Is It Weird To Bring Your Own Ranch Bottle To A Restaurant... On A Date?
Ranch is the perfect accompaniment for most savory meals, whether it's slathered over salad, stirred into mashed potatoes, or served as a dip for wings and otherwise inedible pizza crusts. There's a reason why ranch is America's favorite dressing, with 40 percent of people naming it as their favorite in a 2017 study, ahead of its next highest competitor, Italian dressing (via The New York Times). But when you think about dressing for a date, a bottle of delicious, creamy Hidden Valley probably isn't what springs to mind.
That's exactly what one person has gone viral for, though, in a now-deleted Reddit post that has provided the internet with its weekly dose of drama and debate. The post went viral on Twitter after being posted on the "AITA" subreddit. Twitter user @katelynanne tweeted about the post on the AITA board: The crime was that the person writing the post left a restaurant halfway through a date to run to the store for a bottle of ranch, leaving their date horrified.
What happened?
Perfectly low stakes, but bonkers, AITA just dropped y'all. pic.twitter.com/6Y1jcjIH4F
— Katelyn (@katelynanne) April 2, 2023
According to the Reddit post, the ranch-lover in question was out for dinner with their date, Michael, at a Polish/Hungarian restaurant. The poster asked for ranch to go with their food, as they rarely have meals without it. When the server replied they didn't have ranch, the poster left the restaurant to grab a bottle of ranch from the store, then came back to finish the meal, thinking nothing of it. However, Michael was not pleased, telling them that it was offensive that a person would go out and buy a bottle of dressing instead of just not eating a meal without it.
People are divided over the post and regarding whether the man's behavior was poor date etiquette or totally harmless. One person felt that ranch heads are a threat to society. Someone else commented that while the poster can do whatever she wants, Michael is free to never talk to her again. Other commenters compared the debacle to a Seinfeld episode and argued about whether the poster could be neurodivergent. Some even called out the hypocrisy between the apparent social capital of condiments, writing that while it's acceptable to carry around hot sauce, doing so with ranch is considered barbaric.
Why do we love ranch so much?
It's understandable that a Polish/Hungarian restaurant might not stock ranch, especially considering the fact that it's heavily associated with American cuisine and not much else. It makes sense why ranch addicts (who also reportedly include Aretha Franklin) love the sauce so much that they'd want to drench everything edible in it. Much of this is due to the quality and flavor of the ranch itself: The Hidden Valley brand is so serious about ensuring its ranch has the perfect flavor that it has an in-house panel of tasters who make sure that every bottle is exceptional.
If you're a ranch lover worrying about your dating life though, fear not. Fortunately, there are dedicated places where it's completely socially acceptable to cover your plate in this creamy sauce. According to Eat This, Not That, this wonderful American condiment is considered a delicacy in some places, such as Twisted Ranch restaurant in St. Louis, where every single menu item contains ranch, and there are 33 different flavors to choose from. We don't expect Michael will be going there any time soon.