A few weeks ago we asked you, the readers, what you thought of New York City restaurants, and what has been your worst experience.
We’ve recorded the results, and while they’re far from scientific, they do show some interesting things that you might want to think about the next time you decide to go out to eat:
• 66 percent (12 out of 18) said that their worst meal experience came while they were dining out for dinner. Five people said they had a bad brunch experience, and one person had a lousy lunch.
• Every bad experience was either because of bad food (“It is like eating a spoonful of artichoke dip on a piece of white bread,” said one survey-taker) or because of bad service (“I think they forgot our table existed,” said another survey-taker).
• The number one way that people showed the restaurant they didn’t enjoy their meal was by tipping poorly, followed closely by never returning.
• Nearly every person (17 out of 18) said that they only went out rarely to eat in the city, two to four times a week, to the chagrin of every restaurateur in the city.
• The main place that people get their restaurant recommendations from is from friends and family, so next time you have a bad meal, blame mom.
However, despite all the horror stories we heard, people generally seem to like the city’s restaurants. On our one to five scale on how worth it is dining out in the city, no one thought the experience was worthy of a less than three out of five rating. In fact, the majority (11 out of 18) rated the city’s cuisine spots a four out of five, proof that no matter what kind of experience you have, sometimes great food is worth a few disasters.