Date & Dash: speed dating for busy singles

I recently attended an event at Salud in Bucktown. There were 12 women and 12 men. I was impressed how personable and talkative everyone was. All were educated young professionals. The woman sat at tables while the men rotated every 6 minutes. I thought that might be a bit long, but time flew. Of the 12, I "matched" with 4. Guess we'll see what happens... I would recommend giving it a try.

— Julie U.

Ok, so I've been hesitant about speed dating for some time but going for it on a Monday was a great diversion to the "case of the Mondays" factor. I didn't really expect to meet guys within the stated 22-32 age range (and yes, that was the case with some). It also didn't matter so much to me if I met anyone I clicked with or not, I was really in it for sociological observations. But it was pretty crazy to meet about 12 guys in the course of an hour.

You can tell who's lying, you can tell who has an extremely bad opening line, and you can tell your girlfriends all the hilarious stories. I would suggest bringing a friend or two along-it's more fun that way and it's great to compare notes afterwards!

It's generally about $32 and held around various bars in Wicker or Lincoln Park. The one I went to was at Tavern in WP.

— Heather B.

There were about 25 women and 20 men (which I expected to see), but honestly 20 guys was more than enough. There was a very unique mix of men, and I thought a little something for every kind of woman. The guys were polite enough, some of them were a bit strange (but aren't there strange people everywhere you go?) and some of them were really cool... give it a shot. Like I said, it exceeded everything I had expected, I met a LOT of guys, and a couple dates coming up. Just keep an open mind, and try not to take it too seriously, and you might actually have some fun.

— Tiffany S.