Party of one: Restaurants cater to growing number of solo diners
Voice of America
Parisa Imanirad, a scientist and cancer researcher, eats lunch alone at Spruce, an upscale restaurant in San Francisco, on Aug. 22, 2024.
Parisa Imanirad, a scientist and cancer researcher from San Francisco, is married and has a wide circle of friends. But once or twice a week, she goes to a restaurant by herself.
FILE - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company founder Morris Chang speaks at the new facility in Phoenix, Dec. 6, 2022.
FILE - An Afghan musician plays the harmonium in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sept. 16, 2021. Afghan musicians and singers in Pakistan received a temporary reprieve on Jan. 10, 2025, from a court that ruled they could not immediately be deported back to Afghanistan.
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FILE - Singer-songwriter Peter Yarrow, of the 1960s era musical trio Peter, Paul and Mary, performs during a memorial tribute concert for folk icon and civil rights activist Pete Seeger in New York on July 20, 2014. FILE - Folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, from left, Mary Travers, Paul Stookey and Peter Yarrow, perform at a Los Angeles benefit to aid to Cambodian refugees on Jan. 30, 1980.
FILE - A person stands in front of a Meta sign outside of the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., March 7, 2023.
Adriana Paz, from left, Edgar Ramirez, Selena Gomez, Jacques Audiard, Karla Sofia Gascon, and Zoe Saldana with the award for best motion picture - musical or comedy for "Emilia Perez" during the 82nd Golden Globes on Jan. 5, 2025, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.
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FILE - People gather for a press conference about their opposition to a TikTok ban, on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 22, 2023.
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FILE - This photo provided by the city of Ashiya, Japan, shows Tomiko Itooka being celebrated on her 116th birthday at the nursing home where she lived on May 23, 2024. Itooka was the world's oldest person at her death on Dec. 29, 2024.
FILE - An iPhone screen displays a message from Siri, Oct. 29, 2019, in Washington. (VOA)
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FILE - Signage is seen at the headquarters of the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, Aug. 29, 2020. A U.S. appeals court ruled on Dec. 31, 2024, that the FCC did not have the legal authority to reinstate landmark net neutrality rules.