The Best Places to Eat in Any City You Visit on Your Next Vacation

If you’re having difficulty finding the best places to eat when visiting a new city, you may want to try to reverse engineer your travel planning. Often when planning your next travel adventure, you may find yourself spending the majority of your time figuring out where to go and where to stay. Of course, a vacation is about new experiences and sites to see, but much of the excitement of visiting a new city is its food. Planning where to eat, often before you even start planning what you do while on vacation is a great way to change up the game a bit. Embrace your inner foodie and consider these 7 tips for finding the best places to eat in any city you visit. 

How to Find the Best Places to Eat in Any City

Locals Offer the Best Tips for Favorite Places to Eat

When you arrive at your destination after you’ve checked-in to your hotel or resort, take a walk around and meet people. After you’ve settled in, go out and talk to people. Traveling is not the time to be shy. By getting out right away and interacting with locals you have the unique opportunity to reach out and ask for restaurant recommendations. You may discover something you didn’t even realize you were looking for. 

Research Best Places to Eat Before You Visit a New City

A good way to find the best places to eat in any city you visit is to do your research ahead of time. Check out videos on YouTube like Chamber of Commerce promotional videos or travel vlogs in the city you’re visiting. These are a great way to get ideas and recommendations for restaurants where you’re going. Often vloggers create entire videos around the food in any given city. You’ll find countless ways to discover the best places to eat in various cities with a bit of online research. Much like YouTube, Pinterest and travel blogs can be a great resource.

One out-of-the-box way to find great restaurants in a new city is to check Google maps. Simply locate the hotel or resort where you’re staying and search for nearby restaurants. This will give you a helpful starting point in finding great places to eat, especially when you don’t want to travel far from your accommodations. From there, you can simply look up restaurant reviews on websites like TripAdvisor or Yelp.

Consider Taking a Culinary Walking Tour

Many cities offer walking tours that chronicle the history and background of the region but culinary tours are also available. Culinary tours can feature special regional foods or chronicle popular restaurants in the city. Cities like Charleston, SC are known for their popular culinary tours. The Charleston Historic French Quarter district culinary tour offers a historical account of the city coupled with a sampling of the tastes of the Lowcountry.

Your Hotel Concierge Can offer Helpful Dining Suggestions

Hotels often offer a Concierge Desk whose main purpose is to create a positive experience for hotel guests. A concierge will assist guests by arranging for services within the hotel like spa treatments. Your hotel concierge is also one of the best resources for finding places to eat in the city you’re visiting. They can offer recommendations based on your tastes and interests. Your concierge can also assist with dining reservations. A particularly good concierge with clout can sometimes even help get you to the top of a waiting list of popular restaurants. 

Use Travel Guides to Find the Best Places to Eat in Every City

Travel guides are published each year to help busy travelers plan their vacations. Writers and researchers spend countless hours in the field searching for the latest and greatest destinations, attractions and locations to visit. These travel guides are a great resource when planning your vacation. Publications like Rough Guides offer travel tools and resources to help you find the best places to stay, eat and visit in cities the world over. Additionally, your local library and bookstore are an invaluable resource for travel resources. There’s nothing quite like perusing the bookshelves to find places near and far to add to your travel bucket list. There are even specific books that can help you find food and restaurants wherever you’re going. For example, The Food Traveler’s Handbook assists travelers in finding cheap, safe and delicious food anywhere in the world. 

Visiting Farmers Markets will Give You Plenty of Dining Ideas

Visiting a local Farmers Market is a great way to learn more about the best places to eat in a new city. You get to meet locals and pick up fresh fruit and vegetables for your stay. Also, often, local restaurants or suppliers set up tables or booths offering local selections. Getting out where the locals go is a great way to get the inside scoop on where to eat. Talk with farmers who collaborate with local restaurants in farm-to-table initiatives in the city you’re visiting. This is one of the best ways to both, support local businesses and farmers and find great places to eat while traveling.

Visit a New City During a Food Festival Celebration

Consider planning your actual trip around food. There are countless food festivals and celebrations throughout the country. Planning a trip to one of these allows you to experience a particular food or food theme and experience the various ways food can be served or presented. For example, in Gilroy, California the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival features three days of garlic themed food, live entertainment, and cooking competitions. Theme parks like Walt Disney World offer the yearly EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival. This event features culinary demonstrations, panels with celebrity chefs and countless food booths and opportunities to sample special food offerings. Planning your trip around food festivals and celebrations such as these is a great way to incorporate delicious foods into a fun, family vacation.

Choosing the best places to eat when visiting a new city does not have to be overwhelming. By thinking outside the box and incorporating some of the above-mentioned tips, you’ll likely find great restaurant options on your next vacation.