Seen At 11: Hungry For Love? A Dinner Date Might Not Satisfy Your Appetite

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- If you're hungry for love, you might want to reconsider looking for it over dinner.

Sharing a meal -- once considered an intimate act - just might be going out of style.

"Are dinner dates dead? Yes, absolutely," Brooklyn's Seva Izrailova said.

A recent article in the online publication MarketWatch.com has proclaimed 'the death of the dinner date.'

Why spend time or money, when grabbing drinks or a quick coffee will do?

"It's more casual -- you know, less of a commitment, more casual," Britanny Foushee told CBS2's Valerie Castro.

"The dinner date is a long, laborious, uncomfortable experience if you don't like that person," relationship expert Susan Winter explained.

Winter said in the age of online dating and dating apps, dating seems to have disappeared altogether.

"I don't mind that we're changing how we date, but I do encourage people to date; meaning court and get to know each other. I think that that's what's been eliminated with Millennials is that they have gone to swipe, drink, and hook up," she said.

The causal hookup might be the only goal for some, and for others leaving dinner for a later date means weeding out the good, the bad, and the ugly up front.

"I get it because sometimes if the dude is ugly, you don't want to be stuck with him through a whole meal" Ricki Sofer explained.

"Drinks and coffee I think are best at first, especially if you're weeding out people who just want a free meal," Allan Finn added.

The coffee date has become an economical way to feel someone out.

"It just kind of seemed cliche, and impersonal but after spending hundreds -- hundreds of dollars -- I'm like, wait a minute, maybe Starbucks is a good thing," Lenn Durant said.

For others, dinner is still the top choice for courtship.

"I'm old-school. I'm chivalrous. I would rather go on a date," Parker Langley offered.

For some it has equaled romantic success.

"I met my wife on a dinner date. It was wonderful, so I think dinner dates are very much alive," Ben Jaffe said.

CBS2's relationship expert Winter said to get the most of out drinks or coffee, be up front about what you want -- and if you're even looking for a relationship -- right off the bat.