Italian Food Voted Best in Two Surveys

November 17, 2014

One in the U.S. and the other in the U.K.

A new survey commissioned by Intrepid Travel has found that Italian is the favorite foreign cuisine for most Americans, with one in five (21%) saying it's their top choice.

The poll was conducted for the small group adventure travel specialist by YouGov and queried Americans about their food preferences and eating habits while traveling. The survey found Italian food is the most popular cuisine among 18-34-year-olds (21%), and 35-54-year-olds (21%), while the 55+ age group is more patriotic in their choice of meal and most likely to favor American cuisine (28%).

"Italian Cuisine Voted Americans' Favorite Foreign Food". Marketwired, Feb 08, 2012.

British people think Italian food is the best in Europe, which reflects the popularity of pizza and pasta as well as famous Italian gourmet products, according to latest Holiday Hypermarket's poll. British food was second-most popular, followed by French and Spanish cuisines.

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The online poll of 2,068 people in the UK asked the question: "Which European country do you think has the best national cuisine?" Italy was the most popular with 30 per cent, followed by the UK with 22 per cent, France with 12 per cent, Spain with six per cent and Greece with three per cent.

Age also played a big role in people's preferences: respondents over 55 are more likely to think British food is the best (26 per cent of those 55+, vs. 14 per cent of those 18-34), while younger respondents prefer easy Italian food (41 per cent of those 18-34 vs. 22 per cent of those 55+). While both men and women prefer Italian food over British overall, more men chose hardy British food than women (25 per cent vs. 19 per cent), while Italian food is more popular with women than men (33 per cent vs. 27 per cent).

"Brit poll: Italian cuisine the best in Europe". eTurboNews, May 10, 2012.