I was shopping at a grocery store, recently, that contains a food court with prepared foods.  After grabbing some food and sitting down, I look up and see a provider that I recognized with a hobbyist sitting down at the table next to me (pretty obvious it was a dinner date after overhearing some of the conversation).  

Questions to Hobbyists - have you partaken in a dinner date?  what places have you been too? Do you recommend a place or does the lovely lady?  who makes the reservations?

Questions to the ladies -  Do you prefer to make the reservations?  or a recommendation?  Is location of the resaturant a factor in a dinner date?  Do you prefer a place you have never been too

usually if I am in my own town, I'll ask what type of food she likes, pick the restaurant and make the reservations. If in her town, I'll ask her for a few recommendations and pick one she prefers. Always a good way to find new and great eateries, and ensure we both have a meal we enjoy.  

Plan dinner together is my suggestion... but always make the reservations yourself; just seems like the courteous and manly thing to do, IMO.

As fr restaurant location... yes, I try to keep the restaurant location within a walk or short cab ride of the hotel. Who wants to burn date time on a long trip for food?

I'm sure others have many different ways of doing this

I usually prefer the gentleman pick the restaurant because I am not a picky eater, and like to know that it is something the gentleman will enjoy. Having said that, in my own town, I am a lot more familiar with what restaurants are good, and which ones are just hype.  

As for the restaurant itself, the important thing is that the food is good and the atmosphere is soothing and quiet so you can talk in normal tones.

When traveling, I don't know what is good, so I prefer that the gentleman just pick or at least make a couple of recommendations.  As much as the company is the main attraction, good food and atmosphere is vital to the enjoyment of the meeting.

...so I'm normally asked to make recommendations. I honestly love making recommendations because I truly enjoy sharing my favorite places with others.  

That being said, I'm more than happy to be adventurous and go to places I've never been before. It's also fun to research new places and make a decision that way.  

I've grown to particularly enjoy brunch dates and more "casual-up" places for dining. While its really fun to get gussied up and have a 10-course meal, I'm more the type who enjoys sharing plates and a bottle of wine. To me, it's just more intimate and the experience is about us spending time together rather than having an extravagant meal with someone else. Don't get me wrong, though. I won't decline tickets to Next. ;

I've had a number of lovely dinner dates with gents, and the reservations have typically been made by the men.  I live in the SD area, and, of course, get many business travelers there, who would like to have a bit more company than a 1 hour experience.  And in traveling, especially to Chicago, again, I have enjoyed the longer and more intimate dinner experience.  

With the availability of info on restaurants, most gents feel comfortable choosing something to their liking, but of course, I am always happy to pitch in with reommendations, reservations or what ever works to make my man happy

I enjoy dinner dates because they make the date feel romantic and set the mood.  It feels more intimate and gives both the gentleman and myself the opportunity to chat about ourselves and enjoy great conversation.  I love it when the gentleman chooses the restaurant.  It's more exciting and fun, especially if I haven't been there before.  Chicago is a great place to eat with such great award winning chefs and restaurants.  

Kisses,

Frederica

They truly set the mood for great conversation and prolonged foreplay. They make the experience so much better and make the perfect setting for a genuine date. I'm not too picky on the restaurant, there is always something that I can eat there and it's really about him not me.

they are a a great way to get to know someone better so the time BCD is more relaxed and flows better.  I do like to pick places that are close to my incall so there is less time in the car driving.  Depending on what type of experience he is looking for from me, depends on where I suggest for a meal.  Also the time of day matters as well.  

I often do meal and more dates at 9a, so I pick a breakfast place for those.  Lunches are also popular, so I have a list of places I like that are near that are wonderful for lunch.  For dinner though it really depends on what he is looking for.  More romantic, I have an idea or really upscale, I also have a few idea's there.  As well if I think my guest is more the casual type then I have picks there too...  So it depends on alot but ultimately unless they give me free choice I will tailor it to what I think he is looking for...  Generally I stick to places i have been before and do place reservations in the gents name, just so I know there will not be wait time issues(like I would never goto BiniHana's because often their wait times are crazy even with reservations, would only go really early or super later there).

Again, I like alot that we get to relax get to know each other and feel more involved with each other so that when BCD time arrives it is more fluid and most often much more enjoyable and delicious!

Definitely love somewhere where we can be cozy not be crowded around by other tables & people,  I want to be able to talk about out loud & not worry about having to monitor our convo or even our PDA...

This is admittedly my personal bias on how things should run, but I feel a quality companion will not nickel and dime your time over a taxi ride to/from a fantastic meal. At least, not if she actually values genuine companionship.

In Chicago especially, some of our more interesting dining venues are outside of our main strips in along the Gold Coast/Mag Mile/River North/Streeterville. In fact, those particular areas offer a very limited type of vibe. Most of my dates are visitors from out of town, and it saddens me when I run across someone that's practically been trained to believe I've got a stopwatch running in my purse, because in truth that deficit mentality robs him of getting a peek into the real Chicago, well beyond the same-same hum of the "main strips."

After a first or second date when enough trust has been established, I like to start steering my dinner and clockfree date gentlemen friends into our more diverse neighborhoods, and into those unique spaces and experiences (food, drink, and entertainment) that make our city really shine.

To respond to the OP-I swing all directions. I greatly enjoy carefully selecting options based on my knowledge and experience of my friend's personality and preferences. Anyone who has shared a meal or longer date with me knows I tend to get a special thrill out of "making their meal" as it were. I also love sitting in the reverse seat-there's something very special about getting to experience a space (dining, entertainment, or otherwise) that is very near and dear to a gentleman friend's heart. And then, for my more adventurous friends who I know can laugh it off with me if the experiment flubs, I really enjoy trying very off the wall places, where we either walk away saying "that was amazing!" or else we have a new horrible, hilarious experience to laugh and bond over.  

While top restaurants are always a unique ride, my favorite dining experiences have included an impromptu pub stop in Edinburgh before a concert where I shared my favorite performer with my friend where I enjoyed my first "cigar smoke infused" style cocktail; lunch on a private canal tour for just the two of us and the captain and his wife in Amsterdam (they docked to pick up our order from a restaurant and kept right on going); kayaking across a glacier fed lake in New Zealand, having a private dinner at an amazing tiny restaurant on the far shore, and kayaking back during sunset; hoarding a silly amount of food at a grocer in Napa while reasonably buzzed to have a picnic at our next stop-the 3rd generation wine maker ended up staying and sharing with us, and opened I can't even remember how many bottles of amazing wine; my friend and I hungover and still looking for mischief-getting invited into a closed restaurant in NOLA by the chef/owner on the high holy day of Fat Tuesday and sharing the better part of the afternoon with wine, meal, and a conversation including some of the most amazing perspectives on NOLA from a native that I've ever been enlightened with....goodness, there's more, but I think that's enough for now! Anyway, the takeaway message here is-get away from the norm and the "main strips." Those more unique experiences...they shine in your memory a bit more, and really make that experience you share with your lady friend very, very special.

... unless it's a place i've researched and been set on (they've made the reservations as well).
Now in my base of D.C. gents often ask me for recommendations (D.C. area has a lot of great eats and i've been to a long list of restaurants). My experience so far the gentleman has made the reservations.
If they ask me for recommendations I will throw out a mix of faves and a few new places i'm interested in (I swear there's a new spot opening in the D.C. area monthly lol).
Location has never been a factor ... but then again I generally throw on a complimentary 1hr to dinner dates (my 3hr+ packages).

I have done many lunch and dinner dates in my Incall area. I'm not particular on location and I will make reservations or just walk in and sit by the bar with my date and wait for a table. Pretty open minded on dates. I don't really care who sees me due to my full time job I entertain many clients for lunches and dinners for business meetings.

Thanks for addressing how you feel on being viewed in public.  That would be my concern, but can always manage it as you said - a "business" lunch or dinner.    Great to hear from you - its been too long!

Its been awhile since Ive been to D.C.  Outside of Chicago, my favorite town for good eats though is San Fran.   I can only imgaine all the politician dinner dates  - haha!  it is an presidential election year afterall.

I've been to NEXT and most restaurants in that area.  NEXT is a pretty amazing experience!

I've been to the Gas Lamp district.  too be completely honest, that area was a little disappointing for restaurants, with the exception of Nobu!

Chicago has been by far the best city for food from my biased opinion!   any particular favorite places or place you would like to try?  miss your lovely british accent!!

"always something that I can eat" means you are limited to what you can or can not eat.   I think its important to accommodate both palates?

I never would expected a breakfast meeting - is there another name in place of "dinner date"?  

I do know of a few places that have private tables with curtains  - what?!?!?!?

Has anyone done a cooking class as a dinner date?   I dropped it as a suggestion one time and she admitted it would be interesting to try but was a little hesitant.  She had never been to a cooking class.  By the end of the class, she was amazed with what she learned and appreciated the invitation.    She even took home all the steak bones for her dog.    Not only does Chicago have great restaurants, we also have great place to learn how to cook

C-  As with a lot of cities, the more tourist a place has, the less the restaurants have to worry about quality.  They get so many 1 time through type of business that it doesn't matter if the quality is there or not.  I'm not saying there aren't any good restaurants there, but there are much better restaurants elsewhere in SD- and some right nearby.

Next time you come to SD, look me up-  we'll figure out some GREAT places for you to go!

Where? Do tell!! Lol 😍😍😍

My lips are sealed on any politician dinner dates tho lol .
I might drop a pm sooner than later about SF eats ... i'd like to see it before the year is over (SD too).
Hooray for the new Travel board here on TER now.