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@sailordave~ thanks for the fiction selections. I eat off of the non -fiction and just feel taste somehow from the fiction food novels.
I have many to add to the list...time. Will do later.

@jbeach- I can wait for Orangette's book!

I forgot to mention the wonderfully witty Lady Agnes Jekyll's 'Kitchen Essays'. She was a great society hostess who wrote food articles for The Times around the turn of the last century. I found a couple of audio readings here:
http://www.talkingoffood.com/listen/2-audio-content/12-kitchen-essays.html

I'm do apologize for bumping up an old topic, I just wanted to extend a heartfelt thanks. This thread inspired me to hit Barnes and Noble and Half Price Books to seek out food related books that weren't just packed with informative recipes, but wisdom and wit as well.

What I found was a goldmine: How to Cook a Wolf, The Man Who Ate Everything, Tender at the Bone, Clementine in the Kitchen, and The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating.

I'm now on cloud 9 as I giddily face the decision of where to start. A big thanks to Serious Eats and the SE community!

Yep. In a somewhat pricey place my family went when I was young, I sat starring at the wall the entire meal. No mirror, no pictures, just a blank reddish brown wall (yes, even after all these years, I still remember the color) The food and service was good though.
A place we go to where my parents live has a lovely table right by the kitchen that you get if you don't call your reservation in early enough. The clatter of the dishes makes me jump out of my skin every time.
I've had lots of lousy tables at a variety of (some as lousy as the tables) places. Too many to list.
Since this seems to have become the place for a rant about bad dining experiences however, here is mine: When I was young (around 12) my family ate a place while vacationing. It was a local bar and grill that passed for a restraunt in those parts. Anyway, the table close to us consisted of a loud-mouthed dad, and a hippyish mother who watched joyfully as their bratty 5 or 6 year old boy ran circles around the restraunt. She did this whilst breast feeding the lads youner sibling with her breast fully exposed. No modesty at all, hannging it waay out there. (please, I am a man of the 21rst century and am not opposed to breast feeding in public, so don't attack me, but this happened in the late70's and I not exaggerting the level of exposure).
Anyway, every time Mr. Loud-mouth and Mrs. One Boob's brat would run by my seat, he would kick/hit my chair. This went on for what seemed an eternity and I became noticeably upset by it. When our food finally arrived, the clumsy server tipped her drink tray, spilling a full glass of pop (mine) down my back! Mr. Loud-mouth was quick to proclaim "that should cool him off". Mrs. One Boob chuckled, shaking the suckling babe off her teat. Their brat stopped running and fell on the floor laughing. Seriously. I wanted blood!
On the other end of the spectrum,
My wife and I went on vacation this past summer with another couple. They brought their young son, and we our young niece and nephew. We all stopped to eat at a little place in town, and it was a disaster.
Mind you, the kids are well behaved in general, so this is a rariety.
First our niece knocked over her drink, which was really no big deal, just a mess. Next, our nephew was scurmming on his chair a bit and managed to fall right off of it. The table nears us exploded in laughter (it was comical, but I suppressed mine) Our nephew became embarrased and promptly hid under the table. It took a bit of coaxing to get him to come out, but after a while he wiped his tears and returned to his seat once again happy. Not really a huge deal either.
Heres the capper. Our friends young son insisted on sitting beside me next to the other two kids. This seemed to bother his mom a bit, who is kind of a mother hen, but I didn't think much of it I soon realised her concern when the food came. It seems the boy had the habit of gobbling his food bad in huge bites if mom wasn't their to chop it up for him. By the time I had taken a few bites of my meal, he had already choked down 3/4's of his hotdog. His mom noticed his chipmunk cheeks and reminded him to take smaller bites and chew his food. Too late. He began chocking and threw everything up on the floor. His mom swooped him up as he continued to gag, and he threw up all over her! I was relieved to see he was breathing. The other two children looked on wide eyed and opened mouthed. My neice later gave me that "jeeze" look, which I then gave her in return. We all apoligized repeatedly for everything that had happened, with acceptance from all around us. Things returned to normal, and we left without further event. The server even gave our friend's son a toy for his horrible ordeal. It was quite a show.

MFK Fisher a hundred times over.

Also Laurie Colwin (what a loss), and almost all the others. Mr. Meatloaf is a big AJ Liebling fan. Slater is an excellent writer, and I liked reading Nigella long before I saw her photo or heard her voice. I've had the pleasure of Danny Meyer, Bud Trillin and Tony Bourdain in person, so I admit to some prejudice on them. Steingarten's character I can't comment on, but I do appreciate his work, especially his discussion on learning to eat things one dislikes, which I think some people can gain from.

And so many more. I think I learned to eat from books before I sat at an adventurous table.

As a regular "single" diner, I often get a crappy table, even if I'm in a relatively empty restaurant. I've made reservations for one and still gotten a terrible table. I don't want to eat at the bar every single time, so I ask for a table instead. The best case is when I'm on the periphery of the room. I've actually been seated FACING A WALL on more than one occasion.
Now I just ask if the restaurant can accommodate a single diner, and ask to see the table first. If it annoys the maitre d', I thank him or her and leave.

@GirlintheCurl - I totally forgot to mention John Thorne! I adore him.

My favorite is the 1988 "Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen" by Laurie Colwin--my parents make the most delicious bread out of this book. And just got the 2008 "Hometown Appetites: The Story of Clementine Paddleford, The Forgotten Food Writer Who Chronicled How America Ate". Am so happy that the Calvin Trillin books were mentioned, too.

"choice cuts" edited by mark kurlansky. it's bits and pieces of food writing throughout history, from old (incredibly vague) recipes to essays on food to food-related excerpts from novels.

"Stealing Buddha's Dinner" by Bich Minh Nguyen
"The Apprentice" by Jacques Pepin
"Something from the Oven" by Laura Shapiro
Anything by John T Edge
"The Perfectionist" Rudolph Chelminski

Oh, and while we're at it, James Thurber's The Great Quillow! Lots of lavish detail about the giant's gargantuan appetites.

Oh! And I love Haruki Murakami - he's not a food writer but he never forgets to minutely detail the food that his characters are eating. And of course he wrote The Year of Spaghetti, all about spaghetti and loneliness. I love it.