Posted on 11/02/2006 8:38:56 AM PST by Responsibility2nd
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- When it comes to eating out in the United States, Texans do it the most, New Yorkers pay the most, and Italian is the country's favorite cuisine, a study showed Wednesday.
Zagat Survey released its "America's Top Restaurants," a guide covering 1,389 eateries in 42 cities, which is based on 21 million meals worth of experience by more than 123,000 people.
It found that during 2006 restaurant openings have been far outpacing closings and that the cost of a meal increased 2.8 percent, less than the 4 percent rise in the country's Consumer Price Index.
"These are happy days for food lovers -- this marks another year where restaurant quality, diversity and value have improved across America," Tim Zagat, chief executive officer of the survey, said in a statement.
The survey showed that 83 percent of people eat out as often or more than they did two years ago and that people in Houston, Texas, eat out the most at 4.2 times a week, followed by the Texas cities Austin and Dallas-Ft. Worth, where residents dine out four times a week.
Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Miami come next, with people eating out 3.8 times a week.
In New York people eat out 3.3 times a week, which the survey said could be due to the high cost of dining there -- the city is the most expensive in the United States with an average meal costing $39.43.
"Sadly its the same old story across the country when it comes to service," the Zagat Survey found. "72 percent of diners say service is the greatest irritant when it comes to eating out."
Nearly a third of diners said Italian food was their favorite, with American food coming in second at 16 percent and French third at 12 percent. But when Japanese, Chinese and Thai were combined they ran a close second with 25 percent.
My brother used to work at Potbelly's. Which sandwich did you order?
It is about 1 1/2 hours away via I-35 if you are lucky to get there that soon and alive.
I think the wreck or a turkey. I can't quite remember, though I know it was delicious....the chocolate shake was good, too.
I wish there were some stores here...lol..
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