Hi Hannah,
There is no strict timeline in terms of how quickly you should meet someone in person that you met online. It just depends on how well the both of you connect. Some people decide to meet in person after just one online conversation with someone because they felt that connected to them.
Oftentimes, the sooner you meet, the sooner you know whether there is real life chemistry, as long as the person isn’t asking you to do something that you aren’t quite comfortable doing this early.
In your case, you have both been talking to each other for about a week and conversations have been good. There is no real harm in meeting him for dinner to see whether you both have real life chemistry.
Meeting in person doesn’t suddenly mean that the process of getting to know him stops. It’s just that you now have a physical reference to go with all the knowledge that you are absorbing about him.
When it comes to online dating, getting a physical reference sooner than later works in your favor.
Let’s just say that not everyone who posts photos of themselves on their dating profile are being honest about how they currently look. Might as well get this annoying side to online dating out of the way before investing more and more of your time getting to know him.