TRANSCRIPT
Parisa Imanirad, a scientist and cancer researcher from San Francisco, is married and has a wide circle of friends.
But once or twice a week, she likes to dine out by herself.
Imanirad says dining alone gives her time to think or read, but she tries to avoid touching her phone relishing the silence.
She isn’t alone in her desire to sometimes eat alone.
"I'm a very sociable person. I have so many friends. I love spending time with them, but I also like to have some time just by myself, and sometimes even going to a nice restaurant and having a very nice meal. I mean, it's very enjoyable just by yourself."
In the United States, solo dining reservations have risen 29 per cent over the last two years, according to OpenTable, the restaurant reservation site and they're up 18 per cent this year in Germany and 14 per cent in the United Kingdom.
In Japan, there’s even a special term for solo dining: “ohitorisama,” which means “alone” but with honorifics both before and after, to make diners feel less hesitant.
A recent survey found that 23 per cent of Japanese people eat out alone, up from 18 per cent in 2018.
OpenTable CEO Debby Soo thinks remote work is one reason for the increase, with diners looking for a respite from their home office.
"Walk ins and solo dining are a pair made in heaven. So,it's a great way to get access to restaurants that are often very booked out or very popular. And when you're by yourself, I think you can notice so much more right about the ambiance, about, you know, the service that you're getting about the food. You can order whatever you want. Which as a mum often is not the case when I dine with my family."
In other cases, solo diners just want to treat themselves or experience a new restaurant.
The pandemic also made social interaction less important while dining.
Smartphones help some diners feel connected to others even when they’re by themselves.
Population trends also explain the increase.
In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that 38 per cent of United States adults ages 25 to 54 were living without a partner, up from 29 per cent in 1990.
In Japan, single households now make up one-third of the total; that’s expected to climb to 40 per cent by 2040.
And the Australian Bureau of Statistics says 2.8 million households were people living alone in 2023.
Tim Stannard runs a restaurant and hospitality management consultancy in the UK.
"There was certainly a period of time when there was no solo dining. Over the years I've seen it become more and more popular, sort of as the stigma of dining alone has faded. But it's certainly accelerated post-pandemic. Seeing a single person sit in the dining room, enjoying the experience, going out of their way to have the experience. And they're there simply for the food and the service, and the ambiance makes me really happy. So yes, we could probably ring the cash register a little bit more if another person was sitting there. But I'm honoured to have single diners in the dining room."
Increasing interest in solo travel, particularly among travellers aged 55 and over, is also leading to more meals alone.
Restaurants aren’t always thrilled to seat a single diner at a table that could fit more.
An upscale London restaurant caused a stir last year when it started charging solo patrons the same price as two diners.
Others say it’s worth giving up a table to a solo diner, because they tend to be loyal, repeat customers.
