Restaurants built their whole business model around the group table. That's no longer where the growth is.

Solo dining in US restaurants is up 23% year over year, according to OpenTable data. On the shelf, it's the same story: more than 55% of shoppers are choosing single-serve options as economic squeeze and GLP1 adoption push shoppers toward smaller portions.

This isn't a niche behavior anymore. It's a category, and most brands haven't built for it yet.

The ramen chain built entirely around eating alone

Ichiran didn't add solo seating as an afterthought. It built its whole format around it: individual "flavor concentration booths," partitioned on both sides, where you order by filling out a paper form and never have to speak to a single person.

Why it works: instead of treating solo diners as a smaller version of a group, Ichiran treated them as the primary customer. The isolation isn't a workaround, it's the whole pitch: focus completely on the food, zero social pressure. It's become a tourist destination precisely because it took an "inconvenience" and turned it into the entire experience.

The lesson: don't just shrink your format for solo customers. Ask what a great experience looks like when it's designed for one person from the ground up, not squeezed in around a four-top.

The salad chain that built its whole model for a party of one

Sweetgreen was never built for the group table. Most of its stores don't even have full front-of-house service, guests order ahead, walk in, and grab a bowl built exactly to their spec. 67% of Sweetgreen's revenue now comes through digital channels, mostly its own app.

Why it works: The entire format, from ordering to pickup, is built for a single, fast, personal transaction. Sweetgreen didn't have to retrofit itself for solo customers because it was never really built around groups in the first place. It’s personal, no frills, and fast. And that’s the whole point.

The insight: look at your ordering and service flow through the eyes of someone dining completely alone. If speed, customization, and zero friction aren't already the default, that's the gap to close.

The meal brand betting its whole menu on one person

Factor built its prepared meal business entirely around single-serve, heat-and-eat portions, no family-size anything. As solo households and portion-conscious eating have grown, Factor's expanded further into single-serve, GLP-1 friendly meals designed for exactly one person, one meal, no leftovers to manage.

Why it works: CPG has spent decades optimizing for the family pack. Factor bet the other way, on precision portions for one, and it's positioned the brand right where solo and meal-prep culture actually live: convenience without commitment to a week of the same thing.

The play: look at your pack sizes and portions the way a solo shopper does. A smaller size isn't a downgrade, it can be the whole reason someone chooses you.