New research by Mandoe Media analyzed menu pricing across more than 500 restaurants in 22 major US cities to find out where a typical first date costs the least, and where it costs the most.
Where you live has a real effect on what a first date actually costs. How much? We wanted an answer, so we pulled pricing from over 500 OpenTable-listed restaurants across 22 of America’s biggest cities, modeled a typical first-date order, and ran the numbers.
The short version: Philadelphia is the cheapest city in America for a first date, at a median of $76 for two. New York is the most expensive, at $122. The gap is 61%, or $46 per date.
The Ranking: Median Cost of a First Date for Two
A first date in our study means one shared starter, two main courses and two cocktails. For each restaurant, we pulled the median starter, main and cocktail price from the menu. For each city, we took the median across all fully-priced restaurants.
| Rank | City | Median First-Date Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philadelphia | $76 |
| 2 | Chicago | $87 |
| 3 | Seattle | $89 |
| 4 | Phoenix | $94 |
| 5 | Houston | $98 |
| 6 | Nashville | $99 |
| 7 | San Antonio | $99 |
| 8 | Jacksonville | $100 |
| 9 | Indianapolis | $101 |
| 10 | Charlotte | $103 |
| 11 | Columbus | $106 |
| 12 | San Diego | $106 |
| 13 | Dallas | $107 |
| 14 | Boston | $112 |
| 15 | San Jose | $112 |
| 16 | Austin | $115 |
| 17 | Las Vegas | $115 |
| 18 | Los Angeles | $117 |
| 19 | San Francisco | $118 |
| 20 | Denver | $118 |
| 21 | Washington DC | $118 |
| 22 | New York | $122 |
Why Philadelphia Wins: The $7 Cocktail
Philadelphia’s top ranking isn’t driven by cheaper food. It’s driven by dramatically cheaper drinks.
The average cocktail in Philadelphia’s OpenTable-listed restaurants costs just $7.29. The national average across all 22 cities in our study is $13.54. In New York, it’s closer to $19.50. That single pricing gap explains most of the difference between the top and bottom of our ranking.
Philadelphia’s main courses also come in below the national median ($26 versus $33), but the cocktail gap is the standout. For anyone ordering two drinks on a first date, Philadelphia offers a built-in saving of around $25 over New York before the food even arrives.
The Dating App Effect
For anyone single and actively using dating apps like Tinder, Hinge or Bumble, small per-date differences can add up quickly.
By way of illustration, someone going on one new first date each week would spend around $2,400 more over a year in New York than in Philadelphia for the same kind of evening. That’s the cost of a weekend break abroad, or close to a month’s rent in most cities.
This is an illustrative figure rather than a measured consumer behavior statistic. Not everyone on Tinder goes on 52 first dates a year. But for anyone dating actively on apps, the city they live in has a real and often invisible effect on annual spending.
The Cheapest and Most Expensive Individual Restaurants
City averages only tell part of the story. Here are the restaurants at either extreme of the dataset.
Five cheapest individual restaurants for a first date:
- Il Borgo, San Francisco: $35
- The Palace of Indian, Philadelphia: $36
- Seiko Japanese Restaurant, Philadelphia: $37
- DeLullo’s Trattoria, Indianapolis: $37
- Electric Karma, Los Angeles: $39
Five most expensive individual restaurants for a first date:
- Strip House Speakeasy, New York: $223
- Lon’s at The Hermosa, Phoenix: $199
- The Paris Cafe, New York: $192
- Ai Fiori, New York: $192
- AB Steak by Chef Akira Back, Los Angeles: $188
Three of the five most expensive venues are in New York. Two of the five cheapest are in Philadelphia.
What the Data Says
Three broader takeaways.
Drink pricing is the dominant variable. Main course prices between cities vary by roughly 50% (cheapest median is around $25, most expensive around $40). Cocktail prices vary by closer to 170% (from about $7 in Philadelphia to $19.50 in New York). Anyone managing dating costs is better served watching what they drink than what they eat.
Reputation doesn’t match affordability. Four of America’s most recognized dining cities (New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC) sit in the bottom quarter of the ranking. Three less fashionable destinations (Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle) lead the table.
Geography matters more than people think. Philadelphia and New York are two hours apart on the same train line. The per-date pricing gap between them is larger than between most randomly chosen pairs of cities in the study.
Methodology
We analyzed 501 restaurants across 22 US cities using OpenTable listings. For each restaurant, we recorded the median price of a starter, a main course and a cocktail from publicly available menu data. A first date was modeled as one shared starter, two mains and two cocktails, on the assumption that this reflects a typical sit-down first date for two people.
Each city’s figure is the median of all its restaurants with complete pricing data. Cities with insufficient fully-priced restaurants in the dataset were not included in the final ranking.
We used the median rather than the mean at city level because restaurant pricing is right-skewed. A handful of high-end venues can inflate a mean and misrepresent typical cost. The median reflects the midpoint of the dining options actually listed on OpenTable.
Limitations
OpenTable skews toward mid-market and upscale dining. This study does not capture BYOB restaurants, dive bars, diners, counter service or fast-casual venues. For anyone whose ideal first date is at a neighborhood bar or a cash-only ramen spot, the numbers here will overstate real-world dating costs.
The rankings should be read as broad patterns in mid-market sit-down restaurant pricing, not a precise measure of every dating option in a given city.