Dealing with heartbreak is different for everyone. This Valentine's Day some singles are headed to a Break Up pop-up bar that's dedicated to celebrating "Anti-Valentine's Day."

  • WeHo bar is dedicated to celebrating 'Anti-Valentine's Day'
  • Sentiment represents changing attitudes towards meeting people
  • Most singles now meet people using apps and websites, rather than at bars

Two friends, Charlee and Sophia, stopped by the West Hollywood bar to check it out after Charlee went through a recent break up.

"I mean this break up was the best thing to ever happened to me. I never felt better about myself," says Charlee.

Charlee says nowadays most people meet on the internet, or through apps, and feels no one really meets at bars anymore.

According to the Pew Research Center, 59 percent of all internet users agree with the statement that “online dating is a good way to meet people."

"If I'm in a dating app, that’s when I'm actually looking for somebody. If I meet you out at a bar, I'm already with my girlfriends. What guy is going to be like, 'Can I squeeze in there and buy you a drink?' I'm like nope," says Charlee.

According to an Economist/YouGov Poll, 17 percent of Americans now think that when a man invites a woman out for a drink, it usually constitutes sexual harassment.

Charlee doesn’t agree with that, but during the era of #MeToo and #TimesUp, she says she doesn’t want men approaching her when she is out with her friends. 

"I think women are wary. I just feel like I have to be on alert constantly. The idea of me having a spontaneous meet-cute with somebody at this point is unfathomable," says Charlee.

Owner of the pop-up bar, Evan, agrees. He's been working in bars for 15 years and says people don’t really meet when they're out anymore.

"It’s a constant battle. We have taken less and less risk out in public, because it is so easy online," says Evan.

Los Angeles singles seem to go to a bar once they have already met someone, which is not how it used to be.

"In 2019, all the traditional dating norms have gone out the window. We are rewriting the rules at this point and have been for a while," says Evan.

The Statistic Brain Research Institute says 20 percent of current relationships began online and 17 percent of couples who married within the last year met on a dating site. With 1,000 new dating sites launching every year, this is the new wave of dating.

Even though online dating is the new norm, Charlee still remains hopeful.

"I still romanticize the idea of meeting someone spur of the moment, once in a lifetime, star-struck type of thing," says Charlee.

The Break-Up Bar is open until February 16th and tickets are on sale now.