Women: Are you comfortable sitting at a bar and eating alone?

I’m comfortable doing it – that is, I’m not embarrassed to do it – but it can be a little boring, especially if it’s fast food, which I don’t really enjoy for its own sake. I’d bring a good book or a magazine. As long as it’s something that lies flat. ;)

I hate eating alone in a restaurant. I can’t even eat at a deli alone in the middle of a workday day by myself. If I wanted a burger from a place that didn’t have a drive thru, I’d just get it to go.

I would and am totally comfortable eating in restaurants alone, but not in or at a bar. I don’t drink and would feel totally self-conscious at a bar, because bars are notoriously “known” as a places where people expect to be hit on by other people.

When I dine at a restaurant alone, I usually have some good reading material.

@Kardamom Yes, I will do that too although it is not my preference.

(Have settled on franks and beans at home with Frodo for tonight.)

I enjoyed eating at bars or restaurants alone. It gives me the opportunity to have random conversations. And if not I bring a magazine though sometimes people watching is fun.

Also there is some really good food at bars and if there is a band or movie or something its just fun.

I hope you don’t settle on McDonald’s at least try it once and if it is not your thing you’ll know.

Sure.

The only thing that bugs me is when the wait staff assumes I’m lonely and keeps pestering me with pity. ‘Are you doing alright? Can I help you with anything else?’ let’s see, Guinness, sandwich, Kindle… I’m fine. Leave me be, until I ask for a refill.

No.
One time I was traveling for work and went to a restaurant by myself. They seated me back in a corner away from everyone else and I saw every one of the wait staff come out and look at me. After I got my meal, one of the waiters came up to me and asked if I wanted to go sit with another man that was dining by himself.
No, hell no.

You’re all strong successful women, why would eating by yourself bother you? I don’t even think twice about it. My first job I was on the road a lot and I ate a lot of meals by myself. I just people watch or talk with the staff or whatever.

I’m a guy and I prefer to eat with someone rather than by myself. For me the company is more important than the meal. If I am by myself, usually when traveling, I bring something to read. That is both a comfort and an insulator/isolator.

@chyna. One time I was in a night club in Japan with another guy. At the table next to us there were two women. The waitress brought our drinks and asked if we were expecting anyone else. We answered: “no”. I few minutes later she moved the two women to our table! We all thought that was incredibly rude – but after about 3 minutes we started to have a really fun time. I am smiling now just thinking of it. She was very smart hostess. .

Not a bar, bar, I don’t go to bars, but I am comfortable going to a local mexican place and ordering on their patio and also a local winery/eatery. I also go to movies alone, infact I like to a lot of the time. :-)

@Adirondackwannabe GA!

Unless it’s a bar inhabited by only men, I’d have no problem. Hmm. I might hesitate if it was inhabited only by women too. Some of each? No problem. I’d prefer to be alone, thanks.

Sure. As long as it is a place I would go to if I was with someone, I would also go alone. I eat out alone all the time without giving it a thought.

Eating alone, yes, and that includes fairly decent places, not just casual spots such as sandwich shops and neighborhood diners. Sitting at a bar, not so much. But that’s probably just because I’m not much of a drinker at all and don’t really like bars even when I’m with someone.

In my mid-twenties I learned to be comfortable going places alone, including to restaurants and movie theaters. I didn’t want to be limited by what I could find company for, and I didn’t always want company. It wasn’t so easy at first, but I was determined to shed any awkwardness I felt. By the time I was 27 I was able to travel alone to Europe (taking an organized package, for my first trip, but without a companion per se). I was okay with meals alone in nice restaurants even in foreign cities, but it is easier when I’m in a familiar neighborhood.

I’ve been married a long time now, but my husband and I are not glued together. We’ve traveled separately at times, and I’ve followed a number of interests that don’t appeal to him (such as going to the opera). It’s much easier than it used to be for an unaccompanied woman to go where she pleases, and I’ve noticed that if I act comfortable by myself, nobody else pays any attention to the fact that I’m alone.

If it was a place that I had been in before then yes. I cannot go in places that I have never been in before unless someone else is with me. I often do go in such places alone and eat, it doesn’t faze me at all.

Very strange to direct this at women only, what century are we in?

@ucme I wonder if men ever think twice about it. Good point you made. Maybe we should ask men on a separate Q. Let’s see if @janbb wants to.

I’ve seen many questions on here exclusively aimed at men & you can bet the feisty women are all over it like a bad suit.
Just playing devil’s advocate.

@ucme I thought about that but I think more women are likely to be uncomfortable specifically in a bar setting because of the possibility of getting hit on or misunderstood. Also, it was in the context of me deciding whether I wanted that burger badly enough to go to the local pub alone. But I have no problem with men answering as well.

BTW, I have no problem going to a movie alone or a pizza place, etc.

@janbb Imagine if you were sitting there enjoying a quiet burger alone & some guy walks up to you thinking you’re his blind date. Depending on his looks, that may or may not end well.
I can see where it’d be more uncomfortable for some women, but hey, such is life.

@ucme Surprisingly enough, there’s no right or wrong here. Nothing to argue about.

Who the fuck’s arguing? What a strange thing to say.

Yes, I would be comfortable doing that. I’m not a big fan of eating with people unless I know them really well so eating alone is fine by me. If I go to a restaurant/bar on my own I take a book with me and enjoy the time alone.

Yes. I take a book.

I have not read the previous answers. I probably would not eat in a bar alone. If I were traveling, I would either choose a small mom and pop restaurant, a diner, a fast food place or I would get some food from a supermarket (like some fruit, crackers, maybe some soup or sandwich or something) and eat it in my hotel room .

If you mean would I go into a bar=a place where mostly men are sitting at a bar drinking alcohol and there are tables where people are sitting drinking beer and there’s smoke and loud music and maybe pool tables? Would I eat in that sort of place? NO WAY IN HADES.

Depends on the place and time.

Do it all the time. From very expensive nice restaurants to dirty old pubs. I bring a book and have my phone to play online. No problems at all. A nice drink or pint, and a meal.

@ragingloli So, you are a woman?
Please clarify if I need to make a mental gender adjustment. lol

Loli doesn’t subscribe to a gender identity on Fluther. They answer questions directed at all genders.

@Seek_Kolinahr Gotcha, but…he/she/it answered a she question as a she, I think.
Never mind…I need to go to bed now. lol

Nobody gives a fuck anyway, fucking lame, tired bullshit.

@ucme, do you need a hug? You seem to be a bit testy lately.

He cared enough to respond.

I can make this a group hug. I’m good at awkward.

you could make this something that rhymes with hug, if you catch my drift.

No hug needed here, not testy either just saying it like it is.
Cared enough to respond, yet more skewed logic.