Tim Zagat Quotations

Where it was once de rigueur to wear a tie in New York's finer establishments, that practice is now de rigor mortis.

Japanese food has been going up like a rocket, while Chinese, which was overwhelmingly the most prominent Asian cuisine in the States in 1990, has stalled in the past 15 years.

Wolfgang Puck and his wife, Barbara Lazaroff, have it all. There are endless people, who are either imitating him or trying to, but it's very hard to imitate somebody who is that good and that creative.

The bottom line is New York retail has it all, no matter what your tastes. And our new shopping guide will help you find it all - from the best deals to the finest luxury items.

A lot of fine-dining establishments ask people not to use their cell phones. In a fancy restaurant, I turn off my cell phone.

There weren't an awful lot of German restaurants anywhere in the U.S., but Chicago had the best of what there were.

There's a myth people have about New Orleans that make them fear to come, just like what happened in New York after 9/11. Everyone thinks the city is under water - when it's not - just like the media kept portraying the scene of NYC as that piece of skeleton steel rising out of the pit of the World Trade Center, when the simple message is that New Orleans, just like New York City, is ready, willing, and anxious for tourists to come back.

The restaurant business in Texas is booming. Texans are dining out more frequently than Americans anywhere else, and both customers and restaurateurs seem to be on a winning streak, thanks to improving quality and modest prices.

Service is clearly the weakest link in many of the stores and an ongoing problem.

It has been the consistent experience of most Americans that a tip means 'to improve performance,' and most people believe it does have an impact on the service they get.

Great food with real local flavor is just a short cab ride away.