On Thursday, the online deal site LivingSocial released the results of the company's first nationwide "Dining Out" survey-- a project that surveyed more 4,000 people about their consumer behavior.
Besides the unsurprising national results (Americans love meat, junk food and eating out), local foodies may be appalled to learn what the 200 San Franciscans surveyed revealed about our fair city. Local? Sustainable? Leading the nation in the meat-free movement?
Sorry, San Francisco, read 'em and weep.
Although the residents surveyed considered themselves to be among to nation's healthiest eaters, a whopping 41 percent described themselves as "meat lovers" (in line with the national average), while 21 percent claimed a "sweet tooth," and 23 percent admitted they were "junk food junkies." (In sum, Can Can Cleanse starts tomorrow.)
Thankfully, 25 percent identified themselves as "health food nuts," and San Francisco was ranked as one of the three best dining cities in the nation alongside New York and Chicago. (Though we can already sense a housemade chip on our food scene's shoulder for being ranked third.) Plus, only 5 percent of San Franciscans surveyed reported visiting a food truck.
But perhaps the most surprising: only 3 percent of San Franciscans surveyed were vegetarians or vegans, putting us below the national average of 5 percent. That also lands us well behind Atlanta, Tampa, Cleveland, Los Angeles and even (gulp) Dallas.
Now in a city of 800,000, we think a sample of 200 sounds a bit paltry. But the results have certainly got us rethinking our Friday night Meat Lovers pizza.
So what do you think of the results? Eating your chicharones a little less enthusiastically? Demanding a recount? Let us know in the poll below: