Restaurants are rethinking Why solo dining is becoming a global trend

A sociable evening with others in a restaurant - that sounds nice and tempting. But more and more people are going out to eat alone - not out of loneliness, but because they want to. Restaurants are starting to react.

Parisa Imanirad, a scientist from San Francisco, is married and has a large circle of friends. But once or twice a week she goes to a restaurant on her own. Eating alone gives her time to think or read, she says over a solo lunch at the upscale restaurant "Spruce" in San Francisco. She tries not to touch her cell phone when she is sitting at the table and simply enjoys the peace and quiet. "It's like a spa, but a different kind," she says.

Imanirad's solo trips to the restaurant are not unique. In the USA, the number of table bookings for individuals has grown by 29 percent in the past two years, according to OpenTable, a website for restaurant reservations. In Germany, it has increased by 18 percent this year and in the UK by 14 percent. In Japan, a recent survey by the Hot Pepper Gourmet Eating Out Research Institute found that 23% of people go out to eat alone, compared to 18% in 2018.

As a result, many restaurants in Japan and elsewhere are changing their seating arrangements, altering their food offerings and adding a special touch here and there to appeal to solo diners. "Even so-called family restaurants are increasing the number of seats at the counter for solo customers, and restaurants are offering courses with smaller portions so that a person eating alone can have a variety of dishes," says Masahiro Inagaki, a researcher at the Eating Out Research Institute in Japan.

Eating alone because of home office?

OpenTable top manager Debby Soo attributes the trend partly to the fact that more people are working from home. They are looking for a break away from the home office, she says, but believes there are deeper reasons. "I think there's a broader movement of self-love and self-care and really (...) enjoying your own company."

What's more, socializing was less possible during the coronavirus pandemic and became less important over time when eating out, according to Anna Mattila, a professor of hospitality management at Penn State University who has studied solo dining. What's more, cell phones help some diners feel connected to others, even when they're alone. "Social norms have changed. People no longer look at people dining alone and think, 'You must be a loner,'" says Mattila.

The trend has come at a time when more people are living alone. According to findings from the Pew Research Center, for example, this affected 38 percent of adults aged between 25 and 54 in the USA in 2019 - up from 29 percent in 1990. In Japan, single households now make up a third of the total, according to government statistics, and the proportion is expected to rise to 40 percent by 2040.

Positively surprised by Lucerne

Growing interest in solo travel - particularly among people aged 55 and over - is also leading to more people dining alone. American Carolyn Ray was recently alone on a trip to Lucerne in Switzerland and was completely surprised when she was shown to a table in a restaurant with a single place setting, complete with a small vase of flowers and a beautiful view of the lake. In other restaurants, they tried to seat her more at the back of the room or asked her pointedly if she was expecting someone, says Ray, head of JourneyWomen, a website for solo female travelers over 50.

She advises women who are dining alone to move to another eatery if they are treated rudely or given a bad table.

Shawn Singh, a content creator and restaurant critic, says he eats alone about 70 percent of the time. If the idea of a solo meal at a restaurant is intimidating, he recommends lunch instead of dinner, where tables are usually more crowded with groups.

Eat alone, pay twice?

Restaurants aren't always happy to seat a single person at a table that seats several. London eatery Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal caused a stir last year when it began charging solo diners the same price as two people. His eight-course evening tasting menu, which includes caviar, costs 215 pounds (255 euros) per person. The restaurant has one Michelin star and only 34 seats. Its website does not allow reservations for less than two people.

Other restaurants say it's worth it to seat a single diner at a table set for two, as solo diners tend to be loyal and come back. There may be a short-term loss, but in the longer term you can establish yourself as a truly special establishment, says Drew Brady, chief operating officer of Overthrow Hospitality, a vegan restaurant group in New York. He has seen an increase in solo diners since the pandemic, and according to his observations, they are evenly split between men and women. At the group's flagship restaurant, Avant Garden, they make up eight percent of guests. In response to this, among other changes, there is now a spacious table designed for individual diners.

But perhaps it's worth restaurants considering additional measures, says Mattila, the Penn State University professor. Her research has shown that individual diners prefer angular shapes - such as tables, plates and lamps - to round ones, which are more associated with group bonding. And: they prefer slower music to faster rhythms.