Question of the Day: Table for 1?
Anyone have trouble getting a table/service when dining solo? How do you handle less than pleasant staff? Seems that in the burbs most restaurants can't or won't accomodate a lone diner. I've had this experience even in niebourhood places with counter seats & service.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
8 Comments:
I eat alone frequently, and I've rarely had any trouble with it. But if it did happen, I would say to the host/ess or whoever it was, "I was a customer, and you just lost me. Goodbye."
thepictsie at 6:10PM on 06/11/07
Why don't you make a reservation for two and then downsize? At Per Se and at Country single diners are treated like royalty and given VIP treatment. Both chefs believe that if you are willing to dine there alone (perhaps for 3 hours or more), you are to be cherished.
Phoebe Damrosch at 7:12PM on 06/11/07
Same here. In fact I would say I typically get better service when alone.
shea at 7:13PM on 06/11/07
Attitude is crucial. I'm extroverted, so dining solo is most likely less stressful for me than for someone who is self-conscious or shy. I have fun chatting with servers. The only exceptions I can think of happened when I was traveling, but not in the U.S. and not recently. Men in certain parts of the world are (or were) unaccustomed to seeing women eating or drinking by themselves, and I encountered my fair share of jerks who figured I was looking for a "good time."
baboo at 9:54PM on 06/11/07
I havent lived in the burbs in ages, but I have backpacked across Europe solo and then moved to a city where I dont know all that many people...so you could say I know a bit about dining by myself.
I've definitely found that I got more attentive service when alone, because servers are more likely to be chatty when they're not interrupting anything (okay, or out of pity. Whatever.) Also, same as Prof Plum said, people tend to be flattered that you're willing to eat somewhere alone and compensate you for that.
On the other hand though, if you're a woman, I would be wary about in in certain places- namely, I was eating lunch by myself in Rome and the 50year old (I'm 22...so not exactly appropriate) server tried to turn an awkward flirting routine into way more than that...so if anything I'm wary about people being TOO friendly.
Still, if its a relatively casual place I try to have a book or magazine on hand, and if people seem to be on the frosty side, I think its totally okay to freeze them out in reverse.
Annmarie at 11:01PM on 06/11/07
I dine alone about 20% of the time, specifically if I'm traveling in a new city. I've not really had any issues but I agree with thepictsie ... it doesn't matter if I'm alone or with a band of friends holding wads of cash in their hands to spend, attitude from host/esses and servers is not acceptable.
Would I be willing to sit in the bar/lounge area as a lone diner as opposed to taking up a four top? Probably, as long as I can get the same menu and service as I would in the main dining room. Just ask. Don't put me there without asking me.
rbryants at 10:17AM on 06/12/07
I usually eat at a bar or counter if available when dining alone.
Vitello Tonnato at 10:24PM on 06/12/07
When I first began writing about restaurants, I was single, and made sure to visit each spot at least once alone. Got Siberia-ed into a separate dining room once with no other diners at all until they brought in a couple with a cranky toddler. Yes, I wrote about it in the magazine.
However, sometimes you just have to speak up. Another restaurant, another town: Waiter had been all attitude, and when my main course arrived, I asked, "It looks busy. Are you having a bad night?"
"No," he snapped.
"Then stop," I replied crisply, "flinging my food around."
Things were better after that.
I think suburbia is worse than cities. I 've also heard more complaints from men in recent years than women, which surprises me. Community tables are great, of course, for singles. A friend of mine used her professional title when she called for a reservation, and "Dr. Whosis" was bowed to her table.
And frankly, if you penalize them in a tip, tell the management why. Very important.
lemons at 9:58AM on 06/13/07