Debunking the "eat where the locals eat" mantra

May I provide the observation that this was lunch? Could it have been a group of workers near by just needing to eat and get back to the office because Spain no longer has the siesta that allows for a return home for a large family meal (and perhaps) a nap? Consider the difference of a lunch cafeteria vs a night time dining option - both local eateries, but of course food is going to be different.

I would be interested in your observations come dinner time.

Couldn't agree more. And that coupled with "menu in English sub-titles or pictures" to be avoided. I think it is silly advice but generally ignore discussing that the subject here or else where. I look around my local area and some of the more "popular" place frequented by the locals are not all that good -- just convenient and decent but nothing outstanding. So assume European locals are no better at judging than the locals in my area.

Do people really say "eat where the locals eat" and mean it? That's such obviously generically meaningless advice, I'd assumed it was only used as a joke, the same as people now laugh at the old 1970s "living like a local" slogan when you're visiting Rimini or Torremolinos for a week.

At home, there are various levels of pricing at restaurants "where the locals eat". Why would that also not be true in Europe or anywhere else in the world? Not everyone wants (or can afford) the higher priced places like you chose. Sometimes the lower cost place might actually have better food of the type the locals are looking for. And there is nothing wrong with eating food that is prepared elsewhere and delivered to the restaurant to be dished out there. Maybe this place you saw simply doesn't have a large kitchen area or is part of a chain of restaurants. Also, how do you know the food was "cheap" simply by looking at it and without eating any of it? Were the plates not decorated with useless snips of greenery? This popular place might use higher quality ingredients in the actual food than any other restaurant in the area and yet have lower expenses allowing them to charge a lower price.

I find that "the wisdom of crowds", a concept that is oh-so-pervasive these days, usually leaves me scratching my head and thinking that either that particular crowd was a bunch of idiots, or I just have very different tastes or priorities. Holds true for me with food, destinations, so many things involving travel and the rest of life. Maybe I'm just weird. That's OK, I've been called worse.

@David, you are not alone. There is a take out place in a suburb that was the #1 TripAdvisor Restaurant for Ottawa for close to 18 months. I can only guess that due to a few innovative things and being the first new eatery in the area in years, the locals felt they needed to review it to keep it open....but how to you compare a too small waiting area with burgers to restaurants downtown that are host to dignitaries, politicians and even crowned heads of countries? There is a constant complaint on Istanbul TripAdvisor forums about the high ranked restaurants on TripAdvisor - the reason they are there is because it is usually only tourists who review them and they don't know what local food is supposed to taste like. One needs to review how the Turkish language reviewers rate it.

We rarely, if ever search for a fine dining experience at lunch time. Lunch, for us, is a necessity to be consumed, then get on with our day. So anywhere the food is decent without ripping us off price wise is sufficient. I think this falls in line with what most locals look for at lunch time. And we would much rather avoid the American chain food troughs when we're abroad. I'm not that fussed about English menus - I expect that in any city with a sizable tourist trade. But one sure thing that will drive us away from any restaurant is a hawker standing outside trying to get you to enter.

Not in Europe, but one of the best lunches we had on our last vacation was in a hole in the wall dumpling shop in Shanghai. We were the only westerners in the place, and it was packed. The menus were in Chinese, but thankfully also had pictures of the dishes that we could point to. Bare Formica tables and plastic chairs. But the simple food on offer was better and more enjoyable than the fancy brunch in the rooftop restaurant we'd had a couple of days before (and at nearly 1/10 the the price).

While "eating where the locals eat" may not be a 100% guaranteed ticket to a life changing culinary experience, more often then not, it's led me to some pretty good dinning experiences with hardly another tourist in sight, in places like London, Oslo, Rome, Osaka... Maybe it's because I'm from one of the most popular tourist cities in the world, but I can fairly accurately guess (about 80%) if someone is a tourist or a local by what they are wearing, body language, etc.

@ Mark

The food looked cheap, that was obvious. The very good food that I ate wasn't surrounded by snippets of greenery, that's not exactly a sign of quality. When you see breadcrumbed food coated in those vivid orange 'breadcrumbs' rather than the golden hue of decent breadcrumbs you know what to expect. Sloppy platefuls of rice, 'french fries' that come poured from a bulk bag from a cash and carry rather than fries cut fresh and cooked with a bit of attention and care, I've eaten enough crap foid in my time to recognise it when I see it.

I can't recall the name of the poster who queried whether the customers might be local workers but this was a Sunday, most places are closed so the only workers are those working in the catering industry.

I acknowledge that some people may interpret my post as coming across as a a bit snobby but that's far from my intention. I fully acknowledge that not everyone can afford to eat at expensive places, as someone who lived in poverty as a child, had one holiday until I was 19 (even that was only 15 miles away) I know only too well the value of money but that's missing the point. The point is that popular doesn't always equal quality. I can point to a fantastic Mexican taco restaurant attached to a gas station in Orlando, Florida that serves the most amazing, authentic tacos at incredibly cheap prices, I ate there on a number of occasions and certainly didn't eschew it because it wasn't 'posh' enough.

You could have just as easily said that one busy, popular place was not visually enticing based on your preferences, and to each his own. It's no more than a single, random data point. Since you didn't even try the food, it's hard to take this as some major takedown of a theory espoused by the Rick Steves crowd. By the way, the way many foods look may not be indicative of taste (lots of nasty looking and even smelling stuff is revered all over the world). Price isn't even perfectly correlated with taste or quality.

Have you ever watched Anthony Bourdain? He ate simple, inexpensive (or cheap if you prefer) street food and didn't turn his nose up at it. Rick Steves says to eat where locals eat probably to get people out of their comfort zone and prejudices, and not pay inflated tourist prices in restaurants that cater more narrowly to their tastes. Nothing wrong with giving that a try.

Where do the "locals" eat ?? Mostly AT HOME! (OK, maybe not the 20-35 years group.)

For myself, I find it hard to recommend restaurants for out-of-towners because when we do go out to eat it is mostly small neighborhood places that aren't gourmet, just comfortable, reasonably priced and close to home.

Agnes, I'm not afraid of eating offal or any other less premium cuts or anything that Anthony Bourdain would have advocated. I'm confident that I can spot crap food without tasting it. Yesterday wasn't a one off, it was simply an example of what I've been espousing for years, I can provide many more examples than this single anecdote.

Perhaps the title of my post was a bit 'absolute' but I'm sure most people got the gist. And for those who don't consider lunch to be the main meal of the day for most Spaniards it is the main meal of the day so simple, quick appetite suppressants aren't what they're looking for.

I’ve always found that advice to be a bit suspect. First of all, in a lot of cities, the ‘locals’ don’t live near the tourist areas anyway, and there isn’t much food I’m will to travel 30 minutes each way to get. Second, a place may be busy but it’s just because it’s near the central business district. There’s plenty of places in the Chicago Loop that are busy and full of locals, but it’s just because they’re convenient to the office for business lunches and convenient for an after work cocktail or two before everyone goes their separate ways. The food at most is fine, but is basically of chain restaurant quality.

I assume things were different when Rick started writing. Maybe there were horrible restaurants with ‘We speak English’ and lots of Americans who weren’t used to different cuisines back then. I know some of Rick’s early books would comment about tourists going to Spain or France and just eating burgers and fries every day. But, most American palettes have changed. Heck, last weekend was homecoming at my college and I was amazed to see the difference in the dining halls. You could get just about any cuisine any night of the week, far different than the Taco night and Chinese nights we used to have when I was in school.

You admitted that you had no idea whether the patrons were locals or tourists, so how can you draw the conclusion "not to eat where locals eat"?

Estepona? Not quite the well worn path of tourist predictability. A Sunday in late October not long after church service had finished, all speaking Spanish, lots of families with young children, I'm hedging my bets on them being locals.....this isn't Seville in August.

When it comes to selecting a restaurant i usually look at 3 things. One, I rely on Yelp, Lonely Planet and lightly, Trip Advisor to get me to a restaurant. Second, I look at the menu they have posted. Third and most important, thanks to European outdoor eating, I survey the plates of food on diners tables. If it looks presentable, I will take a seat and give it a try. The last thing I care about is whether or not locals or tourists are eating there because I'm there for the food and not a conversation with strangers. While I certainly love having conversations with any local in any spot, that isn't my major reason for choosing a restaurant. I agree that the "living and eating like a local" is a overused mantra.

Threadwear, I'm with you. I give more credence to Yelp than Tripadvisor however I've found Yelp to be more widely used in the US than Europe. My biggest indicator is the menu, you can establish a lot from it but also I find that young, relatively new restaurants are not resting on their laurels, they're keen to succeed, often offer exciting cooking and go above and beyond what many of the old stalwarts are prepared to do.

Whether I am traveling on business or pleasure, when choosing a restaurant, I look at the menu to see if there’s anything that I would like, the prices, and if the restaurant looks busy.

I do exactly what Continental does. I do no pre-study or planning ahead from books...I'm just not that interested. I go with my gut...so to speak.

I echo what Continental & Wray said. I always check menus online or stop by a restaurant to preview the menu. Usually I can find several menu items to choose from. Sometimes I will go to the same restaurant more than once. I especially like vegetarian options.

In Portugal I was taken to a local restaurant by a local. Without him I never would have found it or even have known of it's existence. There was no sign. There were no reviews. When we entered it was packed with folks sitting at long paper covered tables. Everyone was drinking local wine and "moonshine". The food was absolutely fresh and fabulous. I could not find my way back there if you paid me to.. known only to locals.
I have experienced the same in Northern China, Vietnam, Morocco, Austria, Germany, Taiwan, Turkey, Japan...there is 100% validity to the statement. The challenge for a tourist to figure out where and how to get there.
In Japan I was once the first American diner at a restaurant that was literally in the middle of a rice paddy. It was an hour drive from the nearest city. To prove my mettle I was tested with raw liver, raw intestine, uncooked egg. Once I passed muster I was fed one of the best meals I ever enjoyed there. At the end the kitchen staff came out to see their first non-Japanese guest..very local. Similarly I was once fed a meal that included whale prepared three ways....not in your Michelin guide. Travel more and you'll learn that you need to travel with the locals and get off the beaten path to understand the comment. It is a fact.

You reject "eat where the locals eat", so you must believe either, 1) "don't eat where the locals eat, or 2) eat where the locals don't eat.

So, if there is a local restaurant with terrible food, but some locals go there because the prices are cheap. You don't go there because the locals eat there.

All they have to do is raise their prices. The locals will quickly figure out that bad food at a high price is not a good thing and stop going there. A few non-locals, with no knowledge of the quality of the food will try the restaurant, and you, seeing it being patronized by some non-local and seeing that the food prices are high, will decide it must be a good restaurant. After all, the locals are not eating there, and the non-locals are.

Fortunately, I don't usually have to make that decision. Most of my travel is to places where there are few non-locals. Everywhere is a place at which the locals eat, and I have found most of them to be very good.

Mack's story is definitely not unique, I've had similar situations happen to where a serendipitous moment led me to a "locals only" haunt with incredible food, taking a wrong turn in Granada, asking a group of locals in Ravenna for directions, having my car towed in Poland lol!

I've eaten at a few places mentioned in guide books and they've been great. Our last trip we were in Prague and ate at one café because it was recommended. Another one that was mentioned in the guidebook was also espoused by the airbnb tour guide as his fav place, so guidebooks aren't always wrong (alas, we didn't get to eat there). I'll mark restaurants on my map that I read about in a guide, then research the menu online to check what they have and prices, and if I think we will be in that area I'll check out TA or Yelp and go from there.

And I've also done the walk by the restaurant and food on people's table looked good so lets eat there. I rem a particular pizza place in Aix en Provence. Before lunch as we wandered by, the pizzas people were eating looked so good. So a few hours later when we got hungry we found our way back and the pizza was prob the best one we had on that trip.

Now I just try to avoid the really touristy places to eat if I can (sometimes hunger hits and ya just gotta eat) - say in Venice - I try to avoid the places right by Rialto Bridge or just past San Marco (did that once - a pizza cost twice what it would elsewhere, mediocre at best and a glass of coke cost something like 7-8 euro - no I didn't get one).

If tourists ate where I ate at home, they'd be at KFC and Swiss Chalet a lot.

There is a McDonalds near the Trevi Fountain in Rome that I wandered into out of curiosity. It was filled with Roman teenagers, so I guess McDonalds is ok??

Lee from Colorado, I'm afraid your appraisal couldn't be more wrong. I've eaten at that particular restaurant on two previous occasions so I know the food is good. The nationality of the occupants on the tables next to me weren't known until they were seated after us, we were the first customers. I didn't base my decision to eat there based on who was already there, there was no-one else there! The prices weren't expensive but were a bit higher than the more popular place. The menu del dia is usually an excellent price but as it was Sunday there wasn't one.

If you think I've been sucked in by some cynical practice of raising the prices but still serving mediocre food thus driving away the locals then you're way off the mark.

We often look for the kind of "workingman's cafeteria". You get a tray, you go down the line, you point at an entree. Prices are modest, few tourists are present, you can get a nice meal for a modest amount. The food is usually good, especially if you eat in an area with other eateries. We've found such places in Sarajevo, Budapest, Beograd. The food is fine, and is local.

If a tourist asked me where we eat (out) most often, if I were being totally honest, I would have to say Cracker Barrel takeout or Chipotle's ,and for a fun evening out, an early (dinner on the patio at Edley's on 12South (which is a good BBQ place) because they allow dogs on the patio, so our whole family can go:) I say early re: Edley's just to snag a parking space and a patio outside table before all the tourists pour in during typical dining hours.

But, I would give a different answer if a tourist asked me where we go for a special dinner out. The answer would be Germantown Cafe (locally owned, great food) on a night the Nashville Sounds baseball team is not playing...again for parking or Green Hills Grille (neighborhood, locally owned, great food), but entrees typically $20 or less at both places. If a tourist were to ask me which restaurants are considered Nashville's very best, splurge type places, that would be an entirely different answer. And, if a tourist were to ask me which iconic Nashville dining places they should not miss, that would be an entirely different answer...Pancake Pantry, Loveless, etc......but we never go to those places, because there are usually really, really long lines (of tourists).

Typically when traveling in the US or Europe, I will ask the front desk staff where they typically go for lunch or breakfast, etc. Even if staying in a really high-end historic hotel (if I am not on a tour that includes a fabulous breakfast), I still ask. We found the most fabulous breakfast (and then repeated for lunch) bagel/deli shop right around the corner from The Beekman in NYC that way......loved it and saved us about $30 a head for breakfast. Found a fabulous restaurant for lunch that way in Florence when we were on a RS Tour years ago.....lovely high-end place but with a fabulous (and very reasonable) lunch menu (evening meal would have been much more expensive). Our typical style is to enjoy lunch as the largest meal of the day when we travel (again, if not on a tour that includes dinners), just because lunch is most often much more reasonably priced..

Flight attendants are also great, trusted sources of dining information for hub cities.

.... It was filled with Roman teenagers, so I guess McDonalds is ok??...... No one has ever suggested that teenagers -- European, Canadian, US, ---- have any kind of standards.

Well this is my local for this week:

Gasthof Neuhuesli

The price is normally 15.50 Swiss Francs and today it was:

• Potato soup with caraway
• Deer steak, Brussels sprouts, Mushroom sauce and dumplings
• Vermicelle (traditional autumn desert)

Much better prices that anything you'll get in Migo or Coop which are both just down the road.

The husband is the chef and the wife takes the orders. The food is aways excellent, in over thirty years I've never had a meal there that I did not enjoy. Of course they know us all by name and our likes and dislikes. Today for instance, my son was with me and they know he does not like brussels sprouts, so when his plate arrived they had been replaced with carrots - his favourite.

I believe when Rick suggests "to eat like a local" he means to get away from the obvious tourist spots and be a little more adventurous. Don't just rely on the familiar. If there is a sign that says "we serve spaghetti" you might want to avoid that place.

I have been to numerous places that looked shabby on the outside but served amazing food. And I've been to guidebook recommended places that weren't as good as they could be.

Locals go out to eat for various reasons and they may choose a place for different reasons than you might. One person's great experience may another person's horror.

I guess you can say the same about the U.S. I live in Northern Virginia and the restaurants here are virtually all chains - moderately upscale, but still chains. I'd never advise someone visiting from out of town to eat where most locals here eat.

There are good restaurants here too. By good I mean individual restaurants run by an owner who cares about food, setting and service. You have to search for them; most people don't. The other night I ate at a small owner-run Korean fusion place. The food and service were great.

I have a similar rule when I travel. I eat 'what' the locals eat. I don't eat food that I could normally eat at home.

That rule can be ruinous too. A lot of Americans go to restaurants and order "the classic" dishes of a particular area. Problem is those things are only on the menu at good restaurants when their ingredients are in season. Eating food out of season is a sure way to get bad, usually overpriced, meals.

For me, then, eating what the locals eat also means eating what's in season - even if I don't try the "famous" dishes.

Another theory, you might explore: If you don't need a reservation, it's probably not worth eating there. This applies specifically to Beaune (and Lyon), but I decided it's probably not a bad general rule for all of France. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of restaurants in Beune. The good ones are always booked up with no available seating. If you can walk in, it's probably because the food isn't good. I avoid reservations and ate horribly in Beaune. I felt I'd have been better off with a sandwich from a convenience store. When you arrive in a town, have your lodging book you a place for dinner. The French know where to eat, but workers still pick up a to-go sandwich at a bakery for lunch.

Laura B said what I was thinking: At home! We cook a lot when we travel so we have that “local” experience of grocery shopping in a foreign language.

When we lived in Rome, we lived a couple of miles (walking) from the Centro Storico. Where we “locals” ate, whether fancy or casual, was decidedly off the tourist trail and few travelers would bother to venture so far for a mere meal.

One of the Roman restaurants that pops up here as highly recommended and a “local” experience is renowned for its microwaved pasta. And it is moderately priced, not cheap. Tourists make it impossible to get into without a wait and first-timers to Rome swoon at their experience there. If you like it, there’s nothing wrong with it. Just avoid the places with hawkers begging you to eat there.

Eating in the USA is getting more and more difficult. As Brad notes, there are chains everywhere. I simply don't eat at most of them. We eat at one fast-food place occasionally (Culver's). We occasionally eat at a chain (Famous Dave's - I just learned that he was a full-blooded member of the Ojibwe tribe of Wisconsin). Otherwise, we try to eat at local restaurants, which are often cheaper anyway. The chains pay money for TV ads (Outback, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, all pay huge huge TV ad money, and the food sucks).

Most towns have ethnic restaurants (Chinese, japanese, korean, mexican, guatamalan) which are not chains. They also have local steakhouses and bars with often surprisingly good food. We have just re-discovered a local bar, which is a sports hub. The food is fried, but is pretty good. The salads are generally first-rate.

The most discouraging thing is the sameness of so many places in the USA, due to these chains.

The most discouraging thing is the sameness of so many places in the USA, due to these chains.

What's discouraging is that most of the chains started out as very good, sole restaurants. Success leads to additional restaurants until a level is reached where continuity of the food has to be maintained which inevitably leads to a degeneration of quality and standards.

I can't think of any restaurants that have maintained their quality with expansion.

I can't think of any restaurants that have maintained their quality
with expansion.

Pret a Manger is still pretty good.

Another theory, you might explore: If you don't need a reservation, it's probably not worth eating there. This applies specifically to Beaune (and Lyon), but I decided it's probably not a bad general rule for all of France.

Weighing in briefly, this is absolutely the case for most decent Swabian restaurants in my part of Germany, at least Thursday-Sunday during dinner hours.

It's simply a fact that at least in this part of Germany (but it probably applies to much of the country and neighboring ones as well) good restaurants ("good" is not synonymous with "fancy", but rather "popular" and "takes their food seriously") simply prefer people making a reservation. It helps them in their planning, especially since many of the tables they get may stay 3 hours or more. It's ALWAYS a good idea to call ahead even if it's just an hour or two in advance. I don't know of many restaurants in this area worth going to on a Thursday-Sunday who could accommodate walk-ins, and for some that applies week-round. And these aren't necessarily Michelin-starred places - we're talking where a couple could get away for less than 40 euros for dinner and drinks.

It's always nerve-wracking to pick up the phone in another country to try to make a reservation, and a lot of great places do not take online reservations, but in my experience, it's worth it.

As for the overall topic, I think "eating where the locals eat" depends on the kind of experience you're looking for. Quick lunch? Probably doesn't matter. Do you want an authentic food experience surrounded by mostly locals with fresh ingredients, seasonal menus, good service, etc? Those are the places locals go and they're special and worth seeking out, at least once or twice in your trip.

For example, I took a group of visitors to a seasonal winery restaurant tonight (Besenwirtschaft). I'd called ahead an hour in advance (I had backup options), the place was packed, we shared a table with an adult man taking his mom out for a evening out, they'd traveled 30 minutes for, who didn't speak any English but very much wanted to engage with the rest of us. We enjoyed local wine, I pointed them to the dishes the restaurant is famous for, everyone loved the food and atmosphere while the local music club, taking up two tables, kept bursting into traditional song. This kind of place, in a suburb of a city, would be next-to-impossible for a tourist to find but is exactly where the locals go for a special night out, and my visitors told me it was the highlight of their trip.

So yes, I think there is wisdom in "eat where the locals eat" but it depends on the context.

It would appear the some posters have taken my title and post absolutely literally. The point I made is that the staunch advice given by many, including Rick Steves and those who hang onto his every word that in order to experience a good meal then you must eat where the locals eat, this is evidently not true.

Of course there are some excellent restaurants where locals eat but there are just as many crap ones so the advice is redundant. Another example just to demonstrate that my earlier observation wasn't just a thin anecdote was yesterday in the culinary heaven of Benehavis in Spain. It has a well deserved reputation of hosting the greatest concentration of good restaurants on the Costa Del Sol, I've eaten there many times and never gad a bad meal. Walking around at lunchtime I came across a small restaurant that was very busy, at least some of them were clearly locals such as the painter in overalls and paint on his hands and also Spanish was the only language heard. The laminated and faded menus contained images of the food offered (pretty much a guaranteed bad sign), prices were very cheap and the food looked distinctly unappetising. Other restaurants, some that I know serve excellent food were very quiet. Admittedly it's low season but the food being served in some of those restaurants was in a different league to the busy one so clearly other factors are involved.

Now some people aren't interested in good food, some see it as simply fuel and if they can get it cheap then even better however the advice regarding where to find good food is not aimed at those people. There are many people who ask for recommendations for good food yet far too often they're given the glib response of "eat where the locals eat" which is such a meaningless response because there are so many variables. Some posters have responded with accounts of being far off the beaten track and finding fantastic places full of locals but of course they will. Areas that rarely see tourists are going to be limited in the number of restaurants so the handful that are good will be full of locals but that's missing the point I was making. For most posters on this forum, their travelnplans are taking them to the big, popular places, places that are full of restaurants both good and bad. This is where the advice to eat like a local is a fallacy.

And OP has not debunked anything.

I debunked the mantra in precisely the place I was at the time, it was all explained in the post.

Avoiding anywhere where English is on the menu is decades old advice and is demonstrably untrue. Look at the websites of any of the best restaurants in the world (regarded by critics and those who know what good food is) and inevitably you'll find an option to view the site and menu in English.

To eschew a restsurant simply because it has a menu written in English is foolish to say the least.

The OP erred in his analysis, even though the necessary facts are all present: Spain is a poor country compared to USA & a lot of the EU. Naturally, Spanish locals are going to opt for less expensive, lower quality food than are rich Americans, French, Germans. Even Brits are rich compared to Spain. That's why so many of them retire to the Costa del Sol. The only proper way to benefit from the eat like locals advice is to control your selection by local relative price. A Spanish restaurant that's middle class for a Brit is deluxe for Spaniards, and its not right to compare it to McDonald class local eateries..

The best, and perhaps only way to properly implement "eat where the locals do" is by using the Michelin Red Guide where restaurants can be graded by both price & quality..

So JC how do you define good food?

Food that's cooked well, using good quality and fresh ingredients, ideally seasonal.

And yes, cider does go well with chicken but only good quality cider. Strongbow doesn't go with anything, it's crap.

Spain is a poor country compared to USA & a lot of the EU. Naturally, Spanish locals are going to opt for less expensive, lower quality food than are rich Americans, French, Germans. Even Brits are rich compared to Spain. That's why so many of them retire to the Costa del Sol. The only proper way to benefit from the eat like locals advice is to control your selection by local relative price. A Spanish restaurant that's middle class for a Brit is deluxe for Spaniards, and its not right to compare it to McDonald class local eateries.

@kb1942 - sorry but your assessment is quite frankly antiquated and a tad ethno-centric. You paint Spain as some impoverished backwater nation compared to the mighty USA and GB, maybe your assessment would have some measure of validity back in the 1950s, after our civil war, but 60 years on there is no place for it.

Do you know by 2040 Spain will have the highest life expectancy in the world, of any major industrialised nation, even ahead of Japan? Guess where the USA will be, 64th., overtaken by China. A major part of that US-based study was determined to be access to fresh quality food/ingredients and local eating habits.

Since you brought up Michelin, guess what region of the world has the highest Michelin Stars per capita... in France? no. In GB? no. must be Italy? try again... its in Spain in the Basque region. Guess which restaurant has been constantly ranked in the top 3 best restaurants in the world for the past 5-6 years? hint it's in Spain.

You make the mistake of equating a higher price with better quality. Here in the States, I constantly pay more for less in terms of quality food, compared to back home in Spain, which is constantly easier to eat healthier and frankly better than in many of the "rich" countries you list.

The OP erred in his analysis, even though the necessary facts are all
present: Spain is a poor country compared to USA & a lot of the EU.
Naturally, Spanish locals are going to opt for less expensive, lower
quality food than are rich Americans, French, Germans. Even Brits are
rich compared to Spain. That's why so many of them retire to the Costa
del Sol. The only proper way to benefit from the eat like locals
advice is to control your selection by local relative price. A Spanish
restaurant that's middle class for a Brit is deluxe for Spaniards, and
its not right to compare it to McDonald class local eateries.. The
best, and perhaps only way to properly implement "eat where the locals
do" is by using the Michelin Red Guide where restaurants can be graded
by both price & quality..

You obviously have a lot to learn, you do realise that the cost of living varies from country to country and that price is a poor way to identify quality.... And as for the Michelin guide, the Swiss listing shows the cheapest lunch menu at 35 francs and as a local
i'd say that is about 50% over the odds for a good lunch at a local restaurant. But it's your money to spend as you wish.

I agree with you JC. Here in the SF Bay Area, eating where locals eat is not indicative that it’s good food. Lots of locals eat in places that are not good imo, and where i would not eat.

We just don't put this much thought into it. We are usually tired and hangry by the time we decide to eat, wander around wherever we are and if it smells good, menu looks good in our price point we eat there. This has served us well and we have had some awful meals. We usually stay in Apartments when we travel and land up in non-touristy areas and as a result we walk to dinner and land up in restaurants were no one speaks English and we fumble our way through the menu using google translate so I know what kind of meat we are ordering.

I always make a list of well researched restaurants, but when we are there it never seems to pan out unless the restaurant is an actual destination, like in Paris when a friend recommended a restaurant within walking distance from the Eiffel Tower, which was planned and was delicious.

If I was to follow this rather vague and unhelpful advice in the US I'd end up spending most of my time in Denny's or Applebees.

I don't know anyone who eats at Denny's or Appleby's. Really inferior food, bad drinks.

I don't know anyone who eats at Denny's or Appleby's. Really inferior food, bad drinks.

They're always busy when I've passed them, presumably with locals and you're right, really inferior food and bad drinks. Proves my point somewhat doesn't it?

I don't know anyone who eats at Denny's or Appleby's. Really inferior food, bad drinks.

Folks viewing and/or participating in this forum are in all likelihoood not the 40% or so of the Americans who are just getting by (or not getting by). Folks interested in traveling overseas, even traveling super economy (budget airlines and cash only BnBs) are likely to have different tastes than "going out" for a meal is McDs and Appleby's is a celebratory outing.

And that said, when traveling about the USA, a Denny's breakfast of Appleby's lunch may be best within a half tank of gas. Places like Wagontire, Oregon don't even have a Dairy Queen.

Applebees, and others like it, does prove the point JC. The Applebees here in Marin, a wealthy county, is always packed. I’d never willingly eat there.
Everyone has different standards / criteria, even people with money, so “eat where the locals eat” is a false indicator that the food is good.

...a false indicator that the food is good.

"Good" may mean different things to different folks. My mother-in-law observed after moving to a small town on the Oregon coast that when a local said that a resturant is "good" they are likely refering to the quantity served.

Yeah, it gets beyond silly with this insistence on locals purity. I live next to an IHOP and if you walked in there and demanded to see everyone’s ID, you’d see that they’re mostly Chicago within a short distance of the restaurant. So, why don’t us locals in the know go to that secret diner that only locals know of? It doesn’t really exist. There’s one place that used to be excellent but it’s changed owners and names so many times, it’s just a joke now. And, quite frankly, I’m not traveling all over the city for diner food. The IHOP does its job for late night drunk food as well as breakfast in the morning when you wake up and just see beer and a bottle of ketchup in the fridge.

There was a local quick Mexican place nearby that just got shut down by the department of revenue. I assume some sort of tax evasion since their food was under $10 but they didn’t accept cards for under $10.

Anyway,I think the whole live like a local thing gets blown out of proportion. Most people when they’re in Munich don’t get invited to the friendly local beer hall and sing German drinking songs with the locals while hoisting litres of lager. If you want to meet people from the U.K. stay in a premier inn. Yes, it’s a sterile chain, but it’s known for good value in the U.K. and unknown in the USA for the most part. Most of the locals aren’t seeking out Ye Olde Cute and Quaint B&B and lingering for hours having tea with the owner.

Edgar, you’re so right and you made me smile because i know people like that.
When i say good, i mean healthy, locally sourced, sustainable, possibly organic.
Lots of restaurants like that in the SF Bay Area...and lots of Applebees (and similar) too.

Edgar we have about the same impression as you MIL! We’ve only two or three restaurants in our town of 10000 where we darken the door. We drove 90 minutes for lunch the other day.

There is a place just around the corner from where I live that my wife and I go to fairly frequently. It is in our neighborhood, has great outdoor seating, a good beer list, sports on the tv's... but just average food. It is usually packed. I think the many others go there for most of the same reasons we do. It makes for a great local place. And we know what to order and what not to order as some items are pretty decent and some items we have had are not very good at all.

If giving recommendations to a visitor, or taking a guest out to dinner, we would NOT suggest this place. There are several other much nicer restaurants, ranging in type and price. And we go to some of those a lot too, but they are mostly not our "local" place.

I think that is the message that JC is trying to get across.

A good local Chicago example: The Rick Bayless Mexican restaurants. They cater mostly to tourists, are expensive, and he is famous and has a national brand. But they are excellent and worth eating at and I highly recommend them. Are there cheaper Mexican restaurants in the Pilsen neighborhood with great food? Yes and they are a worthy experience too. But the Bayless experience will be much finer and just as memorable (if different).

And I would add that there is a significant distinction between a restaurant that is good but caters to mostly tourists, and a restaurant that serves cheap food to unsuspecting tourists for over-inflated prices.

‘Eat where the locals do’ is in the same erroneous wisdom department as ‘rent an apartment and live like a local.’

I live in close proximity to a well touristed area (Niagara). Plenty of locals eat at Mcdonalds, Boston Pizza and Red Lobster. In mainland Europe, a no English menu is no guarantee of good food, nor is hearing English spoken at an outside patio a guarantee of bad food. Does anyone really go up to patrons at a restaurant and ask if they are locals? An Italian eating at a restaurant in Rome may be from Milan for the week, and know just as little as you do.

Yes, you can ask around, but I’ve heeded advice before and not been overly impressed by either the food or the situation. If I find a restaurant I like very much, I’m likely to go back at the expense of trying out a new place.

I don't know anyone who eats at Denny's

When you're in your college years of twenties, Denny's is the place that serves food 24 hours a day and is the place you stop when you're driving home from the rock concert that was 2-3 hours away and need a break fora snack and reasonably clean toilet access. Sp my first association with Denny's is 'I had short term hearing loss when I was there' rather than anything about the quality of the food.

And plenty of tourists are just looking for validation of their restaurant choices when they ask a local for their favorite food picks rather than really wanting to hear our genuine opinion. So I've kind of given up on suggestions when asked.

Plenty of Americans, of all ages, eat at Denny’s on a regular basis.

Going to add a few different points. Because I have lived in Frankfurt for over 3 decades, would you say I am now a local? That said when I go out with my daughter or English speaking friends, we speak English with each other. Not alone here as many large cities have huge numbers of expats living there who are going to speak their native language when out and about. Would you avoid the restaurant if you heard us chatting with each other when you walked by our patio table? We eat at a wide variety of places, lots of ethnic as well as the Frankfurt-style of food, which is what tourists want when they visit. Would you trust my advice for a German restaurant? Some of them are very popular with tourists as well as with locals, but that doesn't mean I will recommend them. How do you think Rick has found the places he recommends in his book? His guides in those cities? Recommendations from the hotel reception? Are they all locals? Maybe they are and maybe they aren't.

When I visit the US, sometimes I want to have breakfast in a restaurant, something that isn't really available in Frankfurt and for me that will be pancakes, sausage gravy, biscuits, or even fried mush. That means Dennys, Waffle House or Bob Evans. I may even go to Popeyes or Taco Bell later in the day. Not really a local anymore, but sorta, kinda. Lots of locals are going to eat here too because it is cheap or they JUST like the taste!

I do read Trip Advisor reviews, sometimes in English, sometimes in German. Most of them are NOT fake and they address things that interest me, like the service, cleanliness, photos from guests, authenticity. I also write reviews either because everything was fantastic or it was awful. Most people are the same. Who spends time writing reviews for an average meal?

Gunderson - I agree with the 'if I found somewhere good to eat I'll go back.'

Last time we were in Venice (2014), we ate at a lovely restaurant and I 'starred' them on my map. When we returned to Venice in Sept, we ate supper on 2 of our 4 nights there and enjoyed it just as much. (I'm also going to go out on a limb and say when we were there, it seemed like mostly tourists there).

Same with Vienna - we went to a delicious pizza place (which was recommended in a guide book) and ended up eating there on 2 of our 5 days in Vienna (and I won't say how many times we got gelato at Zanoni & Zanoni during those 5 days). In Paris, there was a burger place we liked so when we went back a few years later, we returned. In Amsterdam, ate at the same pasta place twice in 4 days. (I'm even going to admit to going to the same Olive Garden in Bangor, Maine and the same Cheesecake Factory in Boston during a couple different visits - because we don't have those restaurants here and it's a novelty for us).

"Plenty of Americans, of all ages, eat at Denny's on a regular basis." How true, and not only of all ages but of all ethnic groups. Check out the Denny's near SFO.

"Would you trust my advice for a German restaurant?" In Frankfurt yes.