Flirtation, Foodie Style: My DinnerDate Experience *Guest post by Kim W

Oh, online dating. The internet has provided me with many stories, mostly of the horror variety, when it comes to meeting random strangers at random restaurants for dinner. However, when I learned about this new dating service, DinnerDate.com, I was intrigued. The concept is simple: sign up for one of several planned dinners at local restaurants for your age group on the DinnerDate website, pre-pay for a full meal that includes an appetizer, entree, and dessert, and then show up to enjoy an evening with a co-ed group of up to nine other people. If less than six people sign up, your money is refunded and you can opt for another dinner. The best part? Even if you don’t meet the love of your life, you may find yourself a new gal (or guy) pal, or just a new favorite sushi joint. Win-win.

I’m not really one to be nervous on dates in general—take me or leave me!—but I especially liked that I didn’t need to know my fellow DinnerDaters’ life stories, or our “match percentage”, or really anything at all before walking into the situation. When I arrived at the Prickly Pear last night, I got to meet six new people and enjoy organic conversation with no pressure, which was refreshing. Our dinner host—there’s one at every DinnerDate— had us introduce ourselves, and we quickly began gabbing about our hometowns, occupations, interests, and eventually even reality TV. Laughter was plentiful, and awkward silences were almost non-existent. The waiter took all of our orders from the pre fixe menu at one time, so there were minimal interruptions throughout the evening.

As a bonus, the Prickly Pear hosts a country western-themed cabaret show that features a provocative Dolly Parton drag queen on Saturday nights! While it was a little difficult to chat over the music while the show was underway, it certainly got us laughing and gave us something to talk about. Especially when Dolly ripped off her top to reveal her, um, assets…covered only by pasties! But I digress…

Though our group wasn’t especially large, we rotated seats during the night to make sure that everyone had equal interaction time with all of the fellow daters. I felt as though I really had the chance to get to know both my male and female dinner companions, and the fact that I had some same-sex backup took the pressure off of keeping the charm on full blast the whole time.

While your options are obviously open at the end of the evening if there’s someone that strikes your fancy, our group played it cool, said our goodbyes with handshakes (and some hugs) and called it a night at around 10:30.

Overall, DinnerDate was a perfectly lovely way to spend a casual evening and enjoy some great food and great company. I’d definitely be open to going again…Dolly or no Dolly!

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*Disclosure: Dinner was provided free by DinnerDate