The 14 Best Date Ideas in NYC

The Big Apple was dubbed the worst city in the US for dating, but we’re not buying it. Cuffing season is a year-round affair in NYC, and there are plenty of ways to experience your own rom com-worthy meet-cute (especially with help from an IRL dating experience or a matchmaking event). Just make sure when you finally find that potential special someone, you don’t fall into the monotonous, stale date trap. While, yes, dinner and a movie can be great, there are plenty of more exciting ways to keep the fun and romance alive. From cruising around a funky roller rink to making your own pasta and perusing aisles of sultry smut, here’s how to have a sexy and fun date in NYC.

Cooking classes
Lower East Side
Italian food is inherently romantic. And what’s even more romantic is cooking side-by-side with your crush—and not within a cramped apartment kitchen. Best laid plan: Head to Forsythia on a Wednesday night and learn how to make fresh pasta with the restaurant’s executive chef Jacob Siwak. In a teaching space located right next to the restaurant, Siwak will instruct attendees on how to make pasta dough, shape the pasta in various ways, and chop up ingredients for the sauce. Oh, and you can sip wine while you’re doing all of this. At the end of the night, staff will cook up the pasta and couples can fill up while basking in their newfound culinary knowledge.

Lower East Side
Ever since Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore demonstrated in their infamous and ultra-sultry wheel-throwing scene in Ghost, we are all aware that pottery can be a turn on. We propose flirting over one of Mellow’s hand-building clay workshops. Held several times a month, the two-hour classes include a short intro plus demonstration followed by free time to create whatever you wish with a 7-inch by 7-inch portion of clay. Each piece will be glazed in white or clear, fired, and ready for pick-up six weeks later.

Red Hook
Whether they’re just ornamental or put to use on the daily, coasters are one of those adult home accessories that are easy to deem necessary. To stand out from the pack in this arena, create your own set at Shiny Sparkle Labs. In the three-hour Fuze and Booze workshops, participants learn how to cut, bend, and sift pieces of glass to create their own coasters. Other iterations of the classes include building charcuterie trays, plates, and bowls. Complimentary sips from local Brooklyn purveyors will keep the conversation flowing as well.

Chinatown
If being attracted to someone’s pheromones signals there’s a connection, what does liking someone's candle creation mean? In our opinion, all things point to heart eyes—but maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Nevertheless, an evening spent at Lanterne Candle Lab concocting the perfect scent with your date is just plain cute. Double down on the cuteness by designing candles that remind you of each other, and then exchange them. Bring your own libations, and make plans for a stroll or quick meal in the neighborhood while your candles cool and set.

Upper East Side
Chances are you and your date are stressed. Shake off a week’s worth of tension with one of the many mental fitness classes at the Upper East Side’s Sage and Sound wellness center. With two classes per evening six days a week, choose from a variety of meditation and experiential sessions that utilize breathwork and are centered around themes like love, emotions, and calm. Before your class, reserve appointments for non-toxic manicures, massages, or facials, then snag veggie-forward plates and beverages from the on-site cafe, Isle of Us.

Otherwise, there’s QC Spa. Just an eight-minute ferry ride away from Lower Manhattan on Governors Island, sits a couples getaway sans extensive travel. The island’s spa boasts 20 different wellness experiences including saunas, infrared beds, reflection rooms, and foot baths. After a few indoor treatments, head outside to enjoy one of the two heated, outdoor pools, which have panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline, underwater music, and massaging hydroseats. Psst! A couples massage before you head back to reality is a sure bet that everyone leaves feeling refreshed and lovey dovey.

Park Slope
A spark of passion can be ignited by experiencing shared intellectual growth—in this case, through the tandem reading of a smutty romance novel. If you’re not sure where to start on the path to finding a perfectly stirring novel, Park Slope’s Ripped Bodice is a one-stop shop. The romance-only bookstore specializes in a range of hot and heavy novels separated into sub-genres like contemporary, LGBTQ+, science fiction, historical, and erotica.

Bushwick
Since the 1890s, when four-wheeled roller skates were invented, young men and women have used the activity as a way to mingle and flirt. Not much has changed over the past 130 years. On any given night, couples flock to this Bushwick hotspot. Xanadu offers a shiny wooden rink, a stage for live performances (from DJs to live bands), plus themed nights like House and Disco Skate Night. If you and your date want to channel an authentic ’80s vibe, pull up for a Skaterobics class.

Various locations
Competition makes the heart grow fonder—well, that’s our stance at least. Opt out of the usual dinner date with a trip to one of the two Spin locations in the city (Midtown and Flatiron) for a few rounds of ping pong. At both outposts, players will find an expanse of Ping-Pong tables, full-service bar, DJs bumping music, and plenty of photo opps like a bathtub filled with ping-pong or balls. A private room with its own tables is also ideal for setting up a birthday party, group hang, or extra special “just because” date night with your sweetie.

Various locations
Bowling is a date-night classic for a reason. We all just want to channel The Dude. Bowlero gives us that nostalgic energy of a hometown bowling alley but with the aesthetics turned all the way up. From flashing neon lights and vibrant hanging lanterns to intimate lanes and an on-site arcade, dates here can last all night. There’s also three NYC locales—two in Manhattan and one in Queens. Needless to say, you can live out your Big Lebowski daydreams here.

The Seaport
No prior yard games knowledge is required to have fun at The Seaport’s Lawn Club. Fashioned in an aesthetic akin to an upscale backyard, Lawn Club sports a variety of courts for playing everything from bocce and cornhole to croquet and shuffleboard. If date night is taking on a more adventurous tone, branch out from the classic games with a few rounds of putting pool (think billiards melded with mini golf) or Kan Jam (which is, simply put, trying to throw a frisbee into a trash can). All games can be explained and aided by the helpful staff, who are dressed in green tracksuits that eerily resemble Squid Games ‘fits.

NoMad
Putt-Putt is high on the list of quintessential date ideas. Swingers is like mini golf with a facelift. With three, elaborate courses (The Waterwheel, The Clocktower, and The Windmill), six cocktail bars, and four food vendors, this 1920s English golf clubhouse-esque space is a verifiable adult playground.

La Croix, Pelligrino, Topo Chico, Perrier. Seltzer is an elite beverage. And while one probably sits next to your laptop every day, there’s not much people know about its lore. Luckily enough, NYC is home to its very own fizzy bev-centric museum in Cypress Hills. At the fourth-generation, family-owned Brooklyn Seltzer Museum, you and your date will delve into the science behind making seltzer water, its history, and how it's made. Sparks are guaranteed to fly.

Another favorite for date night is The Museum of Sex. Since 2002, it has commanded a lauded reputation for its progressive and eye opening exhibitions on human sexuality. So, what better way is there to have some cheeky fun with bae, while still respectfully learning about this thing humans are just oh-so obsessed with. The rotating exhibits here have included erotic photography, intimate short films, massive blow-up anatomy, and more. Better yet, you can grab a drink at the on-site Carnal Carnival Bar and take home some sultry toys from the gift shop.

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