Finding a great restaurant

Let's not 'cherry pick' one word and get the topic sidetracked. Thanks. The point is....by asking locals you many times find some of the better restaurants/dining places. :)

Crowe wrote:
Umm, OK, I'll bite. How do you define "normal"?

I'd say that would be someone who looks like he or she can afford to eat in a restaurant.

first normal person

Umm, OK, I'll bite. How do you define "normal"?

We are bikers (Schwinn not Harley) and when we roll into town we ask the first normal person we see where's a good place for lunch. We usually go there. Can't say we've ever been stuck with a bad one.
If you are looking for a good Chinese restaurant go to where the Chinese truck drivers go.
(Sorry, I couldn't resist)

Yelp and Urban Spoon, which I think is getting renamed Zomatoes.

Then read the reviews.

noplace2 wrote:

Case in point came just this last week. Pizza place was highly recommended by a number of the locals here in SW NC. Yes, a very unlikely venue for pizza and I was doubtful. Yes, I am a food snob and have eaten pizza from Italy (generally poor BTW) to the best NYC has to offer.

I've eaten Neapolitan pizza in Naples, Italy, cooked in an oven older than most states in our union. I wasn't blown away by it. It was soaked with grease and kinda bland. Had a few more pizza in Rome. Best pizza I had on that trip was the one I ate at the original Giordano's on Rush/Superior before heading to the airport. Giordano's may be a chain pizza place but I don't hold that against them... they're still a benchmark as far as I'm concerned. :)

We eat VERY well by virtue of the fact that I've owned 2 successful restaurants and been chef in another. Nearly all restaurant food, particularly the pabulum that is served up by chain entities, is, at best, forgettable.

On the one or two occasions we eat out per year we usually arrive there by word of mouth. When 3 or more people state that a given emporium is worth a trip, we'll likely give it shot.

Case in point came just this last week. Pizza place was highly recommended by a number of the locals here in SW NC. Yes, a very unlikely venue for pizza and I was doubtful. Yes, I am a food snob and have eaten pizza from Italy (generally poor BTW) to the best NYC has to offer.

I was blown away. Easily the 2nd best pizza I've ever shoved into my face, AND a 5 topping 14" pie for the princely sum of NINE DOLLARS!

I don't ever bother with sites such as Yelp or TA. Most there have their own agendas and those rarely match mine.

As far as tv shows - Marc Summer's Restaurant Impossible is a good documentary to watch for places to avoid like plague. These places are supposedly rehabilitated by the show - ya right! Soon after the cameras leave the buzz dies down I'm sure these lazy slob mom 'n pop restaurant owners go right back to their old ways.

GizmosMom wrote:
Trip Advisor

X3 I have the app on my I phone

Here in Canada there is a television show "You Gotta Eat Here" that can be accessed on the Food Network. He travels all over Canada and the USA going to eateries that the locals send in to say this place is great. We have started searching for the area we are headed to to see where he has been and what the reviews are. I imagine that " Diners Drive ins and Dives" has a similar search function.
Might give you a heads up on some great restaurants in the areas you are headed to.
Bon appetit
Brian