there is nothing wrong with using an array in object orientation principles. also the first examples that uses an array is a better approach because what you actually want is an array

This isn't a single JSON object. You have an array of JSON objects. You need to loop over array first and then access each object. Maybe the following kickoff example is helpful:

var arrayOfObjects = [{
  "id": 28,
  "Title": "Sweden"
}, {
  "id": 56,
  "Title": "USA"
}, {
  "id": 89,
  "Title": "England"
}];

for (var i = 0; i < arrayOfObjects.length; i++) {
  var object = arrayOfObjects[i];
  for (var property in object) {
    alert('item ' + i + ': ' + property + '=' + object[property]);
  }
  // If property names are known beforehand, you can also just do e.g.
  // alert(object.id + ',' + object.Title);
}

If the array of JSON objects is actually passed in as a plain vanilla string, then you would indeed need eval() here.

var string = '[{"id":28,"Title":"Sweden"}, {"id":56,"Title":"USA"}, {"id":89,"Title":"England"}]';
var arrayOfObjects = eval(string);
// ...

To learn more about JSON, check MDN web docs: Working with JSON .

Lean towards option 1, as it's a more expected format.

Option 1 works with JSON as it's designed to be used and therefore benefits from what JSON offers (a degree of human readability, which is good for debugging, and straightforward parsing, which is good for limiting entire categories of bugs to begin with).

Option 2 begrudgingly adopts JSON and subverts many of the benefits. If you don't want human readability, use protobuf or something similar... AIWalker's "CSV"-like approach isn't terrible either. It is marginally better (readable) than splitting objects apart and recombining them. But, this is still not as good (readable) as using JSON "as designed".

Also bear in mind, your API responses are also likely going to be gzipped. Most of the repetition in option 1 will be quickly and transparently condensed over the wire.

As an aside, if you're moving a lot of data, also consider JSONL or paginated results. Pagination can be especially helpful for web clients, as it places natural pauses in the processing, providing a degree of "organic" protection against UI lockups.

// You can declare restaurants as an array of restaurant objects
restaurants = 
[
    {
        "location" : "123 Road Dr", 
        "city_state" : "MyCity ST", 
        "phone" : "555-555-5555", 
        "distance" : "1" 
    },
    {
        "location" : "456 Avenue Crt", 
        "city_state" : "MyTown AL", 
        "phone" : "555-867-5309", 
        "distance" : "0" 
    }
];

// Then operate on them with a for loop as such
for (var i = 0; i< restaurants.length; i++) {
    restaurants[i].distance = restaurants[i].distance; // Or some other logic.
}

// Finally you can sort them using an anonymous function like this
restaurants.sort(function(a,b) { return a.distance - b.distance; });