For weeks before your trip, you spent hours researching the can’t-miss attractions, the best-value accommodations, and the most exhilarating activities for your vacation, but as soon as the plane touches down, you feel a rumble in your stomach, realizing their was one important thing you forgot to consider: food.
While most top vacation spots around the country contain hundreds of eateries in every direction, it can be exceedingly difficult to sort the good from the bad when you are away from home. Thankfully, this guide can help you locate truly good food no matter where you go — even if you forget to plan ahead of time.
Ask the Experts
No matter where you stay during your trip — a luxury resort, a cozy motel, a budget-friendly hostel, or even an AirBnB — you will be surrounded by hospitality experts who want to make your visit as comfortable as possible. With the exception of the lattermost example, it is literally the job of those employed by your lodgings to help you find the best events, attractions, and eats in the area. After you check in, you might spend some time interrogating the concierge. When armed with your full itinerary, the concierge can furnish you with a wealth of excellent restaurant recommendations based on what you like and where you’ll be during the day.
Consider Food and Drink Tours
There’s a lot to be said in favor of guided tours, especially when you vacation to a place packed with potential activities. However, guided tours rarely stop for lunch, which means you better plan ahead for snacks — or else simply book a tour showcasing good eats. Culinary tours are becoming more and more popular as tourists gain appreciation for more exotic foods and flavors. Depending on your destination, you could schedule a food and drink tour for every day of your stay.
For example, Niagara Falls offers an abundance of amazing culinary adventures, from those that roam the expansive wine country to those that explore farm-to-table eateries. Beer-lovers might opt for a craft brewery tour around Niagara, and foodies might elect to sample from the menus of the great area chefs, like Massimo Capra and Jamie Kennedy. Destinations like Niagara Falls are packed with fine dining opportunities, but you might only find them through a guided tour.
Find Places Locals Love
Usually, the best places to eat in any city aren’t those visited by tourists; they are the hole-in-the-wall eateries frequented only by locals. With the aid of technology, you don’t even have to stalk unwary locals as they head to their favorite dens. The following smartphone apps are perfect for a traveler looking for a memorable and delicious meal:
- Foodspotting. Using information about your favorite foods, this app tries to find particular dishes that align with your unique tastes.
- Ness. Taking Foodspotting a step further, Ness provides Pandora-like restaurant recommendations based on your previous favorites.
- Localeats. Ratings and reviews from newspapers, magazines, bloggers, and more, this app compiles lists of the best non-chain restaurants in your area.
- Savored. When booking reservations last-minute, this app can assure you a table as well as discounts at some of the best eateries.
- Chefs Feed. You should always trust a chef’s opinion, and this app provides advice on local chef favorites to help you find the best food around.
- Evernote Food. As you keep track of your culinary adventures with this app, you can explore others’ regional food experiences to find the best restaurants.
Connect With Locals Themselves
Of course, for incomparably authentic food, you should strive to find a seat at a local’s home dinner table. Home-cooked meals are perhaps the most diverse features of culture around the world, and breaking homemade bread with locals is an once-in-a-lifetime experience. If you struggle to connect with a local during your travels, you can search for immersive home dining opportunities using dedicated apps, like Bookalokal or EatWith. Both services connect out-of-towners with locals enthusiastic to provide food and fun in exchange for exotic company.
Pick Up a Guidebook
When all else fails, guidebooks devoted to your destination are sure to contain more than a handful of valid eating advice. However, you should be warned that guidebook recommendations are usually a year or two behind fashion, meaning you will rarely find an eatery that is still up-and-coming. Often, restaurants cited in books have already become overwhelmingly popular — though, of course, that doesn’t necessarily negate the superior taste of their food.
Traveling as a Vegetarian
When it comes to finding places to eat as a vegetarian traveling, the options are even slimmer. Check out this infographic for some great suggestions on p
