ZAGAT Texas Restaurants 2008 (Zagatsurvey Texas Restaurants) [Paperback]

Zagat Survey (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Series: Zagat Survey: Texas Restaurants | Publication Date: March 20, 2008

Reflecting the opinions of thousands of local diners, this guide covers over 1200 restaurants in five major Texas cities Austin Dallas Ft. Worth Houston and San Antonio. This handy guide contains Zagat Surveys trusted ratings and reviews for area restaurants based on the opinions of diners like you. Use the indexes arranged by cuisine neighborhood and special features like In Places Winning Wine Lists, or Romantic Places to find the perfect restaurant for any occasion. Also includes stick on bookmarks.

Product Details

• Paperback: 332 pages
• Publisher: Zagat Survey (March 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570069611
• ISBN-13: 978-1570069611
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,137,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Shockingly Incomplete, July 5, 2008

By 

Courtney Massengale (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ZAGAT Texas Restaurants 2008 (Zagatsurvey Texas Restaurants) (Paperback)

The Zagat's 2008 "Texas Restaurants" guide should be renamed the Austin/Dallas/Houston/San Antonio guide. The medium sized metropolitan areas (El Paso, Abilene, Waco, Amarillo, Killeen, etc) are completely excluded, as are destination towns like Salado or Fredericksburg. What is puzzling is that the information is on their webpage. Why not include a "best of the rest" section? Given the Zagat methodology, the exclusion must be intentional - they simply don't see fit to expand the survey beyond the I-35 corridor.

Space is a serious consideration. While smaller cities get their own guidebooks, four of the largest cities in the entire country are crammed into one volume. The culinary scene in Dallas has exploded over the past five years. How is it possible that Connecticut, St. Louis, and the New Jersey Shore have their own guidebooks, but Dallas has to share billing? The same could be said of the three other cities. The Texas Hill Country alone could be a guide much like some of the other regional ones Zagats publishes.

The result is that that guide tends to list newer openings rather than established local favorites. The list for Austin was shockingly incomplete. Likewise Houston and Dallas felt very light. There were well known places that didn't make the book, rendering it useless for someone who is looking for an authentic experience rather than the trendy latest openings.

Another serious flaw is that regional chains only get one review for all four cities. If you are looking for a review of the location in Austin, you might be redirected to the review of the Dallas location. This might work for small chains all operating in the same city, but to propose that there is no discernable difference in price, décor, quality and service between restaurants that are hundreds of miles apart is ridiculous.

I could only recommend this to someone on an extended business trip or vacation along the I-35 corridor who has never been here before. If you really want to get a flavor for Texas, look online at some of the great city scene websites or thumb through back issues of Texas Monthly.

Just like the old salsa commercial, don't be caught dead trying to explore the culinary landscape with a guide book published by folks from New York City.