On my last couple of dates (two different girls in San Diego) I tried something different that worked well.
Bill comes, and I say "so is this a date or are we just hanging out, if it's a hang out let's split the check like *friends*".
They both said "DATE!" (no shit).
But the first I ended up going to bed with. She had a cold-sore on her lip, herpes, so I refused to kiss her.. So I only got a hand job...
The second one was smoking hot and I'm taking her wine tasting this weekend. After our first date I got a few texts about "thanks for an amazing date" and in response to our wine tasting trip "I'm so excited

".
So I guess the "if it's a date" bill thing didn't so any damage.
Would love to hear other thoughts on this.
CoolHand.