Culture Researchers: More Americans Interested in ‘Bold’ Food Tastes

Researchers who follow trends say more people in the U.S. are interested in “bold” food tastes than ever before.

That means an increasing number of Americans enjoy foods from Mexico and Asia while Italian foods like pizza and pasta are not as popular.

Pizza and pasta are still the most popular foods among Americans of all ages.

But they have dropped in the opinions of younger people.

Mike Kostyo is an analyst at Datassential, a research company in Chicago, Illinois.

He works to identify new things that are becoming popular.

People who want to go into the restaurant business are his customers.

In the past, he said, it was easy to suggest that customers open a restaurant that served Italian food.

But now, he said, the choice might not be so easy.

As a new generation of Americans starts spending money at restaurants, they are choosing Mexican and Asian foods.

Those who are even younger, in Gen Z, like Mexican food the most.

Those in Gen Z are younger than 23.

That means if you visit the U.S., you may start seeing more places to buy foods like tacos than pizza or lasagna.

I think in the future, it's going to be a taco operation.”

Kostyo noted that among all Americans, Italian food still holds the top spot.

The Baby Boomer generation still likes Italian food.

Baby Boomers are between 57 and 75 years old.

But Mexican food and Asian food, such as ramen noodles from Japan, are rising fast.

He said many young Americans are influenced by what they see on social media services such as Instagram.

People often take photos of their food and share them with friends.

The researchers note that more Americans like the taste of foods from Asia and Latin America than ever before.

That is because the number of people in the U.S. from Asia and Latin America is larger than in the past.

The 2020 Census showed the Latino population grew by 23 percent in only 10 years.

Asians make up over 6 percent of the U.S. population.

Kostyo said many Americans have neighbors or friends from Asia or Latin America.

So, they might be introduced to these new foods more often.

The change from Italian food to Mexican food, Kostyo noted, came much faster than he expected.

“This is the first time we have ever seen…this change happen in a generation,” he said.

Kostyo noted that American tastes are changing.

In the past, many Americans were not comfortable with spicy foods.

“Every year, their capacity for bold flavors increases, so I think that's also driving some of these changes, as well.”

Asian food – from places like China, Japan and Thailand – is known for bold flavors.

And a recent report from the Pew Research Center shows Asian food trends.

Sono Shah helped write the Pew report.

It said that 71 percent of Asian restaurants in the U.S. serve foods from either China, Japan or Thailand.

People from those countries make up only 33 percent of the U.S. Asian population.

“Chinese restaurants were the most popular, so they're found in every state,” Shah said.

He added that every state has at least one Japanese or Thai restaurant.

Chinese food, he said, has been in the U.S. for a long time.

Japanese restaurants have increased because of the popularity of sushi, an uncooked fish dish.

But there are many more Thai restaurants compared to the number of Thai people in the U.S.

Shah said many people first experience a culture through its food.

So, if people like Thai food, they might gain a favorable opinion of Thailand.

So about 45 percent of all Asian restaurants are in California, New York, Texas, New Jersey and Washington.

One final finding about the food interests of Americans?

They may fall back on what they see as traditional or “comfort” foods in difficult times.

And I'm Jill Robbins