While Chace Crawford’s Gossip Girl character Nate Archibald may hit all the New York hotspots, in real life the actor plays it cool – especially when it comes to first dates.

“The ideal, I think, when you’re starting out, is something low-key, like playing the [Nintendo] Wii, ordering in pizza and then grabbing a beer,” Crawford, 22, told PEOPLE at Wednesday’s launch of the Stoli Hotel in Manhattan.

But come time to step out, the actor says he’d take off “to a concert in Central Park or an NBA basketball game, if she likes sports.” (His teams of choice? “The Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Cowboys – I’m a Texas kid!”)

Crawford famously dated Carrie Underwood – until the pair split up over text message – but now says he’s single, being so busy with work and his fitness regimen.

“Part of me being single is focusing on my work right now,” says Crawford, who joked, “I’ve been dating my gym bag for a while now.”

When in a relationship, though, the Gossip guy finds himself getting creative in the gift department.

“I like to do artwork and draw,” he says. “I did a big beautiful drawing – and it was very meaningful to [my girlfriend], and she loved it … that’s the kind of stuff that I like to do.”

• Reporting by STEPHANIE RYGORSKY

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