Survey shows Americans eat out 5 times weekly
According to a new survey by Zagat restaurant guide, Americans are going out to eat for lunch and dinner 4.9 times each week. And out of all the cities surveyed, diners in Houston are going out to eat the most at a whopping 5.7 times a week. People in Dallas, Fort Worth, Miami, and Los Angeles ranked closely behind with an average of 5.6.
When it comes to paying the bill, respondents claim they spend $36.40 per person at dinner. New York City dwellers have the highest average tabs at $46.14 per person, followed by Boston at $41.54, Chicago at $38.66, and Washington D.C. at $38.45.
Don’t forget to tip your waiter! Philadelphians are reportedly the most generous patrons, tipping an average of 20.3 percent on each bill. Other gratuitous cities include Denver at 19.5 percent, Washington D.C. at 19.2 percent, and Chicago and Boston at 19 percent. The national tipping average is 18.1 percent.
Survey participants allege several irritants about dining out; the greatest annoyance was noise level, followed by service, crowds, prices, and parking. Fifty-seven percent of diners say using a cell phone at the table is OK in moderation, but 35 percent deem it downright rude.
Of those using their mobiles during meals, 49 percent have admitted to prohibiting their companions from eating so they can snap food photos. This is an 11 percent decrease from survey results collected in 2016.
As far as social media goes, 35 percent of diners post pictures of their meals right from the table, while 2 percent sneak away to the bathroom to do so, 14 percent post on the way home, 38 percent post later in the evening, and 11 percent save them for a throwback post (#TBT).
While Instagramming food photos is slightly on the decline, visuals on social media still exert a powerful influence on where people eat. Seventy-five percent of survey participants say they’ve settled on a place to eat after seeing the establishment’s dishes posted online. This is the same average that was reported by Zagat in 2016.
