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Nearly 40 percent of all restaurant visits are now from solo diners as society becomes more comfortable with doing things alone, a new analysis has found.
With dating apps drying up and friends being too busy to do anything other than sending memes back and forth, people are embracing the idea of taking themselves out on a date — whether that be to a restaurant, a coffee shop or even a concert.
“It’s hard for me to want a boyfriend because I take myself on cute solo dates,” New York City-based influencer Anna Barger said in a video back in 2023.
Since then, the trend has only grown.
About 38 percent of restaurant visits are solo occasions this year, Restaurant Business reported, citing data from foodservice research platform Technomic Ignite. This is up from roughly 30 percent in 2019.
While someone enjoying a quick alone meal at a fast-food restaurant during their lunch break and it isn’t considered out of the ordinary, there’s also a growing number of people pulling up to a white-tablecloth dinner solo.
Nearly 22 percent of visits to fine dining restaurants have been from solo guests this year, up from less than 10 percent in 2019.
One TikToker based in Toronto filmed herself eating a meal at a restaurant and told viewers, “If you ever see me eating alone at a restaurant, please don’t feel bad for me — ‘cause I am having the best time of my life.”
She captioned the October 8 video, “Table for one, happiness for two.”
“People are receptive to the idea that I can go to the restaurant, sit down, maybe watch what’s on the TV or whatever and do my thing and just scroll through my phone and be alone at the restaurant and get that experience of being served,” Robert Byrne, senior director of consumer research with Technomic, told Restaurant Business.
Dining alone has not just boomed post-COVID, but has been becoming more popular over the past two decades.
In 2003, just around 17 percent of Americans said they ate all their meals alone the previous day, according to the 2025 World Happiness Report.
The number of Americans eating all their daily meals alone increased to roughly 26 percent by 2023.
