Dining Trends
San Antonio is home to America's worst tippers, reveals new study
There's no denying that this country loves to grub, and Google and Zagat teamed up to question over 9,000 diners across the U.S. to determine The State of American Dining in 2016. The national survey reveals major insights into San Antonio's restaurant scene — and the diners themselves.
To start with, the majority of San Antonians consider themselves foodies. While 35 percent of local respondents confidently claim the title, another 32 percent say they secretly hate the term, and 30 percent completely reject the label. It makes sense that most are foodies though, because locals report dining out an average of 5.9 times per week.
San Antonio's self-reported average for one dinner is $31.11, $5 cheaper than the national average. And when it comes to tipping, San Antonians are the worst — literally. By only leaving a 17.1 percent gratuity, San Antonio is dead least on the ranking of tip averages among the 26 cities surveyed.
Italian is by far the city's favorite culinary genre (25 percent), followed by Mexican food (18 percent), American (15 percent), seafood (10 percent), steakhouse fare (7 percent), and Thai (5 percent).
Thirty-seven percent of San Antonians say they had their "best meal ever" at a high-end restaurant, with neighborhood joints (22 percent), home kitchens (21 percent), and local dives (17 percent) coming in close behind. Dining deal breakers include cash-only establishments (53 percent), communal tables (36 percent), jacket requirements (31 percent), and prix fixe menus (31 percent).
As far as food trends go, the Alamo City is mostly over green juice, but pretty evenly split on gluten-free-dishes, veggie-centric menus, and quinoa. Chefs, take note: San Antonians are still really digging Sriracha.
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