Eating is a nice thing anyway! Though getting pleasure from eating at a public place can be spoiled by your neighborhood Actually there are lots of advantages and disadvantages of eating at public places. All depends upon place, time, your mood, but mostly upon your hunger and your wallet.
Sometimes when your are short of time it's so comfortable to drop at a cafe or a small restaurant and have "some food". Also it's a good opportunity to make friends with some people. But I advise to do it after they have had a little snack .
Some people hate being watched while the are eating. To tell the truth I was of the same kind some years ago. But sometimes there are situations when gazing people is of no importance for you. Actually they're are the situations of hunger attack. But there is a friend of mine, which was trying to hide his lack of manners at the table by saying, he's scared of accumulation of people at good restaurants. Though he's right in the point that before eating a lobster at a sushi bar it's better to practice at home.
From another aspect a public place of eating could be a good place for a business meeting (though I'm quite a loyal one I'd preferred it to be not at a McDonalds). But there are some difficulties here. The main thing: ordering a tasty dish prepare for a fight between your stomach and your brains. So here are some other tips for attending business meetings at restaurants: beware of being involved in the process of eating so you run risk of missing the most important deal in your life, going to the meeting have a very substantial meal not to feel wild hunger, try to prevent your slurp (some businessmen don't like it), don't order juicy dishes (the have a tendency of splashing on neighbors).
Cooking is a delicate question also. Not even the point of fastidiousness but mostly the point of diet. Me for example being a long time vegetarian will hardly go to a special meat restaurant.
