People of Philadelphia turned out to be the most generous tippers, while those in Houston tend to eat out the most, acccording to the results of this year’s Google “America’s Top Restaurants Survey.”
The survey, covering 1,822 restaurants in 46 U.S. cities and regions, also found the top-rated restaurants across the country.
“Winners include perennial favorites like the “exceptional” American Gary Danko (San Francisco), Eric Ripert’s French “seafood shrine” Le Bernardin (New York), and the “flawless” New American Bacchanalia (Atlanta), as well as top spots like Alinea (Chicago), Urasawa (Los Angeles) and Joël Robuchon (Las Vegas),” Bernardo Hernandez, Managing Director of Google’s Zagat division said.
Zagat surveys are based on millions of reviews from everyday diners who shared their experiences through Google products like search, Google+, Maps and mobile.
“Based on surveyors in 10 major cities, we have found that the average number of meals cooked at home (7.0 per week) outpaces the average number of meals they eat/take out (6.1)—a trend that has been building since the Great Recession. We also know that diners in Houston eat out the most (4.1 times per week vs. the 3.2 national average), and that at 19.6 percent, the City of Brotherly Love is also the city of most generous tippers,” Hernandez said.
Houston was followed by Dallas, LA and Atlanta as far as eating out is concerned. New York and Chicago followed close by with 3 ‘outings’ a week.
While many of the top restaurants break out the china and crystal, a number of standouts included in the guide are casual gourmet places like pizzerias.
They include Settebello (Vegas and Salt Lake City), Supino Pizzeria (Detroit’s No.1 restaurant), Serious Pie (Seattle) and Dough (San Antonio); sandwich specialists: Bäco Mercat (LA), Cochon Butcher (New Orleans) and Melt Bar & Grilled (Cleveland); burger specialists: B Spot (Cleveland), Flip Burger Boutique (Atlanta) and Sketch (Philadelphia); and BBQs: Union Woodshop, Slows Bar BQ and Zingerman’s Roadhouse (Detroit).