who’s at the table? data on SOMA diners

To help SOMA residents eat more sustainably, Meat Me In The Middle needed to understand their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to food and the environment. Our May 2025 survey, and a follow-up focus group in November, gave us the information we needed.

But we also saw an opportunity: Our survey data could help the SOMA community in other ways, too. For example, it could help restaurant owners and managers understand and serve their customers better.

Meat Me In The Middle works to build a greater demand for meatless foods among SOMA residents, and a greater supply of meatless foods at restaurants. So we shared our insights with SOMA restaurant representatives in an online presentation yesterday, to help them make decisions that can attract and retain customers—a win for both restaurants and Meat Me In The Middle.

key survey insights for restaurants

SOMA residents love their restaurants! 65 percent of our respondents dine in and/or order takeout from a restaurant at least four times per month. Unsurprisingly, more affluent residents, with household incomes of $100,000/year or more, are most likely to be frequent restaurant customers, as are residents age 35-54 (corresponding with their peak earning potential).

Slide about frequent restaurant patrons from the presentation

An overwhelming majority—94 percent—of SOMA residents have changed their diet at some point, and the changes were primarily motivated by health and weight concerns. This suggests that when they look at a restaurant menu, they’re probably considering how healthy or unhealthy a dish is before they decide what to order.

And as they’re considering nutrition, they believe meatless options can be healthier. Quotes from our November 2025 focus group participants illustrate that people are savvy on the health downsides of meat:

• “I think it’s very important for us to eat a balanced diet, but a diet that includes less meat can have a lot of health benefits…a plant-based diet can help eliminate a lot of diseases, reverse a lot of diseases …like certain cancers and heart disease.” - Maplewood resident, 18-24 years, Male, Black or African American
• “One of the biggest negatives of eating beef is the high fat content.” - South Orange resident, 35-44 years, Female, White

Still, about 88 percent of our survey respondents do eat meat (defined for survey purposes as beef, pork, lamb, and poultry). They do so primarily because they like the taste, and for many of them, meat is “just a normal part of my diet/culture.” And they see tradeoffs between healthy and unhealthy qualities of meat: They are aware that meat provides protein they need to be healthy, but they also recognize that red and processed meat can contribute to heart disease and other health problems.

Furthermore, our survey responses suggest that SOMA residents generally understand that meat consumption contributes to climate change. Next to health reasons, environmental reasons were the second most commonly cited factor for the 93 percent of surveyed meat eaters who were considering cutting back on meat, or have cut back at some point.

Our data suggests that many restaurant customers would be happy with a greater choice of tasty, meatless options that include protein from non-meat sources like beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds. As summarized by one survey respondent, a white woman age 55-64 years old, “I rarely eat meat, but sometimes it’s the only source of protein available at a restaurant.”

That dilemma may be a reason behind our findings that 1) people who don’t eat meat are less likely to be frequent customers at restaurants, and 2) at home, people choose more meals without meat.

reach out to learn more

If you’re a SOMA restaurant owner or manager, and would like to explore these topics further, please reach out to us using the email address in this page’s footer. Meat Me In The Middle would like to partner with and support restaurants that offer sustainable food choices.

We’re also in the early stages of planning a SOMA Restaurant Week, tentatively in February 2027, when we’ll promote restaurants that showcase their meatless menu options. A thriving local restaurant scene benefits everyone in SOMA.