SHOWING U.S. DINING IS
GETTING GREENER, HEALTHIER AND
MORE CASUAL
NEW YORK, N.Y. October 24, 2007 — Zagat Survey today released the results of
its 2008 America's Top Restaurants survey. The guide, covering 1,416
eateries in 42 major markets, is based on 23 million meals experienced by over
132,000 surveyors. The average surveyor ate out 3.3 times per week and spent an
average $33.29 for a typical dinner, a 2.3% increase over last year. Other
notable dining trends this year can be summarized in three words, "green",
"healthy" and "casual."
What's Inside: From listings of top food and
most popular eateries to helpful tips on meal costs and the latest dining
trends, the 2008 guide covers 42 major markets around the country from
Atlanta to Washington, DC. The guide also
shows increasing consumer interest in small-plates, service and casual dining,
going so far as to make neckties museum pieces.
According to Zagat Survey CEO Tim Zagat, "Prices have remained quite
reasonable at the nation's better restaurants, however, diners everywhere are
looking for fresh, healthy and sustainably raised options and say that they are
willing to pay more for them. Even at fine dining establishments, diners are
insisting on casual dress and mien."
America's Tops: Eleven restaurants in this
year's survey earned a near perfect 29 out of a possible 30 for food, including:
Atlanta – Bacchanalia; Charlotte – Barrington's; Chicago
– Carlos'; Cincinnati – Jean-Robert at Pigall's;
Connecticut – Thomas Henkelmann; Dallas/Ft. Worth – French Room; Milwaukee – Sanford; New Jersey –
Nicholas; San Francisco – Gary Danko; Washington, DC – Inn at Little Washington; Westchester/Hudson Valley, NY – Xaviar's at Piermont. Zagat
includes the top five places for food and popularity in each of the 42 cities it
covers in this year's guide. In New York and Los
Angeles, where diners tend to be tougher graders, the following ten
restaurants earned food scores of 28:
- Daniel (NY)
- Sushi Yasuda (NY)
- Le Bernardin (NY)
- Per Se (NY)
- Peter Luger (NY)
- Jean Georges (NY)
- Bouley (NY)
- Melisse (LA)
- Nobu Malibu (LA)
- Asanebo (LA)
Going Greener: Reflecting the growing interest
in sustainably raised foods, an overwhelming majority of West Coast residents –
Portland (80%), Seattle (72%) and San
Francisco (67%) – say they are willing to pay more for it. Countrywide,
nearly three out of five diners say they would pay more for sustainably raised
food, and 55% say they'd pay more for organic food. As further sign of
increasing concern about health, 65% of surveyors favor totally banning trans
fats in restaurants. And 69% say they consider it important for restaurants to
make heart healthy items available on their menus. The verdict on smoking is
overwhelming with 77% of diners saying they'd eat out less if smoking were
permitted in local restaurants, and only 2% saying they'd dine out more.
Eating Out Across America: Sixty-seven percent
of surveyors say they are spending more per meal than two years ago, while only
5% say less. While Americans on average eat out 3.3 times per week Texas' cities
lead the nation with Houston at 4.2 meals per week and
Austin and Dallas/Ft. Worth both at 4.0 meals
per week. Running close behind tied at 3.8 times are Las Vegas
and Los Angeles, and hot on their heels are
Atlanta, Miami and San
Antonio (each at 3.7). New York trails at 3.3 times,
but when combined with takeout the percent of meals eaten/taken out by New
Yorkers is a national high of 7.5 times per week.
Dollars and Cents: No change this year,
New York City continues to lead the way as the most costly U.S.
city to dine out in, with an average tab of $39.46, while Long
Island comes in a close second at $39.03. By comparison, Zagat's
national average is $33.29, while New Orleans ($26.18) and
Austin ($25.30) are the least expensive cities. What may
surprise Americans is that US restaurants cost roughly half of what their peers
do in cities such as London ($79.46), Paris
($74.24) and Tokyo ($69.58). At the most expensive venues in
each city, the average dinner cost rose 3.8% to $72.08.
Tipping: Among the nation's most generous
tippers are Denver (19.5%), Detroit and
Philadelphia (19.4%), all exceeding Zagat's national average of
(19%). West coast diners in San Francisco and Los
Angeles are among the least generous at 18.4%, while
Honolulu averages a desultory 18% tip.
Slighting Service: Service, cited by 70% of
surveyors, is still the most common grievance among restaurant-goers across the
country. All other irritants, i.e. smoking, crowding, noise, parking, prices and
food quality aggregate only 30% of complaints. Ironically, food is cited as a
problem by only 5% of Zagat's U.S. surveyors. In New York City,
issues like noise/crowds (34%) and prices (11%) significantly exceed Zagat's
national norms.
Favorite Cuisines: Italian remains the nation's
favorite cuisine with 27% of surveyors naming it. American fare comes in second
at 16% and French and Japanese tie for third with 11%. Although individual Asian
cuisines score low, when combined, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Indian reach
30%.
Online Reservations: An overwhelming 77% of
American diners still telephone ahead to make reservations at the restaurant of
their choice. Only 11% reserve online. However, this is changing fast with tech
savvy diners in San Francisco (43%) and
Minneapolis (30%) using the Internet to make their restaurant
reservations, and more and more diners elsewhere are using services such as Open
Table in other cities.
The 2008 America's Top Restaurants guide ($15.95) was edited by
Shelley Gallagher and Robert Seixas and is available at bookstores and other
retail outlets, through Zagat.com or by calling 888-371-5440.
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About Zagat Survey,
LLC
Known as the "wildly popular" "burgundy bible", Zagat Survey is
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and play. With more than 300,000 surveyors, Zagat Survey rates and reviews
restaurants, hotels, nightlife, movies, music, golf, shopping and a range of
other entertainment categories and is lauded as the "most up-to-date",
"comprehensive" and "reliable" guide ever published. Zagat content is available
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