4 minSociety
Solo Dining Reservations Jump 22% as More Americans Eat Out Alone
Reservations for one rose 22% year over year in the third quarter of 2025, according to restaurant technology company Toast, signaling that dining alone is shedding its stigma and becoming a growing opportunity for restaurants.
A table for one is becoming an increasingly common sight in American restaurants. Reservations for solo diners surged 22% year over year in the third quarter of 2025, according to the latest trends report from restaurant technology company Toast, suggesting that eating out alone is losing its stigma.
Single-diner bookings still represent less than 1% of total reservations, according to Toast, but industry experts say the sharp increase points to a broader shift in how Americans approach dining — and a growing opportunity for restaurants willing to cater to it.
The trend is not isolated to reservation data. The af&co. and Carbonate 2024 Hospitality Trends Report cited Brandwatch data showing that interest in eating as a party of one had increased 7% year over year. Solo dining has also grown across both quick-service and full-service restaurants, as more consumers, especially Gen Z and millennials, embrace meals centered on convenience and personal enjoyment.
«People stopped waiting for someone else to be free,» Stephen Ingber, owner of the Denver private-chef and catering company MileHighCook, told Fox News Digital. «A good meal used to require a date or a group to justify it. Now it just requires a reservation.»
Ingber said about 15% of his bookings are now for one guest, a share that has risen annually. Some solo customers book weekly or monthly, he added, and they are often the best kind of customer.
Terry Psaltakis, a 30-year restaurant operator from Chicago and founder of ShiftTrained, described solo diners as «a small slice that is growing fast.»
Experts say restaurants that offer bar seating, smaller tables with a view, wine by the glass or half-bottle options, and menus that do not assume sharing are best positioned to serve solo diners. Just as important, Psaltakis said, is giving solo guests the same care and service as larger parties. Without company to distract them, they are there solely for the dining experience.
«Get it right and that solo diner turns into a regular who comes back every week and knows your bartender by name,» Psaltakis said.
For diners who feel self-conscious, both Ingber and Psaltakis recommend the bar. «Ask the bartender what they'd order,» Ingber said. «A good one, a ready one, lights up.»
Dining alone is not always a sign of loneliness, according to Rene Mondy, a Georgia-based licensed grief therapist and founder of The Solo Dining Directory. «Solo diners in healthy relationships seem to understand that dining with a partner or surrounded by friends doesn't always equal connection,» Mondy told Fox News Digital.
While some diners might be hungry for conversation, others might relish the alone time, Ingber said. He recommended using the experience as an opportunity to order something you might avoid with company or on a date, and not hiding behind a phone or book. He also offered one reminder: «Nobody is looking at you, and if they are, they're jealous.»
