The First-Date-Restaurant Controversy Diners Couldn't Agree On
We've all heard advice on the absolute worst foods to order on a first date. Stay away from foods that are messy or unfamiliar, and keep an eye out for anything that might get stuck in your teeth. Then again, some people don't even get as far as ordering on their first date — that's what happened in a viral TikTok from 2023 that racked up more than 12,000 likes on the platform. A man took a woman out on a first date to The Cheesecake Factory, and she refused to get out of the car. "Who takes someone that looks like this to a chain restaurant?" the woman asked.
Sure, corporate casual chains are some of the worst restaurants for a first date, but was this an overreaction? The internet is divided. On TikTok, some viewers are fully on board with the woman's need for a nicer date spot. "You deserve it, Lady!" wrote one commenter. Others felt that she was in the wrong. "She can't take her eyes off herself," was one Redditor's comment when the video was reposted to r/ImTheMainCharacter.
The couple in the video (who go by the names Alicia and Jay) call it off. "I don't have a lot of rules, I don't have a lot of expectations for our first date," Jay said in the video. "But, I've already set them, and you've broken every one." His levelheaded manner made some TikTok viewers side with him immediately. "God bless his heart," wrote one, while another noted, "He seems really kind."
@simplywidie Cheesecake Factory date
Some believe the viral clip was staged, but the restaurant debate is real
The reaction to the "first-date" TikTok was swift and far-reaching. In a subsequent interview on "The Truth Factory," Alicia agreed that her actions were self-centered. The clip even made its way to the talk show, "The View," where co-host Whoopi Goldberg called Alicia's reflections in the interview an "apology-ish." All in all, this wasn't a situation where either person came out looking particularly good. Or was it? Did this date even happen? Some internet skeptics say no.
"The first time I watched this, I knew it was fake. The vibe felt off, and it just seemed so outlandish to me," wrote one blogger on The Feminine Fancy. A writer on Medium called the viral video "a dangerous hoax that perpetuates harmful stereotypes about Black women." The creators haven't confirmed that the video was staged, so it remains unclear whether this first-date faux pas truly took place.
Does it matter? The video sparked a debate about whether The Cheesecake Factory was an appropriate first-date spot. For its part, The Cheesecake Factory responded with a video on X of a boy jubilantly dancing with the caption, "When you pull up to The Cheesecake Factory for your first date." The internet still can't agree. If you do end up at The Cheesecake Factory for a date, though, set aside some time to choose from the chain's massive menu.