Dining out alone

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Yes, no reason why not to.

I think the idea may be that "normal" individuals would find it dull to sit through the waiting stage between ordering and eating and would naturally like company to while away the hours. The food is not the attraction so much as the social outing itself. The idea may be that if you can't get said company, then it'd be better to dispense with the whole ritual itself. O'course anyone with an appreciation for food or self company would dispense with those ideas rather quickly if he or she hand any modicum of self-confidence or self-obliviousness

I never thought about this until recently. I go out to eat alone quite often and find it relaxing to bring a good book and sit in the corner. It wasn't until last time I tried to get friends to come with me, but they were all occupied. Being the stubborn person I am, I went out anyway, and it felt very strange. I felt so rejected and alone, I guess because I hadn't chosen solitude but had it anyway. I also didn't plan on bringing a book so I grabbed one from my car before going in and you could tell that I just started it, allowing me to think that others would know that this was not planned. The worst thing about eating out alone is when you show up to be seated, and the hostess looks around you and says, "just one?"

I'm going to simply avoid going to restaurants in which you do not seat yourself.

And I agree that it seems much more acceptable at lunchtime.

I enjoy eating alone as long as I have something to read or my PDA with me.

I find that if I hang my jacket on the chair next to me, people tend to assume I'm dining with someone who might be away for a moment (ie. restroom break). This seems to cut down on any unwanted visual attention from others.

I also do this at the movie theater when my husband is watching a different movie in another auditorium.

I have learned which places feel OK to eat in alone and which aren't. Generally, in a fast food place, or an informal type of café, it's usual to see people dining alone. In a fancy restaurant it's not usual to see people eating alone, that's almost always a group thing. Extending this past restaurants, I wouldn't normally go to a pub alone, including to eat. A coffee shop, however, is fine as people are often there alone.

I've done it on occasion. It's easier when sitting at a bar, preferred that way anyway.

One of my favorite spots however doesn't have a bar. And the small tables are in the middle of the place. (ugh) The few times I've gone there, I just bring the newspaper and go there late enough to be off on the sides and away from anyone that might be there.

I love shopping on my own but I was made to feel that I must be weird to like my own company so much. People I used to hang with when I was in my late teens seemed to think that people must venture out in groups. I thought that was because we were all young and foreign. Today, if I dine out without my other half, I still feel a bit weird. I don't like it when people pity me for being on my own.

i always eat on my own except once a week with my friend. it's odd because over here EVERYONE has s lunch companion, even the nerds. this is a city in asia by the way.

I don't really have a preference. I enjoy eating out alone and I enjoy having a meal with friends.

I remember going to Kansas City for an interview once.

I had flown - it was just after 9/11. I didn't rent a car, so I had to catch a shuttle that took me all the way to UMKC but I had to walk back to the Fairmont Hotel.

It was a hotel with old school glamour and style. And since I had some time to kill before I had to catch the shuttle back to the airport, I indulged in lunch in the hotel's restaurant. I was all by myself and the restaurant was virtually empty!

I had a seat by the window, and I relished losing myself in my own thoughts and fantasies of dining in this fancy place that looked like something out of a soap opera!

I ordered a steak sandwich on a baguette with an order of fries and a soda. Oh it was great! It was great to be able to do this and leave feeling refreshed and renewed from the inside. When I'm around people too much, I end up feeling drained. The interview went well, but of course there was a certain nervousness about that as well.

I would rather do that than go out on a date. I seem to need long periods of contemplation and introspection.

People (especially NTs) can be draining!

^^^^

REALLY????

Ditto for ME! It simply IRKS some people that I'm content to be ALONE - particularly co-workers! NTs just don't get it that I don't always need someone to talk to...or someone of the opposite sex to be with.

What they call anti-social, I call sheer bliss!

Of course, close friends and associates (who don't even know I might have Asperger's) already expect this from me and find it a part of the charm of having me as a friend! They love the fact that I seem to have a knack for finding luxurious locations like the Fairmont Hotel an making a date with myself. Or going for a walk through Country Club Plaza.

But others get nasty with it when they are ignorant of the needs of someone who is different from themselves and their little circle. For them, it's no fun to do something like that unless there's someone with them because they think that makes one a "people person."

But how much of a people person can you be if you can't appreciate the differences among different people.

Our diversity is our strength.