Dinner shouldn’t come with a defense speech. YouGov’s 2023 pizza poll covered 1,000 U.S. adult citizens; its 2022 international report examined 19 practices across 17 countries and territories.
These findings measure food opinions, not secret judgments.
Well-done steak
Even the chefs don’t agree. Tasting Table interviewed three for its July 25, 2025, article: Kevin Tien criticized the preference, Eli Collins said it didn’t bother him, and Patrick Ochs emphasized honoring the guest’s choice.
Separately, chefs Nic Vanderbeeken and Kevin Ashton told Daily Meal they disliked how well-done cooking can affect steak quality. The disagreement is real, but so is the welcome from chefs who respect your order. There’s no single kitchen verdict to memorize.
Chicken tenders ordered by adults
A familiar order can attract an unnecessary lecture. In a September 26, 2023, opinion column, TheGrio defended adults choosing chicken tenders and fries against the suggestion that the meal was childish.
The Wall Street Journal’s February 13, 2025, reporting supplied a practical counterpoint: adults choosing children’s meals for portions, prices, and simple preferences, including a diner who favored tenders. Neither article measured how often companions judge the choice. Your appetite doesn’t need to pass a sophistication test.
Pineapple pizza
Pineapple has more supporters than the loudest complaints suggest. YouGov’s March 2023 U.S. survey found that 22% loved it on pizza and 37% liked it; 18% disliked it, and 19% hated it. That puts favorable responses ahead. If pineapple is your topping, you had plenty of company in this poll.
The separate international survey published February 3, 2022, recorded an Italian net acceptability score of −63. That means the acceptable share minus the unacceptable share, not 63% opposed. These surveys asked different questions; together, they show why the argument needs more context than a pizza-box punchline.
Anchovy pizza
Anchovies faced a tougher crowd. In YouGov’s 2023 U.S. poll, 29% selected them as their least-favorite topping, while 1% named them their favorite. Separately, 42% said they hated anchovies on pizza.
Those figures come from different questions and cannot be added together. They describe a topping’s reception, not the person reaching for the slice.
Pasta with ketchup
The ketchup bottle meets a different reception across borders. YouGov’s international results gave this combination net scores of −82 in Italy and −48 in the United States.
Yet respondents in 11 surveyed countries and territories leaned toward accepting it, with Hong Kong and Indonesia particularly favorable. The same plate can cross borders without changing ingredients and still find a different audience.
Garlic bread with pasta
Even the bread beside your pasta can become part of the debate. YouGov’s 2022 report found this pairing frowned upon in Italy but generally accepted elsewhere.
Younger Italian respondents were more accepting than older ones. That generational split matters: there wasn’t even one settled Italian view, much less a universal restaurant rule you had somehow missed.
Pasta ordered as a side
Sometimes the argument is about where pasta belongs on the plate. Italian respondents gave serving it as a side a net acceptability score of −55 in YouGov’s international survey. Every other surveyed country or territory leaned toward accepting the practice, with French respondents particularly favorable.
The question concerned an eating practice, not specifically American restaurant orders. A cultural disagreement isn’t automatically a dining mistake.
Spaghetti on a first date
One strand of spaghetti can feel like a lot to manage when you’re trying to make conversation. In BBC Food’s “First date food fails,” entrepreneur Vicky Saynor recalled finding food caught in her teeth during a spaghetti date.
Dating adviser James Preece recommended laughing off small mishaps to ease the pressure. That’s one diner’s story, not a forecast for your evening. A stray bite needn’t become the whole story.
Barbecue ribs on a first date
Ribs gave another diner a memorable first-date souvenir. BBC Food interviewed Emma Kierman, who recalled being told she had barbecue sauce in her hair. Preece noted that food requiring effort can interrupt conversation, while shared messiness can also bring people closer. In this one account, the sauce traveled farther than intended; the reporting doesn’t establish that ordering ribs made a bad impression.
Daily Meal’s September 30, 2023, article added an audience reaction: more Facebook responses favored avoiding ribs than spaghetti. But it reported neither a response count nor representative sampling. Treat that as a conversation among participating readers, not a national verdict on date-night dinner. Order with your own comfort in mind.
YouGov conducted its U.S. poll online March 11–14, 2023, using an opt-in panel, sample matching and demographic and political weighting; it reported an approximate overall margin of error of 3%. These are historical preferences, not fresh 2026 measurements of servers or dates. Across all nine orders, leave room for disagreement—and room to enjoy dinner.
