People often ask us how we always find great local food all over the world. Our answer is always the same – you need to eat like a local when you travel. Read on to learn about our local approach to global food travel.
As slow travelers, we endeavor to eat like locals whenever and wherever we travel. In addition to dining at local restaurants, we also take food tours, visit local food producers and attend local food festivals.
Not only does this style of food travel makes us happy but it also leads us to unexpected experiences that often become the highlights of our food trips.
We take pleasure in finding local places to eat off of the tourist trails. Using our tried and true techniques, we easily find local restaurants serving authentic food made by and eaten by locals.
As a bonus, these local food places are often cheaper than the more popular restaurants frequented by travelers.
Just as importantly, this independent food travel style has allowed us to meet kindred souls who have given us gifts of friendship that are more valuable than any travel souvenirs we could buy.
We now have food-obsessed friends in cities like Hanoi, Lyon and Ljubljana that we would never have made if we didn’t make the effort to eat with locals.
How We Eat Like Locals
This approach to travel allows us to dive into the local food culture and become one with every city we visit. But how do we do it?
Subscribers to our newsletter to get the inside scoop as well as a free guide to eating like a local. These are the tips and tricks we use when we travel.
Where We Stay
In terms of accommodation, we typically stay in an apartment when we visit a city for an extended amount of time. This cost-effective type of accommodation lets us shop for local products at local markets and cook local dishes in our temporary home.
Eat Like a Local Guides
We’ve enlisted top travel and food writers to share their insider tips about where to eat in cities around the world. These local experts share their favorite spots for iconic foods, desserts and special occasion meals as well as cute cafes and hidden gems.
Athens
Local expert Chrysoula Manika shares her favorite places to eat like a local in Athens, Greece. If you love moussaka and souvlaki, then you need to check out this Athens guide.
Learn how to eat like a local in Athens.
Pittsburgh
Local expert Jeremy Jones shares his favorite places to eat like a local in Pittsburgh. Spoiler alert: Jones is NOT a fan of the Steel City’s famous sandwich.
Learn how to eat like a local in Pittsburgh.
San Francisco
Local expert Anne Lowrey shares her favorite places to eat like a local in San Francisco, USA. She includes insider tips for cioppino, mission burritos and more.
Learn how to eat like a local in San Francisco.
Seattle
Local expert Laura Lynch shares her favorite places to eat like a local in Seattle, Washington. Seattle may be famous for its coffee scene, but the Pacific Northwest city has lots of great food too.
Learn how to eat like a local in Seattle.
Seoul
Local expert Robert Schrader shares his favorite places to eat like a local in Seoul, South Korea. Schrader is crazy for the megacity’s street food and who can blame him.
Learn how to eat like a local in Seoul.
Sydney
Local expert Jo Karnaghan shares her favorite places to eat like a local in Sydney, Australia. As it turns out, Sydney is more than just a pretty city if you know where to eat.
Learn how to eat like a local in Sydney.
Taipei
Local expert Nick Kembel shares his favorite places to eat like a local in Taipei, Taiwan. Not surprisingly, he’s a big fan of night markets for those looking for the best Taipei food experiences.
Learn how to eat like a local in Taipei.
Valencia
Local expert Theresa Gomez shares her favorite places to eat like a local in Valencia, Spain. Since Spain’s third largest city is on the Mediterranean coast, Gomez includes lots of seafood suggestions.
Learn how to eat like a local in Valencia.
About the Authors
Daryl & Mindi Hirsch
Saveur Magazine’s BEST TRAVEL BLOG award winners Daryl and Mindi Hirsch share their culinary travel experiences and recipes on the 2foodtrippers website and YouTube. The married Food and Travel content creators live in Lisbon, Portugal.