A blindfolded dinner date sounds like a fun, different way to experience a meal. However, that doesn’t always mean that dinner is going to be good.
Given how expensive going out to eat is these days, it’s understandable that one would want to make every dollar they spend at a restaurant count. Sometimes, this involves fudging the truth a little bit to get what you want. Other times, this can mean getting incredibly particular about your order so you know no dollar is wasted.
Still, some find themselves splurging on the occasional fancy or unique meal. TikToker Anna Gene (@livingreenwithannagene) recently did that. The result surprised her—but not in a good way.
What Happened at this Blindfolded Dinner Date?
Gene starts her video by announcing, “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted a refund this badly in my entire life.”
According to Gene, she booked a “blindfolded dinner date night experience” for her and her boyfriend through a website called Fever. For context, Fever describes itself as a way to “discover and book the best experiences worldwide.”
“It’s supposed to be really fun because you’re supposed to try, like, new exotic foods that you’ve never had before,” Gene says.
Looking forward to what she might eat, she booked the pair two vegan dinner tickets.
The first thing that went wrong was the price. While the cost was $64 per person—already steep, in Gene’s estimation—things got worse when she noticed a $32 booking fee. Then, when the pair arrived, they were charged another $16 each.
Blindfolds Can’t Hide Everything
Putting the cost behind her, Gene and her partner sat down for their dinner date.
But when the food arrived, the pair were met with another unfortunate surprise.
“The appetizers come out. They come to our table, they’re like, ‘Just checking to make sure there’s no dairy allergies here?’ And I’m like, ‘No, but also we ordered the vegan menu option, so there shouldn’t be any dairy,’” Gene recalls.
“And they were like, ‘Oh, like the vegetarian menu?’ And I was like, ‘No, like, the vegan one. Like, it’s on the website. It says vegan, so there shouldn’t be any animal products.’”
This apparently confused the servers, who quickly removed the pair’s appetizers. When they returned 10 minutes later, they had different appetizers—which Gene described as “a green slice of tomato that was barely cooked.”
“No breading, no nothing. Just a little dollop of, like, marinara sauce on top,” she states.
The Grand Finale is a Dud
Up next was the entree, which Gene says felt similarly improvised.
“It was like seven penne pasta noodles with, like, a couple little slivers of mushroom and a couple little slivers of zucchini,” she says. “And, again, barely cooked, not seasoned or anything. It kind of felt like it was just thrown together.”
Gene speculates that she was simply receiving the vegetarian menu with certain key ingredients removed.
By the time dessert rolled around, Gene wasn’t expecting much—but they still managed to disappoint.
“A little dollop of a mango and coconut sorbet, and it had a little blackberry on top as a garnish,” she says of the dessert.
She says the food was so poor and the experience so bad that she ended up eating a second dinner after the pair arrived at home.
Reviews Don’t Always Tell the Truth
Gene decided to leave a bad review. However, when she went on the site, she discovered that the experience had an average rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars. Despite this, all of the reviews on the site showed 5 stars.
“And on the app it’s even worse, because they don’t show you the star rating. They just show you the 5-star reviews,” she says. “So, to somebody who’s looking at it, they would be like, ‘Oh wow, it’s really highly rated!’ Like, you know, ‘It’s supposed to be a great experience!’ But, in reality, it’s extremely overpriced and very disappointing.”
Gene concludes by warning viewers to “be careful” if they’re booking an experience on Fever.
“For that amount of money, just take a blindfold, cook your significant other something exciting, and try to guess what it is as a cute date night idea, because the money was just not worth it,” she says. “And Fever? Do better.”
Is This True?
The experience to which Gene is referring is “Dining in the Dark: A Unique Blindfolded Dining Experience at Rivers Club Pittsburgh,” available via Fever here.
As Gene said, the experience does have a 3.4 out of 5-star rating, even though only 5-star reviews are visible.
The $16 fee Gene mentioned is, in fact, listed on the booking. The fee is described as a “food gratuity.”
One of the menu options is listed as vegan, and this does not appear to be a new development. A review from April 2025 mentions the vegan menu specifically and reviews it positively; that said, no review lower than 5 stars appears to be available for viewing on the site.
Gene later posted a video showing she was in the process of requesting a refund, but that the process was not going smoothly.
@livingreenwithannagene Fever, I want a refund? #StoryTime #Refund #Fever #BlindDinner #DateNight #UniqueDining #DinnerDate ♬ original sound – Anna Gene
Commenters Share Her Disappointment
In the comments section, users expressed their annoyance at every part of Gene’s dinner experience.
“$32 Booking Fee + $16 Service Fee… we gotta stop with the fees people,” wrote a user.
“Yeah they definitely weren’t prepared for an actual vegan meal and it probably was thrown together,” suggested another. “I wonder if the other people there had a different experience. That’s a lot of money for a snack.”
“I did the regular menu. App was plantain chips w sour cream dip!” exclaimed a third. “Main course was boring. The experience was horrible! Blasting 80s music very loud!”
The Mary Sue reached out to Fever via email and Gene via TikTok direct message and comment.
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