I'm serious! ;)
"Hmm? Oh, no-" she smiled then, awkwardly. He didn't seem like the judging type, but Charlotte had always been slightly paranoid. "No, I'm braving it alone tonight." Her grin widened then, a subtle expression she hoped would convince him she wasn't at all ashamed of that fact.
"I was visiting friends, but they have a kid so staying for dinner is all screaming and creamed corn getting flung all over the place." Charlotte had always been chatty and her job required her to speak to random strangers all day long. It was hardly out of place for her to just mother-mouth to anyone who was even slightly listening.
"I heard that this place was really delicious so I decided to give it a go. I love German potato salad and you don't see that in too many places," she nodded, her head resembling the bobbing of a pigeon.