I’ve been fortunate not to have to travel much lately but when I do I usually do it alone. I like to eat good meals when I travel as there is only so much fast food one can consume before losing one’s mind. Thus I’m often walking into restaurants as a party of one.
What many hosts and hostesses like to do is to park single customers at the bar. While I would rather not take up a 4-spot or 6-spot table with my lonesome, I find a bar seat to be a bit wanting.
When I’m eating alone in a new place, I like to spend my time absorbing the surroundings. A fly on the wall, if you will. Unfortunately, a lot of bars aren’t configured this way, making customers at the bar face a wall of glass and mirrors rather than the rest of the restaurant.
Restaurants that put the bar out in the open are the ones that get it right, at least for people-watching clientele like me.