Comments (0) Best Restaurant for Dining Solo - 2009
112 Eatery
To evaluate a restaurant's ability to satisfy solo diners, put it to the ultimate test: Visit the place at 9 p.m. on a Friday night. That's the time when people who don't have plans are inclined to stay home—so nobody will find out that they're spending the evening alone. But then they'd miss out on a meal at 112 Eatery memorable enough to be worth fighting through downtown's obnoxious party crowd. When dining by yourself, it's easy to snag a seat at the bar and find entertainment by eavesdropping on the couples nursing drinks while they wait for their tables. The bartenders will talk to you if you'd like, and leave you alone if you wouldn't. The place is so loud and busy that no one will wonder why you didn't come in with a group of friends or a date on your arm. This time, dear party of one, those gratis goodies that usually get gobbled up so quickly—olives, spicy nuts, bread basket—are all yours. You can finish that whole ramekin of butter if you want, just as long as you save room for the bacon, egg, and harissa sandwich, or the caramelized Brussels sprouts with prosciutto, brown sugar, and honey that taste of maple syrup-doused bacon. The best thing about dessert—the creamy vanilla panna cotta with chocolate sauce, for example—is the fact that you don't have to share.
