strange dining

There is a restaurant right by our house that we like to eat at because the food is incredible and cheap. You get an entrada (soup or a big salad) as well as a huge plate of food with meat, small salad, and rice plus a drink for only $2.20 per person. The food is off the HOOK! However, there is one catch. The restuarant is so itty, bitty, tiny that there are only like 10-12 tables (maybe not even that many). And usually there is a line of people outside waiting to get in to eat. It is safe to call this place a hole in the wall. It's old looking and nothing fancy. Anyway, if we want to eat there with our big family, we have to get there right when they open at noon. BTW - they are only open from noon-5 p.m. Well, we have noticed that if you are one person and you sit at a table, you can be prepare that your table will fill up with strangers very quickly. You eat in silence with the strangers and if someone at your table gets up, a new person will quickly sit down and eat with you. WOW! This is so strange to me. All tables are filled at ALL times. Fortunately, when I went one day with my kids we had 2 extra seats, no one dared to sit with the blonde gringo. LOL!!! But John goes and eats there and sits with the strangers and they with him. He said no one really talks, you just eat and leave. I thought this was blog worthy because it's definitely a new experience for us. I don't think it is super common in Peru, just in small restaurants with delicious food! How uncomfortable to eat with strangers, but definitely worth the price and the quality!