Just go for it, trust me. I'm writing this from a nice Belgian restaurant where I'm all by myself, they serve nice Belgian food and excellent Belgian beer, and on top of that I've been eating out mostly by myself for the last one year and a half, and I've never felt more at ease when eating out.
The thing is that I've never felt comfortable when eating out with acquainteces, for one thing because I'm very slow eater so I'd always left lots of food on my table, and second because I've never been at ease with talking when your mouth is full with food. Plus you cannot made dirty jokes when someone's eating :)
As things are like I know, myself eating alone and at ease,I've discovered that I really do enjoy good food and a nice drink (I was almost indifferent to it before) and that I'm not that keen on making compromises anymore when it comes to eating out, because the decision where and when to eat depends only on me. And I've also become a lot more confident when talking to complete strangers, this coming from an introvert guy.
And on top of that, people watching and listening is extraordinary!
The thing is that I've never felt comfortable when eating out with acquainteces, for one thing because I'm very slow eater so I'd always left lots of food on my table, and second because I've never been at ease with talking when your mouth is full with food. Plus you cannot made dirty jokes when someone's eating :)
As things are like I know, myself eating alone and at ease,I've discovered that I really do enjoy good food and a nice drink (I was almost indifferent to it before) and that I'm not that keen on making compromises anymore when it comes to eating out, because the decision where and when to eat depends only on me. And I've also become a lot more confident when talking to complete strangers, this coming from an introvert guy.
And on top of that, people watching and listening is extraordinary!