Dining Etiquette for the Dating Man

Nothing says more about a man's sophistication than his dining etiquette. Leaving a good impression on your dinner date is important and these few hints will help.

Before we start, it's necessary to know that:

- Fast food franchises do not qualify as being restaurants for the purpose of taking your date to dinner;

- Plastic utensils are for picnics, not dinner dates. If you plan on taking your date to a restaurant that uses these as a matter of businesses, forget it;

- Drive-Thru eateries are not restaurants, so any place where you eat your meal without leaving the vehicle is taboo;

- Self serve diners don't count as a restaurant, although buffets can be the exception - but a buffet isn't a good choice for first date dining;-

- Avoid restaurants where ketchup and other condiments come in small disposable plastic or paper containers. Condiments provided in plastic squeeze bottles may be a step up, but still not acceptable for impressing a date;

- If the waiters/waitresses are topless, avoid it. Any restaurant that has a stage and pole isn't suggested.

With that out of the way, mastering proper dining etiquette should be a fairly easy accomplishment for even for the most inexperienced diner.

1. Napkins go in your lap, not around your neck;
2. Don't restrict your date to certain price ranges on the menu. If you didn't do your homework before, now's not the time to pull a "Scrooge" on her;
3. Seat your date. Make sure she knows you're pulling the chair out - before she sits down;
4. Hold the restaurant door open for her. You don't walk in first;
5. Belching out loud may be an acceptable practice in Japan, but that's not the case in the Western world;
6. You may have seen it done in movies, but snapping your fingers at the waiter/waitress is considered rude by most people;
7. Make sure your conversation is 'meal safe'. Stories about your father's gallstone operation, a gory accident you witnessed the other day, or how your cat continually regurgitates hair balls should be left for another time;
8. Ordering multiple drinks to the table may work in the bars, but its tacky behaviour in a restaurant. Relax, sip your drink, and try talking instead of drinking;
9. Excuse yourself from the table, but never tell your date the reason you're going to the bathroom. Some things are to be left unsaid;
10. Don't talk with your mouth full and should something fall from your lips, move it with your napkin, but don't stuff it back into your yap.

The final word - at the end of the meal, don't ask your date: "How're we going to pay for this?" If you didn't arrange sharing the tab beforehand, now's not the time to do it. Suck it up and pull out your wallet!