Bumble is opening its first restaurant, but it's not about dating — it's about relevance

Swipe right on the zucchini pasta... Four months after its IPO, Bumble is doing an IRO: initial restaurant offering. The dating app where women make the first move is opening its first restaurant in NYC this month: "Bumble Brew." The bar/restaurant concept was orginally focused on “date-friendly” food. Read: no splattering sauces or volcanic burritos. Then, the pandemic forced Bumble to put its gastronomic plans on hold, and it emerged with a different mission.

Not just first dates... Bumble wants Brew to be a spot for connections of all kinds, from frittata with friends and family to networking over chardonnay. So it scrapped the date-friendly menu and added riskier choices like squid ink spaghetti.

• That aligns with Bumble's new biz strategy: not just a dating app. Bumble has expanded with Bumble Bizz for career networking, and Bumble BFF for new friends.
• Back to the dating: 90% of US Bumble users say they're ready to date IRL again. While Brew could host career chats, pent-up dating demand is Bumble's biggest opportunity.
• Dating app folder is overheating: Bumble will have to share that demand with its much bigger rival Match, which owns Tinder, Hinge, and 20+ other e-romance apps.