2013 America’s Top Restaurants Survey from Zagat: Stakes and Opportunities for the Diners

For those unfamiliar, Zagat is a web platform which aims to provide trusted and accurate restaurant ratings and curated restaurant reviews for thousands of top restaurants worldwide. Therefore since November 15, 2012, Zagat has revealed the results of their 2013 America’s Top Restaurants Survey covering 1,822 of the US nation’s top-rated restaurants.

Zagat Surveys are based on millions of reviews from everyday diners who shared their experiences through their favorite Google products. Then from Boston to Portland and Chicago to Miami, 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).

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: 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).

Based on surveyors in 10 major cities, Zagat has 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. 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.