“A Table for One”: Solo Dining Shakes Up Traditions Across Europe

A cultural divide is emerging in Europe’s culinary scene, reshaping the restaurant experience. While gathering around a table remains a deeply rooted tradition, a new habit is steadily gaining ground across the continent: dining alone.

© Rodrigo Rodrigues / Unsplash.

“Eating alone is unhealthy,” wrote Immanuel Kant in his final work, Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View (1798). At the very least, “for a philosopher,” he added at the time. But times keep changing. Once seen as a social oddity, solo dining is increasingly becoming a common habit, an option that is gradually being normalized in modern lifestyles shaped by societal shifts, urban rhythms, and new ways of working.

Spending on solo meals already surged by 153% between 2010 and 2019, and today, solo diners account for 15.6% of visits to full-service restaurants, up from just 9.4% in 2016, according to market data platform Circana. In other words, one in six table-service meals now caters to a party of one.

The company highlights this trend as part of a broader "eat-out reset" taking place across Europe, where dining out is rebounding: consumer spending has reached record highs (+10% between June 2019 and June 2025), but overall foot traffic remains 10% below pre-pandemic levels across the five key markets – Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain.

A business model in need of rethinking?

The “table for one” marks a rapid evolution that is reshaping not only social customs but also the physical and operational landscape of dining in Europe. It reflects both a cultural and commercial reality driven by hybrid work, the rise of digital-first cafés, and changing habits in urban settings.

Circana points to the UK as a clear example of these emerging rituals: with 54% of British adults now working from home at least part of the time – a record high – the classic weekday lunch with colleagues is giving way to quick, often solo, breaks. In city centers, busy workers opt for speed: a box of sushi, a salad, or another takeaway meal between meetings.

In response, restaurants and other foodservice players are rethinking their layouts, adjusting their menus, and modernizing ordering systems to better cater to solo customers. Still, communal dining isn’t disappearing. Far from it.

An insatiable desire to share?

Social meals are also on the rise, slowly but surely. They now represent 31% of all restaurant outings in the 12 months leading up to June 2025, according to Circana, up from 29.8% in 2021. In Southern Europe, tapas nights and shared family-style dishes continue to attract a broad and loyal clientele.

“Dining out is becoming an increasingly personalized experience. For some, it’s a shared social moment; for others, it’s the freedom of eating alone,” summarizes Jochen Pinsker, senior advisor for foodservice Europe at Circana. “Whether it’s tapas with friends in Madrid, sushi at a café in Berlin, or mocktails in London, consumers are shaping the dining experience around their lifestyle, not the other way around.”

And what about Belgium? A recent 2025 study by Gondola Foodservice and Buffl confirms the emotional connection behind eating out: 73.3% of Belgians say they visit cafés, bars, and restaurants primarily for the conviviality – for the pleasure of sharing a social moment.

Between chosen solitude and sought-after togetherness, Europe may simply be discovering a new way of coming together over a meal, whether with others, or with oneself.