Each month, we set two daters up at a restaurant, give them free food and drinks, then wait for the magic to happen. This month’s Blind Date, we set Mindy and Travis up at Root Down in Denver.

Meet The Daters

Name: Mindy

Sign: Pisces

Current Job: Cannabis Tech

Why are you going on a Rooster Blind Date? I’ve been reading Rooster for years, and in 2018 my roommate went on one and she thought she was famous and framed it and put it on the wall.

What’s a good way to win you over: By making me laugh, being polite, being kind to a server or anybody who you interactive with.

Most irrational fear: Falling out of a hot air ballon. I’ve never gone in one, so my simple solution is to not ever get in a hot air balloon. 

What’s your greatest strength: I am very kind, I’m intentional about what I do and I have very kind heart. 

Never have I ever:  Gone on a blind date.

Do you want kids? Of my own? In this economy? 

Immediate red flags: Being rude and hateful to a server.

Immediate green flags: A good palate. Like good food, good music. 

One thing you can’t live without? Good, intentional relationships that have value. Someone that you can call and talk to. And my mom. I love my mom. She’s my best friend. 

Why did your last relationship end? It just wasn’t a good fit. We didn’t have what everyone thinks it’s supposed to be. 

Celebrity crush: Andy Samberg. 

Guilty pleasure: Hot air balloons! Just kidding. A good sandwich. I LOVE a good sandwich. And a good Old Fashioned. 

Name: Travis

Sign: Gemini

Current Job: Transportation Engineer

Why are you going on a Rooster Blind Date?  I thought it was a great opportunity to meet somebody, and I thought it would be fun. I’ve read through a lot of them before. 

What’s a good way to win you over: Good energy, loves food, and has worked the service industry or customer service.

Most irrational fear: Waking up to my house being overgrown with vines and being strapped down to my bed by vines.

What’s your greatest strength: Positivity and patience. 

Never have I ever: Never have I ever kicked a puppy. 

Do you want kids? I am very indifferent on that one. I think I’d be a great father.

What do you geek out on? Highway safety, archery, and cars! 

Immediate red flags:  People who can’t converse face to face, but they are amazing texters.

Immediate green flags: Excitement about your hobbies.

One thing you can’t live without? I can’t live without people watching.

Why did your last relationship end?  She had a lot of work to do on herself. I realized I was sacrificing my energy, time, everything. Celebrity crush: Childhood Travis would say Adriana Lima. Grown up Travis would say Nathalie Emmanuel. 

Guilty pleasure: Karaoke,100%. I love to sing.

Round 1

It’s a crisp fall evening in Denver as we arrive at Root Down, hungry and hopeful for a spark. Travis and Mindy arrive in their best jackets and settle into their cozy corner table while we keep a watchful eye from across the restaurant. Right away, their body language speaks volumes: the laughs, the eye contact, the engagement. We start to get our hopes up, like always, while they sip some drinks and snack on some apps before pulling them apart to hear their first thoughts.

How’s it going so far?

M: I think they are going well. We agreed that before these surveys we wouldn’t talk shit on each other. We roshambo-ed to see who went first and I won so he had to go first. He’s adorable and he’s nice; I think this is going really well.

T: It’s going pretty well. She’s very, very high energy which I really enjoy. 

What are your first impressions of the dater? 

M: He’s adorable. He’s very put together. I could tell that he was kind of a goober, which I love. But he’s intelligent as hell. I love intelligent goobers.

T: I got a really good energy vibe about her in the essence that I don’t have to worry about the ways I say things. I like some crude humor, but she seems like she likes it too. And she’s very considerate. When we sat down, she asked if I had a preference of where to sit, which has never happened to me before. 

What was the first thing you noticed about your date?

M: It was his height, but I don’t care about that. He has a nice smile, too. You can tell that there are a couple of rooms in this world that when he walks in, people are excited to see him. 

T: Her hair. That’s the first thing I noticed. The length. I like longer hair, and it was long and curly, and I was like oh, okay!

Is this the type of person you’d normally date?

M: I don’t really have a type. I could talk to paint drying. But he’s like wham bam thank you ma’am! I don’t know what my type is, but he looks like it. 

T: I don’t really have a ‘normal.’ If you look at my last exes, they’ve been very different. But she’s definitely someone that I would come up to and start a conversation with. 

Where do you normally meet partners?

M: I met my last partner through work. I did meet a couple people online dating. One time I met a guy at a bus stop. We both missed what we were going to do.
T: Everywhere but apps. Art crawls, bars, karaoke events, cultural events, and Meetup groups. 

What are you most nervous about for tonight? 

M: I didn’t know if we’d have much to talk about. I was also kind of nervous about looking like a fool when he did the surveys, like if he said my hands are huge.

T: Honestly, I wasn’t nervous about tonight until I started getting dressed. And then I started going down that rabbit hole of I wonder if I’ll have stuff to talk about, I wonder if she’s going to think I’m nerdy and awkward.

Did you get any advice for the date?

M: Both of our friends went through old magazines and quizzed us. I had some funny answers like, ‘Rooster? I hardly know her!’

T: I didn’t get any specific advice for this date. One of my things I’ve been working on right now is go into things without any expectations and therefore it’s a lot easier and less stressful.

How did you prepare for the date?

M: I was a little more nervous about what I thought I was going to wear. My one friend said dress up and the other said wear something weird. 

T: I worked from home instead of going into the office so I could start getting ready earlier. And I prepared my outfit in the morning, so I didn’t have to worry about it when I was about get ready.

How did your date dress tonight?

M: He looks very well put together, and you can just tell that I would bother him in a domestic situation of the living because he looks like he’s very clean. I’m not messy! I’m just organized chaos. 

T: I didn’t get a good look while we were walking so all I’ve seen is the burgundy top.

What are you looking forward to in the next round?

M: We already talked about how we want to go do karaoke later. We told each other our go-to songs. And I’m excited to eat!

T: We’ve already talked about so much! I’m looking forward to talking about her intent with dating. Who she’s looking for and things like that. I’m dating with intent. I’m looking for a partner.

Round 2

So far, so good! We can’t stop ourselves from daydreaming about crashing their future wedding, so we focus on the food. And wow, Root Down does not disappoint! After trying many brand new and delicious menu items, we force ourselves to get back to work and check in with our daters to see how things are going now.

How was dinner at Root Down?

M: Amazing. The food was incredible. Our server, Alexa, was awesome. I really enjoyed the bison strip. That was solid.

T: Everything was amazing. Honestly. Great flavors. Everything looked great, too. Great plating and presentation. A lot of colors with the food which I really appreciate.

How’s the date going?

M: It’s going awesome. And we’re going to go to karaoke after this. Right after he sat down, he said that he was going to go to karaoke after. I asked if I could come and he said hell yeah! 

T: It’s going well. Really, really well. We’ve covered so much and it doesn’t feel like an interview.

Do you two have anything in common? 

M: We’re both from the South. We like a lot of the same TV shows. When I was sitting in traffic earlier, I was like I should be a civil engineer. And he’s a civil engineer! 

T: There’s been so much we talked about. We both love watching Community because its amazing. She quotes a lot of TV series that I watch too, like Letterkenny.

What do you like about your date? 

M: He’s attentive, he’s smart but kind of goofy. Like I said, he’s a goober. An intelligent goober. That’s a good band name, by the way.

T: I’m going back to the humor and the energy. She has a really good energy. She’s very genuine and authentic, and I appreciate that.

What do you not like about your date?

M: I don’t dislike anything. It’s been so great. 

T: She keeps apologizing because she feels like she’s coming off weird, but I’m like no, no you’re fine! PS you’re not weird! She’s good people.

What’s the most attractive thing your date has done so far?

M: He’s making me laugh a lot but he’s also getting my jokes. We’re on the same page and I think that’s really attractive. Easy as hell. 

T: One of the things I find really attractive are when people are nice to other people, like servers. When someone spilled a drink on me, she was helping clean up and asking if I was okay and I was like okay, she’s not a shitty human being.

How would your parents feel about the dater? 

M: They would probably love him. 

T: My parents would enjoy her energy.

What’s been the best part of the date so far?

M: The fact that we didn’t even look at the menu. It’s been easy and I love that. The food has been fantastic, too. Top notch! 

T: The laughs. I almost came to tears at one point. You know that show where they say yes chef? I said heard you chef! And she responded quickly with you’re welcome your honor, and I said no problem your majesty. It’s like she beat me to the punchline of my joke.

What could make the date better? 

M: If we didn’t have someone sitting next to us who demanded our table. The older guy grabbed our server’s arm while she was walking away and said they were going to take our table. I almost threw hands. 

T: If we had got to talk more about our dating dynamic. What you’re looking for, are you looking for something serious? We didn’t get to that ‘serious’ talk, yet. 

How’s the chemistry on a scale of 1 to 10? 

M: Nothing is a perfect 10, but I’d say a 9.7. I am really enjoying this. 

T: I have two different chemistries. Conversations is a 9-9.5. But because we haven’t talked about the relationship stuff, I’m going to put it right in the middle at a 5. Only because we haven’t gotten to talk about it yet. 

Where would you like the night to do from here?

M: We’re going to go to karaoke and I’m going to see what he’s all about. We’re going to do a duet, Kenny and Dolly. I’ll be Kenny and he’ll be Dolly. 

T: To Scruffy Murphy’s for karaoke! That’s what we’re going to do.

Round 3

What happened after Rooster left?

M: He bought me a drink at his local hang close by, and we chatted for a while. I had an early flight, so I had to leave, and he walked me out to the car. 

T: We ended up going to Scruffy Murphys for karaoke night, but unfortunately she had a flight at 5am. I didn’t want to sing because I knew our time was short so I prioritized chit-chatting before waling away.

What was the best part of the date and why? 

M: We got along really well. He was down to share the AMAZING food Root Down provided. I’m a big fan of sharing dishes and culinary experiences. The whole date was the best part to be honest. 

T: I the conversion was an easy-flowing which is rare. Everyone’s so used to texting it’s hard for people to talk.

Would you have changed anything about the date?

M: Not one thing. 

T: No. For a first date, I think it was everything you want in a first date.

Was there a goodnight kiss, hug or exchange of numbers? 

M: Yeah, maybe. We exchanged numbers. He kissed me.  Held my face in his hand and everything. It was lowkey really sweet. 

T: Yeah we exchanged numbers at Root Down. After Scruffy Murphys there were some good night kisses.

Will there be a second date? 

M: We definitely discussed hanging out when I am back in town. 

T: Oh, definitely. She’s gone for two weeks.

Any advice for future blind daters? 

M: Have fun and enjoy the entire experience. 10/10 Mindy would do it again.

T: The same advice that my therapist gives me: go into something with no expectations and there’s a lot less pressure, and you’ll most likely be pleasantly surprised.

We did it! We made a match! Our normally bitter, jaded hearts are melting for Mindy and Travis. Is this the beginning of a Rooster love story? We hope so. One thing is for sure. We’ll use this as proof, for eternity, that the Rooster dating algorithm does in fact, at least every once in awhile, work. We’ll be riding this high forever.

Are you single? Do you like free food and drinks and meeting new people? Click HERE to sign up for a Rooster Blind Date!