For those visiting a new city, it is possible to become overwhelmed with the sheer amount of choices relating to beverages and eateries. Even with ratings lists like Yelp or TripAdvisor, finding the right place to hang out, enjoying drinks and food with families and friends, can be difficult. Fortunately, there are a few attributes by which to rank restaurants. Here are two.
Food
The food in a restaurant is consistently ranked as one of the top reasons people choose to visit a restaurant. And not all food is created equal. For instance, every city has the standard “chain” restaurants that generally serve tasty food but may lack that ‘wow’ factor and what could take the food to the next level.
Even strong chains like Macaroni Grill for Italian food may suffer next to an Italian restaurant own by locals or next to a higher-priced but much more sumptuous meal at a down Italian restaurant. Researching the chefs in the city before you travel is one of the ways to get to know a city’s cuisine, and what might be good but what might not be.
There are some interesting statistics surrounding food in restaurants. For instance, for burgers, 75% of burger-lovers rank the quality of the burger meat as being the first or second most important factor of enjoyment. However, 42% rank toppings on a burger as the first or second most important factor as well.
It can be useful to know what kind of food you like but be prepared to step outside of your comfort zone. Trying something new is a risk but with many rewards.
Drinks
Drinks are another important factor in finding food in a metropolitan area. Drinks may vary, for instance, in a party hall venue, to local watering holes, to pubs, and even to a craft beer restaurant. Many restaurants sometimes place the drinks factor ahead of the food factor when appealing to potential customer. Let’s take a look at craft beer bars.
In 2014, 41% of U.S. drinkers surveyed said they drink beer, with wine at 31% and 23% liquor. Beer has a following. Craft beer, in particular, has a culture surrounding it that has led to festivals, both local and regional. The craft beer market is worth $19.6 billion and and young people are more prone to drink it; 48% of those aged between 18-34 chose beer as their favorite beverage with the everyone else coming in around 41%.
One important consideration when traveling to a new city is determining the type of services you want. For instance, if you want catering, it’s important to research which restaurants offer catering as a service. While many do, there could be limited options, as catering services generally require extra man-power when running a restaurant.
When searching for the right restaurant for your travel needs, it’s important to evaluate the food, drink, reputation, services (like catering) and other options when factoring in your decision.
