Don’t take away our takeout!
New Yorkers are addicted to restaurant food — and love it even more when it comes to the front door.
City residents dine out or order in for 50 percent of their meals, according to the latest survey from Zagat, and most people aren’t doing their choosing online.
A whopping 81 percent of the 41,604 New Yorkers surveyed said they don’t use social media like Facebook or Twitter to find a favorite hangout — but most do keep old-fashioned paper menus stashed at home, according to the restaurant guide.
Twenty-three percent have 15 or more menus lying around, while 18 percent have at least 11. Only 5 percent said they use online menus — and of those, 19 percent still pick up the phone and call a restaurant for their delivery order.
Italian still reigns as pizza-loving New Yorkers’ favorite to-go cuisine, with 32 percent preferring it over Thai, 6 percent; Mexican, 6 percent; Chinese 6 percent; and Indian, 5 percent, among others.
But that takeout love doesn’t always translate into generous tips — 48 percent of customers fail to give 15 percent for a delivery.
Zagat reports the average tip is 14.2 percent of the bill, or for those who pay a flat dollar amount, $3.94. Only 3 percent admitted to being too cheap to tip at all.
Restaurateurs looking to lure diners back to the table will have to work on their wait staff — 60 percent of those surveyed told Zagat that bad service was the most irritating thing about eating out, followed by noise and crowds at 24 percent.