The Zagats are bullish on dining

As the founders of the Zagat Survey, Tim and Nina Zagat's financial futures are pretty directly tied to the future of the restaurant industry.

Bias aside, they make a pretty compelling case for bullishness on the restaurant industry in an op-ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal. A recent Zagat survey found that one-third of Americans are eating out less, 28% say they are visiting less-expensive places, and 20% are cutting back on alcohol, appetizers and dessert.

But in the long term, the Zagats are bullish: Americans like eating out, cooking at home has gone the way of the hula hoop, and we're busier than ever. A few bad quarters aside, the long-term outlook is what matters and the future for restaurants still looks good. Better still, economic weakness has slowed restaurant expansion and resulted in more than a few closing, which bodes well for the surviving players.

But for now, the share prices of most restaurant stocks have been absolutely pulverized, making them an interesting long-term contrarian investment possibility. Earlier this month, I wrote about some beaten-down restaurant stocks that might be a good buy.