Who pays for dinner when you invite someone to dinner in a la americana?

In the US, if you formally invite somone to dinner, like a date , you are expected to pay for your guest . If you friend says , " I'm going to go grab a bite to eat. Wanna come along? " , don't presume they are going to pay for your meal. You can ask " Dutch treat? " which means every ones pays their own bill, or " Are you buying ? " if it's a contemporary or friend. Better to ask when in doubt than to unexpectedly be handed a separate check and not be able to pay it .