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Table for one

Solo dining is having a moment, 72% of Australian consumers plan to dine solo this year—and travel isn’t far behind*. Make the most of your adventures with KAYAK and OpenTable’s guide to traveling and dining by yourself.

Get started

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Table for one

Solo dining is having a moment, 72% of Australian consumers plan to dine solo this year—and travel isn’t far behind*. Make the most of your adventures with KAYAK and OpenTable’s guide to travelling and dining by yourself.

Get started

dest_us_la_rest_orsa-and-winston_blink_cole-wilson_618_opentable_within-usage-period_97506-1-1

The trends

The solo dining trend

In 2024, solo dining in Australia saw a 12%** increase on OpenTable compared to the previous year.  On average, solo diners spend $94 per meal, which is 36% higher than the average diner***.  Further consumer research*** reveals that:

34% la-taco  

Over a third of Aussies highlighted ‘me time’ as the #1 reason they enjoy dining solo.

58% bos-clam-chowder  

The top dining aspects that Australians value while travelling solo include trying new restaurants and dining out (58%), a local dining spot with a welcoming atmosphere (53%), and proximity to their accommodation (46%).

58% must-book-restaurants 

Aussies entertain themselves by scrolling their phone (58%), people watching (50%) or reading (21%).

Expert tips

Expert advice for dining and travelling alone

Discover international veteran traveller Nicola Easterby aka @polkadotpassport’s top solo travel tips, from selecting the best seats to leveraging local insights to fuel your travels.

@polkadotpassport - Nicola Easterby, Travel & Food Content Creator in London

  1. Eat at the bar or chef’s counter: If you want to feel a little less awkward when dining solo, ask to be seated at the bar or chef’s counter. This provides a more interactive and social dining experience, especially if there are friendly bartenders or chefs to chat with!
  2. Make reservations in advance: When you’re travelling as a party of one, the last thing you want to do is wait in line by yourself for restaurants or attractions. If you want to save yourself the stress, make sure you plan ahead by pre-booking activities and making your restaurant reservations in advance on OpenTable.
  3. Get outside of your comfort zone: Solo travel is a perfect time to stretch yourself by trying new activities and experiences. Whether this is jumping out of a plane, dining solo at a fancy restaurant or going on a bar crawl with a group of strangers, try do at least one thing that scares you on every solo trip you take.
  4. Find local events to attend: When planning a solo trip, take time to research local festivals, holidays, and events happening during your travel dates. Attending these events is not only a great way to immerse yourself in the local culture, it’s also a great opportunity to meet locals and other travellers.
  5. Ask locals for recommendations: If you want to uncover the best-kept secrets and hidden gems of a destination, a web search isn’t going to cut it. Be sure to ask the locals about their ‘must-visit’ recommendations. You can ask taxi drivers, tour guides or shopkeepers their favourite spots to shop, visit, eat, drink and hang out.
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@polkadotpassport - Nicola Easterby, Travel & Food Content Creator in London
  1. Eat at the bar or chef’s counter: If you want to feel a little less awkward when dining solo, ask to be seated at the bar or chef’s counter. This provides a more interactive and social dining experience, especially if there are friendly bartenders or chefs to chat with!
  2. Make reservations in advance: When you’re travelling as a party of one, the last thing you want to do is wait in line by yourself for restaurants or attractions. If you want to save yourself the stress, make sure you plan ahead by pre-booking activities and making your restaurant reservations in advance on OpenTable.
  3. Get outside of your comfort zone: Solo travel is a perfect time to stretch yourself by trying new activities and experiences. Whether this is jumping out of a plane, dining solo at a fancy restaurant or going on a bar crawl with a group of strangers, try do at least one thing that scares you on every solo trip you take.
  4. Find local events to attend: When planning a solo trip, take time to research local festivals, holidays, and events happening during your travel dates. Attending these events is not only a great way to immerse yourself in the local culture, it’s also a great opportunity to meet locals and other travellers.
  5. Ask locals for recommendations: If you want to uncover the best-kept secrets and hidden gems of a destination, a web search isn’t going to cut it. Be sure to ask the locals about their ‘must-visit’ recommendations. You can ask taxi drivers, tour guides or shopkeepers their favourite spots to shop, visit, eat, drink and hang out.
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Top restaurants in Australia

The top 50 Restaurants in Australia for Solo Dining

Looking for the perfect spot to dine solo? We’ve curated the top restaurants favoured by solo diners on OpenTable. Discover the list based on verified diner reviews and metrics, including the number of bookings made in advance, the number of 5-star reviews and the number of solo dining visits at each restaurant.

 

 

Adelaide

 

Brisbane

 

Canberra

 

Gold Coast

 

Melbourne

 

 

New South Wales

 

Sunshine Coast

 

Sydney

 

Tropical North Queensland

 

Victoria

 

Western Australia

Adelaide

 

Brisbane

 

Canberra

 

Gold Coast

 

Melbourne

 

New South Wales

 

Sunshine Coast

 

Sydney

 

Tropical North Queensland

 

Victoria

 

Western Australia

Top International destinations

OpenTable and KAYAK teamed up to present:

The top 5 international cities to visit + dine solo

Grab your passport and book your next trip to the cities that are perfect for solo travellers to explore.

In each destination, we’re also highlighting restaurants favoured by solo diners on OpenTable—culled from diner reviews and metrics, including the number of bookings made in advance, the number of 5-star reviews and the number of solo dining visits at each restaurant.

We got in on the action too, by highlighting the top five favourite spots by OpenTable’s team of on-the-ground experts. Start planning your trip on KAYAK now.

paris-v2

1.  Paris

Diner Picks

 

OpenTable Picks

dubai

2.  Dubai

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

la-2

3.  Los Angeles

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

london-2

4. London

Diner Picks

 

OpenTable Picks

nyc-2

5.  New York City

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

Your solo adventure is waiting.

Plan your next trip on KAYAK and discover new places to eat on OpenTable now.

OpenTable x KAYAK Consumer Research

  • *An online survey was conducted by PureSpectrum among 1000 Australian consumers with an interest in solo travel. Within this sample, major cities have been weighed for direct comparison. The research fieldwork took place between 7 – 12 August, 2024.

 

OpenTable x KAYAK Consumer Research

  • **OpenTable looked at online seated diners for parties of 1 from 1 August, 2023 to 31 July, 2024, and compared it to the corresponding period in 2023.
  • ***OpenTable looked at the average spend per guest for parties of one and overall party sizes from 1 August, 2023 to 31 July, 2024.

 

Top List Methodology

  • OpenTable’s Top Restaurants for Solo Dining is generated from OpenTable diner reviews and dining metrics from 1 August, 2023 – 31 July, 2024. Restaurants with a minimum threshold of diner reviews were considered and evaluated using a compilation of unique data points, including diner ratings, the percentage of five star reviews, the number of alerts set, the percentage of bookings made in advance and direct searches. Metrics were weighted to comprise an overall score.A percentage of solo reservations was used as a cutoff and then restaurants were ranked by score.

 

Top International Cities to travel and Dine Solo Methodology

  • The top cities have been selected based on the largest share of solo travel searches made on KAYAK and the share of solo dining at OpenTable restaurants. The solo travel share has been identified based on the hotel searches for one person conducted from January 1, 2024 to July 31, 2024 for the travel period between January 17, 2024 and November 30, 2024. To identify solo dining share, OpenTable looked at solo seated diners from phone, online and walk-in reservations from August 1, 2023 to July 31, 2024 in cities with over 10 restaurants on the platform as of January 1, 2024.
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