Date Night Ideas & Events in Chennai

The events below are this week's picks for a date night in Chennai, refreshed daily. The city's nights out are quieter and earlier than Mumbai's or Bengaluru's, and the best plans lean into that. A dependable formula is a show followed by dinner: stand-up or an English play at the Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall, then Harrington Road's restaurants; a Carnatic or dance recital at the Music Academy or Narada Gana Sabha, then dinner in Alwarpet; a film or jazz evening at the Alliance Française, then Khader Nawaz Khan Road. For music with a drink, look for band nights at bars in Nungambakkam, which are generally 21+. If you would rather be outside, walk Elliot's Beach at dusk and eat in Besant Nagar, watch the lights come on at Semmozhi Poonga and Kalaignar Centenary Park, or drive down the East Coast Road for a dinner by the sea. Daytime dates work too: a pottery, painting or baking workshop for two, a morning at DakshinaChitra, or a heritage walk through Mylapore that ends with filter coffee. During the December season, a free afternoon concert and a sabha-canteen lunch is the most Chennai date there is.