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How do you find these small town gems in the US? I've lived in a very expensive city and a medium cost of living city in the US and the lower quality of restau

by vostok 5y ago

How do you find these small town gems in the US? I've lived in a very expensive city and a medium cost of living city in the US and the lower quality of restaurants is the biggest difference for me. There are some very famous and very expensive restaurants, but even those places have been disappointing too frequently. It's often something really basic like the food being too salty. This wasn't as much of a problem in the very expensive city. It's unlikely that my taste buds have gotten more sensitive because I lived in the more expensive city at a younger age and taste buds get less sensitive as you get older to my knowledge. Almost every attempt at finding a small town gem has not really worked out for me in the US. In countries like France, I know that I can find small town gems just by checking the Michelin guide. I can go to Vonnas (population 3000) and find a great restaurant just by checking the Michelin guide. I would love to do that in the US.

ghaff 5y ago
In the US, it's probably most likely to be regional food. Like I've had good Southwestern food in smaller places in New Mexico. On the other hand, not really middle of nowhere small. In my experience, the pickings are pretty slim in most small towns.
- vostok 5y ago
  I would love to hear how to find these places! I'm in the midwest, but I'm willing to travel for food. Southwestern, tacos, Boreal, tagine, American, sandwiches, Polish, sushi, Tamil, no cuisine. It's all good to me. Some farms and wineries have restaurants out here, but they don't have too many reviews so it's hard to tell if they're good or not.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    If you're staying in a B&B, the host will often have a list of recommended places. Yes, reviews are hit and miss, although still better than nothing. You do have to sort through a lot. I live in a small town and the pickings in general are slim. But, there's a good restaurant (yes, attached to a winery) maybe 20 minutes down the road.
  - bshep 5y ago
    Cant tell you how to find em but one that sticks in memory is in Phoenix, Az, me and the wife found this by accident, it was so good we came back a couple of time during our stay in Phoenix. http://www.lesanssoucirestaurant.com/ http://www.lesanssoucirestaurant.com/
screye 5y ago
> find these small town gems in the US Often the local subreddit is a great place to look. Also, old trip advisor Q&A threads if it is moderately touristy. (But not reviews) I really like the Eater guide. Especially their posts where it is popular local chefs talking about their favorite restaurants. These posts aren't usually highlighted to you have to go digging a bit to find it. Local youtubers are also great resources, if you know how to find them. The fewer subscribers the better. Yelp can work sometimes. Yelp's top restaurants are usually 'mass appeal' places. If there is a top rated restaurant that looks totally out of place, it is very likely a local gem. If nothing works then go for the classic combination: "Locally owned - Long queue - Fast service" Special green-flags: - Ethnic restaurant has more ethnic people than white people. - Asian restaurant only has photos and no English menu - Indian restaurant is full + a 3 star rating on Yelp - Ethnic restaurant does not have the name of the home country or cuisine in it. - American restaurant that's open for only half the day, or till supplies last
robocat 5y ago
Small (usually ethnic) places run by one chef or one family and not in the city centre are where I find the best food in my town in New Zealand (400,000). They also tend to be amazingly good value (or perhaps I optimise for that too?) But I am not sure how you could find them as a stranger to town. As a generalisation, I have found that high quality restaurants occur in towns where there is the demand for them. This requires that there is a significant population of customers who eat out enough, pay enough, and are discerning enough to keep restaurants up to standard. My town (Christchurch) doesn’t really have the culture, so the quality of the majority of places isn’t great. Wellington has a similar population but it has much better restaurants (including in the city centre), because the demographics of Wellington tends towards more disposable income and more foodie culture, so the people that go out often really know what tastes good. The other significant issue with New Zealand is that the majority of restaurants are delivered their produce and food by restaurant supplier companies; food which often is no better than what you may get at the supermarket. You can really notice the difference when you eat home grown veges or home kill meat - some of the most memorable meals I have had have been simple ones at people’s homes. There needs to be a food culture to care about taste enough for restaurants to seek out better tasting food ingredients. Take care when asking locals for advice, including young people working in hospo. They are often not foodies so they don’t suggest something that is any good... instead they might mention a new place or a popular place (or even worse, a tourist place).
- bombcar 5y ago
  Yeah, one way to find them in the USA would be to find all the restaurants that do NOT have Sysco deliveries.
  - listenallyall 5y ago
    I've been saying this for years. Forget "organic" or "free-range" or "local", all of which can still be arranged via Sysco. But if a restaurant advertised "Sysco-free", that would be highly appealing.

by vostok 5y ago

ghaff 5y ago

In the US, it's probably most likely to be regional food. Like I've had good Southwestern food in smaller places in New Mexico. On the other hand, not really middle of nowhere small. In my experience, the pickings are pretty slim in most small towns.

vostok 5y ago
I would love to hear how to find these places! I'm in the midwest, but I'm willing to travel for food. Southwestern, tacos, Boreal, tagine, American, sandwiches, Polish, sushi, Tamil, no cuisine. It's all good to me. Some farms and wineries have restaurants out here, but they don't have too many reviews so it's hard to tell if they're good or not.
- ghaff 5y ago
  If you're staying in a B&B, the host will often have a list of recommended places. Yes, reviews are hit and miss, although still better than nothing. You do have to sort through a lot. I live in a small town and the pickings in general are slim. But, there's a good restaurant (yes, attached to a winery) maybe 20 minutes down the road.
- bshep 5y ago
  Cant tell you how to find em but one that sticks in memory is in Phoenix, Az, me and the wife found this by accident, it was so good we came back a couple of time during our stay in Phoenix. http://www.lesanssoucirestaurant.com/ http://www.lesanssoucirestaurant.com/

screye 5y ago

> find these small town gems in the US Often the local subreddit is a great place to look. Also, old trip advisor Q&A threads if it is moderately touristy. (But not reviews) I really like the Eater guide. Especially their posts where it is popular local chefs talking about their favorite restaurants. These posts aren't usually highlighted to you have to go digging a bit to find it. Local youtubers are also great resources, if you know how to find them. The fewer subscribers the better. Yelp can work sometimes. Yelp's top restaurants are usually 'mass appeal' places. If there is a top rated restaurant that looks totally out of place, it is very likely a local gem. If nothing works then go for the classic combination: "Locally owned - Long queue - Fast service" Special green-flags: - Ethnic restaurant has more ethnic people than white people. - Asian restaurant only has photos and no English menu - Indian restaurant is full + a 3 star rating on Yelp - Ethnic restaurant does not have the name of the home country or cuisine in it. - American restaurant that's open for only half the day, or till supplies last

robocat 5y ago

Small (usually ethnic) places run by one chef or one family and not in the city centre are where I find the best food in my town in New Zealand (400,000). They also tend to be amazingly good value (or perhaps I optimise for that too?) But I am not sure how you could find them as a stranger to town. As a generalisation, I have found that high quality restaurants occur in towns where there is the demand for them. This requires that there is a significant population of customers who eat out enough, pay enough, and are discerning enough to keep restaurants up to standard. My town (Christchurch) doesn’t really have the culture, so the quality of the majority of places isn’t great. Wellington has a similar population but it has much better restaurants (including in the city centre), because the demographics of Wellington tends towards more disposable income and more foodie culture, so the people that go out often really know what tastes good. The other significant issue with New Zealand is that the majority of restaurants are delivered their produce and food by restaurant supplier companies; food which often is no better than what you may get at the supermarket. You can really notice the difference when you eat home grown veges or home kill meat - some of the most memorable meals I have had have been simple ones at people’s homes. There needs to be a food culture to care about taste enough for restaurants to seek out better tasting food ingredients. Take care when asking locals for advice, including young people working in hospo. They are often not foodies so they don’t suggest something that is any good... instead they might mention a new place or a popular place (or even worse, a tourist place).

bombcar 5y ago
Yeah, one way to find them in the USA would be to find all the restaurants that do NOT have Sysco deliveries.
- listenallyall 5y ago
  I've been saying this for years. Forget "organic" or "free-range" or "local", all of which can still be arranged via Sysco. But if a restaurant advertised "Sysco-free", that would be highly appealing.