I'm a Waiter Who's Seen It All and Here's My Advice to Men for the Perfect Dinner Date

8/11/2019 I'm a Waiter Who's Seen It All and Here's My Advice to Men for the Perfect Dinner Date

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Im A Waiter Whos Seen It All And Heres My AdviceTo Men For The Perfect Dinner Date

A man sits across from his date at the table. Theyre getting the initial chit-chat out of the way. A few minutes

pass and the food and drink menus are still covering their plate settings. When the waiter comes to take their

drink order, naturally, theyre not ready and the man asks for more time.

The waiter returns 10 minutes later and theyre still not ready to order a drink (this will happen for the food

course, too). Whats the big deal? Two people are getting to know each other.

True, but this is valuable time being wasted. Youre being interrupted by wait service, and your date would like

you to take charge and order some damn drinks already.

LIFE MOSHE SCHULMAN AUG 8, 2014 - 1:43PM

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As a waiter in New York City for the past five years (Ive been in the restaurant business for over 10 years), Ive

served hundreds of daters, and theres one thing that consistently stands out: a good majority of men are not

that good at this whole dating thing.

I dont mean that their personalities or looks are a hinderance; Im talking about their ability to order food

and drinks without coming off as indecisive and lacking in confidence.

Im talking about their ignorance of some technical steps when ordering that could make their dinner experiencea lot smoother, like accelerating the initial nerves/awkwardness to ordering drinks, having a good dinner,

and maybe even an after dinner drink.

Below are some tips/suggestions to the fumbling men out there.

Research the restaurant/bar where youll be taking your date.This allows you to take a sneak peek at the food and wine menu so youre more prepared when the waiter

arrives. Also this gives you the time without the pressure of your date staring at you to be prepared to

make decisions when its time to order.

Being more knowledgable about the menus also gives you more options to offer to your date.

Researching the restaurant/bar will also inform you whether theres a reservation or walk-in policy and what

time the restaurant closes.

Before choosing a restaurant/bar, ask your date if she has any allergies or dietary restrictions. You dont want

to take someone with a gluten allergy to an Italian restaurant, etc.

Always have a back-up restaurant/bar.Sometimes the restaurant you picked to meet at is walk-in-only and its packed or, at times, and this has

happened to me, the restaurant is closed for a private event.

Nothing conveys confidence and decisiveness more than having a Plan B. So have a back-up restaurant/bar

thats in the area or a quick cab ride away. Dont get stuck searching for a bar on Yelp while your date stands

there.

Order drinks (and food) as quickly as possible.The first few minutes youre sitting at the table is time to settle in and talk a bit, but dont forget that youre both

nervous and delaying ordering a drink only continues the awkwardness.


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Do you like ______ (insert random item off the menu).

Maybe.

You sure?

Okay

Awkward silence.

I recommend ordering food and drinks at the same time. If you cant do it at the same time, then at least be

ready to order food when your waiter comes back with your drinks.

That time in between is for you to decide your food order. Remember: Youre on a date to get to know

each other, not to spend an hour looking at menus and debating what to order.

If your date says shes not that hungry, believe her. Dont proceed to order eight dishes on the menu.

Even if your date is hungry, dont order eight dishes on the menu.

You probably wont finish half the food you eat; either youll be too full after the first or second course or your

table will be cleared to make room for the next course. Order conservatively you could always order more

food.

I recommend a three-course meal: an appetizer, a mid course and an entre to share. Before ordering, make

sure your date is comfortable sharing.

The best way to figure out what to order without the glib banter is to communicate to each other what pops out

at you on the menu. From there, you could come to a consensus. Dont order for your date, order with her.

Done. Simple. Easy. If shes not really into pork then recommend another dish that you prefer until youre both

on the same page. Id recommend echoing back to your date what youve picked out. This assures her you

were listening and that youre both expecting the same dishes.

When ordering food, be clear with your server how youd like your foodto come out.

The Orecchiette with pork ragu looks really good.

Yeah, I was looking at that, too.


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You dont want all your dishes arriving at once so order as follows:

Ask your server to slow down your ticket.Some servers are perceptive and will recognize that youre on a date and theyll take the initiative to slow down

the speed at which your courses arrive.

It all depends on the type of restaurant youre in (casual or fine dining, etc). But in any case, after telling your

server the order, Id recommend asking the waiter to slow your ticket down (especially if you have multiple

courses).

Simply say, Can you please let the kitchen know to slow down our ticket/table? This not only gives you time to

get to know your date without feeling rushed while you eat, but this also clearly lets the waiter know that youre

not in a rush and that you want space for the remainder of your stay.

Always have a go-to late night spot.Having a late night drink spot is key to moving the night along and keeping the night interesting. People get

restless; after a few hours in one restaurant, they want to move elsewhere.

Its even more important to have the late night option if the restaurant you met at is closing and youre still

having a good time with your date.

The moments after having dessert (or not) provide a great opportunity to suggest getting another round of

drinks at a different location.

Simply put: How do you feel about getting another drink somewhere else?

This also conveys confidence and spontaneity. More importantly, this is a great way to gauge whether your

date is really enjoying herself. If she wants to go out for another round then things are probably going well.

For appetizer or first course

For our mid course wed like the

For entre or third course


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This article is very on point but who's the editor? There are a retty decent amount of distractingtypos . Come on Elite Daily prov e yourselves a little!

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I'm a Waiter Who's Seen It All and Here's My Advice to Men for the Perfect Dinner Date

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