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America’s Dining Trends Revealed
January 20, 2015
What trendy food has nearly half of avid American diners professing their love? According to the 2015 Zagat National Dining Trends survey, released today, it’s Brussels sprouts. The survey is based on the feedback of 10,727 avid diners nationally who shared their habits and preferences when it comes to dining out.
The survey shows that American diners eat out a lot - 4.5 meals (lunch and dinner) per week on average. The most frequent diners are in Atlanta (5.2) followed by Austin, LA and Miami (each at 4.9). Rounding out the bottom of the list is Portland, OR, Minneapolis (both 3.4) and Philadelphia (3.7).
The national average spend per person for dinner out is $39.40. Not surprisingly, New York is the most expensive dining city, followed by east coasters Boston ($42.24) and Miami ($41.35). The least expensive cities - and a relative bargain - are Austin ($25.81), Dallas/Ft. Worth ($30.34), San Diego ($34.10) and Portland, OR ($34.36), hailing from the South/West.
When it comes to gratuities, Americans leave an average 19.3% tip on their restaurant bill. Austin diners, who enjoy the lowest average meal cost, are the most generous tippers, leaving 20%. Following behind are Philadelphia (19.8%), Boston (19.6%), Chicago (19.6%) and Atlanta (19.5%). West coast diners happen to be less generous with Portland, OR (18.3%), Houston (18.4%), San Diego (18.5%), Seattle (18.6%) and San Francisco (18.7%) at the bottom of the list.
Service is the leading dining out irritant followed by Noise, Prices, Crowds, Food and Parking. Diners in Miami take the biggest issue with service (32%), while Portland, OR diners cite Noise (31%) as their chief complaint.
Additional findings: 16% of respondents admit to having stolen something (fork, salt shaker etc.) from a restaurant, with diners in Chicago and Houston (both 24%) reporting the highest instance of this. If a restaurant has a cash-only policy, respondents say they are less likely to go (45%) or avoid these places all together (15%). And what’s on the menu? Italian. It’s the favorite cuisine among diners in every city surveyed except for Austin and Minneapolis, where diners say they prefer American.
To learn more about this year’s results, see
here
.
Tim and Nina Zagat
Co-Chairs, Zagat
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