FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Food

Turns Out the Best 'First Date Food' Is Meaty and Greasy

A survey shows that the meal most likely to score you a second date might also give you heartburn.
Foto door Flickr-gebruiker Bradley Hawks

When it comes to sexy, successful first date scenarios, the equation usually involves strong drinks, flowing conversation, first kisses… and apparently greasy fried meats. In a recent user survey, the matchmaking app Hinge sought to uncover the first date food most likely to lead to romance, and the result was surprisingly butchered, breaded, and dropped in boiling oil.

The app, which rebranded itself last year as a premium, paid-for "Relationship App" as the antithesis to its hookup-heavy competitors, surveyed 8,000 of their users in five major American cities about which first date moves have resulted in serious sparks—or a lack thereof.

Advertisement

Singles in New York City, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, and Washington DC answered a bevy of first date-related questions, including which local spots are most (and least) likely to lead to another date, and which date activities are generally most successful in making a love connection. But most importantly, the surveyors also came to a national consensus on what food and drink orders tended to result in magic and fireworks… or at least a date number two. When it came to the type of consumption, 37 percent of users reported that a suggestion of "drinks" is the most likely to lead to a date—over offers of coffee, lunch or dinner—allowing a quick and painless out of any cringe-worthy happy hour scenario (i.e. douchey finance bros still sharing tales of their previous frat glory, anyone who brings up their recent ex within five minutes of meeting, or those whose profile pics were apparently taken a decade ago).

Despite the survey takers' apparent propensity towards casual drinks, beer and wine fell far down the list of first date beverage suggestions. While beer received 27 percent of the vote and wine received 23 percent, the two were trounced by the Old Fashioned, which received 35 percent of the vote. Surprisingly, the Bloody Mary, bastion of the boozy brunch, received a whopping 50 percent of the vote, hinting that Hinge users are big day drinkers.

However, survey-takers reversed course completely when it came to food, and snubbed the Bloody's edible counterpart: pancakes. When asked about which dish would most likely spark a romantic connection, flapjacks came dead last at 9 percent—just behind pizza, which received 15 percent (?!!) and sushi, which took home 19 percent of the vote.

While 23 percent of users said "vegan" food would be their date food of choice, it was narrowly defeated by—of all things— fried chicken, at 24 percent. That's right: greasy crumb-producing, face sheen-inducing poultry. Though it's not entirely clear how many culinary options Hinge users were offered in the survey, apparently many found the idea of shoving a large piece of crispy meat in their mouths in front of a potential partner appealing. Wash it down with a Bloody Mary or two, and we might be talking soulmate potential.

So if your really want to impress your match, making them a big batch of Super-Crispy Fried Chicken could be the key to a long, prosperous, and potentially artery-clogging relationship. The good news is you can always have a hot dinner date with yourself, no dating apps required.