• About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Family Travels on a Budget

Travel with kids: theme park family deals, cruise ships for kids and best cruise lines for teens and other cool places to visit, including adult getaways

  • Home
  • Travel guides
  • Cruising
  • Destinations
    • USA
      • Alabama
      • Florida
      • Georgia
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Louisiana
      • Maryland
      • New York
      • North Carolina
      • Ohio
      • Oklahoma
      • Oregon
      • Pennsylvania
      • South Carolina
      • Texas
      • Utah
      • Virginia
      • Washington, DC
    • World
      • Bahamas/Caribbean
      • Canada
      • China
      • France
      • Mexico
      • Spain
  • Interests
    • Adventure
    • Arts/Culture
    • Beaches
    • Fitness
    • Food
    • Girlfriend Getaways
    • History
    • Kid Fun
    • Romantic Escapes
    • Teens and Tweens
    • Theme Parks and Zoos
      • Disney
      • Universal Studios
      • Other Theme Parks
      • Zoos
  • Reviews
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Products
    • Tech
    • Books
  • Travel Tips
    • Air Travel
    • Budget
    • Packing
    • Planning
    • Roadtrips
  • At home
    • Recipes
    • Shopping
    • Staycations

Home » planning » Why eating local is a great vacation option

Why eating local is a great vacation option

May 24, 2015 by Karen Dawkins 25 Comments

As an Amazon affiliate, and affiliate with other businesses, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Pin
Share
Tweet

Local restaurants may not look great on the outside but the food tastes great!

Today’s post comes from my friend, Julia, who happens to be a food editor for Paula Deen Magazine. I figure, if we’re going to talk food, why not go to someone who eats her work and then writes about it every day! Here’s Julia…

I love good food, and there’s nothing I love more than finding a great local spot to chow down. I’m a full supporter of eating local (meaning not a chain restaurant), both in my hometown and others. It supports local businesses, local farmers, local producers, and in turn, helps to support the economy of the town.

I travel quite a bit and always make it a point to eat at local restaurants in my destination. Once I have my trip scheduled, the first thing I always do is plan out the restaurants I’m going to eat at. I look at local and regional magazines and newspapers for the area, check out Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Urbanspoon, ask friends for recommendations, and sometimes will even just Google “best restaurants in ____.” Normally, one of these options yields a great list of places to check out.

Save up to $43 on LEGOLAND Florida Resort tickets!

It makes me sad when I see people go on vacation to great food cities and eat at major chain restaurants. I once saw a Facebook friend “check in” to a chain Italian restaurant in Times Square on a trip to New York City, and all I could think was that some of the best Italian food in the United States is just a short subway ride away in Little Italy. I know chains are convenient and you always know what you’re going to get with them, but I’m here to tell you why I think it’s so important to eat local on your vacations.

Pizza in NYC

Get a taste of culture

Probably the best aspect of eating local is the taste of the culture it gives you. Each state/region/country has its own food specialties it is known for. You wouldn’t go up north to get barbecue, down south for clam chowder, or the Midwest for Caribbean cuisine, so why eat at a chain restaurant that serves all of that, no matter the region?

Traveling is all about experiencing new cultures, and the best way to do that is through food. If you visit Miami, you can get a taste of Cuban culture through their many Cuban restaurants and sandwich shops. If you go down South, you’ll find fried chicken and collards the way Southern grandmothers have been making them for years. If you go to Italy, you’ll learn how regions influence the pasta dishes in each place.

Cuban Food Miami

Learning through food is the best way to really understand a culture. Everyone comes together over food, but what that food is, how it’s served, and where it comes from is unique to each region. It can be hard for younger children to understand the idea of culture, but by visiting local restaurants, culture is already built in.

Eat better

As I’ve already stated, eating local is the best taste of a place’s culture. And who better to cook the regional specialties for you than the locals? I can almost always guarantee you that you will be eating better food at the local restaurants. If a place is known for a regional specialty, you can bet the local restaurants will be doing it well since they’re in the heart of the region and have probably been cooking it for years. In the South, you know you’ll find the best barbecue at a tiny shack that’s slow-smoking a limited amount of meat out back versus a restaurant that’s pumping out barbecue sandwiches a mile a minute.

But most importantly, local restaurants turn to local farmers, producers, and suppliers for their food. The produce and meats are fresher because they’re not being mass shipped to restaurants and traveling hundreds of miles to get to the restaurant. Local restaurants are using food available in the region. It’s fresh, it’s not frozen, and it’s not loaded with preservatives to withstand a long journey. For example, in Maine, you know the lobster on your plate is fresh because you can see the catch being brought in daily. I’m not ordering Maine lobster from a place 10 states away or ordering saltwater seafood from a place in the Midwest.

Support the destination

Eating local also helps to support the town or city you’re visiting. Supporting local businesses supports the local families who run them, who then put that money back into the economy of the town. And when a local restaurant does well, so do its local farmers and suppliers. Now that’s the kind of restaurant chain that I like!

To find local restaurants in the area you’re visiting, do some preliminary research but also ask around when you get there. The local people will be able to tell you the best spots, and if you find a great local restaurant, ask the people behind the counter for other recommendations. Local businesses love supporting other local businesses and will always point you in the right direction.

Pin
Share
Tweet

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Filed Under: Food, Interests, planning

Please keep in touch. Our FACEBOOK community is active, and a great place to ask questions. On TWITTER, I share great content from destinations around the world. Follow our adventures on INSTAGRAM — we love to answer questions during trips. And, we’re on PINTEREST saving all sorts of great content from around the web.

Comments

  1. Ab UK says

    June 24, 2022 at 7:44 am

    WOW nice article!

    Reply
  2. Holly @ Woman Tribune says

    May 31, 2015 at 12:15 am

    We love eating local whenever we’re in a new area. We always look at a travel app for the best local eats, and then end up loving it and wanting to go back as soon as we can!

    Reply
    • Karen Dawkins says

      June 1, 2015 at 12:22 pm

      What’s your favorite travel app for eating local? I like Open Table and yelp!

      Reply
  3. rocky says

    May 29, 2015 at 12:41 pm

    totally agree… great article and thanks for sharing

    Reply
    • Karen Dawkins says

      June 1, 2015 at 12:22 pm

      Thanks, Rocky! Glad to hear the #EatLocal movement is catching on with people.

      Reply
  4. Manu Kalia says

    May 29, 2015 at 8:09 am

    I agree with this, Me and my wife always love to eat in our local restaurant because we trust the chief and the management.

    Reply
    • Karen Dawkins says

      June 1, 2015 at 12:21 pm

      Do you have a favorite local restaurant or chef?

      Reply
  5. Esther says

    May 28, 2015 at 11:15 pm

    I totally agree. I used to always eat at the chain stores until my brother visited me and wanted to try the tastes of the city and took me to some locally owned restaurants and wow the food was delicious. Now I check out new places to eat whenever I travel somewhere new.

    Reply
    • Karen Dawkins says

      June 1, 2015 at 12:21 pm

      YAY!!!! You have a wise brother. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Stephanie says

    May 28, 2015 at 7:06 pm

    my husband is so good about this. He loves to eat local even at home.

    Reply
    • Karen Dawkins says

      May 28, 2015 at 8:58 pm

      That’s how we are —- even our pizza is from a local place!

      Reply
  7. CourtneyLynne says

    May 28, 2015 at 5:58 pm

    i always try and eat local when on vacation! I love eating at restaurants I can’t eat in my own town! Being a foodie I love trying local cuisine and checking out local chefs as well!

    Reply
    • Karen Dawkins says

      May 28, 2015 at 8:58 pm

      CourtneyLynne,

      If you ever get to Niagara Falls, USA, the culinary institute has a great restaurant — one of my favorites. The chef students are supervised in the kitchen and create some amazing dishes. I’m sure a lot of culinary schools offer something similar, but SAVOR is my favorite! You might just find the next “big chef” before they’re famous!

      Reply
  8. Dogvills says

    May 28, 2015 at 5:42 pm

    I try to eat local when I travel. It gives us a taste of the culture and the vibe

    Reply
    • Karen Dawkins says

      May 28, 2015 at 8:56 pm

      I’m so glad people have caught on to this! Do you have a favorite culinary region or destination?

      Reply
  9. Elizabeth O. says

    May 28, 2015 at 8:33 am

    I’ve been hearing about eating with the locals. I think that is a great opportunity to sample the local dishes, home-cooked and you don’t normally find in restaurants.

    Reply
    • Karen Dawkins says

      May 28, 2015 at 8:45 am

      Do you mean dining at people’s homes? There is a whole website out there dedicated to that. I can’t remember its name, but what a fabulous idea.

      We’ve met people through travel that ended up becoming lifelong friends. Visiting them means I get to try home cooked local food now!

      Reply
  10. Dina says

    May 28, 2015 at 8:18 am

    What a timeless important article. We are heading out in a few days. One of our favorite restaurants when we go on vacation is a local pizza joint. It’s got such great food! Can’t wait to get back there.

    Reply
    • Karen Dawkins says

      May 28, 2015 at 8:43 am

      Where are you going? I have a favorite pizza place in three different cities! 🙂

      Reply
  11. Uplifting Families says

    May 27, 2015 at 11:43 pm

    We are guilty of eating at a chain when we travel. We do it because we are familiar with the food. My husband travels quite a but and he has found a few hole in the wall places to try.

    Reply
    • Karen Dawkins says

      May 28, 2015 at 8:43 am

      We eat at chains when traveling because that familiarity makes ordering quick and the food is consistent. We get back on the road quicker. (And there aren’t all that many local restaurants at highway exits).

      If you want to venture out, lunchtime is great for that. Kids will always find burgers and familiar foods on menus, but mom and dad can get creative!

      Reply
  12. Liz Mays says

    May 27, 2015 at 11:29 am

    I completely agree about trying local independent restaurants when traveling. That’s how you get the best flavor and feel of the location!

    Reply
    • Karen Dawkins says

      May 28, 2015 at 8:41 am

      Did the food of a place ever make you love it more?

      Reply
  13. Robin Rue (@massholemommy) says

    May 27, 2015 at 9:12 am

    We always try to eat at local places when we travel. It makes the trip and experience more unique that way.

    Reply
    • Karen Dawkins says

      May 28, 2015 at 8:41 am

      When our kids hit age 12-ish, we moved to eating local. Made a huge impact on our travels! And now, we recreate recipes from wherever we go and enjoy dinner at home a lot more too!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Meet Karen Dawkins

An avid traveler, I enjoy discovering new places: history, culture, and adventure. I love it all! Well, not bugs. I don’t like bugs very much, so I probably won’t visit a bug museum.

Read More

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

**This site may contain affiliate links and sponsored posts for which I earn a small commission to help cover the costs of running a blog.**

We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme Theme URI: http://my.studiopress.com/themes/news/ Description: A mobile responsive and HTML5 theme built for the Genesis Framework. Author: StudioPress Author URI: http://www.studiopress.com/ Version: 3.0.2 Tags: black, red, white, one-column, two-columns, three-columns, responsive-layout, custom-menu, full-width-template, sticky-post, theme-options, threaded-comments, translation-ready, premise-landing-page Template: genesis Template Version: 2.0.1 License: GPL-2.0+ License URI: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in