Finding Great Food While Traveling

There's just something about eating good food while on vacation that makes the trip even better. On today's episode, we share all of our tips on how to find great food while traveling. Here's a hint: stay away from the chain businesses!

Transcript

 We're the Essary family and we're exploring America one destination at a time. On this episode, . We're going to talk about finding the best food on your vacations. Let's chat. 

. Welcome. Thank you for joining us on this episode. As we talk about how to find the best eating places. And there are tons of ways to find eating places. But if you do your research, if you do , the kind of tips and the tricks that we're going to be talking about here in the next little bit of. Trying to find, you know, the best possible eating place, no matter what. You're looking forward. 

No matter the location that you're at this will help you narrow it down. And to always more than likely be on the right side of getting food, because we've been on the wrong side of getting food, plenty of times.  And I don't know about everyone else, but for me, Um, my memory is triggered by food. Like I remember things based off of oh yeah. 

That's where we went and ate. So, and so I remember that trip because I associate everything with food smells and food. And so. To me finding really good places and having good experiences whenever you're eating and you're traveling, it's really important.  And food is one of those things that whenever you're traveling is I wouldn't say the most important because I believe hydration is going to be the most important, but this is definitely one of those things that if you have bad experiences at food locations, this could ruin your trip just because like Misty says, it's one of those things that. I feel like it sets the mood. Set the mood  you, I mean, I can't tell you how many times that we've had, we've gone on vacation or we've gone out of town. 

We would go eat at someplace and we're like, man, this food was horrible. , whatever people like, oh, how are you, how was your trip? How did it go when you're like, well, the food was bad. Because that's all you that you remember. Yeah. Even if the trip is not going as planned, if I go in somewhere and I have a good male, I'm a happy person. 

Oh my goodness. It changes everything. It makes me happy. Good food makes me very happy. I feel like that's what most people like a good meal. It just.  My family calls a fat and sassy.  Whenever you've had something really good to eat.  

Whenever you've had something really good to eat and it just, it totally boosts your mood. 

And so I feel like.

Picking good places is really important. And so 

we're going to share with you guys. Some of our tips and strategies that we use whenever we are deciding where to eat while we travel. 

And before we actually get into our tips and tricks, adjust once a preference, this, that.  Everyone has their own diet needs. Everyone has their own once and their, their own favorite foods that they want. So this is not like, Hey, this is how you go get the best hamburger wherever you go. Or this is the place to go to get the best pizza. It's nothing of that nature. 

It's just something that , we hope that you get some type of information that will help you choose the best spots for you.  And of course, whenever you do that, the very first thing that anyone thinks about. Uh, before you even go someplace or the Google reviews. Yeah for us, it's Google, but I know there's a lot of people that use Yelp or TripAdvisor. Oh, absolutely. For us, it's Google. 

We Google everything like Google is our main source. The first thing that we do when we're going to  an unfamiliar area is we put in restaurants near so-and-so, whatever town city we're going to be near. And we , let Google pull up what is close by. 

And that's like the first initial thing we do, you can do that on whatever platform you want, TripAdvisor, Yelp, whatever.  We're Google fans. And then I start one knocking out anything that is a chain, any kind of chain, fast food, any kind of chain. Um, restaurants, especially if it's something we have in our area. Or in general, we just try to stay away from chains as much as possible. 

  If you're going somewhere that isn't your normal place to go. You know, especially if we're in Texas. If we go to TexMex places, they're typically pretty much all the same, no matter where you go on sexist. But if you go to Louisiana,  TexMex changes at that point. So what, what we look for. Is going to change where we go.  And so we always do some type of search. 

Now, like Misty said, we use Google search. There are plenty of platforms out there. And the crazy thing is, is even with Google or even some of the other places that you can go, they do not have every place. That you could possibly visit our, go get a meal or get a bite. In that city on those webpages, right? 

 Google is what I use for like, If it's where we're just going to drive through an area. If it's not somewhere we're going to stay or maybe for the first day,  Or two. Um, Right. That initial. You know, get a couple of meals under your belt and then continue. Yeah, just like an introduction to that area. 

If it's somewhere we're going to be for a lengthy period of time. Then I'm going to start asking locals. I'm going to see what we can find just by driving around the area.  If you notice that's where a lot of people are.  Then it's probably a good spot to eat whenever you're you're there. 

Whenever you're checking into a hotel or even your Airbnb hosts, they will suggest places. Most of . The places that we stayed in Airbnb, they have a folder and it has a list of like their local favorite. Events attractions and restaurants. And of course that if you go to a hotel and you ask the person in the lobby, Hey, what's somewhere really good to eat. 

That's not a chain. They're almost always going to tell you like the local favorites in that area. So if you're going to be somewhere for.  A lengthy period of time. That's another good way of finding out. 

A good place to eat. Absolutely. And I want to spend a little bit more time on this conversation because I believe that this part right here is probably the most crucial. Of all the different things that we could possibly tell you. But talking to locals. That is.  That is key. Like if I know that we have some introverts and you know, people don't want to go out and talk to people. I have tips for that too. But whenever you talk to locals, Those people , more than likely have ate at every restaurant in that area, 

And so they know the good places and they know the places not to go. They know the places that are possible tourist traps that, , just because it has good Google reviews or just because, , it's just the place that everyone talks about. 

It may not be the best place in that location. So talking to locals. Is definitely. Definitely one of the biggest tips that we could possibly give you. And if you're an introvert, Misty has some things for you. Yeah. If you don't like talking to people, then I suggest going onto. Facebook or Instagram. Usually Facebook is really going to find more of this. And look up that city specifically.  And a lot of times there'll be like, just chat groups about that city or newsgroups like that locals post on. Or find like a visitor center or travel center for that city and they will post a lot and talk about a lot of the places that. The locals like, and they enjoy, I know, , all the cities, all the little towns around us, every single one of them do it. Whether it's the visitor centers that do it, that are promoting their city and , promoting these individually owned mom and pop restaurants, or whether it's a chat group. For that city. 

That's like, Hey. I just went to so-and-so and it was amazing. Or.  Something like that. So if you don't really want to talk to someone that is another good way to hear from the locals without actually having to speak to the locals, I enjoy the conversation. Like I enjoy it. Oh, absolutely. But if you're really, really shy. And maybe you're new to traveling or something and you just, you just don't want to go up to someone and be like, Hey, where should I go eat then get on Facebook and look up. , the groups and pages for that city.  And it's so easy to start a conversation with people , especially if you talk about food, I mean, it's something that. In all of our experiences, that's one topic. That everyone wants to talk about. 

Yes. Because of who doesn't enjoy good food. There are more than willing to share that information with you. 

It's not like they're trying to keep it hidden for themselves.  And we've had a lot of conversations with people. You know, waiting in line or, you know, add an event. Or waiting to.  Go up to . The booth or something. And we've gotten really good. Really good information from them. And. I can't emphasize it enough. 

Talking to the locals is definitely number one.  But once again, if you don't like talking. And you don't know where to go search or whatever. Like Misty said. Drive around.  You will know what is popular and what is good by how many cars are in the parking lot. And here's another little tip. Get off the major highways. 

Oh, that's the biggest one.  Yes. Get into the neighborhoods. And find you those little local neighborhood restaurants. Almost all of our top tens are in places like that. They're in either small. Unknown areas or they're in a neighborhood. Yes. . No. I mean. There's so many examples of this. You're going into Dallas. 

You go on 20. You're going to see so many restaurants. But they're all like chain restaurants, right?  Because , especially chain restaurants. They have the money to purchase the land and then they build there. And of course they're bringing everyone knows their bread. And so they just bring in the normal people.  But those people. That have the really good food, the mom and pops the soul food, the food that has the tender, loving care. That you know,  They care about their seasonings and everything else that goes on to it. Those are going to be the ones that are more than likely going to be off the beaten path. 

They're going to be off the highways. So get into the streets. Get into some of the. But not so well-known areas. And there are so many good. Places that are out there. , if you're looking for a chain that are going to be on the highway, but if you really want the good eating places, The mom and pop places, you know,  Helping those locals out to stay in business. 

Get off the beaten path.  Get into those streets. Look for the place that has the most cars. Cause , that's a very high indication. That the locals like it. And if the locals like it, it must be good. 

Another tip. That I want to share, , that we've kind of learned and picked up throughout the years to have like a really good eating experience. Is, we tend to eat during off times. So we don't eat during the lunch rush or the dinner rush or the breakfast rush as much as possible. Because the locals in that area, they have specific times, like there. Off of work or whatever their routine is 

most people have, you know, a two to three hour window where they eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And so what we try to do when we're on vacation is we try to eat. The off hours, because I feel like you're getting the best experience you're getting. A host or a host is our waitress. That's not, you know, stressed out and frazzled. 

You're getting a nice, peaceful, relaxed atmosphere. We enjoy going whenever it's not the lunch rush, especially like a Saturday lunch rush. Or a Sunday lunch rush,  we like to eat and the off hours, Darren, our trips that's even true during the week, because I mean, think about your job, especially if you work eight to five. You're going to get a lunch hour. 

You have one hour to get to your location, order your food, eat it and get back to work. So you're going to be in a rush and.  Every local knows that. Every restaurant knows that. And so if you go either before the rush happens, or you try to get a late lunch, There's a good opportunity for number one, it's going to slow down a little bit. And to me, the kind of prepared the food a little bit better whenever they're not in a rush. And then you also get to have conversations. 

You know, we've had conversations with the owner. We've had conversations with the waiter and with , the hostess. That if we went at a normal time, or if we went to a chain restaurant, We don't have that conversation. We don't get to know when it was built. You don't get to know the people. And even asking them, we've had conversations with them like, oh, Hey look, we're looking for breakfast. 

Cause we looked on your menu and you don't have breakfast. Where can we go get the best breakfast place? And then , they're like, oh my favorite places, you know, mom and pop on on 2 79. And so that's where they want to go. 

I think that just kind of goes along with our mindset in general, when it comes to travel, we like, we like to take it easy. 

And so that also includes our meals as well. Now, of course, we have been in situations where we were all hungry and it was during the rush hour and you know what? We went eight.  And still had good food. Good food still, maybe not had like the best experience that we could have. Cause  you still feel rushed when everyone else is rushed and it's crowded and loud and busy. 

You feel like you need to hurry up and move and get out of the seat for someone else or. I don't know, it just creates an atmosphere that makes you feel a little rushed. It does. But on the flip side of that, like, I like watching people. And so during that rush, especially whenever we go somewhere, We're all the locals go for. You know, a quick meal or, or a quick breakfast. Just watch all the different people that walk in. And how the different people are all treated. Because, you know, they're locals and they've been there for so long in the conversations that they have with one another. 

Um, Is a really cool experience to have as well. I enjoy.  When we go at the downtimes, like Jeremy said,  we have literally had the owner of the restaurant. We were eating, not come and sit down with us while we ate and like chatted with them.  And we were able to ask questions and we've had that happen several times, actually, either the chef or the owner or something. 

Cause it was during a downtime. And because we started asking questions, you know, they came out and they answered them and , it was a really great experience for us because we get more information about the area we're in and about the food we're eating and . That's how we like to learn and experience things is from people.  Who are from the area. 

Like we want to experience it through their eyes. That's what helps us love and appreciate each of the places that we go to. So,  That certainly applies with restaurants just as much as it does everything else. Take your time and enjoy it. And if possible. I highly suggest going during the off hours. I don't know what else to call it.  

Not really not rush hour.  Russia our time. Like three o'clock in the afternoon, which sounds funny on vacation, but I mean, think of it. Most of the time people are either getting up really early to do something. So they're having an early breakfast, early lunch, early dinner, or you're sleeping in because it's vacation and you're having a brunch and then an early dinner. 

So it's very possible to eat during those off times and  just kind of take it slow. And I feel like every time we've done that, We've always had a fantastic time. Right. 

So to that point, It all depends on what your activity schedule is on when you're going to eat.  Another suggestion. Is whenever we are going to be somewhere for an extended period of time, you know, three plus days. I always tried to see , again, like go on Facebook or on their websites for that city and look and see if there's any events or festivals or markets that are going on. Because if you want the absolute best, most authentic food of that area. Then that's where you need to go. Festivals. Markets.  Special events because all of the people in the area that have food trucks or, you know, they make. All the goodies, like the salsas and.  The rubs, I don't know, whatever you find, you're going to find them at markets and events and festivals. 

So if you want really good food, like for example,  Whenever we were in Plano and we went to the Plano balloon festival. There were food trucks everywhere, all up and down. . It was so hard to choose because there were so many, but everything just looked and smelled amazing. And a lot of the festivals and events in that town that that's what they're going to offer. 

A lot of them are going to have food. I know almost all of ours. Do we have. Some sort of food that goes along with it. 

So if you're going to be somewhere for an extended period of time, um, research,  what is happening and what's going on, cause you might. Find a really good opportunity for some really good food. And we are suckers for food trucks and street side vendors and things like that. Venture out, you know, it doesn't have to be a building. 

I mean the food truck, one is such.  It's such an understatement. Now I understand, you know, some food trucks are gonna be amazing. Some food trucks they're going to be horrible, but does the same thing with  restaurants that are amazing in certain cities. And you can go to the next city over. And go to the exact same box store order, the exact same food, and it's horrible. Yeah.  So food trucks. I know that sometimes they're, they can be sketchy. Sometimes they can be weird. But if you take an adventure and you step out.  You know, one mill, I'm not saying you got to do it on every single meal, but just one meal. 

We try to make it.  Kind of not really a priority for us, but we do like to take that adventure of finding a food truck every single time that we go. Because, you know, that's going to give you 

just a different experience than being inside of a building all the time. Yeah. The most expensive food does not mean the best food. Like you can, you can go to the fanciest, most expensive restaurant in that area. And it doesn't mean you're finding the best food. In fact,  A lot of our favorite places are like the cheaper places that you can find. 

I don't know what it is. Like they put a little extra love in it or something.  I totally get it. There are some restaurants that are on the expensive side. That are worth it. They're absolutely amazing, but not every single one of them. Yeah. I still like on the whole, it's the ones that we find in a random storefront or like on the side of the road, like a stand or a truck on the side of the road, or, you know, um, A cheap little mom and pop in the middle of a neighborhood. 

Like. Those tend to be our favorite places. It's almost like you're going into their house. So it's a heat gun. We've gone to a couple of those.  Or the ones that look the sketchiest. Sometimes have the best food and sometimes it can be sketching. And sometimes they can be sketchy. But like, if you go back and listen to our, um, Top or top to him. Our top 10. Hidden restaurants. 

Favorite hidden restaurants. Texas. Not all of them. But we do talk about a few that we almost didn't even go inside because when we pulled up, it was so.  Scary looking. We didn't go with friends and family that knew the location. , we wouldn't have, we drove by and went. No.  Yeah. But because we did get a little bold and a little brave, and we stepped out of our comfort zone. 

Um, we had some amazing, amazing food. It reminds me of diners drive-ins and dives. Like the dives part, where he goes into like the sketchiest places and it's really good food. That's a legit thing. It's a legit thing. Now. Not every sketchy place you're going to go in. It's going to be, could.  But in our experience, most of them are because especially if you're looking for what is authentic to that area, what is local? 

Because local cuisine.  Go find someone who's. He was barely making it in a.  Rundown building, and they're going to be putting their all into it because they're going to be trying their best to improve and better what they have, which means what they serve you is probably going to be very good. And I think that is the difference between your mom and pop and a box store.  Yeah. 100% because they have to be good to have to be good because they're competing on such a grand scale with all the box stores who have all these corporations, they have the money they have. Yeah. Like, McDonald's all they need is the name. 

That's all they need is a name. Yeah, because you recognize McDonald's. Or Starbucks or something. Yeah. But a mom and pops that, that a name that's not recognizable in a place that may not look as phenomenal or, you know, spruced up as a McDonald's or a Starbucks.  K is going. Can't have, okay. Say going, but is. But it can have  the breakfast. Of your life. In one of those places and I'm all about finding a bakery and like every town we stop at, I even if it's just for like 30 minutes, we're not going to be here for very long. 

I am all about finding that bakery because. I mean, majority of the bakeries we go to and not like.  Uh, Dunkin donuts. Like that's not, I don't want to stop at a donut store that like a chain donuts, or I want to stop at a legit bakery, like an individual. Individually owned bakery because, , that's a really good place. 

Not only for desserts and stuff, but breakfast as well.  , we have stopped at plenty that have like specialty croissants and sausage biscuits and burritos. So that is another really good place to stop and look for food. , Plus who doesn't love. Homemade baked goods. I mean, that is so true. And especially the difficult. Wide variety that they have. And, you know, every bakery we've been to, they're all different. 

They're all different. Some of them have looked absolutely sketch. Like I was like, I don't know why we're stopping here. They all absolutely beautiful. And they all offer different things like that. One we went to in Land'o like their specialty with pies. And so they had an abundance of variety of amazing looking pies. And then a little bit of cookies and a little bit of donuts and, you know, Some pastry stuff. Some pastries and then you go to others and like their main thing is cupcakes. 

And they have like 20 different, unique flavors of cupcakes. And then you go to another one. And it's like German pretzels and it's so stopping at bakeries, you're definitely not always going to get the same thing. They're all. If you stop at a mom and pop bakery, not like a chain bakery, which. I honestly can't think of any chain bakeries off the top of my head. 

Cause we never stop at things like that. But if you stop. Um, at a local bakery.  You're gonna, you're gonna find some good stuff. There's going to be something there. That's going to catch your eye and it's going to be so good. 

Also. Um, food tours and walking tours are becoming more popular. They are, especially in the bigger metropolitan areas. They're definitely becoming something that.  Well courage. There's even a lady that talked about starting one here, where we live and we live in a very small down. So, um, food tours, walking food tours, , is another great place because they focus on local. Cuisine. 

And I know they're very popular in places like the UK and things like that, but they're picking up popularity here in America. And. I've never been on one, but I really want to, yes, I think.   Whenever we travel into the different, bigger metropolitan places, I think are different, bigger cities that. That's something we definitely are going to look into because they're going to give you. The  authenticity of whatever the location. Yeah. 

 And not just by the state,  even each city is unique. Like. There are towns like Fredericksburg, for example, in Texas, it is a very German town. 

It was, you know, established by German immigrants and it's varied, heavily German influenced in the food and architecture and things like that. So if you were to do something like that in Fredericksburg, you would get a huge,  German text food. They wouldn't be a German, Texas type. You know, what's the word I'm looking for?

Fusion. You would get a German, Texas fusion, but if you were still in Texas and you went to Dublin, Texas, and they offered something like that, you're going to, you know, find things that are more Irish.  Irish themed and centered like an Irish, Texas  fusion. So, and then again, if you went further south, like Del Rio, you're going to find more of the TexMex, the Mexican, Texas fusion. 

So even not just by state, but by region and by city, you're going to find. , differences of what is local and.  Authentic to that area. I mean, absolutely. Just the places that we've gone to. , going through like Mississippi and Alabama, just the differences from a north and south kind of region. Yeah.  I wouldn't say. Mississippi. I mean, there's, there's a different way of doing things and it's.  It's really.  It's really interesting to go see just kind of how the different cities. All have their own culture and what they're they really push? , and then get to taste. 

Some of that in food is just an it's like icing on top of the cake.  So, if you can find a food tour, Or that area.  Do it. Let us know how, how good it is so that we can try it too, because I've always wanted to do that. It is harder sometimes when we have a little one with us, because a lot of them are like late night food tours or. A lot of them are like the, um, well, it's going to be more than an hour.  Let me, if you're going to have to walk places. You might have to, a lot of them like. You're walking downtown or something. 

Most of them are walking food tours. And spending, you know, 15, 20 minutes. Each place. Not sure we could do that with a one-year-old just yet. Yeah, maybe. When he gets a little bigger or maybe that it could be a date night on our trip or something. We're going to take a lot of crackers, but if you know where to find a really good walking tour, please let us know because we are very, very interested in experiencing that for ourselves.  Another one whenever she was talking about food tours, that kind of brought up to my mind. Some places do food classes. Oh, yes. 

They teach you how to cook the food. And usually it's some type of dish. That is specific for that region. Yeah. A cooking class is, is usually.  Barry region specific. Yeah. So if you've got a, an evening or an afternoon off and. You know, somewhere around there offers that. I would suggest doing that because I mean, you're going to get the opportunity, not only to learn how to cook the food. But then you're also going to eat what you cook and they always make sure that it tastes monopoly. And real quick, just to the boring side. And whenever you are Googling your reviews, um, make sure that you're double checking, like the price range you can easily go through and set your filter on TripAdvisor, Google, most of the platforms and set your filter for a price range. Because you don't want to over budget yourself. 

Like you don't want to, um, go over your budget because you found this really great place. Because to be honest, if you Google like larger cities, the first 20 that are going to pop up, you're looking at pretty mid to high level, , price range for your.  Restaurants and I have to go through and just like nag, get rid of that because again, expensive doesn't necessarily mean tasty. And a lot of times, those, those are the ones because they do pop up first on Google there's is going to be the most touristy areas as well. 

And so that's, we're going to have a lot of their tourists and stuff, but B. Be cautious of that. Don't just be like, Hey, this one has the best reviews. Then you get there and it's like $50 a plate or something. Right. And then, I mean, Also on top of that is we've gone on some trips here recently where. Google. Um, Failed us. Google.  Which we've talked about this before, but especially since 2020. Um,  it'll show something's open and it's not open and it hasn't been opened for years. Yeah, it hasn't been on for two or three years. 

It has never been updated. Yeah. Yeah, cause I mean, Google is, is all dependent. Especially whenever you go into , searches, it's all dependent on the information that it receives. I mean, Google is not sending people out there and actually see if these places are open. So that actually happened to us on our last trip.  When we went to New Mexico. On her way there, that actually happened to us. And that place had been closed for years.  And you can tell it's been closed for years. But the thing is, is there was a box store that was there that whenever we found out that this place was closed, we were like, oh, let's just go to the box store. But instead we took a little bit of time.  While we were driving around, looking for places, looking for the locals. And we found one, it was like at an old rundown gas station.  And it was really good. 

It was amazing.  Amazing food, which we did post about on our social media.  

Google tells you are your, your social media fills. Drive around. Don't let that discourage you and just automatically go back and, and go to one of the box stores. Um, do a little bit of research while you're there. Take a little bit of extra time. It'll be worth it.  But our biggest tip is step out of your comfort zone. 

Sketchy places, cheaper places. Hidden places are normally the best. Not always, but you're, you're almost guaranteed like some good food   when you're doing that. 

So get out there, support the mom and pops. I  shop local, eat local.

Let's do some adventure.  And enjoy all the great and wonderful food that's out there.  Join us next time as we talk about what took Peck.  For your vacation.