Now this question appears frequently on food websites and most often from women, who often couple the question with a request for places with counters or isolated tables.
While I consider myself a feminist, my dress gives me away as a guy. So I can only speak to that experience.
I eat out solo 5% of the time in Paris and have never, ever been snubbed or scorned for reserving for one.
In my more anxious troisieme age (I’m quatrieme now) I used to reserve for two and then explain that my “date” was indisposed, but then I realized that
this was silly.
Au contraire, I usually get special treatment. The day this was written was a prime example:
I reserved at 11:15 for 12:30
I was seated at a window table
I was seated at a round table not at a banquette
I was an arm-length from the nearest other clients
I was, if not fawned over, treated very nicely
And in no way rushed or pressured.
Give it a go. What have you to lose?
