You’re having fun on a trip, exploring the new area, and then… your stomach starts grumbling. Now you have to put a halt on whatever you are doing to find some food. I always try to find a new restaurant that I have never been to and cannot go to in my hometown. Sure you can take the easy route and pick some big chain restaurant you know, but that’s boring as hell! Who wants to go on a trip and say that they ate the most amazing burger at Chili’s? Most people might look at you kind of weird if you tell them that… I think that finding a unique local place is half of the fun for any trip that I’m on! You also will tend to eat a little healthier at these establishments (assuming you make good food choices and don’t over indulge yourself!), helping you stay fit while on the road.
My strategy for finding a great place to eat is quite simple: search Google Maps for the type of restaurant that I am looking for. Since I eat mostly vegetarian, naturally I search for ‘vegetarian restaurants’, and viola, up comes a list of choices that have veggie options. Then I scan the results, typically looking at mostly the higher rated places and save them for later. (Google Maps has a great feature that allows you to save them to your Gmail account for easy access from anywhere you are able to login.) Furthermore, I find that places that cater too vegetarians and vegans are likely to be creative with their food. Sure you can get a burger and fries anywhere, but you can’t get a delicious sweet potato gnocchi with brussels sprouts at any old place.
I also like to search for ‘Organic restaurants’. Why? Because these places typically give a damn about where their food comes from and how it is prepared. They also tend to want to support local farmers, which means you are supporting the city/town/etc. that you are visiting. (I know there is the ongoing debate as to whether GMO food is any different than Organic food, but the truth is most restaurants have a hard time sourcing their food 100% organic. If they can’t find an organic version, they will likely find a quality option from a local farmer.) Why should you support local restaurants? because more of the money you spend stays in the local community, meaning the area will have a better chance of surviving/growing and you will have great food options the next time you visit.
If you don’t want to take the time to search, let Google do the work for you. There is a cool feature in certain parts of some cities that allows you to ‘Explore Food & Drinks’ near you. I typically use that to find ‘Where the Locals Eat’. (Yes… Google tracks your location all the time, so I don’t have a problem with this if it helps me find some tasty food!) Many times this will bring up the same restaurants I found during my searches before the trip, but there are also times when I find a hidden gem that I didn’t locate at first.
So there are some of my tips. Now go have a fun time exploring the local eateries!
