Ned Schano lives in Highland Park, but when he craves sushi and socialization, he'd row across the Mon to reach Nakama, the popular South Side singles spot where he toasted his 30th birthday in January.

		Be there or be square It's Just Lunch, a national dating service with a Pittsburgh office, has compiled this list of restaurants that are popular meeting spots for singles. Angelo's, Washington, Pa. Atria's Restaurant & Taverns, in Mt. Lebanon, Murrysville, PNC Park, Wexford, Peters, O'Hara and Robinson. Bossa Nova, Downtown Ciao Baby Ristorante, Downtown Casbah, Shadyside. Greg Powell's Rivertowne Restaurant, Rochester, Beaver County Hot Metal Grille, South Side Lidia's, Strip District Mark's Grille & Catering, Downtown Palomino, Downtown Six Penn Kitchen, Downtown Sonoma Grille, Downtown The Terrace Room, Downtown Tonic, Downtown Trilogy, Downtown -- Marylynne Pitz

"It's definitely lively, and it's a good place to enjoy food and people-watch. It's a more cosmopolitan atmosphere than many other places in the city. The hibachi chefs always put on a good show," he said.

Mr. Schano, communications manager at the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, said that at Nakama "people are dressed to go out in the evening. There are no clowns with T-shirts here. You go a lot of places and people look like slobs."

But whether you are a well-dressed international man of mystery or a woman in search of a cool guy and an even cooler mojito, choosing a good place to meet for lunch or a drink after work is just as important as smiling and making eye contact.

In a recent survey of 3,571 singles by the national dating service It's Just Lunch, 76 percent of singles said the best first date lasts under an hour and occurs over lunch or a drink after work.

"People want to go places where there are a lot of other people around. It makes them feel like they are more alive," said Erin Connolly, owner of Gatherings, a local company that organizes activities, including a French wine picnic scheduled for Sept. 23 at 5 p.m. in Donora Grove in North Park.

Although Pittsburgh typically gets low ratings in national surveys for its singles scene -- primarily because of its aging population -- there are indeed gathering hot spots here.

Ms. Connolly, who calls herself the "Irish Yenta," said the SouthSide Works is a popular spot with singles. If you dine outdoors at the Cheesecake Factory restaurant, the people-watching alone provides plenty of conversation topics, she added. Any of the chic restaurants on the South Side's East Carson Street are good, too, she added.

Many people in Ms. Connolly's groups are between the ages of 40 and 55. They're "too old for the bar scene" and "too young for the seniors' groups."

Some singles in this age group, Ms. Connolly said, lost their spouse through death or got divorced after a long marriage. "They've never been in the scene. They are used to walking in there with somebody. Now they have to go in alone," Ms. Connolly said.

Men in that age group, she added, prefer group activities, adding that 52 people signed up for a bowling event she organized.

"While they are bowling, the pressure is not on them to talk. They tell me that to sit across from a woman at lunch or dinner -- it almost makes their heart stop. They feel so much pressure for them to talk. They are so much more relaxed when they are engaged in an activity," she added.

Bill Fuller, corporate chef for Big Burrito Restaurant Group, said the bar areas at Casbah, Soba, Kaya and Eleven are popular spots for singles.

"To sit at the bar and chat with people -- it's less formal than sitting at the table. You have the bartender to talk to," Fuller said, adding that in the Big Burrito chain, Kaya in the Strip District has the least formal bar and "Casbah is the only place we do brunch."

Soba in Shadyside offers comfortable couches, and one whole wall opens to the outside, Mr. Fuller said.

An ardent city girl, Ms. Connolly thinks a great first date starts with coffee at Tazza D'Oro in Highland Park and, if things go well, moves on to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.

Clint Pohl owns Andora, a North Hills restaurant popular with the 35 to 55 set. In the South Hills, Houlihan's in the Galleria is a good option, and so is the Coffee Tree on Beverly Road.

Lindsay Clark, 24, a graphic artist who lives in Bloomfield, likes The Brillobox, a Bloomfield bar, restaurant and performance space.

"They feature a lot of Pittsburgh artists, musicians and theater groups. It has a more relaxed feel and less of a networky, meat-market feel. It's more of a neighborhood bar," she said.

Three times a year, a publishing group called Incredibly Thin stages spectaculars at the Brillobox with a long lineup of performers including poets, musicians and performance artists. Ms. Clark loves the serendipitous discoveries she makes at these events.

"I like almost everything that happens there. You could feel comfortable going there in a T-shirt and jeans. There's also a lot of people who dress up in hip clothes. You can feel comfortable no matter what you're wearing."

She prefers places that are microcosms of the city's larger arts community because, "Your energy is focused on experience rather than consumption."

Among other places, Ms. Clark frequents Game Night and the Seven Minute Dance Series at Attack Theatre's studio in Garfield, where, on the first Friday of every month, young people gather to play backgammon, three-dimensional tic-tac-toe, vintage video games, darts and four square, a game most people learned in the fourth grade.

"They have revived it. It's very fun. That's how I met a lot of people that I actually work with," Ms. Clark said. For breakfast in Lawrenceville, Clark likes the atmosphere and coffee at the Coca Cafe. Other East End hot spots are Whole Foods Market in East Liberty (for breakfast and lunch) and Point Brugge in Point Breeze for lunch.

In the matchmaking department of the Right One, which has a local Green Tree office, Sue Johnson said where singles choose to gather depends a great deal on their age group.

Singles between ages 60 and 80 frequent Eat'n Park or the Olive Garden. Those between 50 and 60 like T.G.I. Friday's and some of the restaurants at the Waterfront in Homestead, Ms. Johnson said.

Singles in the 40 to 50 age bracket gather at Tambellini's on Route 51 or at Bahama Breeze in Robinson Town Centre, she added.

East End residents populate the Coffee Tree on Walnut Street in Shadyside and Crazy Mocha on Ellsworth Avenue. Visitors to the Strip District sip their coffee at La Prima and wander next door to Il Piccolo Forno to buy a pastry.

For Downtown drinks, a new option is the second-floor rooftop at Six Penn Kitchen, which draws a young crowd at lunch and the theater crowd in the evening. Olive or Twist is another good choice.

For late night drinks, Deja Vu in the Strip District remains popular with a crowd that ranges in age from mid-20s to people in their 40s.

If you want your summer to last a bit longer, try Mark's North Park Lounge Field Club in Pine. With an outdoor bar and fire pits, high stone tables, tiki torches and Adirondack chairs parked in a stretch of sand, this place evokes the tropics.