More people are dining alone at restaurants charging more than 50,000 won ($36) a head, data showed. Two out of every three solo bookings this year were at restaurants in that price range, and buffet bookings for one more than tripled from a year earlier.
More Solo Diners Choosing Expensive Restaurants
Solo bookings rose 38.1% in the first seven months of this year from the same period a year earlier, according to an analysis of domestic and global app usage data released on Sept. 14 by Catch Table, a restaurant reservation app. Solo walk-in waits climbed 48.5%. Searches for "solo dining" within the app jumped 139.1% in January from a year earlier, the highest growth rate on record.
Of all solo dining bookings from January through July, 67.7% were at restaurants charging at least 50,000 won per person. Restaurants charging 100,000 won or more accounted for about 30%. By price band, solo bookings at restaurants charging more than 200,000 won per person posted the sharpest increase, up 38.7% from a year earlier. Bookings at restaurants in the 50,000-to-100,000-won range rose 34%, while those in the 100,000-to-200,000-won range gained 26.9%. The figures suggest a growing number of consumers now put taste ahead of cost even when eating alone.
The range of restaurants drawing solo diners is also widening. Buffet bookings for one surged 216% from a year earlier, followed by Japanese restaurants and pork-cutlet-and-noodle restaurants, both up 73%, and Italian restaurants, up 46%. The shift suggests solo dining demand, once concentrated on omakase counters, is spreading to hotel buffets and casual restaurants.
Led by Diners in Their 20s and 30s, Joined by Older Groups
Diners in their 20s and 30s still account for the bulk of solo dining. Of all solo bookings in July, 42.9% came from people in their 20s and 34.9% from those in their 30s, together making up 77.8%. The gender split was narrow, with men at 50.3% and women at 49.7% among those in their 20s, and men at 51.4% and women at 48.6% among those in their 30s.
Growth, however, was steeper among older diners. The number of solo booking users in their 50s rose 54% from a year earlier, outpacing the 51% gain among those in their 20s. While diners in their 20s and 30s still dominate in volume, the data suggest the practice of dining out alone is spreading across all age groups.
More restaurants are also accepting solo customers. The number of venues taking solo bookings rose 57.7% in January and 35.5% in July from the same months a year earlier. In Seongsu-dong, the number of restaurants accepting solo bookings as of July doubled from January of last year.
Solo bookings were brisk in Cheongdam, while in Hannam and Yeouido they were concentrated at high-end venues such as omakase counters, fine-dining restaurants and bars. In Seongsu and Yongsan, the expansion was more even, spanning both upscale establishments and everyday eateries.
"Solo dining is no longer a way of eating limited to particular circumstances," an official at Catch Table said. "The options are broadening across menus, price ranges and times of day."
