Had to choose between a steakhouse and a taco stand for a first date in Austin... I picked wrong

Met this girl on an app and we were both new to town. I figured a steakhouse would impress her, you know, the kind with cloth napkins. Spent like $90 on two meals. She barely touched her food, said she was nervous. Then we walked past a taco stand on the way to my car and she lit up, ordered three. I stood there holding my overpriced receipt feeling like an idiot. Shoulda just gone for tacos. Anyone else picked the wrong spot and felt it kill the whole vibe?

3 comments

3 Comments

paul34619d ago

Knew a buddy who did this exact thing. Took a girl to a fancy Italian place downtown on a second date, spent a fortune on pasta and wine. She kept looking at her phone. Then on the way out they passed a food truck selling elotes and she literally grabbed his arm and asked if they could get one. He ended up standing there in his collared shirt eating corn off a stick while she was having the time of her life. He told me he learned that night that trying too hard backfires. Sometimes the simpler spots just let people be themselves. That taco stand probably would have let her relax and actually talk to you instead of worrying about which fork to use.

phoenix_carter18d ago

Is it really that deep though? I mean, yeah, the food truck thing is a funny story and all, but not every second date is some major life lesson about trying too hard. @paul346's buddy probably just picked a spot that wasn't their vibe, not like he committed some huge dating sin. Sometimes a fancy place is fine if both people are into it, you know? Plenty of people have great second dates at nice restaurants and nobody's staring at forks. I just think we overthink this stuff sometimes. A taco stand or a five course meal, it's really about the person you're with, not the setting.

the_lucas12d ago

So you're saying the whole "don't try too hard" thing is overblown, but isn't there a middle ground? Like what if the food truck chick would've been just as bored at the fancy place, and the fancy place girl would've been grossed out by a taco stand?