A new Harris Interactive poll queried 2,000 adults in top U.S. markets and determined some facts about our local drinking habits that may be harder to swallow than a shot of rail gin. Residents in cities like Philadelphia, L.A., Washington, D.C, and others were asked about how often they consume alcohol, and it turns out that Dallas doesn't drink all that much.
Before we get to the bad news, let's look at what Dallas does right. First, we are a city of beer drinkers. In fact we're one of the most beer-drinkingest cities in the country, behind only Philadelphia. Dallas residents are also the second most likely to drink whiskey, which coupled with our lack of taste for wine (dead last) proves that we all drink like cowboys, which is pretty awesome.
There are, however, a large number of Dallas-area residents who don't drink with much enthusiasm. Thirty-one percent of those polled in Dallas said they don't drink at all, and another 11 percent said they drink "less often than once a year," which is pretty much the same thing. In fact, if you add up all of the Dallas respondents that drink "once a month or less" you get 64 percent. That's a lot of people who aren't really drinkers because being a drinker takes practice, regular enthusiastic practice. It also puts Dallas in last -- dead last. We suck at having fun. The drunken kind, anyway.
Perhaps the next great food holiday should be Buy Your Teetotaling Friend a Shot of Local Whiskey And a Six-Pack of Craft Beer Day. Sure, it's a little offensive, but it would stimulate the local economy. And with so many people with so little tolerance for alcohol, it would help us win one thing hands down: drunkest city.
