My wife and I have done a fair amount of traveling, together and separately. When she’s on a solo trip she usually chooses to do room service rather than go to a restaurant alone.
I, on the other hand, like going to restaurants, and when I travel, it’s fun for me to discover new and interesting eating places. Occupational hazard, I guess.
In the heyday of the expense account business trip, especially in larger cities, you used to see men and women eating by themselves. It was all part of the travel experience, especially if there were no clients to see.
I don’t mind eating by myself, but here’s what I do mind about it:
When I walk into a restaurant and approach the podium where a “host” or “hostess” has charge of seating patrons, I’ll usually signal with my index finger that I’m dining alone. Most of the time, though, I’ll say: “Table for one please.”
So can you tell me – is there a chapter in the restaurant host/hostess handbook that commands an announcement to all in the restaurant within earshot: “Just one?” or “By yourself tonight?” If I’ve already signaled or said that I need seating for one, why is it necessary to broadcast the fact?
Equally annoying is the moronic stare at a single diner and then asking, “How many?” Yes, it can be a legitimate question if you haven’t said or signaled anything, but it really is up to the diner to let the host or hostess know if they are a single or if others are expected. The person at the podium should greet you and ask if you have a reservation or how they can help you.
I am not uncomfortable eating alone in a restaurant, but I know many people who are and who really don’t want to have it reinforced by some pompous twenty-something, that they are, in fact, alone for the evening. Some people are embarrassed by it.
Places that take or require reservations rarely commit these gaffes. But even they have a not-so-subtle way of showing others that you’re alone when they seat you at a table that has been set for more than one and then send someone to clear off the excess tableware.
I’m sure this all may seem nitpicky to some of you reading this, but if the restaurant accepted your reservation for one, why not have a table that’s set for one? That’s not rocket science.
A single diner should not be looked at or treated like an anomaly. A single diner’s money is just as green as the party of four or six.
What all of this is really about is that restaurants are supposed to be in the business of hospitality. It’s also about training staff or the lack of training of staff. It’s also good manners.
The restaurant business is not an easy one, though it may look like it is to some. Margins are generally low. Turnover is generally high. Staff training all too often gets pushed to the bottom of the list of things to do and restaurateurs sometimes think that people they hire for the host/hostess position don’t need to be trained in hospitality.
Oh yes they do.
And at the top of the list in the training handbook should be: Never look at a customer and announce, “Just one?”