Great thread, boomer. I've always loved eating out alone. My favorite places to do this are places with bars -- not necessarily drinking bars, just some place that is clearly laid out for singles. I tend to get lost in my thoughts and enjoy watching people. Sometimes I like to read while I eat.
Any social stigma to eating alone that was present in junior high school either disappeared with age or has gone unnoticed with age.
I don't know the tearoom soz was talking about, but
this is the view (well, kind of) she must have had.
(I've laid the table for two, so you can invite one ...
... while I'll have my scones alone here
:wink: )
Aw, it's Walpole park!!
Spent a lot of time there.
Here's another pic:
I'd happily have tea with you any day, Walter.
That was definitely a nice thing about Madison restaurants, is that in those hours, people I knew were constantly wandering in and out -- do homework for a while, chat for a while, gaze out the window for a while, do homework for a while... nice.
Since my husband works in a restaurant I often go there for dinner - more or less alone. Of course, he is there - but he is working. In summer, I love to sit at an outside table with a magazine, read, watch the people sitting at the other tables and the people passing, listen to the people around me. And I really enjoy my food when I am eating alone. If I can't sit outside, I also prefer the bar like FreeDuck. Very often, I end up in a good conversation with other people sitting at the bar and really enjoy that.
As for hotels - I do prefer room-service breakfast. I do not really enjoy breakfast with lots of people around me.
Wow! That's a beautiful place you found, Sozobe. Wouldn't mind having lunch there, myself.
As far as dining alone, I think it depends a lot on the atmosphere of the place. I haven't "dined alone" in several years, not since college, as a lot of you have said.
But there are a couple of places, where I think I could do it. As Free Duck mentioned, sometimes there are places where you can dine at the bar, which is kind of nice.
There's this one place I go that has a nice, convival, friendly atmosphere. It's very trendy, has a nice "feel," a nice ambience. It's not like a neighboorhood "bar" or a smoky tavern -- it's more upscale than that. There a local "boutiques," artists, as well as business people, and it's the sort of place they would go to have lunch or dinner.
Once a friend and I had dinner sitting at the bar. Actually, "dinner" consisted of chili -- and a glass of milk. But it was sooo good. The bartenders where very friendly, they almost put on a show for us.
I could easily imagine having dinner or lunch by myself there, without feeling uncomfortable. There were also several tables around, with other diners.
There's also a place in NYC that I like, a cozy Irish pub. It's very comfortable, cute and friendly. It has a lot of "personality," in the best kind of welcoming way. It's probably a little too "busy" at the bar to actually have your dinner there -- but there are little tables all around where you could very easily sit and have dinner -- without feeling strange or isolated.
I also love the Irish accents of the wait staff there!
I was more or less single until I was 34, and then, since I was 59.
But even between those years, I often ate at restaurants alone, when husband and I were working separately. And, after we broke up, I dined my way through italy, for example, all all alone, though with many great conversations. Whatever onus there is on this seems weird to me. (Waves hand.)
(Hmmm, was it Cremona where I was the only woman in the room?)
Sometimes it is great fun being the only woman in the room. But alas, there is such a thing as too much attention. But as much as I enjoy the company of bright women I must admit I relish the company of bright men. I'm a tad short with boorish or rude behaviour, from men or women. If the conversation isn't interesting, I'd rather read a hair stylist magazine.
