Here's The Best Way To Score A Second Date

Whether or not you secure a second date with someone depends mainly on how well your first date goes. Although there's no one-size-fits-all formula for a perfect first date, a new analysis from dating app Hinge indicates that there are a few moves you can make to make that second date more of a possibility.

Hinge surveyed 8,000 of its users in large cities such as NYC, Boston, L.A., San Francisco, and Chicago to get their insight on first date spots that did or did not lead to a second date. Results varied across the cities, but some factors remained the same across the board.

For starters, the data reveals that movies are a pretty great option. Over half of respondents in San Francisco (64%) said that they thought a movie was a successful date, while 59% of D.C. residents and 79% of New Yorkers said the same.

As it turns out, most of us play it pretty casual when it comes to getting an initial feel for the another person. And the more serious-seeming a date was, the less likely it was that participants would accept. For example, going to a park or out for coffee or drinks was more likely to get you a date than recommending going out for dinner.

Although participants liked to keep things casual and low-stakes in terms of the overall type of date, the kind of food they went for was a bit of a toss-up. Suggesting a pizza date, for example, only had a 15% success rate for a second date. But suggesting fried chicken allowed for a 24% chance of a follow-up. Sushi, on the other hand, had a 19% success rate, while pancakes had just a 9% rate.

"Our goal at Hinge is to help our members get offline and out on a date as quickly as possible," Jean-Marie McGrath, Hinge spokesperson, said in a statement shared with Refinery29. "When users wrote in asking for first date ideas, we didn’t know where or what to suggest. Now we have data-backed recommendations to share with our members so they can have the best possible first date."

Again, we all have varied tastes and there's no formula for the ideal first date. But should you need some inspiration for a first date, or if you're on the fence between margaritas or pancakes, you've got some data to work with now.