Sometimes it can be pretty difficult to find delicious food that you can enjoy while in an unfamiliar location. You don’t have your go-to breakfast coffee place, so you’ll have to make do with what you’ve got avaialble around you. The best thing to do while traveling is to embrace going out of your comfort zone. In other words, this means trying new foods as soon as you get the chance. This will allow you to fully jump into your vacation experience, and, who knows: maybe you’ll discover your new favorite food or food spot! Here are a few ways to search for and find meals that will satisfy your stomach while in a different location.
1. Use review apps like Yelp or TripAdvisor to help you find restaurants. These will tell you the amount of stars the place has based on peoples’ past experiences, as well as the number of dollar signs so you don’t break the bank. Usually people will only write reviews on a place if they either love it or hate it, so you will find the absolute best places to eat near you while staying away from the horrible ones. This will also help you prepare for what you’re about to go into, because you can see pictures of the ambiance inside as well as some menu options. These apps exist for a reason, and are great resources to help navigate your way while on vacation.
2. Use those many Facebook groups you’re in to ask around! Whether you’re involved in Greek life or any kind of club or organization on Emory’s campus, you can post in there and ask if anyone has any recommendations for restaurants in your city or country of choice. These groups are fantastic for asking around because it is an easy way of getting quick answers. Also, these are recommendations from your friends, so if they have similar taste preferences to you, you’ll know their recommendation will be solid.
3. Use social media apps like Pinterest and Instagram to search for amazing looking food in a speedy time manner. We all see those grams of beautiful foods on the explore page, so why not put them to use? I would suggest searching the location you are in in the search bar, and then looking at the images and their tagged locations. You can order exactly what you see in the picture once you get to the restaurant, and you can even pin it for later if you want to make sure to come back!
4. Finally, if you don’t have wifi, a great thing to do is just ask people! People on the streets are often the best source to tell you all about the food in the area. People understand that tourists need recommendations, and they are more willing than you’d think to help you out. Also, think about it, if someone came up to you and asked you about the best places to eat in your hometown, you would have some good answers for them right?! They like to answer these questions, and without wifi it can often be hard to get good recommendations any other way.
So there you have it! These are a few great ways you can find mouth watering foods while on vacation in both the US or a different country. Don’t be afraid to look at social media apps for help, and try to trust the reviews that people give on Yelp and TripAdvisor. Keep in mind that wherever you are, you’re only there for a short amount of time, so you want to make the best of it by eating the most amazing food around! Good luck and happy eating!