Hi everyone! Here’s the latest and greatest event I attended: Eight at Eight.

What is Eight at Eight?:  This is a dinner club for singles.  Here’s how it goes: 4 girls and 4 guys go to dinner together and see what happens. 

Here’s what’s bad: It is not cheap! It is, in fact, the opposite of cheap.  I joined back in November and I have signed up every time there was a scheduled meal.  The meals are few and far between.  I have signed up for all four that were offered.  I have only attended two- and this is because I was not “picked” for the other two, and was not informed of this until the day before the meal.  It’s pretty annoying to look forward to a big, exciting dinner date for a month just to have it get cancelled the day before- too late to make plans with other friends.  It’s also bad if you are a girl.  Because we ladies are more inclined to sign up for these things, it’s harder to get a spot at a dinner.  We also only get five meals to use while the guys get seven (I think) for the same price.  

Here’s what’s good:  If you’re a guy you are a HOT commodity! In fact, even after some of the men used up all their meals, they often get invited to “fill in” so they can provide at least four men for the line of anxious women waiting to meet their four bachelors for dinner! So if you’re a dude- join this.  The reason I wasn’t “picked” for those two meals is because they guarantee you will never dine more than once with a person of the opposite sex, and I would much rather not get go to a meal than keep having dinner with the same dudes I didn’t like the first or second time around,  I don’t know how they do it, but they take great pains to make sure that you are at a table with “potantially suitable matches” for all five of your dinners.  And of the two times I went, I had a tasty dinner and a fabulous time.

Here’s how Friday night went down: I showed up at Orso’s in Old Town (see below for a scene-setting photo) at 7:45.  Dinner was at 8 (hence the name ”Eight at Eight”), but if you get there on time you are rewarded with a free cocktail.  Sweet.  An Eight at Eight hostess introduces everyone and gets you all comfortable and ready for a night of fun.  There are place cards on the table and you are seated boy-girl.  We were all around the same age, the women were all lovely, and the men were….ok.  What is most fascinating to me (and this happened at my first event as well) is how everyone seems to always be talking to someone, there is no competition for attention-the conversation flow is very organic, and it seemed that each person was content to get to know their neighbor rather than shouting across the table at someone else’s neighbor.  And sometimes (again, very naturally) the whole group talks to each other as well.  Group dynamics are so interesting and I have yet to have a meal where some obnoxious jerk dominates the entire evening !  Hmmm,  I guess that could mean I’m that obnoxious jerk then…. Anyway,  I liked the girls very much, especially the teacher I dined with.  As for the boys, I didn’t get to talk to two of them at all as they were more introverted as well as on the other side of the table.  But that was ok.  As luck would have it, I was seated in between the two I preferred anyhow.  Greek guy on my left talked to me about his family and his culture.  Stimulating.  Wisconsin guy on my right discussed  the merits of the Green Bay Packers Cheese Wedge hat and fried food.  Amusing.  And I talked about myself.  Fascinting (haha).  But they must have thought so because they BOTH asked me for my number.  That’s right, readers! Don’t hate! Two boys asked for my number in one night! Success! Those other bitches didn’t stand a chance! (I’m just kidding, those other nice young women didn’t stand a chance).  Oh, the food was good.  I think there are better Italian restaurants in Chicago to be honest, but it was good.  Besides, I was there for the event, the food was just a side note.  And perhaps I’m not being fair to Orso’s, I was too busy being charming to really notice the food!

Reality/Ego check: So it’s Sunday.  Neither boy has called me.  I think this might happen a lot though.  Often times it seems hard to transition from “Hey, nice to meet you- can I get your number” to “let’s actually make some time to hang out with each other, person that is almost a complete stranger”.  I don’t know, it seems like that excitement over a person you just met is hard to sustain.  At least for me it is, which is likely why I’m single!  But why would you join a “club” where your goal is to meet new people, and then not follow up with someone that you were interested in enough to get a phone number from?  However, I am not sad.  It’s a win-win situation as far as I’m concerned.  I liked both the boys enough to go out with them if they asked, but I didn’t like either enough to be bummed out if they don’t call.  Regardless, I can’t remember the last time two boys asked for my number in one night! Perhaps that is because it never happened before….Either way it’s an ego boost and more play than I would have gotten if I had been sitting home.  

Eight at Eight gets: 3.75 stars (out of five)  I need to remember to  start ranking these events.

So if you’re interested: http://eightateight.com.  If you’re a little intimidated by the price, or you want something  more “friendly” and  less ”datey” I will be reviewing Grub With Us next week!