In the chapter of Gastropolis titled Eating Out, Eating American,  the author discusses the social implications of eating out a restaurant, and how the places where a person chooses to eat can be indicative of who they are, or who they’d like to be.  With this in mind, my question is do you think immigrants today are willing to spend excess money in order have the “American” experience of eating out at a nice restaurant, or is this less of concern for them.

Along this same train of thought – traditionally, eating out at nice restaurants is as much about the context of the meal as the meal itself, and glamorous, conservative-minded restaurants were valued.  However, as our culture becomes more multi-ethnic, are our values changing to now seek more diverse and different foods and restaurant atmospheres when dining?