Table for One, Please

Sometime, many years ago it was maybe in a Question Man column somewhere. Women were asked if they would ever go out to a restaurant alone. I was shocked by how many women said they would not. Or that they would be embarrassed to eat in a restaurant alone.

I certainly can't see that. I'm a great one for going out to eat by myself. I love eating out, but somehow Walt and I don't seem to go out all that often. Whenever he's out of town, I think a lot about going out to eat. I don't often, but only because I'm too lazy to leave the house. But this week I managed to get out to eat three times.

The first time doesn't really count because I met my friend Ruth for lunch. That doesn't qualify as "eating alone." We went to one of the numerous Chinese restaurants in town and I have eaten in that place alone sometime in the past.

Ruth and I are trying to establish a regular lunch routine and this was our second time to eat together. It's fun getting to know her. I've always liked her and thought she was a unique person, but now I'm starting to get to know her better and that makes it even more fun.

Last night, I was downtown running an errand and decided to stop by Burgers & Brew for dinner.

In rummaging through the freezer the night before I had found a very old frozen hamburger patty and cooked it up to have a cheeseburger for dinner. It really didn't satisfy and all it really did was to remind me of the fabulous burger I had with Ashley the first time I'd been at Burgers & Brew. It was a mushroom burger and because I love onion rings I'd had a side of onion rings which were some of the best ever.

Then yesterday someone on Facebook talked about going to Burgers & Brew and got my taste buds all stimulated. So I stopped to have dinner.

I have to say that while the dinner was very good, it didn't live up to my former experience. The bun on the burger was cold and the thing stacked askew so that it was almost impossible to pick up to eat. The onion rings had a great flavor, but were overcooked a bit.

Still, I enjoyed the dinner, the people watching, and having enough left over after I was finished that I could take it home and have for lunch today.

Tonight I was reviewing a show in Woodland and decided to go to dinner again. Ludy's BBQ is right next to the opera house and I thought about going here, but I just wasn't in a BBQ mood. Ludy's has great food, but it's long on meat and sauce, short on anything else. I wasn't up for french fries or potato salad.

I thought about going to Osaka Sushi in Woodland (since that location is still in operation) to compare it with the place that closed here in Davis, but I just wasn't in a raw fish mood and I kind of got started too late for that kind of dinner anyway.

I finally decided that I really wanted veggies, so I went to Steve's Pizza to have their salad bar. Steve's, in all its locations, has my favorite salad bar and my salad just hit the spot. A little bit of everything (except beets).

The place isn't exactly next door to the Woodland Opera House, but it's just across the street and I was able to eat my fill of veggies and those delicious croutons and still get to the theatre in time to read my book for ~10 minutes before the play started.

My next "alone theatre experience" will be in Sacramento and I just may plan on going to dinner alone there too. I did eat at a fondu place in Sacramento I'd been wanting to try for years once and, though it was delicious, it was way overpriced and you got hardly anything...better to have experienced that alone than to have paid for two dinners!

I can't see what the big deal is about women eating alone in a restaurant. I don't even think of it, whether it's a burger place or some more high end restaurant. Dinner for one is less than you pay for dinner for two. You get to people watch. You don't have to cook. Your meal is more balanced than what you'd cook for yourself (well, mine is!) It's kind of the best of all possible worlds.