It’s another Sunday night. The weekend is not technically over, but you’re not in college anymore, so you know better than to start the week off on the wrong foot by pretending Sunday night is, in fact, a Saturday night. Instead, you’re doing your laundry while you watch Extreme Home Makeover. Somewhere in those moments of what I like to call “Sunday night blues” is where you begin to dread the ever-approaching Monday morning water cooler question: “So how was your weekend?”

Well, what if you could say that, for your information, you went to a great new restaurant in the city, met seven cool, new people who you now know pretty well and even got a couple of business cards? That’s what Sarah Kathryn Smith had in mind a decade ago when she re-invented the idea of the 8 at 8 Dinner Club.

In 1998 and before Smith got her hands on it, 8 at 8 was a flailing business. Starting right out of college, the 22-year-old quickly established the brand as one of the premier dating services in Atlanta, the original city for the company. It was not long before the media picked up on this new romance rave and soon Smith began appearing on Oprah and CNN and in magazines like Cosmo and New York. Her idea got so big that it even started to expand outside of Atlanta, establishing in Chicago, Dallas, New York, Washington D.C. and Denver.

The idea for the company was fairly straightforward says Kelly Guth, Denver Membership Director. “It is four single men and four single women who meet for dinner at eight o’clock…its an evening of fun conversation, the opportunity to try some good food and the chance to add to your circle of friends from both sexes.”

Talk about a win-win situation. What sets 8 at 8 apart from other dating services is the ever-present group dynamic. In speaking with a group of club members, they all agreed that relieving the pressure of the traditional one-on-one date is a huge draw for most people to this type of dating. One woman, who has been going to the 8 at 8 dinners off and on for a few years, remarked that this dynamic “makes the chance of hitting it off with someone and being compatible with someone at the table that much more probable.” It is not uncommon for people to connect through this service, either. Of the few members I spoke to before an event, two of them had met at a dinner and are currently dating. The company boasts from its website that it is responsible for “50 marriages, thousands of first dates, hundreds of serious relationships, dozens of first kisses and a few children.” Guth, who has headed up the Denver operation for the past year, has seen seven long-term relationships come into fruition.

The restaurants frequented by the club members will surely entice even the coldest of hearts. Local favorites like Zengo, Vesta Dipping Grill, Coral Room and Carmine’s on Penn have all been in the mix as possible date spots in the past. And, because even good food can’t cure awkwardness, once the eight dates arrive at the restaurant an 8 at 8 hostess greets everyone, does all the introductions for the group and buys everyone a round of drinks before the meal. It’s the group’s way of side stepping all the sweaty handshakes and unsure smirks that seem to creep up on most blind dates. Here, everyone knows everyone well in advance of seating and has even had a cocktail before they have seen the menu.

And while the price of membership isn’t cheap by any means, it does set apart those who are serious about meeting new people and perhaps even finding love. The cost of membership to 8 at 8 is $500.00, which includes being matched up with five dinners over a course of a few months (not including the price of the actual dinners). But, as one 8 at 8 member commented, “It’s like anything, you pay for what you get. Dating, like anything else, is all about what kind of effort you put into it. It can either be a night of musical chairs, or you could actually meet some really great people. It’s all up to you.”

With the slew of options out there, including speed dating, Internet dating, blind dates and personal ads, the horror stories and awkward moments abounded when the 8 at 8 members were asked about their dating backgrounds. Suffice it to say, “restraining order” was a phrase that kept coming up. Contrast that with those aforementioned success stories, and it seems that local Denverites are on to something in their search for that special someone…and this time they have seven others along for the same ride.

8 at 8 Dinner Club
Phone 303.369.3888
www.8at8.com

3rd Annual Rocky Mountain Singles Summit
Red Lion Hotel (Stapleton)
4040 Quebec St.
Denver, CO 80216

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