Me and my Zagat San Diego and my newly painted office
The popular Zagat guides just published a San Diego version after a 7 year hiatus. The small company, which started in 1979, publishes about 40 guides a year and only cities like New York, San Francisco and LA get revised each year.
According to spokesperson Michael Mahle, Zagat decided to revisit San Diego because they heard the restaurant scene had changed in recent years. From the guide: "With an influx of celebrity chefs and cutting-edge cuisine concepts, once trend-resistant San Diego is well on its way to becoming a world-class dining city - and with that comes world-class prices." Trend-resistant? Maybe. Expensive? Definitely.
The guide covers 472 eateries in San Diego County, plus 460 Orange County and Palm Springs restaurants. The ratings are based on the experiences of 2,453 surveyors and the 411,000 meals they ate out in the past year.
Here's what Zagat discovered about the cost of eating out in San Diego: 68% of surveyors report they are paying more for their meals than they were two years ago. The average cost of a meal in San Diego is $35.78, which is above the national average ($33.15) and more expensive than Los Angeles ($33.29) and Chicago ($33.75). However, here's the good news: the average meal among the 20 most expensive San Diego restaurants is $62.33, which is below the national average ($71.62). So rich people who eat out a lot chose to live in an affordable city for their income bracket. Whew. I was really worried how they would fare in this whole thing.
By the way, while I had Michael on the phone, I asked him about the proper pronunciation of Zagat, having heard multiple versions over the years. He confirmed that it is ze-gat, which rhymes with "the cat." So there you go.
Now, are the prices worth it? Where is the good food in San Diego? As far as restaurant ratings go, Sushi Ota came out on top, earning the highest rating in food quality. WineSellar/Brasserie came in a very close second. George's Ocean Terrace was voted most popular - on a top five list that included Pamplemousse Grille , Prado at Balboa Park , Sammy's Pizza and Roppongi .
Voted top five newcomers to the scene are Market Restaurant/Bar , Phil's BBQ , Saigon on Fifth , Blanca , and Blue Coral . There's a list of notable newcomers in the guide, which includes The Guild , Lei Lounge , Tractor Room , Modus , and Basic Urban . Obviously, the guide was published before some of my new favorites in town, such as Starlite and The Pearl .
When rating the San Diego dining scene as a whole, surveyors were critical, giving the city's Culinary Creativity a 16 on the Zagat 30-point scale. They gave choice and diversity an 18. Apparently, these are among the lowest grades handed out anywhere in the country!
One other thing, we are apparently bad tippers on the left coast. Local diners give an 18.7% average tip, slightly below the national average. We aren't alone in our cheapness, as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle rate similarly. East coasters in New Jersey and Philly put us to shame, tipping an average of 19.2% and 19.4%, respectively!
The Zagat San Diego is chock full of categories and ratings, including Best Buys, Outdoor Dining (we have to beat the nation on this one...), Romantic Places and Singles Scenes.
It also has a category for Late Night Dining, which I always thought didn't exist in San Diego. Looking at the list of establishments deemed "late night", the majority close at midnight, which is what I suspected and doesn't really mean "late night" to me. The few 2am spots included Basic Urban (East Village), Cass St. B&G (Pacific Beach), Fred's (Gaslamp) Hong Kong (Hillcrest and open until 2:30am), McP's Irish Pub (Coronado), and Old Town Mex (Old Town). A favorite among some friends of mine (you know who you are) is Rudford's Diner on El Cajon, which is open 24 hours. It didn't even make the list! I mean, I've been there, it's definitely a step above Denny's .
Oversights aside, you should get your Zagat San Diego... it's a great stocking stuffer!
