Axios Finish Line: The death of the dinner date
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Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios
This article originally appeared in Axios Finish Line, our nightly newsletter on life, leadership and wellness. Sign up here.
The custom of emptying wallets for a lavish dinner on a first date may be on its way out.
The big picture: The collision of a number of trends — including skyrocketing prices, the pandemic's popularization of outdoor hangouts, and the rise of online dating — is starting to kill the traditional dinner date.
- Today's young people prefer long walks in the park, picnics or sampling street food — especially if it's a first date with a person you've only just met on a dating app.
- That can be a lot easier on the bank account as the price of meals at restaurants and drinks at bars has spiked 17% and 12%, respectively, per the most recent Consumer Price Index.
Case in point: Natania Malin Gazek, a 35-year-old in Brooklyn, New York, told the Wall Street Journal she goes on walks around Prospect Park for first dates.
- "If it's not a match, neither of us need to feel resentful that we invested our time or our money and can instead feel glad that we got to take a walk in nature," she said.
This attitude is reflected in people's profiles on the dating app Tinder, too.
- Mentions of picnics, drive-ins, mini-golf, street food and camping are all up in Tinder bios, according to the app.
- And 25% of surveyed singles on Tinder said they're drinking less on dates this year than last year.
The bottom line: The grand gestures we saw in romantic comedies 20 years ago might be going out of style, dating coach Julie Spira told the Journal.
- The new first date is all about keeping it casual.
