Texans eat more than 3.5 meals a week in restaurants, according to Zagat. That's more than the diners in any other state in this great, fat union of ours. Houston leads the way, eating a full four meals a week out, with Austin and Dallas following close behind at 3.8 and 3.6 respectively. The national average is 3.1 meals out per week, 2.7 of which are no doubt ordered by value-meal number. That's down from 3.3 pre-recession. As you can tell, we're really cutting back.
The data is part of Zagat's annual America's Top Restaurants Survey, which you can buy for $16 and peruse whenever you dig through your pantry and dismiss several eat-at-home options in favor something a little more, you know, fried.
By the way, in case you think I'm judging: I left my homemade lunch in the work fridge the other day and went through the drive-through at Jack in the Box instead. Then decided I couldn't face walking into work with a Jack in the Box bag, so I ate it in the Jack in the Box parking lot, balancing a tub of ranch dressing (for the curly fries) on my gear shift console. I did this while listening to sports-talk radio and fantasizing about what I would say if I called in to talk about Tony Romo. And I justified this culinary adventure by telling myself I had earned it by successfully disputing a parking ticket that I had received, quite deservedly, while eating out on a Tuesday night.
So, really, I'm not judging. I'm just saying.
