A good restaurant resource?

October 9, 2008 12:01 AM

Does anyone know of a good resource for finding out, in detail, the amount of restaurants in my town?

I'd like to know how many there are, how many are fast food, how many are 100+ occupancy, what kind of food they serve, et cetera.

posted by Hypocrites to food & drink (8 comments total)

A first step: let your fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages (the book).
posted by Carol Anne at 4:21 AM on October 9, 2008

I'd go to City/Town Hall, or the local chamber of commerce - they should have some statistics for you. The fire marshal may have an idea of what buildings have what occupancy (I'm thinking of the little signs you see displayed in restaurants.) Alternatively - check the most recent phone book and yellow pages to help you get started.
posted by kjars at 4:24 AM on October 9, 2008

Just checked the NRA (the other one) - they have some industry stats by state, and they break it down by congressional district. They also might have some good data if you dig around a bit.
posted by kjars at 4:28 AM on October 9, 2008

Try looking here: It is Yahoo's restaurant site. They have a link on the page where you can type in your zip and find all kinds of places.
posted by Mastercheddaar at 5:53 AM on October 9, 2008

Sorry: go here
posted by Mastercheddaar at 5:53 AM on October 9, 2008

I see that you are in College Station. Is this where you're trying to find restaurants for?

FWIW, I graudated from A&M, and subsequently spent 4 years there, so if that's the case, I'd be happy to provide recommendations.

For any city, I'd say you should check out the local paper's website. Typically they'll have a good rundown of what sorts of eateries are out there.
posted by mrhaydel at 5:56 AM on October 9, 2008

A count of restaurants in the Yellow Pages will only reflect restaurants that have paid for ads there. Likewise, Yahoo listings will not be complete. The NRA stats will not be updated in real time.

If you just want eating-out options, those are fine. But if you are looking for an actual, real number (not "amount"! gah!), you should check with the Brazos County Health Department. Restaurants must have health certificates on file with the department. That will be the most accurate number you'll find.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:03 PM on October 9, 2008

Here's a big table from the Census Bureau for Dallas County, TX (I'm too lazy to look up the county for College Station, so you can do your own search).

Scroll down to where the numbers in the leftmost column start with 722. (See here for detailed descriptions of each category.) This breaks it down into types of establishments. It won't tell you 100+ occupancy, but it will tell you how many employees they have, which will be a decent indicator of size. Maybe pick a few that you know have 100+ occupancy and ask how many employees they have, for a baseline.

If you want numbers involving types of food, I think you're restricted to Chamber of Commerce/Yellow Pages/Internet searches. It's very difficult to get comprehensive lists of businesses without paying a marketing firm for them.
posted by desjardins at 2:09 PM on October 9, 2008