Yeah, local papers are a good source. Once I find a good place, I always ask the staff for other recommendations. People in the biz usually know what’s up.
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Obvious trump supporter from the picture haha.
I think there’s a lot of comedy gold to be had in restaurant reviews. I’m 1000% fine with this thread turning into us making fun of those.
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My general theory is to find the sharpest forum on that topic. The answer for dining may very well be TripAdvisor. Other thing I like to do is find sharp blogs (for instance, Gobbo’s JimmyEatsVegas). Basically what I’m looking for are people who know what the fuck they’re talking about and can articulate the reasoning behind it. You won’t always agree with them but it’s miles above “waiter wouldn’t even give his name” derpitude. It’s worked reliably for me for just about everything (electronics, automobiles, power tools, doctors, poker hands, politics, etc.).
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There’s also something to be said for taking a gamble on a place that looks interesting and discovering a hidden gem. Somehow the food always tastes better to me if I discover the place on my own.
This particularly applies to tourists spots where everyone goes to the place in Lonely Planet or TR - and you take a chance on an unknown place which turns out to be great.
It’s not too hard to find gems - does it look at least semi-busy? Empty at a normal eating hour is rarely good. Does the staff seem friendly (but not desperate) when you peek inside? Do the diners you can see look happy and into their food? If you get a peek at the cook does it look like someone’s grandma or grandpa?
Also if you’re not staying at one - ask a local hostel for recommendations. They know where the good, reasonably priced stuff is.
And most importantly, if you meet a local who says you have to try this one place/dish - try it, no matter how weird it might sound or how weird the place might look. If you hear the same place come up a few times you absolutely have to go. Locals always know.
I discovered Tosti-Locos among a bunch of shitty chain places in Cabo this way. It looked like hell but the guy said you have to try it so I did. It was amazing - and actually reasonably healthy.
Can this place get servers that smile and not be so negative!? Like it [sic] get it, you are not happy with what you do but understand you are representing an up scale steak house so live up to it. I would definitely give it a 5 if the servers cared more. Smh. There is a reason why you don’t get 15% tips.
This place has lemon & towel service and table crumbers btw. “Is it too much to ask of you fucking peasants to brighten up a bit?”
He’s not mad nobody seated him. He expected to be greeted like he was Norm from Cheers!
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Eater is a good resource with a page dedicated to most cities.
It is far more limited than Yelp or other review sites, but they offer a Heat Map and 38 Essential Restaurant lists for most/all cities which is where I always start before traveling to a new city.
This recommendation has its limits, but if the city you’re in/traveling to has an Eater blog then I highly recommend you browse it.
Oh an also you can just google “Eater” and the city you want. They have ~20 major markets that are updated consistently, but maintain lists for many other cities.
For example I recently traveled to Memphis and found an Eater “Essential Restaurant” list via Google.
I’ve mostly stopped reading reviews and tend to look at the pictures of food to see if it looks good. Also somebody else mentioned Reddit for the city you’re going to and that’s worked out really well for me.
Somebody else mentioned the “best of” from the city’s newspaper. For years, the Olive Garden was the Las Vegas Review Journal’s reader poll favorite for italian food. Nolan Dalla has a great video of him drinking himself to death while reading the reader’s poll in 2014. Here’s the link:
Nolan Dalla the drunk motorboating man?
I can’t speak to motorboating, but I know he likes to drink.
Grunch
Anything 4.2 or below probably should be avoided.
Also over hundreds of reviews there is a big difference between each 10th of a point.
4.6 or higher is usually what I look for.
I used to agree but that has stopped working completely. It’s to the point where that either means it’s a good place that is really popular (which you can tell by driving by at literally any hour it’s open) or it means they bought reviews.
I generally use tripadvisor or get recommendations from locals. Or just smell/look at what others are eating and decide from there. It being busy is good but then again McDonalds gets busy.