So many restaurants have terrific dining spaces at their bars - splendid places to dine, read, even socialize. While nearly everyone who eats at a bar is a solo, nearly no one stays that way for long. If the restaurant sports an open kitchen, chances are the bar looks onto it. If you like, you can rush through lunch. Reading at the bar is much more comfortable and less obvious than reading at table.
Some solo diners beeline to the bars at sushi joints.
Plus, try to peruse Eudora Welty with sea urchin egg sacks staring back at you. I've grouped some pretty nifty restaurant bars by whether they're straight-lined or rounded and have noted their salient features, especially reading light and smoking policy. In all cases, the bar serves the restaurant's full menu. The wee bar, truth tell, is the restaurant's big draw. Eight seats max, along a fat angle of a banister-edged bar, and it's the epicenter for drink and dine.