After Bites: An Addendum to First Dates

A great point was made in the comments of yesterday's post Brunch Etiquette: A First Date Favorite that I felt I needed to address:

"...But we all knew that already right? Dinner isn't a first date thing but maybe a second date thing. It takes the pressure off of both parties. What differentiates brunch from say coffee or lunch or breakfast? Is there a scale of casualness?"

Well I disagree that most people don't think of dinner as a first date go-to plan -- it's expected and it's after work. It's the traditional format. Here is my break down:

• Coffee = I'm not that interested or I assume you're not that interested thus want to pass this off as a friendly non-date situation
• Lunch = I'm not that interested
• Cocktails = I'm interested but not enough to buy you dinner
• Dinner = I'm actually interested
• Breakfast = The date was last night

Brunch doesn't hold the same level of casual convenience as a coffee or lunch, it's more of a commitment than cocktails, we've already covered dinner, and who the hell takes a first date out to breakfast? Unless you're living in a romantic comedy dating someone who's job/kids/elderly dog makes having a personal life so impossible that breakfast is the only time of day they can go on a date, breakfast is more of a morning after situation.

Brunch is the feel good, but still recognizably a date option. It's not going the adventurous route of say, rock climbing, or the overly romantic route of a picnic on the beach, but it's the perfect setting to determine whether you want to have a second date.