FlyerTalk Forums - Restaurants with the "party of one"

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- - Restaurants with the "party of one" (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/diningbuzz/1623741-restaurants-party-one.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by agp423 (Post 23889002)

When yall are dining alone...do you prefer a seat that faces other folks or away from other folks? Assuming the restaurant has no view.

Alone or with other people I prefer my back to the wall. Old habit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Badenoch (Post 23889850)

Alone or with other people I prefer my back to the wall. Old habit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Badenoch (Post 23889850)

Alone or with other people I prefer my back to the wall. Old habit.

Yeah but I hate being seated facing the lone diner at the adjacent table. For that reason I prefer a four seater so I have more choice which way I face. I'd still rather eat at the bar.

Restaurants with the "party of one"

I want to see all that is going on around me, so back to the wall

Oh, definitely. It's just not right to be unable to people-watch when dining alone.

Also, there's less risk of being sat facing a mirror - a pet hate of mine in restaurants...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Badenoch (Post 23889850)

Alone or with other people I prefer my back to the wall. Old habit.

This ^

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayhawkCO (Post 23835763)

Well, again, I'm a manager at a higher end restaurant, so a) there's no music blaring in my bar (any more so than in the main dining room) and b) it's not a "four deep at the bar"situation like when you were in college. My bar top has 17 seats, all with backs. The bar top is positioned so it is not set higher than a typical dinner table. Especially in the mid-week (when I assume most of the business travelers in this thread tend to eat alone in a restaurant), no one really orders drinks over the bar top so you're not likely to get elbowed. All the drinks for people not physically sitting at the bar top are coming through cocktail servers (from the bar area tables) and the servers from the main dinning room.

I actually take your last question a little bit insultingly. I actually think the exact opposite. As for the service concern, keep in mind most bartenders at nicer restaurants make more money than the servers, so therefore it is a promotion to get behind the bar. All of my bartenders were among the best at their job when they were servers, so in all likelihood, you will get better service at the bar than elsewhere. (Hence why I sit at the bar with my fiance when I go out to eat). Just my two cents.

Chris

You are spot on with your analysis of the single diners.

I am questioning what types of establishments these posters have been going to; to encounter a 4-deep line of people ordering drinks at the bars.

I assume, most of the posters here are travelers; like myself, and are the single diners during the week. On a given Monday-Thursday, I don't know how many 'bars' will be that busy to have a 4 deep line.

Also, its restaurants we're talking about here that also have a decent bar area. Places like Capital Grille, Bone Fish, even chains like TGIF, Ruby tuesday and such, the bar area are not that loud or busy.

Reading some of the comments here, I was thinking the posters were trying to have dinner at dance clubs or lounges.

Trying to choose a place for Thanksgiving dinner, solo. I made an OpenTable reservation at a moderate place (actually adjacent to and serving another hotel). They called me up and told me, "Dinner for one isn't offered. Special occassion."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Commie (Post 23902496)

Also, its restaurants we're talking about here that also have a decent bar area. Places like Capital Grille, Bone Fish, even chains like TGIF, Ruby tuesday and such, the bar area are not that loud or busy.

You don't think TGIF and Bone Fish have loud bar areas? When you have to shout just to place an order in the bar area at those places/

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrp96 (Post 23924678)

You don't think TGIF and Bone Fish have loud bar areas? When you have to shout just to place an order in the bar area at those places/

I, for one, have experienced high volume/decibels at TGIF, Bonefish and Ruby Tuesday at the bar. I can cope with the noise, but I hate people leaning around my plate trying to grab drinks or pay. Don't get me started about the pair of drunks sharing the bar with Mrs BV and me Thursday night at the Ruby Tuesday in Jefferson City, TN. We were not dining, but took a table to get away from them. Drunks are far less common in the dining room.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrp96 (Post 23924678)

You don't think TGIF and Bone Fish have loud bar areas? When you have to shout just to place an order in the bar area at those places/

I guess everyone has different perspective. But no, I don't find TGIF or Bone Fish to be loud at all. Sure its not quiet. But if I want quiet, I'll go to the library.
But that comment was targeted towards the posters saying there were 4-5 deep of people bumping into them ordering drinks.
I don't know how often a TGIF or Bone Fish have that many folks at the bar area during a Monday-Wednesday night.

Sometimes I just feel people are so anti-social. Its ok to talk to strangers once in a while. If you want quiet and have no one bother you, then there is always the hotel or room service. Otherwise, live a little, and life might not be as boring.

This is a weird thread.

I've eaten alone hundreds of times and I've never given it a second thought. I'll eat at the bar if there's a game on TV I'm interested in. Even if there are TVs in the main dining area, it's more fun watching sports at the bar. Otherwise, I like having a larger table/booth than the more cramped bar area. But if it's a 30 minute wait for a table vs getting seated right away at the bar....bar it is.

But aside from that, I find it odd that people put so much thought into it and over-analyze. If a host/ess has an issue with me dining alone, that's their problem, not mine.

As for noise...I'm in a public place where there are a lot of other people talking. It's going to be loud, bar or dining area. If I want quiet, I stay in my hotel room and order food in, or go to the supermarket and buy something to take with me.

If 1/2 the place is empty and they stick you at a "bad table" as a solo, ask for a different table.

I think it is weird if you don't have a non-loner mentality, at least how Anneli Rufus defines it in her book "Party of One: A Loner's Manifesto".

Though I think many aspects of her loners are traits non-loners share as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by negs (Post 23839796)

Me: (I pretend that I'm not necessarily interested in dining): "Um, I'm having a bit of a problem, and I was hoping that you might be able to help me out."

Why would I even hint, let alone say aloud that dining alone is a problem? You start this way, you are saying it is a problem...

I live alone, I travel a lot and I dine out a lot - both when I am in my home city and when I am on a trip - usually with the kindle in tow. The restaurants exist so that people can dine in them. It does not matter if it is 1 person or 10 - it is still customers.

Now - if someone feels uncomfortable dining alone - that's a different story. But in my experience restaurants and the people working there really do not care - if anything, the waiter usually will stop more often to check on me when I am alone than if I have company and we are talking...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Commie (Post 23946833)

Same here. When I'm dining alone early in the week I'll pick pretty much whatever restaurant I want for food and expect that the bar area will be suitable for having dinner without being jostled around by the party crowd. Except when there's a major sporting event on TV that evening, of course.