BigRuss

<<On visiting NYC the restaurants and shopping are the main attractions for us. Doesn't have to be expensive, we look for the kind of restaurants we don't have at home. So a good Mexican, a steak house. >>

If you're getting Mexican in NYC, you're only about 1500-1800 miles away from where you should be . . .

ira

Hi B,

If you want to go to a top place, eg NOMO, Etxebarri, you <i>have</i> to make reservations well in advance.

suze

Not me. Rarely research restaurants in advance. But I'm not picky and don't care about going to the finest places.

StCirq

I love food, but am not a fussy/picky food traveler and have little interest in plonking down large sums of money for a meal. I totally understand how people love the experience of wonderful food (I'm a decent cook and love to feed people, so I get that) and "presentation" but that's not my own favorite type of travel experience...I'm far more bowled over by beautiful scenery or a simple, lovingly prepared meal with a local family somewhere. I'm usually in a very relaxed state when traveling, so unless it's someplace I don't go often (India, Africa, the Caribbean...), I don't plan ahead. In Paris, for example, I never do any research in advance. I either go places I already know or enjoy discovering new ones. And if I end up having a bad meal, which rarely happens, it's not going to ruin my day. My eating habits when traveling tend toward the "stumbling over something," not planning in advance. I like the immediacy of discovery, whether it ends up being good or bad.

tuscanlifeedit

I plan ahead and often reserve from home. It's not about "fancy" or Michelin starred. Sometimes, one needs to reserve a table at even a family restaurant if the food is good and the place is popular.

I do care a lot about what I eat, as well as what I see and where I sleep. My travel time and money are limited and I want the very most from what I have to spend. And we tend to save our dining out budget for travel.

I like art. If I am traveling to see an exhibit, I'm certainly going to make sure I know what the hours are, and if advanced tickets are necessary.

I treat dining the same way.

If one eats primarily for fuel, this wouldn't be an issue, would it? If one eats for entertainment and sensory pleasure, researching and reserving restaurants becomes more of a focus.

Ackislander

"How do foodies self define?"

This not a self definition but refers to a friend who is an inveterate traveler. When asked why he had never visited Norway or Sweden, he replied with two words: "No food." He also doesn't do scenery.

When he later had to go to both for work, he found no reason to change his mind.

Tulips

BigRuss - try finding Mexican food in Belgium.
NYC is not Mexico, easier to get to from here - and much better Mexican food than what we can find here.

indyhiker

"I always research restaurants - I've had my best dining experiences that way.

The chances that you are going to just accidentally stumble across the best food in town by staggering down a blind alley is pretty slim. And there's no easier way to spoil a pleasant evening than wandering around, not knowing where to go, not being able to get into anywhere that looks decent and ending up in some local chain."

This. Some of my first big trips were solo to Paris, and while dining options were plentiful to say the least, they also felt overwhelming. I found myself going around in circles. Big indecisive circles. For future trips, I compiled a list of places--mostly in the neighborhood where I was staying--that I wanted to try and that were generally well reviewed and within my budget. It took some of the anxiety out of my travels.

Certainly, we (I'm now married) have traveled to places--mostly Stateside--where I didn't feel any great need to do much advance research, but I still find it helpful to do some of that legwork before leaving home, if only because it frees us up to concentrate on other things during the trip and increases the chances that we'll have a memorable meal. We're headed to San Francisco and points north next year, and I'm starting to gather a list of places that I'd like to try and, likely, reserve in advance. Doing research in advance also gives me an idea of how much money to budget for food.

laurela

Always research restaurants, write a list of places we'd like to go, change it and change it again... then book ahead via internet about 80% of the time. It's a big part of our trip planning. I don't consider us "foodies," but we would be disappointed at having a bad meal on vacation.

joannyc

I used to research restaurants before leaving for a trip so I'd have a list of well-reviewed places to try in each location.

These days, I use my iPad to do the research while on the trip during "cocktail hour"!

If I know of a very good restaurant that I want to go beforehand, I do make a reservation from home far enough in advance to get the date/time I want.