On 8/17/2014 9:32 AM, Nancy Young wrote:
> On 8/17/2014 4:01 AM, Alan Holbrook wrote:
>
> > For me, when I was a road warrior, it was never a question about
> > feeling
>> uncomfortable dining alone. It was more an issue with restaurants
>> _making_ me feel uncomfortable. The single diner takes up a table that
>> would generate more revenue if two, three, or four people were seated at
>> it. So a lot of restaurants try to hustle the single diner through a
>> meal by bringing out all the courses within a couple of minutes of each
>> other and stacking plates on the table. Then while you're still working
>> through the salad that's there at the same time the entree is there and
>> getting cold, they bring you the bill and slap it down.
>
> That's awful.
>
> I prefer to sit at the bar. You can sit there with your drink
> for a while and no one thinks anything of it. Order when you're
> ready. It's just a whole different feeling from the waiter
> script.
>
I usually sit at the bar when I'm having dinner in the Pub Room at the
Club. I'm not taking up a table other people could occupy. Lots of
people, singles or couples, sit at the bar to eat.

One time I was in there fairly early, around 5:00. Football or
something on the big screen TV. I hadn't brought a book with me. The
bartender, Marena, said, "You don't want to watch that, do you?" Not
really. (Sorry Sis! and other sports fans.) She changed the channel to
'Too Cute!' on Animal Planet.

> Not that I haven't had the occasional bad service from a bartender,
> but, for the most part, it's a relaxing meal.
>
> nancy
>
If they get busy you might sometimes have to wait. Otherwise, I don't
feel rushed. They don't dash over with the guest check the minute the
food arrives.

Jill