Life

Americans Are "Over" Bacon?

by Emma Cueto

Ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry to say that a terrible thing has happened, one that surely points to a terrible crisis in our society and the disintegration of Western civilization itself. I am speaking of course about the fact that a Zagat survey reveals that most Americans are "over" bacon. Gasp!

According to a survey of over 10,000 people in 17 major American cities, adding bacon to everything is no longer trendy. Which is not only offensive to all of who know that bacon is amazing, but also patently ridiculous. Speaking as someone who has tried maple bacon cupcakes, I can personally assure you that bacon goes with everything. It makes anything better. It's bacon.

And yet a majority of all the restaurant goers surveyed either said that they "don't mind" seeing bacon on things or said that they are "over" the bacon trend? People, it's bacon. It is not a trend. It is perfection. And yet only 28 percent of diners still love the idea of bacon anything? What is the world coming to?

Well, at least American diners had the good sense to also say they are tired of kale, or I might have seriously had to take issue with my fellow restaurant goers.

Though actually, it turns out that a majority of people said they are actually still into the idea of Brussels sprouts, so maybe I take that back. How could anyone say that about Brussels sprouts and not bacon? I am baffled.

The Zagat survey also turned up lots of other interesting tidbits. For instance, it seems that Americans get about 50 percent of our lunches and dinners at restaurants, either by dining in or doing take-out. People in New York eat out most often (56 percent of their meals) and people in Portland eat out the least, with only 38 percent of their meals coming from restaurants. Portland is also still really, really into the farm-to-table trend, with 88 percent saying they love it.

And in terms of bad restaurant etiquette, it seems that Americans are pretty well behaved — about some things. Only four percent of diners have pulled a dine-and-dash, and only 16 percent say they have stolen something from a table, such as a fork or salt-shaker. But 81 percent admit to eaves dropping on conversations at other tables, and nearly half say that they have stiffed on the tip for bad service. Which, depending on how you define "stiff," is really bad guys. Don't go below 15 percent. Tips are how the waitstaff makes money.

Overall, though, American dining habits seem to be pretty on point, and it's pretty clear that Americans do love eating out. Now if only we could rekindle their love of bacon...

For more info from the Zagat survey, including city by city breakdowns, you can click here.

Images: Giphy (2)