How to decide where to eat with friends (without the 20-minute group chat)
Five habits that end the “where do you want to eat?” loop for couples and friend groups.
“Where do you want to eat?” “I don't know, where do you want to eat?” Nearly every couple and friend group knows this loop. It isn't that nobody has opinions. It's that nobody wants to be the one who picked the bad place, and the good ideas are scattered across screenshots, saved posts and a dozen group chats.
These five habits fix it. You don't need an app for any of them, though one helps.
1. Keep one shared list, before you need it
The decision is hard because you're inventing options on the spot, hungry. Instead, whenever anyone hears about a place (a friend's recommendation, a video, a spot you walk past), it goes on one list everyone can see. When it's time to eat, you're choosing from ideas you already agreed sounded good.
2. Narrow first, then decide
Two quick filters cut most lists down to a handful: what kind of food (“something Thai or Mexican”) and what's actually open right now. Five options is a decision. Fifty is homework.
3. Let chance make the final call
Once everything left is a place you'd all be happy with, pick at random. It sounds silly, but it removes the blame: nobody chose the place, the spin did. Agree on one rule up front, such as everyone gets one veto, and then the pick stands.
4. Take turns deciding
If chance isn't your thing, rotate. This week you pick, next week they pick, no complaints allowed. It works best combined with a shared list, so whoever's turn it is isn't starting from zero.
5. Rate it afterwards
After you go, everyone scores it out of 10. Over time you learn which places your group actually loves, and “let's go back to the 9” becomes an easy answer on nights nobody wants to try something new.
How Crave does this
Crave is a free iPhone app built around exactly these habits. Your partner or friends share one private Cravelist, and anyone can add a place in seconds, including straight from Apple Maps or Google Maps. Filter by cuisine or by what's open now, then tap Spin and Crave picks one. After you go, everyone rates it and Crave shows the group's average.
Questions
What's the fastest way to pick a restaurant as a group?
Keep one shared list of places everyone wants to try, filter it to what's open and the kind of food you're in the mood for, then pick one at random. Agree beforehand that the random pick stands, with at most one veto each.
Is there an app that picks a restaurant for you?
Yes. Crave, a free iPhone app, has The Spin: it picks a random place from your group's shared list, optionally narrowed by cuisine or to places open right now.
How do couples decide where to eat?
Many couples keep a shared list of places they both want to try and take turns choosing, or let a random pick from that list decide, so neither person has to carry the decision.
Free on iPhone and iPad. One shared list, scores from people you trust, and The Spin for when nobody can decide.