How often do you eat out? Whether it's grabbing a quick bite on a lunch break, or sitting down to a meal in a nice restaurant, how often would you say you eat out, rather than at home?
I'm actually kinda surprised at the answer. The average American eats out 5 times per week. That sounds high to me! And I know they're factoring in residents of large cities, like New York, where NO ONE cooks, and EVERYONE eats out (or gets takeout) for nearly every meal. But I figured all the "normal people" who don't live in places like NYC would have balanced out that number a little more.
I personally do a lot of cooking at home. I spend a couple hours each weekend making food in batches so my husband and I have plenty of food in the fridge to grab on our way out the door in the morning (that couple hours literally saves HUNDREDS of dollars a month, y'all!), and I make dinner at home almost every night. And I know that isn't really normal for a lot of people (most of my friends tell me they don't have time to batch cook...I say I don't have time to leave work and go get lunch every day, but whatever) but I'm still kinda surprised at how many meals Americans are getting from a restaurant. Maybe I'm delusional.
According to Zagat, if you are like the average American, you go out for lunch and dinner 4.9 times each week. People in Texas are going out to eat the most -- at 5.7 times a week. Dallas-Ft. Worth, Miami, and Los Angeles were right behind, with residents in those cities eating out an average of 5.6 times a week.
So...how many times a week do you dine out?