Double Date Ideas That Aren't Four People Staring at Menus

The best double date ideas give all four of you something to do, so nobody has to carry the conversation: a team cook-off, a blind tasting, a game where couples compete, or a night where you make something side by side. In Los Angeles, Amor Mágico, a candlelit couples craft night on Thursday, November 12, is built for exactly that, with tables shared by several couples, a welcome drink and a grazing table out all night.

You know how it goes. Four people, one booth, menus up like shields. Someone asks about work. Someone else asks about the dog. Two people end up talking to each other while the other two nod along, and the check arrives before anyone's had a real laugh.

That's not a double date. That's a meeting with appetizers.

The secret to a good double date

Give the table a job. When everyone's hands are busy, the conversation stops being work, the couples start teasing each other, and you find out things about your own partner you'd never hear across a booth. Here's what works.

Seven double date ideas

1. A couples craft night

Each couple makes something for each other while the other couple heckles. In Los Angeles, Amor Mágico does the hosting for you: a candlelit garden in Hollywood, love charms you paint for each other, a butter candle you make together and then swipe bread through, a grazing table, a welcome drink, and cues all night that get you talking to your person and the couples around you. Come as four. Leave with a story. $180 per couple.

2. A team cook-off

Same three ingredients, two couples, forty-five minutes. Each pair cooks one small plate, then you swap and judge. The trash talk is mandatory. So is feeding the other couple a bite of the winner.

3. A blind tasting

Four chocolates, four wines, or four cheeses, labels hidden. Everyone scores, then you reveal. Somebody will be very confidently wrong, and it will be the best part of the night.

4. The "how well do you know them" game

Each person writes three answers about their partner (first concert, favourite late-night snack, the thing they'd save in a fire), and the partner has to guess them. Couples score as a team. Prepare to be surprised. Prepare to be roasted.

5. A progressive dinner

Appetizer at one home, main at the other, dessert somewhere on foot in between. Moving the night around keeps it from going flat.

6. A class you're all bad at

Salsa, pottery, archery. Being beginners together levels the table and gives everyone permission to laugh at themselves.

7. A grazing board challenge

Each couple gets a board and twenty dollars of ingredients. Build it for the other couple. Soft cheese, figs split open, honey, something salty, something sweet. Then you feed each other from what you made. Hands busy. Eyes up.

Double date ideas in Los Angeles

LA is full of places to sit. The best double dates here get you up and doing: walk the stalls at Grand Central Market and order one bite at each, catch the city lights from Griffith Observatory after dark (it's closed Mondays), or picnic at sunset at Barnsdall Art Park. For the one night that does all of it at once, there's Amor Mágico on November 12. More ideas: date ideas in Los Angeles that aren't another restaurant.

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Questions people ask

What are fun double date ideas?

Anything that gives all four of you a job: a couples craft night, a team cook-off, a blind tasting, a 'how well do you know them' game, a progressive dinner, or a class you're all beginners at.

What's a good double date in Los Angeles?

Amor Mágico, a candlelit couples craft night at Mi Alma Gardens in Hollywood on Thursday, November 12, 6 to 9:30 pm. $180 per couple with a welcome drink. Grand Central Market, Griffith Observatory after dark and Barnsdall Art Park at sunset also work well for four.

How do you make a double date less awkward?

Give the table something to do. When everyone's hands are busy, nobody has to carry the conversation and the laughing starts on its own.

Can two couples come to Amor Mágico together?

Yes. Each couple buys its own pair of tickets. Tables are shared by several couples, so it's built for a night with friends.