Zagat launches 2009 San Diego restaurants guide (United States)
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Zagat launches 2009 San Diego restaurants guide (United States)
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Category: North America & West Indies / Carribean islands - United States - Industry economy
- Gourmet restaurants
- Gourmet restaurants - Figures / Studies
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2008-12-11
New dining choices & prices for San Diego palates and pockets; locals want green ingredients and red meat
Zagat Survey launched its 2009 San Diego Restaurants guide, an update reflecting significant developments since our last survey, covering 1,074 eateries in San Diego County, including Orange County and Palm Springs area restaurants. The ratings and reviews are based on the experiences of 4,264 surveyors and the 754,000 meals they ate out in the past year.
"We are thrilled to be back in San Diego and pleased to witness such a robust dining scene," said Tim Zagat, CEO and Co-Founder of Zagat Survey. "It is great to see the local culinary institutions providing their patrons with so many dining options, especially in this dicey economy."
Wallet-Wise: Enterprising restaurateurs are luring budget-conscious diners with tantalizing bargains. Try happy-hour specials at: Currant, offering reduced-price cheese plates and wines by the glass, or Chris Walsh's champagne happy hour at Hillcrest's Bite. Other great buys include the multicourse lunch and dinner specials at Point Loma's Spices Bay Thai Kitchen and Royal India's bountiful buffet in the Gaslamp. Diners can seek good buys anytime at: Hodad's, Bronx Pizza, Big Kitchen, Broken Yolk Cafe, and Lefty's Pizzeria.
Up-and-Coming Dining Destination: Though the Gaslamp Quarter remains Downtown's dining epicenter, other areas are gaining gastronomic ground: new arrivals in the East Village, East Village Tavern & Bowl and the convivial gastropub Neighborhood, and on hip North Park's restaurant row, Urban Solace soothes with comfort food.
Beef Relief: Tough times demand serious sustenance, and for many San Diegans that means more meat. Among those catering to carnivorous cravings: The East Village saloon Cowboy Star, sates tastes for über-pricey prime; Carlsbad's Bistro West serves hearty braised cuts; and Brett's BBQ debuts its newest and biggest offshoot in Encinitas. Easy-on-the-pocket hamburgers are also hot: witness Carlsbad's eat-in/take-out burger bar, ECR Grille, Clairmont's Boomerangs Burgers and the Burger Lounge.
Hot Chefs: Chef-impresario Wolfgang Puck's latest entry, Jai by Wolfgang Puck in the La Jolla Playhouse complex does "dinner and a show" in high-style, offering pricey Pan-Asian fare pre-entertainment, while Roy Yamaguchi's newest Downtown branch of Roy's features his signature Asian fusion-infused cuisine.
Eating Green: It's no longer just a fad, as 59% of surveyors say they are willing "to pay more" for food that is sustainably raised; 58% for organic food and 69% feel it's important that the food they eat be locally grown or raised. Reflecting this preference are newcomers such as North Park's seafooder Sea Rocket Bistro, relying on the Pacific Ocean and nearby aquaculture farms for its daily catches, and La Jolla's French-inspired Californian Whisknladle.
Skinny Coast: What surveyors don't like are trans fats – 71% want them banned from food preparation in restaurants. All of these findings are consistent with current Zagat surveys in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and demonstrate a West Coast prevalence toward eating green that is slightly higher than on the East Coast.
Left Coast Tips Trending Downward: As for tipping, local diners give an 18.7% average tip – slightly below the 19% national average – but in line with other West Coast cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco – at 18.5%. However, left-coasters are considerably more frugal with their tips than their counterparts in New Jersey and Philadelphia who tip 19.2% and 19.6%, respectively.
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