Seniors are more than twice as likely to patronize white-tablecloth restaurants than those age 35 and under. The influence of income on dining behaviors is nowhere more pronounced than in spending habits. Juggling school, work and ever-pressing errands, our respondents ate lunch away from home an average of 2.5 times a week. Dinner may not be as frequent a meal occasion away from home, but it's a regular weekly habit for more of our respondents than any other daypart. With the exception of blacks, fully one-third of everyone surveyed eats dinner away from home at least once a week.
Breakfast appears to be an untapped daypart.
Those who eat breakfast away from home do so mostly once a week. The big three top the ranks of menu items ordered both in the past 12 months and in the past 30 days. In our 1994 survey, salads nearly toppled burgers as the most-ordered food item. Among ethnic groups, blacks are the least likely to order hamburgers. Instead, they're more apt to have pizza, french fries or fried chicken.