2014 Dallas / Fort Worth Restaurant Survey Stats

Number of Restaurants Covered: 500+

Number of Surveyors: 2,898
Top Food

Top Decor

Top Service

1
2
3
4

Saint-Emilion Restaurant
Bonnell's
Abacus
Nonna

Waters Bonnell's Coastal Cuisine

Saint-Emilion Restaurant

The French Room

The French Room

Five Sixty Wolfgang Puck

Bonnell's

The Mansion

Fearing's Restaurant

Al Biernat's

Saint-Emilion Restaurant

Al Biernat's

Waters Bonnell's Coastal Cuisine

Fearing's Restaurant

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House

Yutaka Sushi Bistro

Perry's Steakhouse & Grille

Capital Grille

The French Room

Reata

The Mansion

Pappas Bros. Steakhouse

Hibiscus

Pappas Bros. Steakhouse

10

Chamberlain's Fish Market Grill

10 Fogo de Cho

10 Oak

Most Popular

Best Buys $25 & Under

Hottest Newcomers

Babe's

Gemma

Gloria's

1 Cane Rosso
2 Maple & Motor

Casa Rubia at Trinity Groves

El Fenix

3 Pecan Lodge

El Come Taco

Twisted Root Burger Co.

4 Good 2 Go Taco

AF+B

Mi Cocina

5 Babe's

CBD Provisions

Blue Mesa Grill

6 Eno's Pizza Tavern

Cafe Brazil

7 Jonathon's Oak Cliff

Bob's Steak & Chop House

8 Railhead Smokehouse

Kincaid's

9 Rodeo Goat

10

Joe T. Garcia's

10 Terra Mediterranean Grill

Top Spots by Cuisine

American
BBQ

Salum

Mexican

Esperanza's Mexican Bakery & Cafe

Pecan Lodge

Pizza

Cane Rosso

Burger Joints

Maple & Motor

Seafood

Waters Bonnell's Coastal Cuisine

Ellerbe

French

Saint-Emilion Restaurant

Southern

Italian

Nonna

Southwestern

Bonnell's

Japanese

Yutaka Sushi Bistro

Steakhouses

Al Biernat's

Terra Mediterranean Grill

Tex-Mex

Avila's Restaurant

Mediterranean

www.zagat.com

2014 Dallas / Fort Worth Restaurant Survey Stats

How many times do you typically eat out in restaurants per week for breakfast, lunch and dinner ?
DFW
National
Average
Average
Breakfast
0.9
0.7
Lunch
2.4
2.1
Dinner
2.4
2.4
Total Lunch and Dinner
4.8
4.5
Total Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
5.2
5.7
How much do you spend on average per person when eating out at a restaurant for dinner?
DFW
National
Average
$30.34
$ 39.40

If a service charge is not included, what % do you usually tip?

DFW
19.2%

Average

National
19.3%

How many lunches and dinners per week do you typically eat out, take out, cook at home and skip?
DFW
National
Average
Average
Cook/Prepare at home
6.8
6.7
Eat out/take out
6.2
6.3
Eat out in restaurants
4.8
4.5
Take out
1.4
1.8
Skip
1.1
0.9
Total meals eaten per week:
12.9
13.1
% total meals eat out/take out:
48%
48%

What is your favorite cuisine?

DFW
19%
19%
18%
12%
7%
6%
4%
3%
2%
2%
2%
2%
1%
1%
2%

Italian
Mexican
American
Seafood
Steakhouses
Japanese
French
Thai
Greek
Indian
South American
Vegetarian
Chinese
Vietnamese
Other

www.zagat.com

National
24%
7%
14%
10%
5%
8%
10%
5%
2%
2%
1%
1%
3%
1%
7%

2014 Dallas / Fort Worth Restaurant Survey Stats

What irritates you most about dining out?
Service
Noise
Prices
Crowds
Parking
Food
Traffic
Other irritants

DFW
22%
22%
16%
15%
13%
5%
2%
5%

National
26%
24%
17%
13%
7%
7%
3%
3%

DFW
24%
15%
11%
9%
9%
8%
4%
4%
4%
4%
2%
1%
1%
-%
4%

National
24%
17%
9%
10%
8%
3%
6%
5%
3%
3%
2%
3%
1%
3%
3%

DFW
27%
23%
21%
15%
5%
2%
-%
7%

National
24%
28%
17%
11%
13%
2%
-%
5%

DFW
58%
28%
20%
10%
28%
1%
13%

National
61%
23%
29%
9%
32%
1%
6%

What's your biggest service pet peeve?

Inattentive staff
Slow service
Inadequate training
Rude staff
Plates cleared before everyone finish course/meal
Frequent interruptions by staff
Waiting with a reservation
Rushed service
Order mix-ups
Pushy staff trying to upsell
Poor handling of special requests
Poor handling of service problems
Mistakes on your bill
Other service peeves
I don't have any service pet peeves
Which type of noise irritates you the most in restaurants?
Unruly babies and young children
General noise because of bad acoustics
Loud music
Loud conversations
People talking on mobile phones
Noise from the kitchen
Other noise
Noise usually doesn't bother me in restaurants
How do you typically make restaurant reservations?
Via Internet
Via the Internet on your mobile phone
Via the Internet on your desktop/laptop
Via the Internet on your tablet/iPad
Phone restaurant
In person
Don't reserve

www.zagat.com

2014 Dallas / Fort Worth Restaurant Survey Stats

While dining in a restaurant, how often do you use your mobile phone at the table to?
Use Social Media
Take Photos
Text or Email
(e.g. tweet, post,
check-in)
DFW
National
DFW
National
DFW
National
8%
6%
7%
Often
12%
9%
6%
26%
27%
18%
Occasionally
24%
30%
31%
35%
41%
23%
Rarely
36%
36%
20%
30%
25%
51%
Never
28%
24%
42%
1%
1%
1%
Dont have a mobile phone
-%
1%
1%

Talk
DFW
1%
7%
40%
51%
1%

National
1%
3%
35%
60%
1%

While dining in a restaurant, how do you feel about children using tablets / ipads /
mobile phones at the table?
DFW
National
It's rude and inappropriate
26%
26%
Ok in moderation
49%
48%
Perfectly acceptable
16%
17%
No opinion
9%
9%
When choosing a new restaurant to dine at, what type of online information do you
usually seek out? (multiple responses accepted)
DFW
National
84%
Menus
81%
77%
Consumer reviews
79%
65%
Restaurant websites
74%
36%
Photos
32%
17%
Blogs
21%
1%
I do not research restaurants online
1%
What effect does a restaurants cash-only policy have on your dining out habits?
(multiple responses accepted)
DFW
National
45%
41%
Im less inclined to go
15%
21%
I avoid these restaurants
10%
8%
I spend less overall
2%
2%
I tip less
40%
41%
No effect on my dining out habits
Have you ever? (% Yes)
Sent a dish back to the kitchen
Eavesdropped on a conversation at next table
Stiffed a server on the tip for bad service
Stolen something (fork, salt shaker, etc.)
Slipped the maitred cash for a table
Walked out on a meal without paying

www.zagat.com

DFW
86%
75%
55%
18%
17%
9%

National
85%
81%
48%
16%
17%
4%
5

2014 Dallas / Fort Worth Restaurant Survey Stats

How do you feel about the following food trends?
Brussels Sprouts
Bacon Anything
DFW
National
DFW
National
45%
28%
Love it
41%
31%

DFW
28%

Beets
National
38%

Kale
DFW
19%

National
27%

Dont mind

28%

31%

38%

32%

27%

30%

35%

36%

Over it

26%

18%

28%

34%

38%

23%

35%

30%

No opinion

5%

6%

3%

6%

7%

9%

11%

7%

How do you feel about the following restaurant trends?

Farm-to-table dining
Extremely detailed printed menu
(i.e., use of locally and
descriptions
seasonally sourced ingredients)
DFW
National
DFW
National
66%
29%
Love it
69%
34%

Head-to-tail dining
(i.e., consumption of offal,
trotters, ears, etc.)
DFW
National
10%
11%

Dont mind

21%

25%

50%

49%

21%

21%

Over it

5%

6%

10%

16%

48%

48%

No opinion

5%

3%

6%

6%

20%

21%

www.zagat.com