Picking a restaurant for dinner before prom is stressful and extremely easy to mess up. With all of the pressure to choose the best restaurant, here are the top five places to avoid when trying to impress your prom date.

5. Texas Roadhouse is one of the worst places to go out and eat for prom. With half of the school trying to make reservations there, it is impossible to find a spot, much less privacy from everyone else. The food there is extremely common, because the average restaurant in the OKC metro area serves steak and rolls. The food might taste good, but diversity goes a long way when attempting to make a great impression. Taking a date to a place everyone goes will not at all impress, much less make them feel important in the end.

4. McDonald’s might be a funny place to eat prom dinner with friends, but do not take a date there. While the food is cheap and arguably not too bad, do not take your date here unless you want to be broken up with. The restaurant in general will make your date feel very unimportant and extremely cheap.

3. Olive Garden is another classic example of a horrible place for prom dinner. It is much like Texas Roadhouse, in which tons of people think they have the same good idea, but it ends up being an overwhelming check for an underwhelming experience.

2. Five Guys is a horrible fast-food place to eat prom dinner. If fast food is the only option, please at least go to a cheap place like McDonald’s as a last resort over this. Five Guys does have solid food, but unless you want to spend 20 dollars for a burger and some stale peanuts, find a better place.

1. A Chinese buffet is easily the worst possible option for prom dinner. These restaurants are a good family dinner for a casual night, but never take a date here at all costs. Prom dinner cannot be had over dry chicken and dirty serving utensils.

Please do not choose a fast food restaurant to try and make a date laugh. If that is all there is, at least choose a cheap fast food place as a very last resort. There are a lot of common options like Texas Roadhouse and Olive Garden that can fool people with their fake fanciness. Local, exclusive restaurants are difficult to find so time and thought is required for this decision, but the right place will find its way to the top.

Contact Ian Humphreys at [email protected]