You’re headed to a new city and want to pick out the best place to have a delicious meal or enjoy a craft beer. There are dozens, if not hundreds of options to choose from (depending on where you’re at). So how do you pick where to spend your hard earned money?
The easiest way to decide on where to go is look up reviews. There are apps and websites everywhere to get feedback on a restaurant/bar/attraction. Even then, you need to be careful on which site you use, as many of them tend to be false, or places pay to promote themselves (think Yelp…). After going through all the options available, I always fall back on using the tried and true Google Maps. Sure, the reviews are similar to any other site, but the added features Google provides in its map service are fantastic. Probably the most useful tool is being able to save places you want to go visit, saving you time later on when you are exploring a city and want to visit a place on your list.
So what’s the best way to start using Google Maps? Easy! Just go to maps.google.com, or use their iOS / Android app, then search for what you want. In this example, I chose to look for breweries (naturally):
As you can see, on the left side a list of breweries is shown. On the map, the names of those places that came up are displayed. Then you click on the name and Google provides more details on the spot. If the establishment sounds like something you want to try out, you can save it to your list of favorites to try later. This is extremely handy when going some place new and want to remember the name later on. Before any trip, I spend a good 5 minutes looking up restaurants and bars I want to visit and save them. Then, while on the trip, I already know where they are at when pulling up the Google Maps app. Even better is getting directions to that place!
A word of caution: you need to carefully check the reviews at some places. Generally speaking, if a place has 50+ reviews and they are all positive, most likely they are true. On the contrary, if the restaurant only has five (or less) reviews, and each of them is for 5 stars, you need to look a little closer at who left them. If this is the person’s only review and, even worse, doesn’t have a profile pic, they are likely fake. You’d be wise to avoid that spot.
Overall, just use your good judgement when searching. Best practice is to look at the average of all the reviews when making a decision. Furthermore, good owners try to respond to negative reviews and offer a chance to make things right. In the end, if you are getting too hungry or being indecisive (like me way too often!), you just have to go with your gut reaction!
Go ahead, give Google Maps a try (if you aren’t using it already). Using this app to get around and find quality breweries and restaurants is a must for any savvy traveler.
I love when you are able to save places on the map ahead of time too! It makes it easy when you’re out and about to see what’s around you that already sounded good!