Jay (Ed O'Neill) and Gloria (Sofia Vergara) host Shorty (Chazz Palminteri) and his wife, Darlene (Jennifer Tilly), for a dinner at their house.
Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cam (Eric Stonestreet), due to the stressed days they go through the last couple of months with the wedding planning, decide to go on a romantic date at a restaurant to reduce the tension between them.
Phil (Ty Burrell) and Claire (Julie Bowen) decide to take Haley (Sarah Hyland) out for a dinner so they can discuss her future.
Things then get reversed when she asks them what are their plans for the future when all three of them (Alex (Ariel Winter), Luke (Nolan Gould), and herself) leave the house.
"[2] Leigh Raines from TV Fanatic rated the episode with 5/5 saying that the show "gave us one [dinner] that was surprising, one with difficult emotions and one that ended up really, really awkward.
"[3] Madina Papadopoulos from Paste Magazine rated the episode with 9.2/10 saying: ""Three Dinners" could have been a stage play, and it would have received a standing ovation.