I have no problem asking to be seated elsewhere. I did that Sunday night when the hostess seated me where I could not get a clear view of the cook and waitress kissing/fondling in the adjacent dining room.

I'm more bothered by hotels putting all the guests together. I need quiet to sleep. Eating, not so much.

This happens to me all the time, I usually ask for another table before I am seated. I have never had an issue being reseated, but then once I am it seems to take forever for a server to come over. I get the usual "Oh, I thought you were waiting for someone". Yeah, I was waiting for you to come over and take my order.

Could it be she hates her job and took it out on you by doing that?

Yep.. happened to us the other night. Nearly empty restaurant when we arrive, the hostess sits us between the only other occupied tables. We asked to move to sit next to the Christmas tree instead.

I rarely dine alone in a proper restaurant but regardless i usually point at a free table where i'd like us to sit and ask if we can sit there

I don't leave the choice upto the waitress

Oh, I was thinking it was the waitress. One person can do both when it's slow or if the restaurant is small.

I wondered this, too. If I don't like where the host/hostess is directing me, I don't hesitate to ask for a specific, preferrable table.

Good for you! Hopefully the host/hostess got the message. I wouldn't have hesitated to bring it up at checkout either.

Last night I posted to this interesting thread (post #7), and thought of a topical and interesting reverse twist to the original question at hand -

Have you ever dined solo in a fairly empty restaurant in what you deem is a good table only to have the host(ess) seat a person(s) uncomfortably close to you? What did you do?

This happened twice to me. In one case they seated a lady a table away from me just as I received my food. I didn't like it, but shrugged it off, and began to eat my food. Meanwhile, this lady pulled out her cell phone and proceeded to conduct a loud and irritating cell-yell call. After a few minutes, I simply picked up my plate, took it to another table a bit further away, along with my other belongings. I did not ask the server - I was just too irritated, as her shouting was just too annoying, so I just moved.

My server approached me and I explained what happened, and all was well. The server was extremely apologetic while the cell yell lady continued shouting on her phone and shot a mean stink eye look at me. Oh well.

In another instance, I was having lunch in a chain restaurant in a nice, quiet and empty corner of the restaurant when they threw together 3 adjoining tables and sat a loud group there. Not much I could do here, except finish quickly and leave. Now I simply tell the host(ess) to put me in a quiet and secluded spot, to do some intense reading, and hope for the best.

Has this happened to you solo diners out there lately?

Again, good for you! The only thing I would have added would have been a polite request to the cell-phone user to take his/her call outside or in the lobby - anywhere other than right next to you. A polite "you don't want me to hear your business and I don't want to hear your business" usually suffices.

Stopped in for an early lunch at a local restaurant a few months ago; hostess put me in a far corner, opposite the bar, & 2 tables away from where the manager was doing his daily briefing for all the waitstaff (gives you some idea of how early & empty the place was). I couldn't figure out whether the hostess was mad that I was alone (so many restaurants have that irrational fear/hatred of solo female diners) or that it was early, but after a few minutes of listening to the briefing, & all the joking that went along w/it, I got up & started to walk out. I give the mgr credit because he figured out right away what had happened, chased me down before I got out the door, apologized for doing his briefing in the middle of the dining room, seated me elsewhere & insisted on picking up the tab for my lunch.

Been back numerous times since.

I dine alone quite often - not only back when I was single, but now that I work and eat out at lunch. I prefer it, I bring a book, and zone out. I've sometimes been seated in the 'gathering', but asked to be sat at least one table away. Usually that's fine.

I've worked serving tables before, and if there is just one person working, having the tables near eachother is preferable for better/faster service. But they needn't be RIGHT next to eachother.

On a somewhat related note, me and two friends were having a quiet dinner, having just gotten our food, at a hotel we were staying at. The three of us were artists, and had just had a tough day at a very hot and sweaty art show with little sales. We were cooling off and winding down. The rest of the hotel restaurant was absolutely empty.

In walks dozens, and I mean dozens of bikers. They were loud, they were rowdy, but they were very interesting to watch The 'leader', I suppose, Old Mick, came up to us, sat down, introduced himself, and said, "I understand you folks were just sitting here having a quiet dinner when we invaded, and I apologize for that. Your tab is settled up, please enjoy and relax as much as you can! Just tip the waitress, and all is set". We thought that was sweet of him, and we did hang around and talk to them a while before we collapsed in our rooms (and yes, we did tip the waitress nicely).

That is extraordinarily decent of the man. ^

I was at a crappy corner Chinese restaurant in Frankfurt once. I think there were five tables max - four four-tops and one two-top. Three of the four-tops were taken. I was alone and sat at the remaining four-top, closest to the door.

About three minutes after I ordered, three guys came in and didn't have anywhere to sit. I offered to move to the free two-top, but they insisted I stay as they didn't want to inconvenience me. The only problem was that they had nowhere to sit. So they sat with me, taking the remaining three free seats at my table.

It was the most uncomfortable fifteen minutes I've spent in a long time. We spent about thirty seconds making awkward conversation and then proceeded to studiously ignore each other for the rest of the meal. Needless to say, I wolfed down my food and bolted ASAP.

That was very nice of him to do that. He seems like a very nice person, and it probably let you relax a bit.