Tips for Finding a Good Restaurant While Traveling

When traveling, it can be difficult to focus on your trip and you still have some time to choose a suitable restaurant. Before you go, do enough research so that you have at least one option in the different areas that you will visit. Discovering a new food while traveling is reason enough to return to a country one day. Here are 6 smart tips for finding good restaurants while traveling. 

Tips for finding the best restaurants while traveling

How to Find Good Restaurants: 5 Smart Tips for Finding a Good Restaurant While Traveling

Traveling is something a lot of people have adopted as their passion and it shows in the myriad of pictures and videos being shared online. But these experiences focus a lot more on what the eye can see. It's high time travelers put more focus on taste in their many travels. 

Food is inherently part of the appeal of travel. It is almost impossible to miss trying new cuisines when you are in a new city or country. On your next trip, be sure to include trying the local cuisine in your itinerary. To make your food adventure smooth, here are 6 smart tips on how you can find good restaurants while traveling.

1. Plan ahead

When planning the next town, city or country you'll visit, it pays to do a little research on the famous delicacies of the place and the best place to get them. There are plenty of resources available online that provide a list of the most popular restaurants and cafes for this purpose. But if you're looking for culinary authenticity, look to forums and food blogs. Popular YouTube channels are also great places to find hidden food gems in a new city.

2. Good Restaurant research

Just like you would when looking for a place to stay in your destination, you would also consult guidebooks and the internet when looking for great places to dine in your trip. If you've decided on a place to stay, you can do online research on the neighborhood and see if there are any good places to dine nearby.

The more research and options you have listed down, the easier it will be to decide on places to eat even if you don't consult anyone else on your trip.

3. Ask the residents

Without a doubt, this is the best way to find the best restaurants in your travels. It is the locals who know what their city or town has to offer and therefore getting their input will be of great help in looking for a place to dine.

You can approach the concierge at the hotel you're staying for any recommendations for places to eat. Similarly, you can ask the front desk if you're not staying at a hotel. It's also possible to ask cab drivers for their own recommendations and, depending on how the conversation goes, they might even take you to the best places themselves.

4. Tourist traps as last option

Ideally, you would want to avoid places near tourist attractions in the places you visit. These places sacrifice quality over profit and their prices are set exorbitantly higher. You won't find authentic food in these places as they have adjusted their menu to cater to the broad palettes that tourists have.

Try to go out to places within the neighborhood rather than those closer to tourist attractions. You should have a different schedule to visit restaurants and cafes during your travels instead of going to nearby places or going for fast food. Remember, if the staff is pestering you to try their place or handing out flyers like crazy, it's probably a tourist attraction worth your time and money.

You will experience food that the locals prefer and support local businesses. So, eat good food at the same time.

5. Get the apps

There are a number of food apps you can get for free that will tell you the best places to dine no matter where you are in the world. A few examples include Yelp and TripAdvisor. People rate restaurants based on a star-rating and some would even leave behind reviews for others to peruse.

What's great is some of these apps will even suggest the best times to dine at the restaurants, normally advising users to avoid the lunch and dinner rush. The apps also feature menus from restaurants and recommend the best dishes to try. The prices will also be available to make it easier for users to decide.

6. Eat local

In your travels, it's also advisable that you eat local. Traveling is more than just sightseeing, it should be a well-rounded experience of the senses and that includes gastronomy. In between visiting beautiful sites, try to find the places that most locals eat. It is here that you will taste what these places have to offer food-wise.

As an option, you can sign up for a walking tour of the city. With a local food expert as a guide, you will be taken to different local restaurants to try out different cuisines. Most major cities around the world are offering such tours and it's a great way to see the city and experience the different culinary creations.

As a last tip, anytime you find a place with a line, that's always worth the try. You don't have to line up immediately but you can visit it at a different time, ideally not during lunch or dinner period.

Traveling, at its core, is about experiencing new things. Just because you have a certain preference for how you want your food shouldn't mean closing all doors to trying new things. So enjoy the sights, the sound, and the taste the world has to offer.