I'm a guy who has never been on a date but personally I think that either the date should be paid for but the one who did the asking/inviting or it should be split equally.
I'm happy to go halves/ pay for what I ate on the first date. (If they ate a salad and I ate a steak, hypothetically speaking, I'd pay for what I ate because paying half would be cheating haha.)
It's a lovely gesture if a guy pays for the date, but it's understandable if payment is separated. I would fully understand if I had to pay for myself. In fact, I would probably offer first just in case he was struggling for money or anything. I don't like feeling like I've put people in a bad position to go out of their way for me.