A dinner date should be about good food, great conversation, and figuring out whether you want to see each other again. But the wrong meal can turn an otherwise lovely evening into an awkward experience involving garlic breath, sauce-covered fingers, or an unexpected battle with a plate of spaghetti. You don’t have to order a boring salad to make a good impression, but a little thought about what’s on your plate can make the evening more enjoyable.
The good news? You can still enjoy delicious food without spending the entire date worrying about what’s stuck between your teeth. Here are nine foods you might want to think twice about ordering when romance is on the menu.
Garlic-Heavy Dishes
That creamy garlic pasta might smell incredible, but your breath could tell a different story later.
Garlic adds wonderful flavor to everything from roasted chicken to creamy sauces, but its smell can linger long after you’ve finished eating. Compounds produced asour body processes garlic can contribute to persistent breath odor, sosowash alone isn’t isn’t a completeolution. If you’re hoping to end the evening with a kiss, choose a dish with a lighter garlic flavor instead.
You don’t need to ban garlic from your life, of course. Just think about how much you’re ordering and whether your date is likely to share the same meal.
Spaghetti With Slippery Sauce
Few things interrupt a romantic conversation faster than trying to catch a runaway noodle.
Spaghetti is delicious, but long strands coated in tomato sauce can be surprisingly difficult to manage when you’re nervous. One enthusiastic forkful can leave sauce on your chin or send a noodle sliding back onto your plate. Add a white shirt to the situation, and dinner suddenly becomes a test of coordination.
If Italian food is calling your name, consider shorter pasta shapes such as penne or rigatoni. You still get the comforting flavors without quite as much chance of an accidental wardrobe disaster.
Ribs and Messy Chicken Wings
Finger-licking food is wonderful until you have to shake someone’s hand or reach for theirs.
Sticky barbecue ribs and saucy chicken wings are delicious, but they’re rarely the tidiest choices for a first dinner date. Sauce can collect on your fingers and around your mouth, while napkins seem to disappear just when you need another. As food writers at Delish have explored, messy dishes can make an otherwise enjoyable first-date meal more awkward than necessary.
Save the full barbecue feast for a relaxed outing when you don’t mind getting your hands dirty. For a dressier evening, grilled chicken or a neatly served steak may be easier to manage.
Overloaded Burgers
A towering burger looks impressive on the menu, but the first bite can tell a different story.
Burgers stacked with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sauces, and oversized patties tend to fall apart at the worst possible moment. You squeeze the bun, the sauce escapes, and half the filling threatens to land on your plate. Even if you manage the first bite successfully, keeping everything together can become a surprisingly demanding task.
You don’t have to give up burgers altogether. Choose one with manageable toppings, or ask for extra sauce on the side so you can control how much ends up on your hands.
Beans and Other Foods That Make You Gassy
Your digestive system doesn’t care that you’re trying to make a good impression.
Beans, lentils, and certain vegetables contain carbohydrates that gut bacteria ferment during digestion, sometimes producing gas and bloating. These foods are nutritious, but if you already know they tend to upset your stomach, a large serving before a long dinner date may not be your best choice.
Everyone responds differently, so there’s no reason to avoid these foods if they sit comfortably with you. The trick is to know your own digestive habits rather than discovering them halfway through a romantic evening.
Related: The 10 Worst Foods to Eat on a Date
Extremely Spicy Food
Ordering the hottest dish on the menu might sound adventurous until your eyes start watering.
Chili-heavy meals can leave you sweating, reaching repeatedly for your water, or struggling to enjoy the conversation. Capsaicin, the compound responsible for chili peppers’ heat, creates a burning sensation that some people enjoy and others find overwhelming.
If you know your spice tolerance, order accordingly. If you want to explore a cuisine you’ve never tried, choose a moderate heat level so you can appreciate the flavors without turning dinner into an endurance challenge.
Foods You’ve Never Tried Before
A dinner date is an opportunity to explore, but you don’t have to experiment with your entire meal.
An unfamiliar dish might include ingredients you dislike, require special utensils, or arrive prepared in a way you didn’t expect. That doesn’t mean adventurous eating is a bad idea. It simply helps to understand what you’re ordering before committing to something that might dominate the evening.
Ask your server about the ingredients and preparation if you’re unsure. Trying a new appetizer together can also be a fun way to discover shared tastes without making the entire meal an experiment.
Raw or Undercooked Seafood
Romance is much easier to enjoy when you’re not worrying about whether your meal was prepared safely.
Oysters, sashimi, and other raw seafood dishes appeal to many diners, but they can carry foodborne illness risks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends choosing properly cooked seafood and taking precautions when eating out.
For most people, the decision comes down to personal preference and risk tolerance. Still, certain groups, including pregnant people and those with weakened immune systems, face greater risks from some raw foods. If you’re uncertain, a properly cooked seafood dish can be just as delicious.
An Enormous, Heavy Meal
The last thing you want is to spend the second half of your date wishing you could lie down.
A huge plate of creamy pasta, fried appetizers, and a rich dessert might sound tempting when you’re hungry, but eating more than you’re comfortable with can leave you feeling sluggish or uncomfortably full. That can make a long conversation, a walk afterward, or a spontaneous second stop less appealing.
Choose a portion that satisfies you without leaving you struggling to move. If you both want dessert, sharing something sweet can be a lovely way to finish the evening without overdoing it.
Ultimately, the best dinner-date food isn’t necessarily the fanciest dish or the healthiest option. It’s something you genuinely enjoy, feel comfortable eating, and can savor while getting to know the person across the table. Confidence comes from being yourself, not from memorizing a list of forbidden foods.
Which food would you avoid on a first dinner date: garlic-heavy pasta, messy ribs, or something completely different?
