New Zagat Montreal Dining Survey Shows Changes Among Top-Rated Restaurants

Diners Report Eating Out and Spending More While Declaring Their Love for Local Ingredients

Winners Are: La Chronique (Food), XO (Decor), Renoir (Service) and Au Pied de Cochon (Popularity)

NEW YORK, March 1, 2012 /CNW/ - This morning Zagat released the results of its 2012 Montreal Restaurants Survey. The new content, available on zagat.com and via Zagat for Mobile, covers 305 restaurants as reviewed by 1,814 avid Montreal area diners.

Dining Out: This year, Montreal diners report eating out 2.8 times per week on average, which is tied with Vancouver's average, but below the Toronto's 3.1 (that's the same as the U.S. national average). Local surveyors report an increase in dining out, with 31% saying they are eating out more often than last year, compared to only 14% who are eating out less (55% say same as last year). And lastly, 39% of surveyors report spending more per meal this year than they did last year, while only 9% say they're spending less.

Surprises: This year's top Food list has been shaken up as last Survey's winner, Milos, has dropped to No. 11 and perennial favourite Toque! has dropped from No. 3 to No. 10. Additionally, a few non-French restaurants have cracked the top 10, including Tapeo Bar a Tapas (Spanish) at No. 2, Jun i (Japanese) up from No. 16 to No. 6 and the affordable Kazu (Japanese) at No. 9.

Winners: This year's winner for Food is Mile End's La Chronique, boasting "distinctive" French-Quebecois fare from chef-owner Marc de Canck and an impressive 28 on Zagat' 30-point scale. The Hotel St-James is home to Le Restaurant XO, winner for Decor, while Downtown's Sofitel Montreal houses the Survey's winner for Service, Renoir. The Plateau's Au Pied de Cochon repeats this year as Most Popular, featuring "enormous portions" of delicious French-Quebecois fare. The complete list of winners includes:

Most Popular	Food	Decor	Service
1. Au Pied de Cochon	1. La Chronique	1. Le Restaurant XO	1. Renoir
2. Baton Rouge	2. Tapeo Bar a Tapas	2. Le Saint-Gabriel	2. Toque!
3. Schwartz's	3. Le Club Chasse/Peche	3. Le Locale	3. Tapeo Bar a Tapas
4. Toque!	4. laurie raphael	4. laurie raphael	4. Europea
5. La Belle Province	5. Europea	5. Queue de Cheval	5. La Chronique

Local Love: According to Montreal surveyors, Italian is the favourite cuisine, winning 25% of the vote, though French cuisine follows closely behind with 24%. Regardless of the percentage, diners have shown their support of local Quebecois cuisine, with 78% saying that locally sourced, organic and sustainably raised food items are a trend considered important, and 64% saying they are willing to pay more for these ingredients. Restaurants that embrace Quebecois fare include top-rated La Chronique as well as the Plateau's Le Quartier Generale, M sur Masson and Bistro Cocagne.

Mobile Behavior: When it comes to mobile manners, 54% of Montreal surveyors say it is "rude" to text, tweet, call or e-mail at the table, while 84% consider it "acceptable" to take pictures of food, companions, etc. as long as it is done in moderation.

Miscellaneous: When asked how celebrity chefs impact their dining decisions, 57% of surveyors said that a celebrity chef in the kitchen has no effect on where they choose to dine. What does have an effect is wait times, with a staggering 74% of surveyors saying they will wait no more than 30 minutes for a table at places that don't take reservations and an additional 16% saying they avoid these places entirely.

About Zagat Survey, LLC: Known as the "burgundy bible," Zagat Survey is the world's most trusted source for consumer-generated survey information. With a worldwide network of surveyors, Zagat rates and reviews restaurants, hotels, nightlife, movies, music, golf, shopping and a range of other entertainment categories and is lauded as the "most up-to-date," "comprehensive" and "reliable" guide, published on all platforms. Zagat content is available to consumers wherever and whenever they need it: on zagat.com, ZAGAT.mobi, ZAGAT TO GO for smartphones and in book form. In September of 2011, Zagat was acquired by Google Inc.

SOURCE Zagat Survey, LLC

Tiffany Herklots, [phone], [email protected] or Nicholas Sampogna, [phone], [email protected]

http://www.zagat.com