12 Awesome Tips on How To Impress a Girl on a Dinner Date

While a dinner date can provide a romantic evening filled with sparkling conversation, there are also many ways that it can go horribly wrong. Whether you’re taking a girl out for the first time or just hoping to make a great impression the first time you go out to dinner together, keep these twelve tips in mind.

1. Be careful when choosing a restaurant

It’s a very good idea to choose a restaurant ahead of time; a directionless approach to a dinner date can result in a bored and irritated girl who is tired of wandering around trying to find any place that has a free table and an acceptable menu.

By the time you sit down, you might find that your failure to plan ahead has killed the romantic chemistry between you. Discuss your food preferences ahead of time, and then select an appropriate restaurant.

2. Make the expected level of formality explicit

You don’t want to be the guy who leads a disappointed girl into a noisy sports bar while she’s in a formal dress and five inch heels.

However, nor do you want to make her feel inadequate by showing up in a smart suit and taking her to an expensive bistro where her jeans and t-shirt make her stand out like a sore thumb.

Failing to coordinate expectations can create a feeling of discord that makes it harder to form a proper connection. Make sure that you’re on the same page about whether this is a casual meal or a more formal dinner.

3. Think about how to dress

Obviously, part of how you make a positive/negative impression on your date will relate to how you present yourself. In addition to making sure that your outfit is appropriate for the setting, try to dress yourself in a flattering way.

Think about which clothes make you feel best about your body, and go for those. After all, if you feel more attractive, you’ll be more confident and most likely have a better time at dinner.

4. Plan ahead if you’re going to give her a lift

If you’re going to offer to drive the girl somewhere, plan in advance to prevent her from thinking that she is likely to catch a rare disease from traveling in your vehicle. For example, don’t expect her to sit on ancient takeaway wrappers or to be surrounded by dog hair that sticks to her black skirt.

Letting her sit in a dirty or messy environment before or after your date gives the distinct impression that you don’t care very much about what she thinks of you or the evening.

5. Consider how to approach payment

Managing the check at a restaurant can be a tricky matter; some girls will still expect you to pay for the whole meal, while others may be insulted by the mere suggestion that you might not ask her for a contribution.

You can either discuss it with your date, or just play it by ear and see what type of impression you get when you ask the waiter for the check. If the chemistry between you is a good, a little awkwardness when looking at the check is not going to ruin the whole date.

6. Think of some rough conversation topics ahead of time

While you don’t want to come up with a script for dinner conversation, coming up with some talking points will help you take a balanced approach to the conversation.

If you don’t give this some thought, you might find that you end up talking too much or too little, which can make you look arrogant or strangely secretive. Try to be friendly and open, and mix the topics of conversation.

 

7. Try to relax

It is natural to feel a little nervous before a dinner date with a gorgeous girl, but if you let your anxiety take hold then it will be hard to present yourself in a genuine way and you might struggle to have a good time.

Further, your anxiety may be contagious, leading to a tense and uncomfortable standoff at the dinner table.

Try to remember that this date isn’t the only chance you’ll ever have to find love, or even to impress this particular girl.

8. Have a leisurely meal

The best dinner dates often span several hours, and involve slowly working your way through multiple, delicious courses. For example, you might want to order a starter to share (perhaps something tactile like a bowl of mixed pitted olives). Having a leisurely dinner helps to create a relaxed, intimate atmosphere and gives you plenty of time to make a connection.

9. Ask plenty of questions

One of the most frequent complaints after a dinner date is that the other person dominated the conversation, asking very little and turning the evening into a chance to brag or complain.

Think about what you’d like to know about your dinner companion, and if you feel like you’ve spent too much time talking about yourself then you can shift to asking her one of those questions.

10. Avoid certain awkward areas of conversation if this is a first date

As noted above, varied conversation helps to make a dinner date successful and ensure that you impress the girl you’re with. However, if you don’t know her very well, you may want to stay away from contentious topics that can arouse strong negative emotions. Common examples include political affiliations, religious backgrounds and previous relationships.

11. Compliment her (in moderation)

You can make your date feel great about herself if you make sure that you compliment her. However, this must be done in moderation or it starts to look insincere. For example, instead of giving a three minute speech about every aspect of her beautiful outfit, pepper the evening with small references to parts of her appearance and personality that you find particularly charming.

12. Have an idea of what to do after the meal

If you don’t know what to do after you leave the restaurant, great dinner date can quickly turn into an uncertain, stilted conversation on the sidewalk or uncomfortable goodbye. If you want to continue on to a bar or a coffee shop, ask her if she has time, and never simply assume that you will be going back to her place (especially after one date!).