My best friend and I were talking. I suggested a tuna sandwich, shared, with a soda. She demurred, claiming it would give us both tuna breath, and who likes talking to someone with tuna breath?
I offered Tomato Sandwiches with Mayo. She said nah, too much potential for dribbling tomato down one’s chin or shirt/blouse/dress.
So, what is the perfect first date meal that will be enjoyed by both, and yet has a VERY LOW Risk/Embarassment Factor???
Cartooniverse
Gin and tonic.
Ask her to wear white and serve spaghetti with red sauce.
Pizza and a coke.
Fish and chips and a couple of stubbies. No table manners necessary.
And if you do it on the beach late at night, it’s awfully romantic.
Hmmmm, fondue is so romantic. But the chance to skewer or burn yourself or your date is greater than the first date tuna sandwich.
I think d1a1s1 has it right. Almost everyone likes pizza and coke, although it’s safest to make it cheese pizza. It’s not very messy, either.
A cup of coffee, that way, neither of you has to waste much time and/or money if there is no “spark”.
(okay, Okay, so I’m a little cynical in my old age :D)
I’ll second the pizza idea. I once had a suprisingly romantic candlelight dinner. The two of us sat on my back steps, laughing and talking all night while eating pizza.
I should learn to proofread. I didn’t mean to imply that I haven’t had any other romantic candlelight dinners in my life.
Although, now that I think about it, the number of romantic dinners I’ve had is all too small. 
If you’re talking about a “real” first date, any food eaten with the hands is right out. Pizza, barbecue, tacos and all that stuff should be reserved for a second outing. Foods with lots of garlic or beans are right out as well. An ideal cuisine should be able to offer a lot of variety and come in easy to handle portions.
My own feeling is that Chinese would be perfect. A nice bowl of sizzling rice soup, some mixed vegetable stir fry and maybe prawns with lobster sauce or tea smoked duck as a main course with some shrimp fried rice on the side. Pretty hard to beat that in my book.
But don’t get anything with a name like “spicy pepper shrimp with shell.” That’s what I ordered on one first date, and it turned out to be completely delicious but very, very messy.
Luckily, the guy liked me enough that he didn’t really care about the splattering and shrimp shells. (Actually, I should say it was unlucky that he didn’t mind the mess. I should never have been with him in the first place.)
Dinner at PF Chang’s.
That was where my true love and went on our first.
All food carries an inherent risk, and the dangers of fusilli hardly bear thinking about. Having said that, does it have to be dinner? If the weather’s any good, you could try lunch outside a nice cafe, or maybe even a picnic? If it has to be dinner, then I second the Chinese suggestion, or a nice Italian place. Pasta is easy and familiar. The most important thung, however, is that you pick a place you’re both comfortable with. if you pick and overly expensive and swanky place, you might feel awkward and out of your depth. If you’re both happy with pizza, then go for it.
A Happy Meal, of course. Everyone likes Happy Meals. Everyone likes to be happy.
Oh, great. Like I gotta then be the Gentleman and give HER the toy???
–grumble grumble grumble–
I dunno. I’m not feelin’ Happy !
Oh. Did you mean that we each get our own Happy Meal? Oh. Never mind. 
I don’t like Happy Meals.
First time by hubby and I ate out together, we were at a buffet. I don’t recommend that. Apart from the ups and downs to fetch food, there’s the worry that you’re making too many ups and downs. Personally, I like the pizza idea - comfortable, casual, almost universally liked.
Well, if you’re lucky, you’ll be giving her the toy sometime after dinner…
First date with my wife, we shared a platter of barbecue ribs. (Man, it’s 10 in the morning and now I’m jonesing for barbecue…) The more I think about it the more I recommend this. Both know at the outset that you’re going to get messy, so there’s no pretensions - you’re both free to be yourself.
I agree with Tygr. Lowers the inhibitions. But I’d make it some kind of shellfish if I had my druthers. First you have to whack them open, showing your prowess with tools. Then you both get covered in melted butter. I get a shit-faced grin on my face just thinking about it…
BTW, after getting some very amused and befuddled looks from the waitstaff at a Japanese restaurant while sharing a sushi combo with my then-boyfriend, I asked around and was told that in Japanese culture, food is sometimes a metaphor for sex. Apparently sharing food in public is something like getting busy at your restaurant table.
(I know pretty much nothing whatsoever about Japanese culture, so I am forced to take the word of my friends who do. Sounded wacky to me, too.)