Philadelphia
Alone

PRACTICAL SAMPLE

Dining Alone, Concretely

Eating alone in Philadelphia is easy, because the food culture leans toward counters, markets and casual rooms. Reading Terminal Market is the best low-stakes place to start: dozens of counters and stalls, shared seating, and an entirely normal sight of people eating alone. Rows of stools at its Pennsylvania Dutch stands and raw bar mean you can sit, eat and leave without asking for a table for one.

For a proper sit-down meal alone, request the counter or bar seating when a restaurant has it; most of the city’s better restaurants, particularly the newer wave of BYOB spots that Philadelphia is known for, have a bar or counter that is comfortable for one, often with a view into the kitchen that makes for its own kind of company. Lunch is the easier meal to eat alone almost anywhere in the city, with a more relaxed pace and lower stakes than dinner service; if a particular dinner room intimidates you as a solo diner, consider visiting it for lunch instead, when the same kitchen is often doing a shorter, less formal menu.

A free excerpt from Philadelphia Alone.