I'm an American crazy about food (and dining, alone or with others), and I found this one out the hard way. Back in March I was growing crazy from New Hampshir

I'm an American crazy about food (and dining, alone or with others), and I found this one out the hard way. Back in March I was growing crazy from New Hampshire's winter so I bought a ticket to Portugal. I learned the words for "thank you" and "sorry" and some menu-critical vocab and hopped on a plane to find a bit of sun, do some street photography, and try the food. It was a big unintended consequence of having no one to go with. Dining alone at night simply isn't done there. At all. Only one restaurant I found had a bar counter, and it was a lunch place. There was no "eating at the bar" like I'd do anywhere in the US. Every night I was the only person in each restaurant dining alone (for a week, no exceptions). In a city I found this really surprising. This makes it harder to meet people (no bar counter where you can talk to a bartender and other diners), which I think is too bad for solo travelers. It was a little alienating, I definitely felt like the oddball each night. At Terra (fantastic veg-only place in Lisbon) one couple near me did say Bon Appetit, seemingly out of pity that I had nobody else with me, which seemed nice of them. The solo-dining culture must be a plus of traveling within the US, I'd think for some. At least I've met/talked to interesting people at a bar counter before in different places, even in my hometown.