The first thing any of my friends will tell you about traveling with me is that I always do my research, and I am the review QUEEN. Especially when it comes to finding food in a new city. I take that very seriously because I want to experience the best in every city. The below tips have helped me find quality spots that I always end up recommending to others. Here’s a guide on how to find the best food in a new city…
Yelp
This one seems obvious but, there is a certain way to approach Yelp rankings. First, type in the specific cuisine type you would like to eat, or you can be general, and click search. Skip the “Recommended” list.
First, sort by “Highest Rated”, examine that list and then sort by “Most Reviewed” and examine that one as well. Look at both lists and cross check to see which places are in the top 5 or 10 of both because THOSE are the good ones. The reason why I say look at both is because there may be a restaurant on the “Most Reviewed” list that may not necessarily have the best rating. Sometimes those spots with less ratings but a five star review are the ones you do not want to miss.
Bon Appétit City Guides
Admittedly, this is the only magazine subscription I receive. I know, I do in fact still receive magazines…well just this one but still. Bon Appétit is very reliable when it comes to all things food. Their city guides are well laid out and make it super easy to find the best restaurants, bars, and places to stay! They have options for every kind of vibe, I highly recommend checking it out!
Social Media
Ok, in this day and age, it’s obvious that we do most things through social media. Aside from posting cool pictures, Instagram and Facebook can also be used as their own version of Yelp sites. By asking for specific recommendations on food via your social channels, you are putting trust in people that may know you better than random reviewers on Yelp or TripAdvisor. I once asked for recs on which resort to stay at in the Dominican Republic, and the amount of responses that I got was crazy and super useful! And I received responses from people that I don’t even talk to regularly. Don’t underestimate the power of social media, and use it to your advantage!
Deep Dive into Pinterest
Pinterest is a highly underestimated source of information when it comes to picking top restaurants in a city. I keep this search more general such as “Best Restaurants in NYC”, see what results I get, and play around from there. Often times Pinterest will even give you options to narrow down your search right underneath the search bar.
Remember just because it’s on Pinterest, does not mean it is legitimate. Once you have your list, make sure to cross check the final picks from Pinterest with your other sources. You can often times find hidden gems!
Eater HeatMaps
I find this one particularly useful when planning out your entire day and you need to see what is on the way or where it makes the most sense to stop. You can either search right on their website, or type “City Eater heat map” into Google to get results. Either way, you won’t be disappointed as Eater is literally all….about…FOOD. And, the best part is that they keep their content super updated.
TripAdvisor
Similar to Yelp, TripAdvisor is great in helping sort out by cuisine type and specific area, and it does so in a way where it combines amount of reviews with the rating each received, and then ranks restaurants from there. One top aspect of TripAdvisor is that I feel like it does customer reviews even better than Yelp. I trust the reviews on TripAdvisor above most other sites. The reviews just tend to be more serious, maybe I just haven’t seen the ugly side of TripAdvisor yet!
TripAdvisor also sorts by super useful and unique categories, such as “Fine Dining”, “Cheap Eats”, “Dine With a Local Chef”.
Similar to TripAdvisor, Google will show the top restaurants based on number of reviews and stars, which is helpful. The three main review sites to be paying attention to when it comes to finding food in a new city is Yelp (my OG), TripAdvisor, and Google. I am a little bit psycho when it comes to this, but when I have one or two places in mind, I will crosscheck on these three sites and see if it has solid reviews across the board. You’d be surprised at how often they do not. If so, the risk is yours to take!
Ask the Locals!
This one has worked like a charm…most of the time. Obviously asking different people will give you answers based on their personal preferences, but it’s at least worth asking. In order to find the best food, you have to take chances! When my boyfriend and I were visiting Chicago, we asked for restaurant recommendations from the barista at breakfast, the waiter at our fancy lunch spot, and the local next to us at the dive bar happy hour. While we did receive three completely different recommendations, we researched all of them and ended up going to two spots of the recommended spots. Both were unbelievable. Asking people that are familiar with the city not only gives you that deeper knowledge, but also diverse options depending on who you ask. Don’t be shy, it’s worth it to find the best food.
That’s it! That’s my take on how to find the best food in a new city. This post focuses on food only, but if you need help creating an entire itinerary, check out my post on The 9 Elements of Creating a Reliable and Perfect Itinerary.
