Around 7 o’clock on a Wednesday evening, Morgan Steffy arrived at El Rey in Center City, following directions from an app she downloaded two months ago. The app sent the 30-year-old software engineer from West Philly to Table 2, where she joined a Temple University doctor, a nomad working in healthcare technology, a developer for a financial firm, and this reporter. Steffy didn’t know anyone at the table, but the group of five had come to the restaurant that night for the same reason: to dine with strangers, made possible by a new app called Timeleft.
Over plates of enchiladas, plantains and fajitas, introductions and questions bounced from one person to another as the quintet of strangers naturally fell into conversation.
“What do you all do for work?” someone asked between bites.
“Are you big foodies?” another agreed.
“What motivated each of you to come out tonight?” this reporter asked.
“I was so excited to find a way to meet people in an organic way — that wasn’t a sports league or kickball,” Steffy said.
Her answer reflected a common theme within the group: a desire to build community without the pressure of dating. While other supper clubs and Facebook groups offer similar experiences, Timeleft is becoming the go-to for a growing number of Philadelphians.
The app aims to “create opportunities for the magic of chance encounters,” according to the website, by pairing strangers for dinner and drinks. Created by French entrepreneur Maxime Barbier, Timeleft launched in 2020 and added Philly to its roster of more than 275 cities in April.
Based on a short questionnaire, people are matched who register every Wednesday for dinner and drinks at various restaurants in the city. The app asks questions like “What is your ideal evening?” and “What is your zodiac sign?” to match five or six strangers for dinner based on their answers. On the morning of the meal, users receive details about the restaurant, their table number and some information about the group (industries, nationalities, zodiac signs and main language spoken). Timeleft also offers conversation prompts to help break the ice.
That Wednesday, Timeleft groups dined at three restaurants: Bellini, El Rey and Seorabol Korean Restaurant.
Restaurants are selected based on several criteria, including a 4.3 rating on Google Reviews, dietary restrictions, affordability and atmosphere, according to Timeleft’s website. The price range per person, excluding alcohol, is between $20 and $40.
Restaurants interested in participating can contact Timeleft city managers via WhatsApp. Parid Spiro, owner/manager of Bellini, told The Inquirer that people from Timeleft book dinner reservations on OpenTable. “We never contacted them; they just book us randomly,” Spiro said. “We had never heard of Timeleft until they booked us.”
When the bill arrived at El Rey, Cryus (who requested that his last name not be shared) voluntarily put down his card and asked the group to give their share to Venmo. Under Timeleft rules, each diner is responsible for their own meal. In addition to paying their dinner bill, diners pay the app $16 for one dinner or as much as $86 for monthly subscriptions.
“After we all got to know each other a little bit, I felt like I could trust each of you a little more than the average stranger,” he said.
This was Cryus’ second Timeleft dinner. The Temple University doctor joined the app four months ago to meet people outside his field.
“It took me a while to start eating out, just with my schedule and a hesitation about how things would go,” he said. “I wasn’t really inclined to go until one of my friends went to a dinner party and told me about it.”
The app paid off for Cyrus, who quickly joined a WhatsApp group chat with other Timeleft users.
Making connections beyond the dining table
The group chat was started by Indira Rahman, a law student and frequent user of the app.
Rahman has attended 15 dinners since joining the app in June, using it in DC, Los Angeles and now Philly. The atmosphere of the dinners was different in each city, said Rahman, who currently lives in Philly’s Francisville neighborhood.
“But the one thing we had in common was that this app brought together people who are all looking for new friends,” they said.
For Rahman, “it’s a way for me to share food with people I’ve never met before.” Although they have only been in Philadelphia for a year, Rahman has already attended eight dinners in the city. They were members of a 400-person group chat in DC and decided to start one for Philly after their first dinner. What started with just a handful of people now has more than 100 members.
“I think at my 14th dinner I really felt like I had met my people – there was just something about our table,” Rahman said.
Members of the WhatsApp group organize weekend activities, building community beyond the app experience. It’s also where some members opted to bypass the app’s designated bar for the “your last drink” portion of the experience, opting instead to make Misconduct Tavern’s two Center City locations their place to make after dinner.
Following Cryus, the group in El Rey went to the Locust Street location, instead of the proposed McGillin’s Olde Ale House on Drury Street. “It’s loud and crowded (at McGillin’s) for something like (this experience),” Cryus explained to the group.
As the group headed to Misconduct Tavern, the conversations continued.
“(Timeleft) is like those running clubs, but without the running. I don’t like running, so it’s perfect,” Steffy noted.
“You’re saying this because my boyfriend is currently in a running club,” laughed Valerie Comeau, who recently moved to Philly with her boyfriend and was hoping to make new friends through Timeleft.
At Misconduct Tavern, the party changed from five to twenty as the group joined the other Timelefters at the bar. Some came straight from the dinner, while others, who did not participate in a full dinner, had coordinated via WhatsApp.
Steffy joined a group near the bar, where Domenico Bilancieri chatted with his fellow group members about the evening. He was in town for work and decided it was better not to eat alone. “Even if you’re from another city, it’s a really fun way to eat out and meet the locals,” he said. Bilancieri is a regular user of Timeleft in New York.
By 10 p.m., many of the Timeleft diners had gone home. One of the last to leave was Michael Provencher, an outside data analyst who lived in East Passyunk.
Provencher, a three-time Timeleft user, said he joined to connect with people outside of work via Zoom calls. He had tried a bowling league, but didn’t find the same connections that Timeleft offered.
“I’m a married man in my mid-30s and it’s harder to make friends with similar interests than it was in my 20s,” says Provencher, who is considering purchasing a monthly subscription. “This app was a good opportunity to try new places in the city and sign up to sit with strangers in an awkward place and share a meal.”
The app has done the same for Steffy, who was excited to be added to the WhatsApp group and plans to sign up for more Timeleft dinners.
“If you’re in your 30s, you may still have your high school and college friends, but chances are you’ll have all broken up by that age,” she said. “So it’s kind of a new chapter. The nice thing about Timeleft is that it is never one to just invite all their friends; it’s this third (party) thing that everyone goes to and it feels really special.