Food For Thought: Capitalism-Fueled Dating Edition

 Two stories from Delish, a year apart, about how food is playing a role in relationships (and by extension how capitalism is playing a part in both)...

First, from July 2024: "The Shady Way Some Restaurants Are Catfishing People on Dating Apps"

If you’ve spent any time watching Catfish on MTV, you’re probably familiar with the risks of online dating. People posing as someone they’re not is something all singles need to watch out for as they swipe on apps. But apparently there’s a chance you might not be catfished by another person at all—you might be getting scammed by a restaurant.

A trend is emerging where restaurants are posing as eligible singles on dating apps to lure users to dine at their establishment. The scam has been dubbed “food digging,” derived from the term “gold digger.”

The scam has been primarily reported in cities like Delhi, India, but Taylor Paré, also known as @paretay on TikTok, claims that food digging has come stateside. Paré posted a video to TikTok in November sharing her suspicious experience on a dating app.

“I met this guy on a dating app and he immediately asked me on a date to a specific restaurant,” she shares in the video. “He confirmed day of, I get to the restaurant [and] see that he’s nowhere to be found.”

Paré tried to reach out to her date through the app, only to discover that he unmatched with her without warning. But after getting ready and traveling all the way to the restaurant, she figured she might as well eat something while she was there.

It was only after she got home and was browsing online when she realized that the same thing happened to another woman at the same restaurant.

“Once you get stood up, they know that probably nine times out of 10 that you’re going to buy something from them,” Paré added.

Online commentator @nosybystanders added her own thoughts in response to Paré's video. She noted that social media users in Delhi regularly experience similar scams, with some restaurants going even further and inflating menu prices for victims. "Y'all be safe out there, because these restaurants are getting dirty," she said in a TikTok.

Users took to the comments section to voice their frustration. "This feels Black Mirror-ish," one wrote. Another added, "So like the restaurant didn't think to host a singles event??"

Others shared their own similar experiences with the scam. "LMAO I was doing this as a bar promoter back in 2013," someone admitted. Another user shared that a coffee shop owner in France operates a similar scam, asking dates to order for him because he's running late and then never showing up.

Second, from July 2025: "People React to Girl Who Claims To Steal Sweetgreen Orders to Score Dates"

Let's hear it for the girls! I love a clever queen, and today I have to totally applaud one viral influencer who has bested the (rough) dating game. TikTok influencer @ChefTova shared a satirical video late last year, offering an honestly iconic way to probably not score dates.

In her video, she shares, "Every time I go to FiDi I steal a pre-ordered salad with double protein, I look up their name to make sure he's either in M&A Law or something that ruins the environment, I slide into his DMs and confess to stealing his high protein lunch, then ask if he wants to discipline me for being a menace," the influencer deadpans in her TikTok. "Has it worked yet? No. Have I been banned from several Sweetgreen locations? Maybe," she jokes.

Her post has since gone viral, with other news outlets reporting the story as fact. In the comments section of her video, people are applauding her ingenuity. After all, a finance bro with a hefty bank account shouldn't really miss one salad, right??

There's something odd about women are stealing food from restaurants for dates while restaurants are faking dates with women to sell food. In the end, the restaurants come out on top: they either make a sale, have the option to take a thief to court for compensation, or bask in the free publicity. 

But what does it say about our society that business are breaking hearts to make a profit, or businesses are being targeted by date-starved people because their customers have high earning potential?