Passage 54. Dining Etiquette When Dating Be sure to make reservations if the restaurant you chose is a fancy or popular one. It's very embarrassing to show up without reservations and having to wait for a table, leaving very bad impression on your date. Also, be sure to check to see if they have a dress code and tell your date in advance what to wear. When your food arrives, proper dinning etiquette requires you to eat at a moderate pace so that you have time to talk. A good measure of how fast you should eat is to count 10 seconds between each mouthful and it's a bad dining etiquette if you gobble down your food and you spend the rest of the time watching your date eat. Don't slurp your soup, smack your lips, or chew with your mouth open. Nothing is more unsightly than watching someone talk and chew their food at the same time.