Because I am a grown ass man, 90% of my first dates have been dinner dates. I gladly paid for all but one, because she invited me and wanted to pay. My style of dating was always the charm offensive. Even if I knew it wasn't going to work out, I had nice company and a good dinner.
But, and this is a big but, I got to know anyone I asked pretty well before we ever dated. I suppose if you text back and back and forth, and that's all you do, coffee is OK.
I did once go on a first date with a woman to IKEA.