bookstore for something to read before going out, if I didn’t have a book in the car.
When I go from the couch to the kitchen in my one bedroom apartment, I take something to read.
90% of the time, I do take something with me when I’m eating alone (in fact, the search for something worth reading often seriously screws up my mealtimes). Sometimes, I just people watch. But they’re not always interesting - the book usually is.
that is so just opposite of my mindset. It’s fascinating.
That’s how I feel as I read what most of you are posting. 
In all sincerity, what do you gain from being out at a restaurant and reading? How is it better/different from reading at home, or someplace not public?
I recently had something like this come up while exchanging e-mails with a guy from an online dating site: we shared our respective Memorial Day weekend plans, and his consisted of going to the local Starbucks with a book and hanging out. I know that lots of people do it (with many substituting a laptop for a book), but I never have – and I can’t imagine that I ever would. I’d have to be not able to hang out at home for some reason. It’s like, “Hmm, I’m feeling social, but not really. I’ll go be among people, yet pursue a solitary activity.” When I saw that in his e-mail, I had a feeling that we might not click … and we didn’t, but probably not just because he likes to hang out at Starbucks by himself.
I really don’t understand people-watching by yourself. What is the point if you can’t talk about the people you’re watching with someone??
Yep yep - I carry a book in the car, keep one at work and several at home. In fact, most days at work I prefer reading and eating to carrying on a conversation with a coworker. I like my coworkers but my lunch hour is my relaxation time to get away inside a book and unwind.
I don’t usually go to dinner by myself but during my lunch hour if I’m desiring a specific restaurant’s food I have no problem grabbing a book and heading for the restaurant.
I also love going to the movies by myself. It was a treat in college to go get some boba and go see a random flick. Ah - me time!
Come to think of it, I even people watch alone. I would go to Disneyland to study sometimes ( I had a pass and it was a nice change of scenery) and I truly enjoyed myself. I’d study for a while then grab a corn dog and start watching the masses. 
I think I’m odd. hehe
What I get from it is a meal and no cleaning up afterwards. I don’t go sit in a fancy restaurant by myself, it’s usually Smitties or some fast food place. If I’m going some place nice I prefer to go with family or a friend and share the experience. Same if I’m going to hang out at Starbucks. I can go there and enjoy a caramel macchiato, read my book and listen to the murmur of people around me. The best cafe I found here is a combination cafe/second hand book store. I can buy a new novel for a couple bucks and sit and read while I drink a latte (their specialty).
It’s better than sitting at home and gets me out of the house for a bit. And with me, where else am I going to read? At home I have distractions by family or things that need to be done. If I can’t afford a coffee, I’ll find a park bench somewhere. It gives me a break and some time to breathe.
I always read while I’m eating out alone. I have also been known to duck into a bookstore or a drugstore to pick up a book or magazine if–horror of horrors–I don’t have one in my car or my purse or my briefcase.
<thinking>Should I reveal that I also read in the bathtub, when I’m sitting on the toilet, when I’m walking by myself, during the red lights when I’m driving around? No, I shouldn’t reveal that. It’s a little too much personal information.</thinking>
I often eat out alone. What I gain? A (hopefully) good meal, without having to bother about preparing it myself.
And I essentially always bring something to read. Being alone, what else would I do while waiting for being served, between dishes, while sipping my coffee, etc…?
(actually I tend to stay for quite a long time in restaurants, which is anyway more or less the norm over here)
IOW, the general idea is that I go out to eat, and secondarily read while eating. Not the other way around (though actually I enjoy it to some extent, in the same way some people enjoy reading/writing/people watching while drinking something in a bar).
Count me in the reading-when-eating-out group. And I do take myself out for dinner because it’s a treat not to have to cook and clean and mess with all of it. I’ve also gone to movies and plays by myself. I would have loved on several occasions to have company, but on each of these occasions my friends/family had something else going on. I’m not inclined to stay at home alone just because no one is able to go out with me. Where’s the fun in that?
To address a comment by another doper (sorry, I’m too lazy to go back and look up who wrote it) I people watch frequently alone no matter where I am. I learn a lot watching other people that is incorporated into my acting. Plus it’s kinda fun making up stories about the people I see.