Grabbing a bite to eat outside of the house is a weekly occurrence for almost half of global respondents, but are we stopping to savor our entrees or eating grub on the go? As it turns out, we’re doing quite a bit of both!
Quick-service and casual-dining restaurants are the most popular types of out-of-home dining establishments frequented in every region, and they’re particularly popular in North America. Formal dining restaurants, street food and self-serve cafeterias are popular in Asia-Pacific, while cafés are popular in Europe.
Regardless of where we choose to eat, which factors are the most influential when choosing a dining establishment?
Not surprisingly, reasonable food prices and food quality are the two main factors that respondents in every region consider when choosing a restaurant or other out-of-home dining establishment—by a wide margin in most. Reasonably priced food is particularly important in Europe, while Latin America exceeds the global average for the importance of both food quality and service. In North America, the type of cuisine served is a close third behind reasonable prices and quality, and it exceeds the global average by nine percentage points.
Other findings include:
Fifty-eight percent of respondents in both the Asia-Pacific and North America regions say they eat at a restaurant or other out-of-home dining establishment at least once a week.
Respondents in the U.S. are more likely than the global average to say they eat breakfast at a restaurant (21%), exceeding the global average (16%).
Sixty-five percent of respondents in Latin America say they eat lunch at restaurants or other out-of-home dining establishments, compared to 53% globally.