When traveling alone on pleasure trips I will have no problem sitting outside on a patio or at the Bar area. I people watch, sip a nice Merlot and also reflect in my mind the expierences I'm having I browse at travel books, write a postcard, Just glad to be in Europe and am especially nice to the server and enjoy any light conversing that we do.

Much prefer to eat alone, don't want conversations with my seat mate on a plane and definately don't want conversations with a stranger at the same dinner table.

Thank you. Interesting. In this informal and statistically unsound survey, lots of folks prefer to dine alone.

I'm in the minority here. I think I may start a thread for those who'd prefer not to dine alone, asking how they find people to eat with (if they do). So, far, suggestions include eating at the restaurant bar (though dine-aloners like to do this too), using CommunityBuzz or couchsurfing.com. I'll make a new post for those who don't like to dine alone.

When traveling just by myself I just eat at the bar. I would not consider normal table service if just dining alone.

I actually enjoy finding new restaurants in a city and eating alone if I don't have friends or family around. If they serve at the bar, I'm there. If not, just place me somewhere lit up so I can read. I generally find some staff at the establishment that's willing to engage in conversation and find out more about the city that I'm in.

You may be in the minority on this particular thread, but I don't think you're in the minority at all in the big picture. I've had countless people ask me how I can even contemplate eating alone in a restaurant, and I've heard countless people say they can't/won't do it, including ALL of my friends. I truly believe that the VAST majority agree with you.

It's not that I like dining alone. I just would prefer dining alone to having to dine with someone I didn't know, or barely knew.

I like to have dinner alone when I'm in a city where I have no friends or relatives. This is my time to just let go myself and relax.

Depending on the mood and the place, I may seat in a table or just in the bar... and very few times in the hotel.

I go either way depending on my mood, but 90% of the time I don't mind sitting in a bar area of a restaurant with a Business Week or Economist magazine and enjoying a meal. I rarely go somewhere where I am forced to sit at a table alone for dinner.

The worst part for me is that it feels like I always get stuck beside the one person who is chewing with his mouth open. It's poor form and rude to others around and it disrupts my enjoyment of the evening.

I find that chatty bartenders and waitstaff are generally very enjoyable and make the trip that much more interesting.

I live alone, and go out for lunch everyday alone when I'm home. Not a big deal for me.

Though I have no problem eating alone in a restaurant and have and do so a fair bit and enjoy at times, I'd much rather prefer to talk to someone over a meal. If it is with a client, colleague or someone work-related, but not a "work meal" then I try to keep work out of the discussion.

if the place is casul and you can get a conversaion with a nearby table then maybe you can ask to join them...

in chinatown where i live some restaurants will stick you at one side of a table and stick some strangers at the other side...sometimes we just wind up talking and swapping suggestions...

Agreed. I was eating lunch in Paris and a woman the next table over struck up a conversation with me all throughout our meal. I tried to be pleasant and see it as another way to experience the city (she was a Parisian) but it made me so stressful to have a stranger see me eat. Listening to her while trying to dine, I ended up choking on my food, having the chokey-coughs for the rest of my meal.

I don't particularly mind eating alone, though it depends somewhat on the vibe of a given restaurant.

I detest eating at the bar, though. Usually the seating is less comfortable and it just doesn't feel relaxing to me.

One thing that might help the OP is to look for restaurants with communal tables. I've eaten at a handful of these (e.g. Buddakan in Philadelphia) over the years and it can be an interesting experience. There's a list on solodining.com

I also prefer to dine alone from time to time, especially after a week of business meetings. Preferably some place where I can relax.

If I've had a long day I prefer to eat alone. Usually, I prefer a small table in the corner of the dining room where I can observe the entire room. There's usually something interesting going on.

If I'm at a restaurant that has seating at an 'exhibition kitchen', I'll often grab that. Over the years I've had great conversations with the chefs, learned a lot about cooking certain foods and even been given a couple of tours of the back kitchen 'cause the chef liked me.

Third choice: eat at the bar if they've got TV/Sports on. Not really interested in talking to the people next to me but I do the usual pleasantries if they are so inclined. Eat dinner, watch the game or whatever and go back to the hotel.

As another poster mentioned, delivery service to your hotel is often better than room service. I live in Orange County, CA and there is a service here called Restaurants On the Run (www.rotr.com) that will deliver from over 60 restaurants and a wide variety of cusines.