blackcows

I always like to experience a new place to eat when I travel, I don't go anywhere exotic, the majority of my travel for work is in the midwest. When traveling to a new location how do you research places to eat? Say you know you are staying in a specific hotel, do you call the hotel for recommendation, trip advisor, something else? I usually like walking distance so I can some drinks without the need to drive.

braslvr

The first thing I do when choosing a hotel is google the address and check the map for every eating and drinking establishment within walking distance. Often I will even pick a less desirable hotel if the neighborhood has more options. Next, I look for online reviews of the bars/restaurants I haven't heard of.

When I first started traveling for work in the early 80s, the company I worked for picked our hotels and they had one iron clad rule. There must be a bar within short walking distance. Not having the internet then, they often sent someone out a day early to scout out hotels that met the rule.

Both then and now, my average hotel stay is over 3 weeks, so the surrounding area is much more important than it would be for a one or two nighter.

lhrsfo

I find that scouting on the internet produces only limited success. TripAdvisor is extremely unreliable on restaurants and the other sites are not much better. My technique is to find hotels in lively residential areas, where there's a bit of a scene. I then check out the menus and look inside places before making a decision. But then I don't/won't eat in chain restaurants and I much prefer places which are doing something different, and being full of locals is the clue that the place is good. Websites are bad at conveying "vibe".

Hite

My quest this year is to visit as many craft breweries as possible. Some have food and some don't but at least it is a unique experience at each one and most cities have at least one and most are local only. Hotel front desk recommendations have been a mixed bag from my experience. Many times it's just the closest restaurant.

Cloudship

Chowhound, yelp, and an internet search. Always.

Though I find better results if I decide on a few general types of food I am after. For instance I am a pizza fan, so I always do a search for the best pizzarias in the area I am visiting.

I am always willing to venture a ways for good food. I also try and target smaller hole in teh walls. I find those local places much better.

Oh, I don't so much ask the concierges, as they usually have a set list that I dont thin is always base don their experiences. Instead i ask locals. Great way to start a conversation.

Philatravelgirl

I contact the concierge ahead of time to request their list of restaurants and research them in advance. I also ask on Twitter food chats like #foodiechats or #foodtravelchat for restaurant recommendations or on the various Twitter travel chats, I read food and travel blogs too. I have a good allergy and travel solo so I'm keen to do a bit more research. I also write up my solo dining experiences on my blog (same as user name) to help others visiting those cities

plenow

chowhound.com
eater.com
yelp.com
and because I work in the restaurant industry...trade magazines. And if you don't already be sure to take advantage of the bookmark function on Yelp. When you hear about a place bookmark it...then when traveling pull up your bookmarks...you'll be surprised at how many places are bookmarked.

EuropeanPete

They're very American-centric recommendations. When travelling in Europe or Asia I tend to use GoogleMaps and then do Google searches from there. In the US Yelp is really convenient, but unfortunately they've still not properly expanded internationally.

MaxBuck

I've had the best success using TripAdvisor. Never had a bad meal yet at a highly recommended restaurant in Europe using TripAdvisor.

blackcows

I'm with you there....I've been using an app called "Find Craft Beer", not a lot of stuff on there yet but it has led me to a couple of unique places that were good.

blackcows

Thanks for the recommendations, especially Yelp, never used it. Looks cool.

EuropeanPete

I've found a few restaurants on it, but I tend to find the mediocre or the touristy tend to score the highest, particularly in continental Europe. Where I have used it is in 3rd order Asian cities where there are only 3-4 places that a European would want to eat at.

mosburger

Call me old fashioned, but much prefer local printed guides or then the likes of Gault Millau/Michelin to web rating portals infested by PR agencies and other paid contributors.

In Germany, for instance, annual "city guides" rarely fail to point to nice restaurants, while Time Out is a passable choice for London, HK (yes, I know about Open Rice...) and a few other cities.

French speaking and Mediterranean Europe I blindly trust Gault Millau and Michelin, Japan has excellent local guides, Korea ditto.

In China, the only restaurants I'd frequent are the ones where one of the diners is familiar with the proprietors.

BamaVol

I don't necessarily eat near my hotel. I almost always have a car and will drive 2, 10, 30 miles to find an interesting restaurant. Of course some nights I'm too tired and will look close by.

I use Tripadvisor and read the reviews with a jaundiced eye. I'm pretty good at weeding through to find the honest, knowledgable reviews. I will also check Yelp for confirmation.

I also now use my health inspection app to focus on the proven sanitary establishments.

kristainlondon

I personally have used Foursquare when traveling and it generally always works and tells you what the good places are in walking distance to you and your mobile device. I was in Bahrain for business meetings and used it to find two different cafes for my colleagues and me to hang out in between meetings. One of the cafes was in an office block so we never would have found it otherwise without Foursquare. I've also used Foursquare successfully in Sao Paulo on a number of occasions. I like Foursquare because it is location-specific. (From a business-standpoint, I'm not sure how much longer they will be around though.)

Generally, I wouldn't rely on TripAdvisor's absolute rankings restaurants, but if you can get it to show you what's in your general vicinity, that's helpful.

Yelp is hit or miss in many countries but in the US, it can be helpful in cities that you are unfamiliar with.