I've never even thought about it but I eat almost every meal alone! It sounds really sad but I don't feel bad about it. I get up early to work out and eat breakfast while watching the news (while bf gets ready), I eat lunch at my desk most days (too busy to get out), and I eat completely different types of food than the bf so I make my own dinner most nights and often we eat at different times. Works for me!

it depends. i've gone to restaraunts by myself. just the local ones, with a book before, got the corner booth and some quiet time. without kids and hubby before. its nice sometimes. i dine by myself at home quiet a bit. dh works afternoons, so he's not home for dinner. and i feed the kids before myself.

I will usually grab it as take out and then eat in my house by myself. Much less depressing

I haven't for a long long time. But when I was in Europe; even though I was there with others, some nights I would eat alone just to have some time by myself!
It was hard having to order in another language though! I would choose what to eat by how easy it was to say hahaha!

i'm single and most of my friends live in different cities. i love going out to eat and enjoying the fun things going on in my city so i'm always out by myself. only losers sit a home not doing the things they want because they don't have someone to "play" with them!

I feel too uncomfortable going out by myself. I've only done it a couple of times, but I feel too self conscious.

I'll dine out alone in cheap places like Subway or McDonalds but I can't seem to do it at a nice sit-down restaurant.

I don't enjoy dining alone but I have out of necessity. It feels weird!

I will eat by myself if it is fast food but not a nice sit down restaurant.

I have gone out by myself to get but mostly and lunch time at a small place.

Sure. More for breakfast and lunch but sometimes for dinner, too. I usually bring a book and/or sit at the bar, if there is one.

I enjoy dining alone. I can focus on my delicious meal and perhaps have congenial conversation with the waitstaff or fellow diners. Or I can have time to think, or even read the newspaper.

What about going to movies alone? The last time I did that, the ticket seller asked, "Just one?" I replied, with a sigh, "Yes, JUST one."

I've eaten alone several times. Usually I'll take a magazine or a book with me though, and enjoy my quiet time. With a husband and two kids, it's hard to get any quiet time these days. I think it's empowering to be able to eat by yourself!

I've eaten plenty of times alone. I actually like the alone time. Sometimes I take a book and other times when I don't have distractions I can really focus on my food, breathing, and the taste.

I don't think its depressing at all!

Never have. Don't know why, just don't feel comfortable and too self conscious too I guess.

I love to eat alone. I bring a mag or a book and just relax. I love to get away from my BF sometimes and just be alone with my thoughts.

I've never eaten alone in a true sit down restaurant. Fast food type joints? All the time.

i've done it before and i guess it depends on a few different things. when i was traveling alone abroad, i used to enjoy it. bring a magazine or a book and you'll have a great time. while i was here in the US, i used to go out a few times on my own, but never to a place that i would feel overly awkward to be alone, and it wasn't so bad.

Why not? I don't feel bad doing it. I don't have the chance to do it often, but I don't mind at all eating out alone when I have to or feel like it.

I'll randomly go out to eat by myself. My fiance and I have completely different schedules, so when I want to go out to eat and he's not around I'll go by myself.

When I lived alone, I would also occasionally treat myself to solo dinners, and it can be really nice!

It sucks to be a woman and attempt to dine solo. Inevitably, I am always approached by some guy who wants to talk..see who I'm waiting for...blah blah blah...

This is something I NEED to get over--I hate doing things, especially eating, alone and applaud others who do it--independence is a great thing! Also, when I'm out to eat I feel bad for the people alone--most of the time the person probably choses to be there alone but my heart breaks--I'm just a softie!

never had dinner solo at a restaurant, but @ home yes

When I traveled for work, 99% of the time I was alone and therefore ate everything alone. I split dinners 70% alone at restaurants, 30% take-out/room service in the hotel. A book and a glass of wine were all I needed to make these solo dinners enjoyable.

Your never alone when you eat at the local bar and grill.

I'll go to panera and places like that by myself, especially if I have work I need to get done, but I'd never go to a sit-down resteraunt by myself.

I've never gone to a restaurant by myself, but now that I think about it, it seems like a nice idea. I always see people eating by themselves, and they look peaceful.

When I was single, I quite often went out to eat alone. If I hadn't, I would have missed some delicious meals. I was often the best company I encountered at my solo suppers.

I can't do it. I feel so pathetic.

It depends. I go to breakfast or lunch alone sometimes, dinner less often. But I go to places like Panera, Chipotle, or Potbelly, not a real, sit-down establishment. I don't know how I'd feel going out to a nicer restaurant alone, but it could be fun!

Can't recall I ever have...

There's been a number of responses where people have said that they feel too self-conscious to eat alone.

So how about the reverse? If you see someone dining alone, do you think they are lame?

(I imagine that the answer is "no")

all the time..

Yes! At first I felt uncomfortable but then I realized my guy friends do it all the time and think nothing of it. There's nothing pathetic about being dining solo. Sometimes I'll take a book or magazine but I have no problem just sitting and enjoying my meal and people watching. Bar restaurants can be nice, grab a seat up at the bar, by pass the people waiting in line for a table and enjoy chatting with the other diners and staff. I've had a lot of interesting conversations this way.

I always eat alone at home, but I never thought about doing it at an actual restaurant. I guess every time I've been out to eat at a restaurant it's been some occasion, meeting up with the girls, or if the boyfriend and I wanted to go out. I was a waitress for four years at one in the mall and people would come in from shopping to eat and rest, and I never thought of it as odd. However, I was at a standalone restaurant recently for a job interview and saw an old man come in by himself, and I felt bad for him, I don't know why. :/

yeah i dont think people are lame at all--i just feel bad for them---like ohh i wish they had a friend! and i eat alone at home all the time, prob almost every meal, just not out!

I've never gone solo to a "nice" restaurant and wouldn't really want to...I enjoy the social aspect of dining too much. But there are some local soup and sandwich/bakery/coffee places where I actually really enjoy going by myself, be it lunch or dinner. Mainly because they're the types of places where having a book, computer, iPod, newspaper, etc. while relaxing and noshing are common, and where odds are I'm definitely not the only solo diner there. However, as a former hostess at a high end restaurant...my instinct was always to feel sorry for the solo diners, but inevitably they always seemed to look divinely relaxed and happy to be there, and frequently were the best and easiest customers...

I eat alone a lot. It doesn't bother me at all. I don't mind having people with me either, but sometimes I like to just go by myself

Yeah, sometimes. I don't mind at all. It gets annoying when people make a big deal of it-- its no one else's business why I'm there by myself but mine!

no way! cant stand it! totally freaks me out

Breakfast and lunch I am ok with but dinner I rather take it to go.