20 Foods Women Avoid Ordering on Dates Even When They Want Them
Sometimes the Craving Loses to the Situation
Ordering food on a date should be as simple as picking whatever sounds good, but somehow it doesn't always work that way. Certain dishes come with messy sauces, awkward bites, strong smells, or the lingering fear that something might be stuck in your teeth. Plenty of women would happily order these foods around friends or at home, only to rethink them when they're sitting across from someone they're trying to impress. Here are 20 foods women never order on dates, even when they want them.
1. Spaghetti
Spaghetti sounds perfectly reasonable until you imagine actually eating it while someone is watching you. Long noodles have a habit of refusing to cooperate, while tomato sauce somehow ends up in places it was never invited. You might really want the pasta, but a shorter, more stabbable noodle suddenly seems much easier to deal with.
2. Buffalo Wings
Few foods require as much commitment as a plate of saucy wings. Your fingers get coated, napkins start piling up, and looking polished becomes less realistic with every bite. Wings can be fantastic, but they're often saved for the point in a relationship when nobody cares how many wet wipes dinner requires.
3. A Giant Burger
There's nothing wrong with ordering a burger until the restaurant delivers one that's six inches tall. Taking a normal bite becomes almost impossible, while the toppings immediately start sliding out the other side. Plenty of women would happily demolish it at home but may choose something a little easier when they're meeting someone new.
4. Ribs
Ribs weren't exactly made with graceful dining in mind. Sauce gets on your fingers, meat can lodge between your teeth, and using a knife and fork only works for so long before you finally give up. Even when ribs are exactly what you're craving, they can feel better suited to a date where you're already comfortable around each other.
5. Garlic Bread
The bread itself isn't really the problem. It's the generous amount of garlic covering it that can suddenly make you very aware of how close you might be sitting to another person later. On a first or second date, some women would rather skip it than spend the rest of the evening quietly worrying about their breath.
6. Corn on the Cob
Corn on the cob is delicious, but it demands more attention than you may want to give it on a date. Kernels easily get stuck between your teeth, and there's no especially elegant way to check whether they're still there. It's probably not the meal where you want to keep discreetly running your tongue across your front teeth.
Unaizat Abdulgamidova on Pexels
7. Tacos
Tacos can go from tidy to chaotic after a single bite. Hard shells crack without warning, while soft tacos can lose half their filling before you've even put them back on the plate. You may desperately want the carnitas, but suddenly a taco bowl starts looking like the smarter option.
8. French Onion Soup
French onion soup sounds sophisticated until you meet the enormous layer of melted cheese sitting on top. That cheese can stretch from the bowl to your spoon and seemingly refuse to let go. It's delicious, but wrestling with melted cheese while trying to maintain eye contact isn't everyone's idea of date-night charm.
9. A Loaded Burrito
A well-stuffed burrito is satisfying because it's packed with everything you wanted. Unfortunately, that's also why one loose fold can send rice, beans, salsa, and guacamole tumbling onto your plate or your clothes. If you're wearing an outfit you carefully picked for the date, that suddenly feels like a risk you don't need.
10. Spinach Salad
A salad can seem like the safest possible choice until spinach gets involved. Those little green leaves are surprisingly good at sticking to teeth without you noticing. If you're going to spend half the conversation wondering whether there's something green in your smile, the Caesar salad may win instead.
11. Crab Legs
Ordering crab legs means accepting that dinner is about to turn into a hands-on project. You'll be cracking shells, pulling out meat, and possibly wearing a bib depending on the restaurant. They're worth the effort, but plenty of women would rather save the seafood excavation for someone they've already dated a few times.
Inguaribile Viaggiatore on Pexels
12. Extra-Spicy Curry
Sometimes you genuinely want the hottest thing on the menu, but your body may not cooperate. A spicy curry can leave your eyes watering, your nose running, and your face noticeably warmer than when dinner began. None of that has to ruin the date, but it can be a little distracting when you're trying to flirt.
13. Onion Rings
The first bite of an onion ring can create a surprisingly awkward problem. Instead of biting cleanly through the onion, you might pull the entire steaming filling straight out of its coating. Now you're left holding an empty crispy shell while trying not to burn your chin with one very long piece of onion.
Esperanza Doronila on Unsplash
14. Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Pulled pork sandwiches usually arrive generously stuffed and thoroughly sauced, which is a big part of why they're so good. It's also why the filling falls out with nearly every bite, and the bun eventually starts giving up. If you're worried about barbecue sauce ending up on your shirt, something less ambitious may feel like the safer call.
15. Sushi Rolls That Are Too Big
Regular sushi isn't usually difficult to eat, but some specialty rolls are enormous. Trying to bite one in half can cause the whole piece to fall apart, while eating it in one bite may require more confidence than expected. The giant tempura roll you actually wanted can quickly lose out to smaller, easier pieces.
16. Anything Covered in Powdered Sugar
Powdered sugar has a remarkable ability to end up everywhere except where it's supposed to stay. One bite of a beignet, funnel cake, or heavily dusted dessert can leave white sugar on your lips, clothes, and maybe even the table. It's fun when you're relaxed, but across from a new date, it can make you weirdly self-conscious.
17. Mussels
Mussels aren't especially messy, but they aren't completely effortless either. You're dealing with shells throughout the meal, plus the occasional stubborn one that refuses to cooperate. Add a garlic-heavy broth into the mix, and some women decide they'll happily order them another night.
18. Nachos
Nachos start out easy and become more complicated the farther you get into the plate. Eventually, you're hunting for a chip sturdy enough to carry cheese, beans, sour cream, salsa, and whatever else has collected at the bottom. They also encourage sharing, which gets interesting when both people quietly want the same perfectly loaded chip.
19. A Huge Deli Sandwich
A proper deli sandwich isn't really designed to fit neatly into your mouth. Layers of meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and condiments can make the first bite feel like a small logistical challenge. You may really want the towering pastrami sandwich, but something that doesn't require physically compressing your dinner can be tempting on a date.
20. A Whole Lobster
Lobster can feel like an impressive date-night order until the whole lobster actually arrives. Cracking claws, pulling apart shells, and dealing with melted butter quickly turns dinner into a fair amount of work. Plenty of women would gladly order one in other circumstances, but on an early date, the lobster roll can feel a lot easier.
