That line lives rent free in my mind for sooo many scenarios in day to day life.
5 Likes
That is so true.
Dirty Dancing is an excellent movie in a couple ways. It may not be great art, but it is great fun.
Not Princess Bride excellent but that is a hard bar to reach.
That comment got heavily redacted before posting. LOL!
But it comes back to, none of us want to be “put in the corner” for dining alone. Though I have to admit that having my back to the rear wall of a room does wonders for my situational awareness.
Who knows? I could be attacked by a Caesar Salad with no warning if my back is to part of the dining room!
5 Likes
I have dined out alone traveling on business over the years and enjoyed myself. There were times I would have enjoyed a conversation but mostly I enjoyed my own company. These days I have one friend who has both an adventurous palate and enjoys sharing one another’s choices. we are able to coordinate 3 to 4 times /year and have a blast. Eating with my spouse is another story. Though his palate is far more adventurous than before we met, he is not my choice for dining. So, I go out solo from time to time and enjoy myself. Am open to finding others who would enjoy sharing a meal and a table.
6 Likes
I do not mean to cast any sort of aspersion on your husband, but I have to admit that I truly do not understand people who do not want to try new foods.
Back in the day I visited a good friend in Baltimore and said I was looking forward to trying an “ethnic eatery” that reflected Baltimore’s varied history.
He took me to an “Irish” restaurant called Bennigan’s.
Really.
We are still good friends but I pick the cafes now.
On edit: Typed in the missing y! LOL!
8 Likes
When I read that at first I thought maybe we are talking about the royal “our”! I have one of those husbands, although after eating alone at a hotel “steak house”, he recently observed that he may be coming over to “the dark side”.
5 Likes
I ate solo in Maine two nights ago, brought my book, sat at the bar, and was totally amused that both parties on either side of me talked to me extensively! Lovely conversations, great people, very engaging - glad we talked but it was amusing considering this context.
13 Likes
I cane get my gift articles link to work(tried 3 different browser), but there’s an article in today’s Washington Post about dining solo at the bar.
1 Like
Just clear the cookies for that site.
I did. Nada.
He grew up in a house where food was purely functional vs my house where meals were both social and an adventure, the more adventures and adventurous the better ! Memories were created.
Bennigan’s hadn’t thought of that place in years. Wouldn’t have ever chosen it myself.
When I traveled on business my resource for where to head for dinner was the phonebook. My clue to what the city had to offer I had not yet sampled in Boston.
1 Like
The gift links are being all futzy for me, but I did - eventually - get this:
“Dining solo on vacation? You should always sit at the bar.
Sitting at the bar is a surefire way to get into a hot new restaurant or solicit recommendations from a local.”
3 Likes
It’s not very good, don’t sweat it. Absolutely nothing in there you don’t already know.
1 Like
Good advice. I love the social aspect of eating, no matter where. Food trucks, I always meet cool new people. The best Mexican place I’ve ever eaten IS a bar, with a big ole counter top where you’re eating with everyone in the place. Chat, chat, chat, BS, BS, BS. Heaven on earth. Don’t even need to drink alcohol (they have horchata.)
Get out there and do it! You deserve happiness, and you shall have it. Though I’m still married, I’ve had to fly solo many times. This is when I look for small mom and pop places. Makes me more confident and forces me to be sociable.
My mom became a widow four years ago and had some dilemmas like this. One of her social moves is to visit her food pantry a few times per week. The food they serve isn’t anything that would make anyone’s eyes pop out; but it’s decent and very social centered. When she gets into the pantry coolers, she scores pretty well. I couldn’t get over the quality produce at her pantry. Then, she met some other widows, and now she goes to real restos with them. They try a new place once per month.
4 Likes
I think, as a person in a group, it’s important to recognize folks who might want my group aspect. I just got back from a week in WI’s northwoods , on a lake near Hayward, WI. So, I go there to meet a group of folks from Milwaukee, and we rent rustic, house-keeping cottages for a week. We’ve done this for the last 18 years. New family bought the place, so we wanted to bend them to our usual experience. They told us we’d have an intruder this year and their grandma was coming to visit, and would be staying in the cabin next to us. Pins and needles as they prepped for gandma, telling us she is very Bible centered, health centered, prudish, etc.
So, the big moment arrives, and grandma is pulling in. We line the entry road and all give her a wave and welcome. Everyone introduces themselves, as she does to us. EVERYTHING we did, she was invited in on. Every family makes a meal for the group one night per week. Grandma’s first night was my night to cook. We invited her over and break bread, and she came. Just chatting with us, she looked engaged an contented. That night, she’s by the bonfire with us, playing catch phrase, the name game, etc. Got to bed at 1:00, and she couldn’t believe she stayed up that late. Over the days she got to know us, and we got to know her. She teared up saying goodbye to us and wants to come back when we do next year. Hope to see her there. Now, she’s one of us. Making friends means turning “thems” into “uses.” She’s one of us. Everyone deserves to be part of some form of “us.”
I hope you enjoy dining alone. Really do. I also hope you find the “us” you deserve.
11 Likes
Wow! I am so pleased with all of the responses and comments. I seem to have opened up a rather wonderful box of thoughts and ideas folks have been pondering for a long time. I so appreciate all the advice and support. And acknowledgement that for many of us, company at dinner is not always a foregone conclusion. I am grateful for Hungry Onion in all of its diversisty.
15 Likes
It’s what makes it such an interesting and stimulating playground.
4 Likes
My mom means the world to me, and when she was going through that, I was worried for her. Three days after my dad died, her best friend, and next-door neighbor passed. She was crushed. Now, she’s loving it.
I pray that for you. Once your feet get wet, you’ll swim.
At a now-closed dim sum place I used to frequent, they were busy and had only large tables available. Two groups asked if they could share a table. The hostess first turned them down, then when asked why, agreed to them sharing, but said there would be only one bill. They all left.
2 Likes
Inflexible thinking on the part of the hostess.
I wonder if the owner would have been more flexible or worked out a solution.
That’s too bad the place closed. It seems some restaurants have become less flexible lately and less accommodating.
As I get older and need a few more accommodations, I give my business to restaurants that will accomodate me. I tip well. I’m a good customer. I’m loyal. 
Just give me my take-out or doggy bag , if I ask nicely, and don’t try to force me to accommodate the restaurant. I’m the one paying for dinner.
I had a fight with a chef acquaintance recently who is of the mind I should not order dim sum, or fried food, or fancy pants $$$$ Chinese food to go.
It’s not meant to be take-out, according to him. Was Thai food or pizza or any food meant to be take-out? Nope. It became take-out once there was a market for take-out.
My food, my choice!
4 Likes
Amen!
1 Like
