More People Are Dining Solo — And There Are Unexpected Benefits
It’s going to happen sometimes — you find yourself alone at mealtime, but you’re not at home, and your only option is dining out. Maybe you’re traveling solo for work or taking a vacation alone. Do you order food in your hotel room or choose to eat at a restaurant by yourself?
For many, eating alone in public can be unimaginable. But now, more people are electing to dine solo. OpenTable, the online restaurant reservation company, found that “60% have dined solo at a sit-down restaurant in the past 12 months.” And if you are from a younger generation, like Gen Z or a Millennial, that number increases to 68%.
Solo diners also make good business sense for restaurants. In a recent 2024 OpenTable press release, Robin Chiang, senior vice president of growth for OpenTable, noted that “solo diners tend to be big spenders, splurging 48% more per person compared to the average diner.”
In the past few decades, the general public has looked down upon solo dining. Dr. Supatra Tovar, a clinical psychologist and registered dietitian, noted, “There was an unspoken belief that dining alone implied loneliness or a lack of social connections, which many people wanted to avoid.” Or it meant that you were too busy to value having company or the experience of eating the meal.
Tovar credits society’s increased emphasis on self-care, mindfulness and independence. She explained, “The rise of the wellness movement and the emphasis on mental health have encouraged people to prioritize their own needs and experiences.” During the pandemic, many people ate solo because of necessity, and social dynamics about solo dining shifted, Tovar said.
Once stigmatized, solo dining at restaurants is now becoming more common as diners find benefits to solo dining.
Benefit #1: It Encourages Mindful Eating
One of the biggest benefits of solo dining is it allows people to be more mindful about their food. Tovar explained, “When we eat alone, we have the opportunity to practice mindfulness, truly focusing on the flavors, textures and experience of our meal without external distractions.”
Tovar also pointed out that it helps people improve their relationship with their own body and connect “to our body’s hunger and fullness cues, promoting a healthier relationship with food.”
But it’s not just about making food front and center. It’s about you. You have time for yourself to think, meditate and feel. Eating solo “is a wonderful opportunity to explore yourself, to understand yourself, to challenge yourself,” said Dr. Cortney Warren, clinical psychologist, “to have meaningful positive experiences around eating and around being yourself.” It’s an opportunity for people to develop a better relationship with food and be comfortable alone.
Some cuisines lend themselves to solo dining, such as sushi. Chef Shingo Akikuni explained that omakase counters, where the chef tailors the meal to the diner, “inherently have a great atmosphere for dining alone because of the interactive nature of food being created in front of you, the availability of the chefs to ask questions and conversate, and to meet others in an intimate setting.”
You are better able to concentrate on the food by yourself, Akikuni noted, because sometimes conversations can take away your concentration from the meal.
Benefit #2: It Fosters Independence
When solo dining, the only person you have to accommodate is yourself. Tovar noted that solo diners can choose where and what they eat without catering to other people’s tastes. “This can be especially liberating for those who have specific dietary needs or preferences,” Tovar said, especially if you are vegetarian or vegan, or have gluten allergies.
Eating with others may also impact what you choose to order. People may not decide what they want to eat for fear of being judged; think of women on first dates who are chastised for ordering salad… or a steak.
Dr. Charles Spence, the head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at Oxford University and pioneer of the field of gastrophysics, noted that if you’re in a group setting and you are ordering as a table, “there’s a tendency for people who order second or thereafter to be forced to choose something different from those who order first.” Eating solo means you would not have your choice impacted by the people you are with.
Benefit #3: It Can Boost Self Confidence
Dining solo can also impact your perception of yourself. Warren explained that a solo diner may have the internal belief of your own value to walk into any situation and not be impacted by what people may think around them. It can feel very empowering to people. After all, you are taking control of your own experience.
For people who choose solitude, solo dining could have many benefits. A 2021 study of South Korean university students and solo dining in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that students who chose to eat alone, known as self-determined solitude, did not have negative outcomes of solo dining but instead found the “solitude can be constructively used to develop cognitive and emotional skills.” They were more likely to enjoy their time, view the entire experience positively, and not as likely to feel lonely or bored.
Even people who may be hesitant about solo dining can feel the benefits. Warren explained, “When we challenge ourselves to do something that’s uncomfortable and emerge having done it, it often boosts our self-esteem. It shows us that we can do new things that feel hard and emerge stronger for it.” If someone may have some anxiety about eating by themselves because of what people around them may think about them, “the act of going out alone serves as proof that you’re strong enough to do it — and hopefully even find it enjoyable to spend time alone,” Warren noted.
The Downside Of Solo Dining
In the past, many studies have cautioned against eating by oneself, associating it with obesity anddepression.
While there are suggestions that eating alone can have a negative physical and mental impact, context matters.
“A lot of people struggle around eating,” Warren aptly noted. “People are having a hard time with navigating their health [and] body image.” Few people find eating easy and may struggle with overeating, overindulging or not eating enough. Warren explained that if a person struggles with making food choices, it can occur in both solo and communal settings. “Both can be triggering,” she noted.
Plus there’s a difference between choosing to eat alone, whether because you’re traveling or want to treat yourself, and eating alone because you are alone or isolated.
How To Successfully Take Yourself Out
For folks who have never considered solo dining, Warren recommended being very intentional about the experience. Choose a fun restaurant or a type of food that you really want to try. You may feel uncomfortable or awkward, but you can try to make a conscious decision that you are going to try the experience and mindfully eat.
If you are worried about people staring at you, use your “cognitive restructuring skills,” Warren explained. “I’m going to challenge my thinking and say, ‘You know what? It doesn’t really matter what they’re thinking.’” That’s a way to build confidence and self-efficacy, Warren said.
Some people may want to bring an aid, like a book or a smartphone, to help overcome some of the anxiety. Tovar noted that people may be less present if they are scrolling through their social media, which can be triggering and aggregating, and may result in mindless eating.
Warren explained that these aids are not necessarily good or bad, it’s how you use them. If you enjoy reading your book at the bar by yourself, you should do it. If you know that endlessly scrolling the internet has the opposite effect, you may want to opt-out or choose a book, journaling, people-watching and more.
Tovar summed up the benefits of solo dining: “Remember, food is not just fuel; it’s an experience, and dining alone can be a powerful way to honor that experience on your own terms.”
