Study says Gen Z and Millennials in America prefer Mexican food over Italian. Here's what Baby Boomers like the most

Among the plethora of available food options, a segment of people might prefer one cuisine over the other. The six most popular cuisines available in the US are Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Indian. Out of that, Mexican cuisine has been gaining increasing popularity among the younger generations. Meanwhile, boomers are more likely to pick Italian cuisine amid all the other options, per Civic Science. The American population generally preferred the Italian and Mexican cuisines the most, aside from the American cuisine.

The data collected by the outlet showed that one-third of the country's adult population preferred Mexican cuisine the most when asked to choose from the above-mentioned six cuisines. On the other hand, 35% of people in the country preferred Italian cuisine. Chinese cuisine was the third most popular one, preferred by 14% of the population. Mexican is the most popular cuisine among people under 55 years of age, while Gen Z has the broadest food palette among all the generations. They also prefer Japanese and Chinese food over Italian, making their food choices significantly different from the older generations. These preferences also vary by the region people live in. 50% of people in the northeast of the country favor Italian food, while 40% of those living in the West like Mexican food the most. People living in the cities like Mexican food more, while the ones living in the suburbs pick Italian.

Mexican food is seeing the fastest growth in popularity in the Capitol region, per Data Essential. The younger generations in the country went as far as to say that they would pick Mexican food if they had to eat one type of food for the rest of their lives. Taco Bell has the largest share of the US Mexican food market and accounts for 9.6% of all Mexican restaurants in the US with 7,700 locations. Around 10.6% of all the Mexican restaurants in the country are fast concepts and quite a few fall into the casual and midscale dining categories. Quick service makes up for 8.2 % of all Mexican restaurants, while fine dining stands at just 1.3%.

Alongside the rich flavor profile of the cuisine, the cost of the food is also a huge contributing factor towards its popularity. 10% of transactions for the food are under $10, while another 9.2% are between $10 and $19. The cuisine has become far more popular than just being restricted to Taco Tuesdays, according to NBC News. "Italian food is great, but Mexican food is like, top-notch," a woman told the outlet. Mike Kostyo, a trendologist, explained the reason behind the change, "It's just the changing demographics of the country. [Affected by] both people who are in the country and who we are friends with, who our neighbors are."

The trend change could be noticed in the past decade as salsa started selling more than ketchup and tortilla chips started selling more than potato chips. The Hispanic population also makes up the largest racial or ethnic minority in the country at the moment with over 62 million people. "Mexican food’s growth specifically makes a lot of sense because one there’s a huge range of diversity in Mexican food. If you get a mole sauce in Mexico City, it's going to be very different than one from Oaxaca just based on the local ingredients there," Aaron Metras, who worked at Salena’s Mexican Restaurant with his wife Kelly before buying the place, told Spectrum News. He also suggested that the cuisine goes much better with different dietary preferences like a vegetarian diet. However, pizza is still the most popular delivery item and Italian cuisine is still the most popular among all others, per NBC News.