ITALIANS AND DINING OUT - RESTAURANTS BEAT TRATTORIAS IN RECENT SURVEY

When, where, and how do Italians eat out? The survey “Food Habits and Trends” that was conducted by the Italian-Swiss portal chefdicucinamagzine.com over the period between August and November 2008 that included 28,000 participants, 57% of whom make up part of the food sector work force, recently revealed the answer to this question.

Most Italians prefer eating out at dinner time (69.35%) rather than lunch (28.14%). As for the location, most prefer a traditional style restaurant (52%, of which there is a growing interest in hotel restaurants – 18%) than the smaller and less pretentious trattoria (28%). As for a quick meal, the pizzeria (31.82%) remains the top choice, followed by cafes that offer appetizers and first courses (10%), and, finally self service restaurants (8%).

Women made up 62.67% of those surveyed, men, 33.33.
Though 69% declared they were curious to explore new tastes at the mealtime, only 40.1% claimed they ordered new dishes at restaurants, while 18% preferred more traditional dishes, and 31.4% chose simple recipes.

The cost of the dish was a deciding factor in only 17% of responses, while, on the other hand, the ingredients of a dish were the deciding factor for 61% of those interviewed. Color is also an issue, with green and warm tones at the top of the list.

As for service – noted the curator of the initiative, Elvio Gorelli – 49% are willing to wait a maximum of 15 minutes to receive the dish they have ordered, 21% will wait 10 minutes, and only 4% are willing to wait 20 to 25 minutes. 2% of those interviewed would probably walk out of a restaurant if the wait was too long. Uniforms or the attire of waiters was also very important for 86.2% of those surveyed, but only 56.8% want advice from the wait staff, and better if it’s from the actual cook.

The most common complaints are: uncleanly restrooms (30%); rudeness (26%); cutlery quality (18%); parking (22%); and, lastly, the lack of a cloakroom (1.2%).