One If By Land is the quintessential NYC restaurant for capital-R romance with an unofficial corner on the proposal market. Housed in a beautiful 18th-century building with brick walls, high ceilings, and massive chandeliers, the West Village classic was also once Aaron Burr’s carriage house. The windows overlooking the private garden are a good place to celebrate a special occasion and dig into chocolate soufflé.

Let us count the ways Bavette’s in Chicago is romantic. One, it’s the only dining room we’ll describe as “sexy” unironically—dark and windowless, with red leather booths, 1920s jazz, and suave servers. Two, the bone-in ribeye is the best in the city, and sharing a piece of juicy red meat is inherently romantic. Three, there’s some special magic in the way the flickering candlelight shines on their collection of ornately framed paintings, rustic mirrors, and a “free wine daily” sign.

The fresh air and country charm of the Hudson Valley scream romance, and Stissing House fully leans into that rustic scenery. Chips are delivered to tables in a woven picnic basket and green garlic butter scallops are lit by Victorian-era candlesticks. We get why people start dreaming about the type of commitment that requires legal documents after biting into their cloud-like coconut cake—the dessert makes frequent appearances when the restaurant hosts private weddings.

Addison is the Mount Everest of fancy San Diego restaurants. It's a bit outside the city on a sprawling hotel property, where it's easy to forget about the world and focus on all the caviar you’re about to consume. The restaurant recently got a refresh, so now the swanky interiors with arched windows and high ceilings are even warmer and brighter during the day and infinitely moodier at night. It costs $385 per person, but there might be no better restaurant to celebrate something special.

If “absurdly romantic restaurant” appeared in the dictionary, it would be next to a picture of Amour. This fancy French restaurant in LA is a verifiable paradis Français. There’s a large back courtyard with ivy-covered walls, a dark dining room with tasseled lampshades, and a semi-private lounge with a roaring fireplace. The maître d’ even greets everybody with a sultry “bonsoir, mon ami.” The whole thing’s a bit ridiculous, but they get away with it because the food is solid.

Verjus in SF subscribes to the ultimate wine bar date night recipe: pâté en croûte and lighting so forgiving it could double as a photo-editing filter. It’s a near-perfect French spot that will inevitably transform a “what are we” date into a relaxing three-hour affair ending in spoon-feeding each other caramelized pain perdu. The side tables along the windows are the best spots in the house, and allow for maximum eye contact potential.

Luftie’s is inside the Commodore Perry Estate, a resort and restored old mansion in Austin. The grounds feel less like being in Texas and more like entering Versailles, so if there was ever an occasion to wear a silk dress and strappy heels, this is it. Lutie’s doesn’t rely purely on theme as its primary draw. The service is great, and the food—like the kouign amann ice cream that’s basically like a Dairy Queen blizzard that went to culinary school—is excellent.

Friday Saturday Sunday has a similar resume to most fancy places in Philly: revamped rowhouse interiors and a seasonal tasting menu with caviar or a fat goose’s liver. But this two-story restaurant is unforgettable in ways that most fine dining restaurants wish they could be. The upstairs is full of plush banquettes and people trying to impress dates with tuna tartare tartlets. The bar downstairs, however, is an entirely different scene.

Walking into Gigi’s Italian Kitchen in Atlanta feels like being whisked away to another time—one that’s light on stress and heavy on delicious creamy pasta primavera. The space is tiny and nostalgic, and full of things that could have fallen out of a romance novel: red-checkered tablecloths, family photos, and always-burning candles. There’s no shortage of whimsical nostalgia here, prime for reenacting Lady and the Tramp with some pasta.