So you find yourself traveling and eating on your own a lot. Or maybe you are single and still enjoy a fine dining experience, just not at a table in the middle of the dining room. Or if you are like me and my wife, perhaps you just find the bar dining experience to be more enjoyable in some cases than the stuffy tablecloth approach. How do you get the most out of that experience?

Arrive at Prime Time. When should you eat at the bar? My best experiences usually come when I eat when everyone else wants to sit down at a table. For most restaurants, that tends to be 8 PM. Earlier than that and you will likely to be elbow-to-elbow with the drinks-before-dinner crowd. While this can be entertaining, it’s not what most people are looking for. If you cruise in too close to kitchen closing time, on the other hand, the cooks are likely to be turning out your food more quickly so they can go home. If you’re not in a rush yourself, that can be a drag.

Ask If They Serve Their Full Menu at the Bar. Don’t get me wrong, some bar menus offer excellent food. But if you are looking to truly experience a restaurant, you may feel as if you’re in a different place if you dine on different nights off the bar menu and the main dining room menu. Many fine dining establishments have one menu – or will at least honor the dining room menu even if they also have a bar one – but some are pretty firm in offering two sets of food. For instance, Michel Richard’s Citronelle in Washington, DC cooks up excellent food at the bar and at tables, but the two menus are vastly different.

Talk to Your Bartender. I don’t mean you need to have an ongoing dialogue. Maybe you prefer to sit quietly and just take a break from the day. But don’t be afraid to communicate your wishes to the bartender and provide feedback on your experience. You would be amazed at what good bartenders can do to enhance your experience. Think of your bartender as your personal advocate and treat her nicely.

Pick Your Seat Wisely. At most bars you have three types of seats you can occupy. The first is usually at a corner and is best for people watching. If the restaurant has a lively scene, this can be a good bet. If you prefer to chat with other patrons, then you will probably like one of the seats “in the field” – in other words with chairs on both sides. My personal preference is for what I call the “action end” of the bar (where the servers come to pick up drinks). At first this doesn’t look like a good seat because there’s usually all sorts of stuff piled up in front of you and a mat to your side, but you learn a lot about the restaurant and get to hear entertaining stories from the servers about what’s going on in the dining room.

Share the Good Stuff. If you order a nice bottle of wine and can’t finish it, offer the last glass to the bartender. In some places, they may even be permitted to share a drink during service (or at least sample the wine for “training” purposes. If you treat your bartender and the servers as you would your friends and not as your servants, it will reflect favorably upon you and affect how you are treated.

Tip Intelligently. You need not be extravagant with your tipping, but if you enjoy that first dinner and think you are likely to return, you should look at your tip as an investment. I usually recommend 20 percent for any fine dining restaurant, but you may want to go a little higher if you want to stick out on your next visit. On a $50 dinner, an extra five percent is just $2.50 and if you go to 30 percent on your bar tab you will only be forking out an extra $5. It doesn’t seem like a lot of cash, but those who rely on tips for their income will really appreciate it – and remember you for it.

Extra Credit: Send Drinks to the Kitchen. This would be overkill on your first visit, but if you visit a restaurant regularly you can do wonders for your future meals by sending a round of drinks back to the kitchen staff. There usually aren’t that many people back in a fine dining kitchen (unless it is a really large and formal French place) and they aren’t going to order snifters of Louis XIII. Do this from time to time when you visit and you will have the staff asking you when you’re coming in again!

Enjoy Yourself! Above all else, eating at the bar of a fine dining restaurant should be an enjoyable experience. So sit down, order some food, and have a good time.