Solo dining in restaurants

Just got home today from a month in Italy, traveling solo. I had no problems either with or without reservations. I was in Rome and several places in Sicily.

I spent three weeks on my own in Rome, Ravenna, and Assisi in May 2015 and never had any problems with getting a table. If anything, it's easier because they can put you in a smaller space.

I also travel solo and have no problem getting a table for one. I suspect that waiters know a single person is less likely to linger at the table all night.

I've had no problems in big cities or small towns. A month the prior two years and 3 months last year. I have been here 4 months this year but usually eat out only on the weekends when I travel and have no problems at all.

Thank you all for your replies!

I'll stop worrying about this and no doubt find something else to obsess over ...

Melissa,

I typically always travel solo and have never had any problems dining solo (although the situation may be different for male travellers). I rarely bother with reservations but if I encounter a restaurant that's full or seating couples ahead of me, I just go to a different restaurant.

I'm a solo traveler, and if several solo diners show up at the same time, the restaurant may put all solo diners together at one table, which is great fun, or if I'm the only solo diner there at the time, I can be put at a table with a couple or family, without an invitation from them! If there's an empty chair, I get it!

They've All been so gracious to me which I appreciate and I know the restaurant enjoys the mutual accommodation! Only one time in Florence, I think the waiter realized he made a mistake when he placed me next to a newly married young couple, he may not have known that they knew English and that I would start chatting with them, LOL! He rushed up to me and implored me to leave them alone cause they were trying to have a romantic moment over lunch! Ok I got that, but I turned to him and asked why he put me right next to a Honeymoon couple if he didn't want me to talk to them? He didn't have an answer!

Looking back at that, I should have gotten up and sat at a different table, there were plenty of empty seats on that outside patio! That happened to me only once, I've dined with many a young couple, many older couples, many solos from the world over and Loved it !

I have been placed at a tiny table with two chairs, but with the understanding that the second chair may go to another solo diner they have to accommodate.

Now that I think of it, there was another time in Rome when a restaurant that knew me well didn't want to seat me for dinner. I should have said OK and left because the empty chair was in a room full of men. Looking back I had the opportunity to leave, some things just aren't worth it. I have nothing to prove, and restaurants only want a good experience for All.

Sandra, that's quite a story about the newlyweds! I hope I do end up sharing a table sometimes; it was fun to do so in Austria ... but then again, I wasn't breaking up any romantic evenings!

I've really only had two bad experiences with being refused a table when alone; the worst was in Ireland, when a restaurant refused to seat me at an empty two-top table because "it's not a table for one." It wasn't that it was reserved; it was just that it had two place settings and I guess it was too much trouble to remove one. They made me wait about twenty minutes for another table (at which two people had been sitting) to empty out; they then set it for one person and said "Here's a table for one."

I traveled solo in Italy late October-early November 2016 with no issues. It actually was quite crowded in Rome and Sienna that time of year due to All Saints Day. (Nov 1). I did not exactly frequent fine dining places, more café/wine bar and family oriented restaurants. I don't think you will have much problem, but hope you will report back one way or the other.

The only place I've traveled solo in Europe was Florence, and I found the restaurants there to be gracious and accommodating to a woman traveling solo. Then again, I did not try to eat at the upper end restaurants. I like midrange price point eateries.

Have fun on your adventures!

I wasn't thinking of higher-end places either, so it sounds like I'm all set. Thank you!

Just keep in mind, Italy wants to feed you!

On our first trip together 35 + years ago my husband and I arrived without reservations at La Logge in Siena and were seated at a large group table with mostly singles which they used when things were tight for people without reservations. It was totally fun. Everyone had two languages but not the same two and so we had one of those hilarious and awkward conversations where people translated Italian to French and back to German and English -- A totally fun evening.

I have observed singles in both Italy and France at restaurants and it is fairly common and they seemed to be seated without problem. We have found that reserving is always likely to produce better results -- better tables, and guarantee of a table when things are crowded.

I just returned from a solo trip to Rome and Orvieto and had no problems dining on my own. I typically made reservations for dinner, but did not for lunch. Restaurant staff were friendly and helpful, and it was fun to strike up conversations with other diners seated nearby. Have a wonderful time!

I am a single man. I will be visiting Italy alone, in July. I am weird about food. My plan is to buy food from grocery stores or fruit markets and eat without having to eat in restaurants. I worry that restaurant food is too high in sodium or otherwise unhealthy and my great grandfather with my same last name had a heart attack and dropped dead when he was 39. My family thinks I am crazy. Perhaps they are right. You don't have to eat every meal in a restaurant. How much time will you spend sitting in restaurants waiting to be served, or trying to get a seat, when you could be seeing scenery or museums or monuments? How many times a day do you eat?

Is there an app or website for solo travelers wanting to connect with other travelers just for dinner? I know there is meetup.com, but that's for entire groups getting together which might be overkill for this situation. I know there are sites for connecting with travel partners, but again, that's more for an entire trip.

Mike L,

"How much time will you spend sitting in restaurants waiting to be served, or trying to get a seat, when you could be seeing scenery or museums or monuments? "

I find that it's necessary at times to take a break from museums and monuments, as it's easy to get overloaded with that sort of thing. I find that it's also important to learn something of the cuisine in the places I visit (which includes the dining customs), and always enjoy sitting down to a fine meal in Italy. "Time waiting to be served" is also a good time to rest my weary feet & back from seeing all those museums and monuments.

How much time "waiting to be served"? Wrong concept. You are waiting for the chef to prepare a meal especially for you, that the whole staff wants you to enjoy as you think about the wonders of your life that day. At least most of them do.

Check out eatwith.com for some fun social options for meeting other travelers over a meal. We did the Rome Trastevere dinner with Barbara in 2015 and LOVED it.

I've done a lot of solo Europe traveling all over and have never been denied a table just because I was alone (at least as far as I know) and never been seated with others (unless it was a common table) and never had someone seated with me.

I do try and arrive at a restaurant earlier than normal dinner time (especially in southern Europe like Italy and Spain where they eat quite late). Often I'm one of the first customers but it works well for walk-ins. Sometimes I will make a reservation earlier that day or in advance, but that is the exception more than the rule. Most places I eat alone are mid range.

I bring a book or my travel journal with me to keep myself occupied. Restaurant service in Italy is not "quick" like we are used to in the US. Expect a two-hour meal. Sometimes I'll chat with a neighbor but most people are out to eat with their friends and family and not looking for deep conversations with strangers.

Not to complain because I know that I am the weird one here but two hours sitting in a restaurant seems like too much time to be just sitting in one spot. Why does eating have to be such a big major expensive production? We will spend one third of our day resting, otherwise known as sleeping in your hotel. But I probably will sit for a few minutes every so often or when I eat. I could understand sitting in a restaurant when visiting your family if there is no house to sit in, but for just the utilitarin purpose of putting fuel in your body, why not find a grocery store or food market? And I would worry that restaurant food has too much fat and sodium, or that cooked food is bad for you. Yes I have instincts that make me have urges to wolf down lots of so called delicious foods, but I am on a radically restrictive diet high in fruit and I use my brain to rationally control myself and if I can help it I won't go off the diet just because I am visiting another country. Yes I know I sound silly and my writing this is not rational. And I am a single man traveling alone and with no companions to complain to me about how nuts I seem.

Thank you for the eatwith.com link - I may try it!

Mike L,

"but two hours sitting in a restaurant seems like too much time to be just sitting in one spot."

That's the whole idea, especially in Italy - http://www.italoamericano.org/story/2015-10-17/slow-food

The concept is to slow down and enjoy the experience and the food, in line with the principle of Il dolce far niente. Whether foods have too much sodium or fat will depend on what you order. Have you ever heard of the Mediterranean diet? I find that Italian food products are often healthier than what I can buy at home. The Italians must be doing something right, as their life expectancy ranking is #6 while the U.S. is #31.

You can certainly order whatever you wish or buy food at grocery stores, but it sounds like you may have some misconceptions about Italian foods.

Exactly, Ken. Food is more than fuel in Italy (and everywhere else).

But if that's your take on it, then go ahead with your plan, MikeL, you will have about 1.5 hours to add to your sightseeing time.

Mike L - If you don't enjoy spending time at restaurants, then don't. Some people don't enjoy art museums. Some people don't enjoy visiting church after church after church. People should do what they wish on their vacations.

But the thread is about someone that wants to know more about dining solo.