You've eaten at all the restaurants near your home. Or you're far
from home in a new city. How can you find a good restaurant in a
new place? It's easier than you think!
- Decide geographically where you want to eat. If you're near
home, consider trying a new neighborhood, area of the city, or even
a near-by city or town. If you're away on business or vacation,
open a map of the area and select a neighborhood near your hotel,
the area surrounding a site you plan to visit, or an identified
ethnic area like Chinatown in San Francisco or the Lower East Side
in New York.
- Start your research.
- Visit self help restaurant guides online. A few are listed at
the bottom of this page to get you started. Generally, these guides
allow you to search by cuisine or price.
- Look through the local newspaper's Food or Lifestyle sections
for restaurant ads. Skip over the chain restaurant ads, especially
if you're on vacation. You can eat at Applebee's anywhere. Be
adventurous and look for an ad for an independent restaurant
featuring a type of food you love, or even better, a type of food
you've always wanted to try!
- Look for an online edition of the local newspaper. Most
newspapers in larger cities have on-line editions that contain
large collections of dining recommendations and reviews from
previous issues.
- Find a local lifestyle magazine and check out their food
columns. Most larger cities have two or three magazines -- any
chain bookstore in the area should have them on their shelves.
- Talk to the concierge at your hotel. Local establishments
provide their menus to hotels in the area, so your concierge should
have information about a number of different types of restaurants
near-by.
- Ask the hotel desk staff where they would go in the city for
the type of food you like. Whether it's a family meal, a romantic
dinner for two, or an ethnic feast, odds are someone at the desk
has heard of or tried a great place offering just what you
want.
- Ask at a fine wine store where they like to go eat.
- Go to the neighborhood where you want to eat, and ask the local
shopkeepers where they would dine for the type of food you want. Or
ask local residents at the post office, library, or shops...ask two
or three different people, and see if they recommend the same
place. That's usually a good sign.
- Follow your nose. If you're not in the mood for researching a
restaurant, go to the neighborhood where you want to eat and take a
walk. Something is bound to smell wonderful. Go in and take a
chance. You may have just found your new favorite restaurant!
- The concierge at a hotel may be paid to recommend certain
restaurants, so you may wish to confirm his or her recommendation
using one of the other methods.
- If you have special dining needs, like a vegetarian diet, small
children, or a specific food allergy, call the restaurant before
you go and make sure they can cater to your needs. No matter how
delicious the food may be, you won't enjoy your meal if they have
no high chairs for your toddler, or cook with ingredients you can't
have.
- Be adventurous. Trying a new restaurant can be wonderful, so-so
or terrible, so go in with a sense of adventure. Be prepared to
laugh and chalk it up to experience if the meal is not what you'd
hoped. The very next place you try might be the best you've ever
found.
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Sources and Citations
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