A majority of Israelis eat out at least once a month, and most of them leave a generous tip to their waiter, a survey conducted by the REST website among 1,476 respondents revealed.
A third of the respondents said that they go out to eat once or twice a month, while 29 percent stated they eat out at least once a week, and six percent replied they could not afford eating in restaurants at all.
Asked how much they spend in average during an evening out, a third of the respondents said they spend NIS 80-100 (USD 20-24), a quarter spend NIS 50-80 (USD 12-20), while another quarter splurge and spend an average of NIS 100-150 (USD 24-35) per person for a night out at a restaurant.
Only 12 percent pay more than NIS 150 per person per meal.
Most of the diners are apparently very generous towards their waiters. Some 40 percent leave a 10 percent tip, while about a third give a 12 percent tip and 15 percent choose to give 15 percent or more. Only 0.2 percent do not leave a tip, and 1.7 percent tip only if the waiter has been extremely nice.
However, it seems that the costumers' generosity is not always in line with the level of service they receive. Some 40 percent claim that the service in Israeli restaurants is mediocre, and only 8 percent believe that the service is "wonderful and courteous."
However, a third of the costumers believe that the service in Israel has dramatically improved in the last year.
Asked for their observations regarding culinary trends in the country, most respondents stated that the tortillas and wraps took precedence over other trends this year. Healthy and organic cooking took second place, dishes containing truffles came third, cooking stores and workshops were on fourth place, followed by restaurants that went kosher.