Margot Lee did not want to do dinner on a first date. She had said so clearly and even suggested a different restaurant. Neither preference made it into the final plan, leaving her at a New York City table in August with someone she had met on Hinge, watching a night that already felt off become a story she would eventually share with hundreds of thousands of people.
Margot Lee, a Brooklyn content creator and founder of stationery brand “No Particular Order”, posted a TikTok on August 4, 2026, describing what she called her first and final Hinge date.
The video quickly spread, garnering over 120,000 likes and 2,000 comments.
The date itself became the focus, but Lee’s reaction afterward sparked an even wider conversation. After the dinner, she said she deleted the apps and reconsidered how she wanted to approach dating, raising questions many singles have been asking about modern dating, online connections, and app fatigue.
A Dinner That Never Found Its Footing
Margot said she doesn’t usually do dinner for a first date, had suggested another restaurant, and her cousin, who works in hospitality, had specifically warned her about the one he chose. He kept the reservation anyway.
Both Margot and her date texted that they were running five minutes late, which at least gave them a shared start to the evening. But according to Margot, the tone changed almost immediately after they arrived.
The TikToker told him about her stationery company and its collaborations with clients including Pamela Anderson, Madewell, and Rosewood, and he responded that he didn’t have Instagram, then later used the app at the table. For Margot, that moment felt uncomfortable.
“Kind of immediately just makes me feel, like, weird and sh-tty about my job,” she said.
Margot also said she did not want anchovies. She said he ordered fish without asking what she wanted.
The phone became another issue. Margot mentioned that he spent about seven minutes on it without explaining why or apologizing to her.
When the food arrived, Lee said he ate only one piece of salad and explained that he had eaten a large lunch at 4 p.m. despite making an 8 p.m. dinner reservation. She said he complained that the restaurant had “hustled” them on portions.
When Margot disagreed and said the plates seemed normal for the restaurant, she said the conversation turned toward calories.
“Oh, like this is probably 3,000 calories,” she recalled him saying. Her response: “Oh my God, dude, you made the dinner reservation! I didn’t even want to do dinner.”
The conversation also turned to Burning Man, which Margot said he had attended six times. When she asked what it was like, she said he suggested she watch an HBO documentary about it.
@margot.lee The date that just kept getting worse and worse 😍 what was your favorite part? Mine was when the waitress chased us outside. #dating #good #datingstorytime #hingedate #datestory #datenightmare ♬ original sound – margot.lee
Oh, It Gets Worse… and Worse
The moment Lee later described as the worst part of the night happened after the dinner had already ended.
After paying through Apple Pay, the pair left the restaurant. While they waited outside for their rides, a server came out because the receipt had not been signed and no tip had been left.
Lee said his Uber arrived first, and he left without waiting for hers.
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Her TikTok caption summed up the frustration: “The date that just kept getting worse and worse 😍 what was your favorite part? Mine was when the waitress chased us outside.”
She canceled the Hinge date she had planned for the following night. By the next morning, the apps were gone.
Related: 8 Things Men Do on Dating Apps That Make Women Swipe Left Immediately
The Comments Turned Into a Dating Confession Booth
The video quickly became about more than one uncomfortable dinner.
Thousands of people responded, with many sharing their own experiences with dating apps and disappointing encounters.
“This guy is red pill. There are at least 5 things he did that are red pill tactics,” one viewer wrote.
Another commenter said, “Gave up on hinge months ago! Just feels so inauthentic and fake! I also noticed all the guys on hinge are red pill 😭”
Others focused less on analyzing the date and more on how exhausting dating apps can feel.
“Ur way too pretty for this to happen to u,” one person wrote.
Another shared: “Girl. My last hinge date (8 mos ago) he cut the date off after 10 mins and when I pressed him on why he said I was bigger than he thought I’d be. . . Then he left. I went home, deleted my account and cried for about 24 hrs straight. No more apps for me. Never again.”
Someone else added: “One time I went on a dinner date and after we sat down he goes ‘order whatever you want, I already ate'”
What started as one person describing a bad night became a larger discussion about the experiences people carry with them from dating apps.
The Burnout Behind One Bad Date
Lee’s experience was about one dinner. The frustration surrounding dating apps is much bigger.
About 46% of people who have ever used online dating describe the overall experience as negative, according to Pew Research Center. Nearly nine in ten recent app users say they have at least sometimes felt disappointed by the people they encountered. A separate Forbes Health/One Poll survey found that 78% of dating-app users reported some form of burnout.
Meanwhile, dating apps continue to grow financially. Hinge reported Q2 2026 direct revenue of $204 million, up 22% year over year, while paying users increased 17%.
For some singles, the question is no longer how to find someone online. It is whether the process of searching has started to feel like its own challenge.
At what point during a date that’s clearly not working do you actually get up and leave, and has anyone ever managed to do it?
More Articles You Might Be Interested in:
- The Romance Recession: The Numbers Behind Dating-App Fatigue
- Today’s dating scene is burning everyone out. What’s the alternative?
- Why dating apps can feel like everyone is competing for the same few people
