Rosie O'Donnell responds: "Way to go Texas!".
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.
Fiesta Patio on Pat Booker Rd.
El Barrio on Blanco Road....
Give me a minute more... I'll think of some more good ones.....
I remember clearly.
Thank you very much for that comprehensive list of Mex/Tex-Mex resteraunts in Austin.
...bookmarking now
Steak? Try The Barn Door on New Braunfels.... Salt Grass Steak house on 281 and the Texas Land & Cattle Co. on Loop 410.
That is so true. French cuisine is exquisite when prepared correctly. My mother-in-law's cooking is my favorite.
That being said, I would give almost anything to have some good Mexican food right now. Even a chain like Ninfa's or On the Border. There are no Mexican places around here! Oh well, thank God for Old El Paso. It's all I got.
I have to confess I love La Madeleine, but I wouldn't really call it French. But yeah, it's kind of bland. It hacks me off they stay thin [although I heard this week that 40% are overweight.]
Rosie O'Donnell responds: "Way to go Texas!".
DC area has so many great restaurants of every imaginable variety, but that's true of any large metropolitan area. It's just our nightlife that sucks for younger adults.
I heard on some food show on TV that the French did not have a cuisine until they stole it from the Italians they tweaked it and oo-lala you have French cuisine..... I usually go with the original, Italian.
Billy is quite the health freak from what I hear.
County Line BBQ on the River Walk.
That's what I was thinking. Can you imagine telling a French chef his or her food was bland? There would be a nice little knife-throwing exercise back in the kitchen. With the Sous Chef as target.
That makes no sense, at least to me. The French are known for their sauces, and Italian cuisine is, well, Mediterranean.
Yeah, you can tell by how well he has aged.
This place looks good..... http://www.restaurantlereve.com/menu.php
But at a $100.00 plus per meal....
I'll stick to Los Numero Dos Dinner at the local tex-mex.
Now that I'm a cash-strapped dropout from Houston cafe society, I gotta say I do miss keeping up with my neighbors by eating out at every new foodery that opens.
OTOH, my ex-DH may have been right when he said our house was the best restaurant in town - it's just that I have to do the cooking. As much as I love to do it, almost everything tastes better to me if it has that "cooked-by-someone-else" factor.
What I miss most is keeping up with new restaurant dishes so I can duplicate them at home, my favorite hobby.
Hmmm.... the French food may be better here in San Francisco. There is an awesome place called Le Charm which features a 3-course tasting menu for something like $28...
Most likely, the best Tex-Mex eateries in SA and Houston are not listed in Zagat's. A lot of us have neighborhood favorites.
Perhaps our fellow poster visited after the violet garlic shortage began.
Next thing they'll be trying to tell us is that Escoffier was Italian.
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