This article will cover the reasons why people eat at restaurants alone. From the information given to us by the guests that walk in and eat at restaurants all by themselves, there are actually many reasons why.
I personally have a few times when I end up eating at a restaurant alone, and can relate to one of the reasons. I can even tell you a time when I actually had an individual sit down to eat with me when I did come to the restaurant alone, but annoyed me because it really wasn’t for a good reason.
The reason I had gone to the restaurant alone at this time was because I was craving a bacon burger, and wanted it right then and now. I was pretty hungry. I didn’t plan on staying at the restaraunt that long, I just wanted to get my food, sit down and eat, and get out. When I got my food, and was eating, some happy-go-lucky person decided to sit down and chat. I was OK with it of course, until the person started asking me about my personal decision related around eating alone. It was annoying to be honest, but I didn’t reveal that.
The person assumed that because I was doing something that they don’t normally do, that I needed social company, and that my life wasn’t being completely fulfilled to the fullest. They were assuming way too much off of just a small thing, when my reason for eating alone was because I needed food now. I was really hungry. I had other things to do for the day, so I was just going to eat really fast once my food arrived and leave.
This is one of the reasons why people eat alone at restaurants. There is no sense in calling up a person or going out with them to eat, when you are just craving your favorite food at a restaurant at the moment, and are just going to eat and leave once you are done.
In some cultures, people rarely eat alone whenever they do eat. Their meal time isn’t just a time to eat, but a time to also bond and socialize. Other individuals in other cultures do the same thing, but don’t see every opportunity to eat food as a necessity to socialize and bond at the given moment. It is just a time to eat food because they are hungry at their favorite restaurant, that they do sometimes bring someone with them to eat at.
They don’t eat to socialize, they eat because they are hungry. Here are other reasons why people eat alone at a restaurant:
1. They Love Reading, But They Are Hungry Too
A few of our guests came in occasionally to eat alone to do their favorite thing: read. They would order their meal as usual and then find a seat on the edge of the restaurant somewhere and read their book. Of course, trying to read your book with someone else there isn’t really practical, so they would come to the restaurant alone without anyone and read their book while they were eating.
They would go and eat at the restaraunt after the lunch rush and just sit down, eat, and read their book when the restaurant wasn’t busy anymore.
2. They are busy, but also hungry too.
Other people came to the restaurant to eat alone, because they were really busy people. They were on their break or had some time off, but they needed to still continue doing their work. These individuals were hungry and loved the food at the restaraunt, but they needed to finish their work too. They quickly order their food, grab a seat, and finish their work on their laptop or their phone.
I myself can relate to this, as I also do a lot of work on my phone. Some work just requires you to have to do it alone in order for you to concentrate enough on the task and complete it in a timely manner. It is more ideal to eat the food alone in the restaurant, rather with someone else, and finish your work on your phone while you can. It isn’t cool to ignore the person that you are eating with, so to avoid this, you might go alone.
One of our guests occasionally came into the restaurant to eat food alone while he worked on his phone. He was dressed in his work clothes, but he was hungry and too busy to actually talk to anyone at the time. He loved the food at the restaraunt too, so it was second nature for him to visit and eat while he worked.
3. They want to be around people but don’t want to talk to them.
Everyone’s social needs aren’t the same. Some individuals like to hang out with other people around them all the time, while other people do it sparingly to fulfill their social needs. Eating out at a restaurant alone is a great way for some individuals to feel connected to people after some time, without having to make direct social interactions.
They can still feel like a person, while being in the presence of other people while they are eating, without having to actually sit with them and eat together.
4. They need some peace and quiet.
Some people choose to eat out at a restaurant alone, because it is the only time in their life that they can get some peace and quiet. Even though there is some ambient noises at the restaraunt in the background, they can get some time alone and a bite to eat at the same time.
5. Their Friends Are Busy Doing Something Else.
Some people don’t actually intend to eat at a restaurant alone. They show up at their favorite restaurant to eat food a lot, but this time they are alone, because their family or friends are doing other things. So people actually eat at the same restaurant everyday, because they live the food that much. Sometimes they will bring their friend if they can, but other times they can’t. They still want you eat their food though.
Other individuals end up eating at the restaraunt all by themselves, because they actually work at the restaraunt, but they are on their break. They use that time to text or talk to their loved ones on the phone while they are eating.
Since individuals don’t intend to show up at a restaurant and eat alone. It just ends up being that way after whoever they were supposed to eat with had a change of plans, or got lost along the way trying to make it to the restaurant. Some individuals are actually traveling and just stop in to grab a bite to eat at a restaurant while they are in town.
A restaurant for some people is a good place for them to get away when they are hungry sometimes and eat alone.
