Freelance journalist Hue Pham has long enjoyed dining alone. “Solo dining has always been my default preference,” she says. “For people who are introverted, like myself, my social battery drains very quickly so eating alone is ideal.
” While she still goes out for dinner with friends and family, Pham says that she dines by herself four times as often as she eats out with people. Sassafraz and Planta are two higher-end restaurants in Toronto that she has visited solo. Pham’s solo dining preference is becoming a popular trend in Canada.
Survey results released in August 2024 by Lightspeed Commerce, an e-commerce platform, show that 43 per cent of Canadians had dined alone in sit-down restaurants in the prior six months. OpenTable data also shows the growth of the trend: Reservations on their platform for parties of one increased by 16 per cent from August 2023 to July 2024, compared to the year prior. More Canadians are living alone too, which could be contributing to the growing trend of dining alone.
In 2016, single-person households became the predominant household type, comprising 28 per cent of households. That number rose again in 2021 to 29 per cent. In a world that is ever-connected, Pham also views dining alone as a much-needed luxury.
“I get such a pang of anxiety every time I see and hear all the push notifications on my phone apps and feel the dread of not being able to get to it all,” she says. “Eating out alone is a treat I give myself after having .
