According to CBS News in 2014, most American vacations are 5 days or less, giving you at most 15 meals to eat where ever you are. At home, coming up with 15 meals seems daunting, because you have to shop, prep, cook, and clean up from each of them. On vacation, 15 meals is daunting for an entirely different reason - how to choose only 15 places to eat at, if you eat out every meal and don't make use of the free breakfast at the hotel or pack any of your own meals.
"THE BEST WAY TO KNOW A CITY IS TO EAT IT." - Scott Westerfeld
Whether you're looking for a family-friendly restaurant, a timeless diner, or a romantic cafe, these tips will surely lead you in the right direction.
What Is The City Known For
Most big cities are known for some sort of food: Chicago has pizza, NYC has pizza and cheesecake, Kansas City has BBQ, Philadelphia has Philly cheese steaks, New Orleans has Gumbo, etc. Even if you don't know what they are known for, your research from the next section will tell you.
Eating what the city is known for is a great way to really experience the city. A Chicago pizzeria with bad pizza won't last long, so you are sure to get a great meal. Wherever you are, try one or two versions of their signature dish, I'm certain you won't regret it.
Research, Research, Research
Google is a wonderful tool, giving us the world at our fingertips. With a quick search, you can have five different lists of "Top 10 Restaurants in {name your city}." Use this to your advantage! Look through several of them, if a restaurant shows up on multiple, eat there. Find a corner diner that has been there for 40 years? Eat there.
You can use the filters on Google to find restaurants in different price ranges, depending on your budget or what you're trying to experience. Filters are also helpful if you are trying to stay within a certain area of town or to find specifically rated restaurants (everything 4.0 stars or above is probably fantastic). One downside of filters is that you can filter by type of food - I advise against this as you might miss the best restaurant in town.
Don't Eat What You Can Get At Home
Vacation is meant for adventure, including what you eat. While on vacation, take the opportunity to eat at places local to the area that you can't get at home. This isn't to say you can't have a burger or fish because you can get it at home, but rather that you should eat at a local burger or fish place instead of a chain restaurant.
On our trips, we typically avoid fast food because it is so prevalent everywhere, it is rarely "new." We have broken this rule a few times if there was a regional fast food chain that we don't have local to us, e.g. eating Whataburger while in Texas or even enjoying a Runza while in our home state of Nebraska.
Ask Around
This one is the hardest for me because I am not outgoing - but this tip continuously provides me with the best restaurants to try. When you arrive at the hotel, ask the front desk attendant what the best place in town is. Ask the person at the museum front counter or ask the waitress at the first place you eat. Locals will know the best places to eat and what you can skip.
If you are going to an event, be social and ask where other visitors have enjoyed eating during their stay and the hosts can recommend places as well.
If All Else Fails, Eat What You Know
If you are in a new place and don't know what to eat, you can always fall back on your favorite food and find the local best. Sometimes you just don't know what you want and Google is simply showing too many options. This last tip is from my husband, Kevin.
Let's say you are 7,800 miles
away from home, in the country of Kuwait, and all you want out of life is a nice juicy hamburger with melted cheese and sauteed onions? Well, eat what you know. Find the local place that sells the 1/3 lb burger at a decent price, because more often than not, you will be able to find the cuisine you are used to no matter what city or country you are in.
Go Ahead, Eat The City
Whether you are eating the most famous food a city has to offer or a classic off the local diner menu, these five tips should lead you to the best restaurants a city has to offer.
Vacation is a time to let loose, adventure, and try new things. Let your stomach in on the action and #EatTheCity.
Thanks for joining me on this adventure. I hope you come back for more vacation planning tips. Comment below with any topics or ideas you are interested in and want to hear about to help me plan my future posts.
See you next time!
Sami
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