At Twist by Pierre Gagnaire in Las Vegas, solo diners are treated very well - you never feel self-conscious as a solo diner. The servers are adept at pacing the meal, and they will bring over two of M. Gagnaire's books to your table, allowing you to see and read about some of the master chef's philosophies and favorite dishes.

Vegas probably gets a higher proportion of solo diners than most destinations. If you're dining alone there, you generally get treated very well, at least in my experience, especially in the high end places..

Visitors
 

I think this is mainly because most of the Vegas restaurant staff know that solo diners are visitors, not locals. Most of them respect that hese visitors are either tourists or conventioners, and they want them to leave their cash in Vegas. Sort of like people dining alone in airport. It's very common, almost the norm, to be dining alone in an airport. People just understand it. Perhaps there is some of that in Vegas also.

How to Endure Eating Alone In a Strange City?
 

Just noticed this question on the back of some "unofficial guide for business travellers" book, and wondered how FTers would respond, as we have many members here who travel solo once in a while, or even quite often.

So, how do you endure eating alone in a strange city? Do you feel like everyone's staring at you, or do you just eat in peace without wondering what others think of you? Do you miss the company of others? Do you actually enjoy eating alone?

Obviously, I mean eating out at a restaurant somewhere, not just tinned soup heated up in your hotel room.

Eating alone can be quite pleasurable. One can observe people, chat with strangers, read, try something exotic. I tend to like it.

Cheers,
T.

I enjoy eating alone. I certainly haven't noticed anyone staring at me. If the food is really good dining alone can be a pleasure, although I do take something to read.

I usually sit at the bar and bring something to read, or select a restaurant where they have Buzztime trivia and play that. Obviously, those are usually sports bars and such, but I usually end up talking to others who are playingg trivia as well.

Traveling or at home?
 

If I'm traveling, I feel 100% fine eating alone at a sit-down restaurant in a new town. Nobody knows me; I don't know them. I have a reason I am alone; I'm traveling for work. No problem at all.

However, if I'm at home, I won't go out to a restaurant to eat alone, only take out. I would feel kinda lame eating alone in my home town.

I'll admit to feeling a little awkward eating dinner alone in town. Mrs BV was gone a couple weeks last month and I decided to treat myself to dinner out. I felt funny walking through the front door of the restaurant as neighbors were doing the same. They took a table and I headed for the bar.

Lunch out is different. I almost never invite coworkers to join me. I prefer lunch by myself whether in my office or down the road at Subway.

Mr. Kipper is out of town now, and I don't have a problem sitting at the bar having dinner by myself. I figure that anyone who I know who sees me knows Mr. Kipper is out of town, or if they ask why I'm eating alone, I'll let them know.

I like doing pretty much anything alone so eating alone, even in strange cities, is not a problem for me. I used to bring a book but I find it somewhat unwieldy and I don't like to get food on my books. What I usually do is bring a crossword puzzle with me, especially one I'll spend a lot of time on. I can keep that on the table and study it while I wait for my food and when I'm eating and it keeps me busy.

Eating alone is a great time to try new types of restaurants or dishes you've always wanted to because you don't have to worry about your friends/significant other/colleagues getting mad at you for talking them all out of going to Chilis and instead trying something off the wall.

When I used to take business trips with big groups of colleagues and we had breakfast, lunch and 8-10 hours of meetings together, I couldn't wait for a solo dinner so I could unwind, it was my favorite part of the day usually. Sushi bars were my favorite place usually.

I would say chains like Fridays, houighlans, Ruby tuesdays.

some sports bars are nice to be alone depending upon the season, time of day ect. i always dine alone. you can always sit at the bar.
some restaurants have outdoor seating it's fun to sit alone.

The shame of eating alone...
 

Here I am in one of the nicest cities in Europe sitting in my hotel room on the 13th floor with stunning views.

As Berlin prepares to go out on a Saturday night, I am on Google Maps trying to find a tiny local restaurant or decent take away so I can save myself the embarrassment of eating alone on this weekend business trip.

I can find several restaurants with good reviews on various search engines but how do I overcome my illogical and immature fear of the shame of eating alone?

Do I brave the stares of "normal" people and allow them to think that my date has stood me up? Or that I walked in by mistake when really I wanted a McDonalds? Or do I eat anything I want, without checking prices, in the knowledge that my bill will be paid by my company?

First world problems ... :-)

How I hate this part of my business trips!

No shame! You are in an awesome city - go enjoy it!

I say this as someone who went on his own to a top sushi place in Tokyo (Sushi Yoshitake) without speaking a word of Japanese (among other places around the world I've eaten on my own both for personal and business travel).

Just be confident and enjoy. There are so many business travelers these days I think it's a lot more common than you might think.

Any Arab or Turkish restaurant in Berlin will welcome you with open arms. Or a family style Italian...Hmm, why not one of the "retro German" joints aimed at the startup generation.

Just head out and you'll find something based on gut feeling. The traditional peek through restaurant windows gives better results than internet platforms. ;)