As a manager at a high end restaurant, I have a couple of insider thoughts on "one-tops" as a solo diner is called in the biz.

1) I will never really understand the male one-top. 95% of solo male diners just sit at the bar, where you can get full dinner service and your choice of either a little bit of conversation with my bartender or you can be left alone to your own devices if you show obvious signs of not being in a social mood (book, newspaper, phone, etc.) I guess if you need some room to spread out, then okay, but is there a particular reason some are against sitting at the bar assuming it's not too crowded and too loud?

2) I do understand the female one-top because I see a lot of female one-tops that don't want to be right next to male one-tops because those fellas can't "read the table" as well as my bartenders can. A decent amount of female solo diners get hit on at the bar when they're clearly not in the mood to make new friends. (That said, in my bartending days, the solo female diner often struck up the less than professional conversation with me )

3) If a server ever asks "Are you expecting more people?" when you're sitting there with one menu, then that server is an idiot. On that note, I also feel the same way when we seat someone whose party isn't complete and they feel the need to comment to the server upon being greeted that, "Oh, there are more people coming" as if my hostesses would have sat a party of one with four menus just for grins.

Chris