[[HIGHLIGHT]]The staff is friendly and prompt.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]They actively listen to feedback and try to match you with people with similar interests/values.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

For context, I'm a 35-year-old woman, and I wanted to wait until I had completed my experience with It's Just Lunch before leaving a review. I ultimately chose to cancel my membership. During my membership, I went on three total dates through the service: two in Minnesota and one in Denver. I'm giving two stars because, contractually, IJL did provide the service I signed up for. I received introductions, went on dates, and had communication with my matchmaker. However, there is a big difference between technically providing a matchmaking service and providing a high-quality, personalized matchmaking experience. For the amount of money I invested, I expected much more from the latter. The initial consultation was actually the strongest part of my experience. It was discovery-focused. I was asked thoughtful questions about who I am, what I value, and what I'm looking for in a partner. That conversation was part of what gave me confidence to sign up. Unfortunately, I did not feel that same level of curiosity continued after becoming a client. The experience became much more sales-oriented than discovery-oriented. I frequently felt talked at rather than asked questions. Instead of conversations being centered around "What are we learning about you from these dates?" or "Why has this become important to you?", I often felt like information was being presented to me and I was being encouraged to reconsider preferences I had already communicated. My final conversation with Natalie really crystallized the issue for me. After I declined several proposed matches, we discussed why. I explained that through the dating process I had realized consistent physical fitness was an important lifestyle compatibility requirement for me. Rather than feeling like there was curiosity around why that had become important, I felt like I was being challenged and persuaded to broaden the definition of what I should accept. At one point during that conversation, I directly communicated that the interaction was beginning to feel aggressive to me and that I felt like I was being attacked for saying no. I needed to stop for a moment and breathe before continuing the conversation. I work in sales myself, so I understand persuasion, objection handling, and challenging assumptions. Those skills have their place. But I wasn't looking for a dating coach or someone to overcome my objections. I was paying for a matchmaker. I wanted someone who was curious, reflective, collaborative, and interested in deeply understanding my values before suggesting alternatives. A matchmaker should certainly challenge a client occasionally, but I believe understanding needs to come before persuasion. As a client goes on dates and learns more about what does and doesn't work for them, that feedback should be valuable information that makes subsequent matches more intentional. This was especially important for me because I was not living locally in Minneapolis. Two of my introductions were in Minnesota and one was arranged while I was traveling in Denver. Participating in the service required substantial travel, scheduling, and expense on my end, so I needed to be intentional about which introductions I accepted. Ultimately, I realized I was putting far more time and emotional energy into trying to make the matchmaking process work than I wanted to. When I decided to cancel, the company offered to put my membership on hold until I moved back to Minnesota. I declined and asked to proceed with cancellation. To their credit, that conversation was handled professionally and my cancellation request was processed without an issue. I don't believe this service will necessarily be a poor fit for everyone. Someone who wants more coaching or appreciates being encouraged to broaden their dating criteria may have a very different experience. For me, however, a premium personalized matchmaking service should be exceptionally good at listening, asking questions, understanding compatibility, and continually learning about the client through each introduction. My experience felt much more sales-heavy than I expected, and ultimately the quality of the matchmaking and communication did not justify the investment for me. read more

[[HIGHLIGHT]]Working with Eva has been a god send getting me back into the dating scene.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]For the few months I've been working with her, I can focus on my life with she finds potential partners for me![[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

High quality service with very supportive coaches (thank you Eva) who are attentive and really try. You get dates with quality people and a real chance to connect without the endless hours of filtering on apps. You get what you pay for here so make sure you know that before calling but if you can afford it its worth a shot. read more

If you are considering ditching the apps and joining, don't. Technically IJL held up their side of the bargain. It's just that we have vastly different ideas of what "quality" means when describing men. I think the qualification is whether or not someone can pay for the service. [[HIGHLIGHT]]IJL purports to get to know you by asking a bunch of questions, including what you're looking for in a partner.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] After my first couple of dates, I wondered if they threw away my answers because I had absolutely nothing in common with the men. I think by the time I was on the final date, I had one thing in common with my date. They even set me up with someone who lives over 3 hours away AND DOESN'T HAVE A LICENSE/CAR. This is evidence that the men aren't vetted. I hung in for a couple more dates because I paid so much money, but they were just as disappointing. [[HIGHLIGHT]]I wasn't going to write a review. I was going to take the hit and walk away, but not only did they make cancelling extremely excruciating, but also charged me the monthly fee the following month![[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] I was actually going to leave 2 stars, but after typing this review, realized I had a 1 star experience. read more

I've been with It's Just Lunch for a few weeks now after years of chance and online dating. [[HIGHLIGHT]]So far, I'm impressed.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]Eva and Janice have been incredibly communicative and supportive.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] I'm hopeful for the first time in a long time read more

I'm a divorcee and looking to share retirement with a similar minded guy. [[HIGHLIGHT]]Eva at IJL has helped guide me thru this next chapter of life.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] The process is comfortable and the feedback after dates is a bonus. Sally read more

It's just lunch is basically just blind dating , with a limited description of who you are going to meet . But on the plus side you don't have to try to compel someone to meet you . [[HIGHLIGHT]]Eva my contact coordinator has been a very good sounding board for scrutinizing my lunch encounters.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

High entrance fee, [[HIGHLIGHT]]customer service is responsive which is nice[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]]. [[HIGHLIGHT]]Largely done over the phone or through zoom[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]]. So far I have dated a few people but still looking for the right fit. Looking forward to whats next. read more

IJL is a great way to meet other singles. I worked with Ana and she was very responsive to what I was looking for in a person. After 5 months I met someone that I have been seeing exclusively for 9 months. I highly recommend Ana. read more

Eva and the IJL team have made the dating process very simple and stress free. [[HIGHLIGHT]]They are friendly and professional.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] I would recommend their service to a friend. read more

[[HIGHLIGHT]]Don't let this company take advantage of you! If you're getting a 'hard sell' it's a sign that they're all about the dollar.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]Read the reviews, most of the good are asked for. my rep Eva asked me for a good review and even sent me links to post to, some I have never heard of.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] It's just lunch is trying hard to push the bad reviews down. Being single isn't where most that join IJL want to be but trust me it's worse when they match you with dates that aren't compatible , time and time again. Their fees went from just under $4000 to now $5000. Don't waste your money or time. [[HIGHLIGHT]]I had several people warn me but I believed their sales staff, costly mistake.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

My experience with It's Just Lunch has been very positive. Sonia has been extremely helpful in taking into account what I'm looking for in a partner. She has been very responsive and asks relevant follow-up questions. I'm looking forward to continuing my journey with IJL with Sonia here to help me navigate dating again. Michelle C. read more

[[HIGHLIGHT]]Well to start I would say working with Natalie and Eva is great.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]I do wish though that they would show you pictures of people who you are going to date though. Even though I know the concept is to be more of a blind perspective so that you don't judge people on just their looks and other stuff etc. But it would be still nice to still be able to see pictures of people that they set you up with.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]Otherwiseworking with them has been pretty good overall so I would definitely give them four five stars for that for sure.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] The only things I would complain about is the pictures thing which I've already discussed and I would also say the price tag of signing up for a year is $5,200. I know I get what I paid for and they tell you that also but I'm amazed they have not been able to bring that price down to a more reasonable price. So I don't know I may be totally wrong but that awfully seems like a very expensive thing that I don't think a lot of people could financially pay to be able to do this for themselves. So luckily enough for me I am able to afford this but to the normal average person definitely becomes a cost factor for the general public.Other than that I've kind of just been taking it slow and doing everything they've been telling me to do and I've had some success and I've met two great people so far but I hope that I meet even better people I think because I have yet to meet anybody kind of at my stage of life which is a little unfortunate.But I'm sure I will find someone eventually. ( trying to be optimistic lol )So other than that that's pretty much it I don't have any other complaints except those 2or3 things.[[HIGHLIGHT]]I also think it would kind of be nice also if they would give you more information about the people you are going to be meeting besides just super general stuff.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] What I mean is it would be nice for them to give you even more information so you can kind of plan ahead you could say to give you more of a better perspective of who you are going to meet. read more

This place is a total scam, avoid it at all costs. None of the women matched the criteria I established in the initial interview. The quality of women was really poor. These women were not attractive, lacked personality and were very self-absorbed. I had one woman get up and walk out in the middle of dinner for no reason. The company is shady as hell too. I was complaining about the quality of women and I agreed to have my membership temporarily put on hold--an option in the agreement that wouldn't influence contracted time. When I tried reactivating my membership, I was told that the time was over and I needed to pay more money. Seriously, just do online dating. The quality of women is better and it is far cheaper. read more

Do not recommend and really look at what you're getting into. I worked with IJL for 5 months and received 5 dates in that time and only 1 was worth getting a phone number and even that wasn't a great connection. [[HIGHLIGHT]]They are very dishonest with their sales team and they don't tell you the truth, or at the very least skirt around it.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] They charge you around 4k and tell you it's a one time fee, this is not the case. Unless you continue to pay them money every month (whether active or on hold) you will have to pay the 4k initiation fee again if you want to use their services again. So basically even if you meet someone off of this, unless you keep them on the side and pay them money to invest into the failure of your relationship you will still need to pay them another 4k. What kind of message does that send to your partner??? "Hey I believe in us, but I'm going to keep my membership, just in case." Hard pass on this service as with my experience it was very much a money grab. read more

Definitely a waste of money. I specifically told them I did not want to date outside of the greater TC area meaning stay within the loop! I travel for work and the last thing I want to do is drive 90 min for a date that doesn't even fit the parameters of what I'm requesting. Most of the time I felt like Sarah Jessica Parker in "Failure to Launch". After six months and 10 dates no where near what I asked for and the last scheduled date was a 90 min drive north during rush hour I called it quits at which point they tried to pressure me to put it on hold for 25$ a month or lose the money I paid up front which was almost 4K. Save your money. It was a waste of time. read more

I am currently a member of IJL in Minneapolis, MN. I have been working closely with Eva and I feel like I have a friend who is truly interested in helping me meet a quality person for a long-term relationship. She listens to my interests and belief system and is trying to match me with somebody who shares those things. I appreciate her concern and effort. read more

STAY AWAY from this Fraud organization. I signed up 1 1/2 yr ago and all kinds of promises were made. They charged me $2995.00. They interviewed me and said 3 people would be looking out for me. Instead they tried hooking me up with a washed up retiree over 100 miles away from me. I asked for my money back and they refused and denied all actions. To this day they have not refunded my money. It's Just Lunch also has a class action lawsuit against them . They are a extremely dishonest organization. STAY AWAY . If I could give the - 1 million I would . read more

In 2007, my husband and I signed up for IJL. We each went on 7+ dates and with no success we were about to go on hold for a while. We met and no, it wasn't love at first site, but the conversation flowed, we enjoyed learning about one another and agreed to see each other again. After 3 dates, we did indeed put our membership on hold, but it wasn't for a break, it was to see each other exclusively. In 2009 we were engaged and 2010 were married. We just celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary and are so thankful for each other and IJL for which we never would've met otherwise. Having an open mind and adjusting expectations is critical, you might surprise yourself about what's truly important in a relationship! read more

I have worked with Eva and her staff. She does great job of scheduling and takes care of good match criteria as well as routine. Great group. read more

In my experience, they don't have a secret trove of better men than the ones on dating apps. Maybe more desperate to find a relationship bc they've shelled out 3k or more, but not better. It also started to feel icky going on dates with men I never would've agreed to meet if I had seen a photo or known more about them. Like being a prostitute who's actually paying to hook. Unless you're really ready to settle for a warm body, don't waste your money. read more

Zero Stars. They will harass you endlessly to sign up, then lie to get you to sign up and steal your money. They offered me a deal to pay half the initiation fee, go on one "date" and if I decided not to move forward, be refunded. Well of course, Natalie - who is a lying, unethical person, assured me this was the case when signing up. I went on this "date" which was a woman who is paid by IJL ( she is a stripper too ) and she was on her phone the entire time talking to other men. She then left, rudely, without saying anything and wasted my time. Of course when I relayed this to Natalie, she said "we have plenty of other great women". I said no thanks, please refund me and of course its been nothing but the run around and wasting my time and am now having to pursue legal action. Do no waste your time or money. Possibly the most dishonest, unprofessional, unethical company I have ever worked with. read more

Dating these days is hard and time consuming, especially when moving to a new city. IJL Minneapolis has made it a little less hard and introduced me to some quality women that I likely would have never had the opportunity to meet or at least not in such a short amount of time. Eva is great! I enjoy our conversations when we talk and she seems to genuinely have my best interests in mind when setting me up with matches. Time is a valuable commodity and IJL respects that by finding matches and arranging the first date. I don't have to really start investing any of my time until I'm actually personally meeting with my date. Although I haven't met "the one" yet, I do have new found hope and enthusiasm for the dating scene again and feel like Eva truly wants what's best for me. 4/5 stars given the cost to value ratio. Maybe that will change over time or if I meet someone, and it's not a reflection on Eva... It's just a relatively large chunk of change and a lot of trust in the system than what I'd typically be comfortable with... so I'm not blown away, but not overly disappointed either. read more

I feel really misled having signed up for this service. When signing up, I was fed all these hopes of there being young professional men who are ready to pursue a partner, even in this pandemic! Every date was exhausting and even after lots of feedback given to my matchmaking team, there was nowhere near a connection. If you're a professional young woman, I'd say to save your money and just hang on until a better service comes around. They charge $1800 just to join, and then $98/month for membership. They'll paint a pretty picture of how you can put your membership on hold at any time if you think you've found a connection or need a break, but what they don't mention is that it still costs $28/month to NOT use your membership and let your file sit on a computer in an office somewhere. Plus, if you try to change the status of your membership or cancel your membership and miss the cutoff you still get charged for the entire month. Watch out, y'all, there are ABSOLUTELY NO REFUNDS. That's a lot of money to risk and say goodbye to. On top of the financial issues, I felt like all of the feedback I was giving to my team was being ignored. Despite being explicit in my priorities when finding a partner, I would find out during the dates that these wishes were all but ignored. Perhaps the questionnaire they use leads people to answer in what they think will be a favorable way, but from the summaries that they give you as an introduction before the date to the actual date themselves, it's hard not to feel misled. Part of me feels like they ask for feedback just to make the clients feel like they're being heard when they're not. Even if all the dates hadn't been virtual, I think I would've suffered equally, if not more, during in-person dates. At least when you're at home you can call it a night and just shut down your computer. I can't imagine being in a restaurant actually having a meal with some of these men and being stuck waiting for the check with nothing more to say or ask. I didn't think finding someone would continue to be so difficult and frustrating when I was paying so much to have a team search for me. Very disappointed and frustrated that I took a chance on this service. read more

I am new to It's Just Lunch, but it has been a positive experience so far. It's difficult getting back into the dating scene. Just knowing that everyone I am meeting is sincerely looking for a serious match is reassuring, compared to online dating. Working with Eva has been great, she is very talkative and devoted to her job. Having support while you take the chance and put yourself out there again makes all the difference in the world. read more

I have been working with Sonia from It's Just Lunch. She is pleasant, professional, and committed to helping me find a compatible partner.

My 2nd go-around with IJL and they far exceeded my expectations again. Their staff did an excellent job with 'matches' and they always kept me informed on the 'where and when'. Eva was great to work with and I would recommend IJL if you want to try to find that special person and avoid the noise from online apps. read more

Just don't do it. Spend the $5000 on anything else you can think would put a smile on your face. New carpet or flooring, window treatments, whatever you can think of. My $5000 included 6 months or 6 dates, whichever came later. I had 9 dates in the six months. I disappointed some of them and some disappointed me. These are blind dates. you don't see any photo and the verbal descriptions are less than accurate. Attraction begins with the eyes. I've never been so sure about a statement in my life. Save yourself and others the disappointment. Best of luck to us all. Diane A. read more

I reached out to inquire about pricing of this service in 2017. I received a follow up call in February of 2019 asking about my dating life. I said it existed but it wasn't a big priority for me as I was working full time as well as part time in a graduate program. The woman on the other end said if I was doing something for 2 years and it didn't work, that I should consider alternative measures, and that the "definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results." This comment was after I had said no 3 times prior as I didn't have the money or the time. That's when I hung up. First, in sales when someone says no a few times I think that is your cue to stop pressing. Second, insulting a potential client is not a way to get them to sign up. Third, preying on the emotions of clients saying that you need to start doing things differently, is not a great way to conduct business. There are online dating apps out there that don't cost thousands of dollars for someone to play matchmaker. Some may prefer this method but I don't need to pay someone to find a match, this will happen organically when I'm ready and the woman is ready and we find each other. I've left a review because I thought this call was unprofessional and disrespectful. So much so that I had to hang up so I didn't have to listen more to comments that were offensive. read more

It's easy and convenient for people like me who work long hours or have a hard time meeting people. They take care of setting up the dates is all you have to do is show up. It is expensive though. read more

They charge over $5,000 to match you with someone. However, they never meet you in person so how do they really know what your "match" looks like? I asked for a certain type of person and my 3 "dates" were NOTHING like I asked for and would never have dated them. The looks were not anything like I requested and the personalities were not like mine at all. Only one of the three dates lasted more than 40 minutes. I should have asked for my money back. Then, when I called and asked about why these people were not what I requested, they said I should try their VIP services for $30k... It's an absolute waste of time and money! read more

Shame on those representing Its Just Lunch in Mpls for misrepresenting your services. I paid $4600 for 6 months of dating and met 6 men who were a zero match to my perferences. When I make my final complaints to those in charge, I was offered a discounted price for additional services. This week I received a notice of a class action suit against IJL. Shame on Its Just Lunch for taking us to the cleaners instead of love. read more

Their one redeeming quality is that the staff is always friendly. That said, when I had this service, I saw no improvement in their ability to match me with someone I had mutual interest in. Much of the "I have someone great for you" or "We have some great new ladies" or "I was thinking about you and think I came up with the perfect match" that they say are clearly just phrases on cue cards. And since ending my use of the service, I've gotten solicitation calls every 4 months like clockwork. Even worse, the last three times they've contacted me I've told them I'm seeing someone (to which they respond "Well, is it serious?"... which is possibly the least classy response) and to remove me from their list/database. The result was that the last three calls have been more frequent. To summarize: stay away unless you have money to burn, your favorite past time is to go on average first dates, and you like the idea of a strange woman calling you up every three months to check if you're single or not. ... Actually, I could see that last one being kind of nice if it also wasn't kind of annoying/dreadful/stalking. UPDATE 5/2/2013: After the last call 3 months ago, they called again. This time I called back and spoke with the manager/owner asking to be expunged from their system. She promised to do so, apologizing for some of the phrasing used by past staff. UPDATE 9/16/2013: Guess who called again. UPDATE 12/3/2014: Per IJL's comment below, apparently my contact info was STILL in their system. My mind is blown. read more

Yes, I'm in the Minneapolis area and I've talked to them more than once. Not good! Well Ok, maybe for some they are who are really really itching to find love, but not if you only have a general interest like myself even in middle-age. I did the phone conversation where they get to know potential clients and... good god! Could they possibly be more aggressive and arrogant?? Talk about ridiculous! Then there's the $3400-$4800 price tag. The whole thing made me a little sick. The heck with IJL! Surprising they have any clients at all with that kind of sales pitch. read more

Why I chose to sign up for this service. 1. It was suppose to be just lunch, less pressure. They also said I would be going to a bunch of different restaurants. I saw that as a plus, even if the date was bad I got to try a new restaurant. 2. They told me that they would give me critiques after the date. If my date said I was doing something wrong or annoying Just Lunch said they would pass that information on to me. Since I'd only been on two dates at that point in my life, I was interested in improving . 3. Having a person involved with picking my date, a human touch, seemed to me at the time more effective than a computer. Why did I give two stars? 1. I lived in a small town at the time so I didn't believe there'd be a lot of dates there. I agreed to meet all my dates in Rochester, a 30 minute drive for me. I had one date in Rochester. The next 4 where in the cities. I had to drive an hour and a half to two hours to meet my dates. It was no longer Just Lunch, I had to commit an entire afternoon to this. When I complained they compromised and had my dates meet me halfway. I was still driving an hour for each date. Once I started meeting them halfway we only went to one restaurant. Over and over and over again. 2. They never gave me any critique of the dates. They'd asked my opinion on how the date went. What I liked and didn't like about my date. But they never provided feedback to me about what my date liked/disliked. 3. Again I complained about the drive time and they set me up with a young man in Rochester. We were not a match. Both of us were outside the age range we had requested by several years. We did not have the same interests or anything in common. The entire date felt like they were trying to just appease me with the location of the date, not actually setting me up with someone I had a connection with. Having a real person pick my dates did not prove effective. He was my last date through Just Lunch. 4. I also found out through one of my dates that men pay a lot less money for this service than women. As in a difference of more than $500. Once you run out of your allotted time, six months or a year, they charge you monthly. I spent a lot of money, well over $3000 for a lservice I got little to no enjoyment out of. If you live in a big city maybe you will have better luck. The staff was always polite,only growing more distant as I became unhappy with the service. I will not be utilizing this service for myself ever again. read more

I tried It's Just Lunch a few months ago. I had recently moved to the area and thought this would be a good alternative to online dating. Unfortunately, it was not a good experience. I felt like the staff did not listen to my preferences in dates at all. On top of the monthly rates you pay, they also send you to highly expensive restaurants for the "dates" and you end up paying even more money. I would have had better luck trying online dating and probably would have saved myself a ton of money! The monthly rates and initial fees are very high. You would be better off paying for a membership to Match.com or another dating app. read more

I joined Its Just Lunch in 2016 or 2017 I believe. I went on 5 dates which were horrible. They set me up with men that basically had nothing in common with me on major points. Did you know that they do not perform background checks? On one of these dates a man demanded I touch his penis as I was concluding a 'coffee date' and caused fear in me. I demanded my money back which they have not done and to terminate the contract. No, they slapped my credit report with a balance owing of $2900. Do Not Sign UP!!!! Does not deserve 1 star!! Susan F. read more

They promise a lot and deliver very little! Lots of $ for poor follow through. First few dates they arranged weekly, after that it's no weekly or once every three weeks and the staff don't answer their phones and don't return calls. I was underwhelmed for the $2800 price tag. I'd go elsewhere for match making as this company takes your money then ignores you after the first few weeks. Disappointed! read more

If you don't feel bad enough about yourself try this and it is guaranteed to make you feel even worse about yourself! Life is good until you try this! Snotty staff and all! Heard there is a law suit involved now too! I tried to quit and get some money back and no way. I really felt ROBBED!!! read more