The survey, conducted by NFO, Inc., tallied the responses of 3,057 randomly selected individuals with no apparent connection to San Francisco or the dining industry.

"This is the first nationwide effort to study this particular subset of the United States population, which is very valuable to San Francisco," said Brian Baker, vice president of marketing with the SFCVB. "We also learned a lot about the dining preferences of the average American, foodie or not"

America is a nation of "Culinary Explorers." Overall, 44.9 percent of those surveyed (and 58.1 
percent of foodies) said the prefer trying something new to something they tried before. In general, 30.1 percent (39.7 percent of foodies) prefer new restaurants to those they've already visited. And 68.6 percent of us are unlikely to try a restaurant that has received a poor review.

We're willing to go a long way for a good meal. Nearly a third, 27.8 percent, would drive 50 miles one way to visit a particular restaurant. Nearly ten percent of foodies would travel 100 miles one way.

Of those surveyed, 64.1 percent (82.7 percent of foodies) said that a city with good restaurants is "a more attractive leisure destination."

When asked to identify "good cities for restaurants," 53.2 percent said San Francisco, followed closely by New York (53.1 percent), New Orleans (50.9 percent), Chicago (37.3 percent) and Las Vegas (3 1.4 percent).

And when it comes to dining out "you've got to give us credit." Over one third (36.1 percent) of Americans would be less likely to go to a restaurant that doesn't accept credit cards. Of those surveyed, 19.5 percent said they would leave a bigger tip when paying with a credit card.

We love to "wine and dine." Twenty percent usually have wine with dinner in restaurants, 13.9 percent consider themselves knowledgeable about wines and 16.7 percent have been to a winery in the past year.

To measure how American feel about new food trends, SFCVB asked San Francisco-based chefs and restaurant owners to identify some elements that are becoming more common in restaurants. They came up with a list of over 30 things such as "More emphasis on restaurant decor" and "Retro drinks (martinis etc.)."

"We found that diners want restaurants to get back to basics," Baker explained. "They still crave variety, quality and innovation but they also want better service, healthy options and value for their money.

The trend people say they would like to see most is "focus on better table service," including "less intrusive serving staffs."

The least popular trend was "more high calorie foods." More than one in three Americans would like to see "more vegetarian foods" as a trend.

The fourth most popular trend was "larger portions being served" and the trend that consumers were most apt to dislike was "smaller portions."

While "foodies" and "non-foodies" were nearly identical in terms of age, gender, marital status or home ownership, "foodies" were more likely to:

• Travel for leisure (3.2 trips per year, compared to 2.6 for "non-foodies").
• Travel for business (1.7 trips per year, compared to 1.0 for "non-foodies").
• Have a higher household income ($52,800, compared to $47,500)
• Live or work in a large metropolitan area (46.5 percent, compared to 36.7 percent).

• "Gourmet High Rollers" - "Foodies" spend more in restaurants and spend more when they decide to "splurge" on a special meal or bottle of wine.

• "Dining Devotees" - 65.4 percent of "foodies" dine out in restaurants at least once a week, compared to 46.5 percent of "non-foodies." Almost 22 percent of "foodies" dine in restaurants at least three times a week, compared to 12.6 percent of "non-foodies."

• "Exacting Epicureans" - Fully 83.4 percent of "foodies" can readily think of a restaurant they will never return to due to poor food quality and 80.8 percent could name a restaurant they will avoid because of poor service.

• "Complaining Connoisseurs" - Foodies are twice as likely as non-foodies (22.2 percent compared to 11.1 percent) to have recently complained to management about poor food quality. The numbers are similar for complaints about poor service.

• "Gastronomic Game Planners" - On their last leisure trips, 36.5 percent of foodies made restaurant reservations, compared to 16.8 percent of non-foodies. And 34.5 percent of foodies would be willing to wait one month for reservations at a special restaurant, compared to 15.2 percent of non-foodies.