I have had a few fancy places refuse to book a table for 1 when I’ve asked in person or on the phone, when the online reservation app doesn’t allow a table for 1. Very rare, though.
(I guess I could always include an imaginary friend in my reservation for 2 
)
Or say they canceled on short notice. Shit happens 
A few sites I’ve seen have it right on their website that they have a minimum of 2, but more often than not when I reach out via phone or email they tell me they can’t seat me. Or in some cases of a super fancy restaurant, they never even bother responding. 
For upscale place Tock is often a fast way to find out who allows reservations for 1
The super fancy restaurants receive an evil eye 
from me if they never respond. Is not responding really worth all the headaches that develop as a result??
I keep a running list of restaurants that are inflexible and not accommodating without having a good reason to not accomodate, when I have asked for accomodation. I don’t visit the same restaurants when I don’t need accommodating and/or a 2 top for 2.
A restaurant that is willing to save an empty table of 2 for 2 customers who might show up, while turning down a table of 1, who is ready to sit down and order, is intolerant towards solo diners, and this adds to the stigma people who are alone face.
I realize many solo diners eating alone are asking for a table of 1 because they’re on business or want to eat alone.
For a restaurant to say they only allow tables for 2, that sends a message to people who don’t have a second person to fill that spot at the table.
I have travelled quite a bit as a solo traveller. I haven’t run into poor treatment at too many places.
The only places where I can remember being treated poorly because I was alone, was at a Westin and at its restaurant in Kauai, by a taxi driver in Kauai, by a tour bus driver/tour guide in Oahu, and at a luau on Oahu.
Every other restaurant I visited in Kauai and Oahu treated me well.
Those were isolated incidents. That Westin was charging $450/ night in 2019. I was paying the same amount as a couple or a family with 2 kids would have been paying for the room, yet I was being treated like I was unwelcome.
The hotel restaurant seated the 4 single people so they were facing a fake stone waterfall, all in the same direction.
It was very clear that the 5 or 6 unwelcoming people I dealt with on Oahu and Kauai were geared towards buttering up couples and families. They didn’t think about the fact that single people or solo travellers are also paying good money for their vacations.
Or that single people often have more disposable income than a family.
Coming late to the party, but I love love eating alone. I feel like I’m very attentive to the food. I always bring a book. Somewhat recently I had a solo dinner at a nice restaurants bar, reading a book, and ended up pictured on their Instagram account! They were so excited that I, and the solo woman next to me, was/were both reading actual books.
May they reap what they’ve sown.
I, an adult female, used to and still, on occasion, dine solo for breakfast, lunch and dinner meals. Whether I was traveling or just in town before or after work, I was almost always treated with respect and had a good experience. I tipped fairly, and usually generously as warranted. On the rare occasion the experience wasn’t good, I tipped fairly, but didn’t return.
You one of my students? 
Twice, I have been seated in a separate room by myself from the rest of the other diners. Felt humiliated. I appreciate everyone on here who said, you can refuse the table you are offered. I’ve started doing that. Yes, I’m dining solo - that doesn’t mean I should be left alone.
No one is ever alone here! Welcome.
That’s fucking awful.
You need to out those two restaurants.
Some places will only take 2. I get the economics but not so much the hospitality. That said, more than a few fine dining places will treat you better as a solo dinner because they understand and appreciate you’re there for the food and willing to forego standard social convention. The more hardline foodie the chef/staff, the greater the appreciation.
On that note, when you make the reservation, mention you really wanted to try their place, even as a solo diner. I’ve heard stories (and experienced) where the solo diner gets special treatment, comped stuff and the chef /staff goes the extra mile because they want you to have a good experience. Also a good restaurant will know where to seat you as a solo diner.
I’ve only eaten at a few nice places solo and never had any problems, usually the opposite. Heck I’ve had some off the menu offered and comped. Also, if you’re not difficult, serving a solo diner is probably a lot easier. When I worked, ate lunch solo ALL THE TIME because the idea was to get away from work and people.
Probably the most generous treatment I’ve had at a high-end place was as a solo female diner, seated at a nice table with a view of the whole place, and given a few comped dishes, and this was at lunch with a prix fixe menu (so it’s not as if I was choosing more expensive items) in a fully booked room.
Years ago I took the train to NYC (from DC) for the day. I had booked lunch at Le Bernardin for myself and spend days pondering the menu to decide what to get. It was a big deal for me. The whole meal was wonderful, but when it came time for dessert the item i had decided on wasn’t there. My disappointment must have shown and they asked about it. I explained and picked another dessert. They brought me both desserts and a box of cookies “for your train ride back”, and I felt extremely well taken care of and lucky. This was as a solo dinner.
I have don’t that same train trip many times, and twice with my dad when we went to Le Bernadin for lunch. They were such impeccably gracious hosts - how we were treated was almost as memorable as the food. So the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive!
I guess it’s worth pointing out that I dont want or expect special treatment as a solo female diner. All I want is to he treated like everyone else…no better but certainly no worse.
I tried. For 5 long days I have tried. But I can not keep it up any longer. I have been wanting to go off topic and post the first thing that came to my mind when I started to read these posts. SuzieCK, I hope you will not take this in the wrong way, I am not belittling your question, I am with you on the irritation of getting treated differently when I dine alone. But I cannot stop myself from posting this link.
I hope you all will forgive me!
Swayze: “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”
Levity is underrated 
