Eating somewhere unfamiliar is difficult. Honestly, eating while you’re traveling anywhere has the potential to go horribly wrong. We’ve all been there, too; you blindly give a place you’ve never been to a shot and are soon disappointed you went out of your comfort zone in the first place.
Fortunately, we live in a time where you shouldn’t have to waste a meal of your life. We’re lucky, because so many people have taken the liberty to go on the internet and express the good, the bad, and the ugly of just about every restaurant there has ever been. Here are the best food apps you’ll need to check out while traveling to avoid going anywhere you don’t have to be.
1. Yelp
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Yelp, the holy grail of all food apps, has over 70 million reviews worldwide for restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and just about every institution imaginable where you can get something to eat. Chances are if you can buy something to eat there, you’ll be able to find a review about it on Yelp.
Through the app, users can get directions, make reservations, and speak their mind about what went wrong or right with their overall food experience. The app is filled with endless photos to scroll through, so before you’re even sitting down at your table you might just having your eye on something.
2. Foodspotting
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With Foodspotting, instead of rating restaurants, you rate specific dishes at restaurants. So if you want to find the greatest donuts, or best quality sandwiches in town, Foodspotting will scope out the best places for you to find those things.
It’s perfect for when you’re craving something away from home and you don’t really know a reliable place to get it from. It also can help you decide the best possible dish to order from a certain location. What’s unique about this app is that it doesn’t allow negative ratings—it’s solely about the dishes people love to get and would recommend to others.
3. HealthyOut
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HealthyOut pretty much gives away its purpose in its title, but it’s an app that helps find healthy meals nearby. By tapping on different filters such as paleo, vegan, or low carb, users can find what exactly they want to eat where and are also given detailed nutritional data about each meal in a chart format.
As of now, the app is available only for attractions within the United States, but hopefully it’ll expand in the future.
4. LocalEats
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LocalEats is unlike most food apps that will show you everywhere possible in a location to eat. This app will only show you the places that are really, fully worth your time. You will only be able to see the absolute best places to go based off of magazine ratings, newspapers, and foodie websites—which is so great, because you won’t have to waste any time reading bad ratings and going to mediocre spots.
You will be able to see menus, make reservations, and be forced to go out of your comfort zone because this app will never show you anything about a chain food restaurant, ever. They say that if you want to find just any restaurant, you can go ahead and Google it. If you want to find a good restaurant, you can use this app.
5. EatWith
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EatWith allows users to host or attend a cooking event in over 150 cities. This can be a really fun and unique experience food in an unfamiliar location while traveling because you’re given the opportunity to see exactly how the traditional food is prepared, and you’re able to have a better understanding of the culture because of it.
Users are able to see live offers of events happening, as well as upcoming and past events. Hosts can be a range of people from home cooks to talented chefs, and anyone who wants to be a host can be one.
6. iExit
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iExit is the greatest friend you could possibly have on a road trip. It informs you of upcoming exits and attractions and exactly how long it will take to get you there. From food options to gas stations to hotels, you’ll always know what’s coming your way well before you’re going to need a snack or bathroom break.
You can also search a business such as Starbucks and you’re able to see all the Starbucks locations on your path, so you can plan for when it works best to get that coffee fix filled.
7. Farmstand
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Farmstand is the go-to app that can help you pursue good eating habits when you’re away from home. This app locates farmer’s markets all over the U.S, Canada, U.K, Australia, New Zealand, and various other locations. In addition to seeing where farmer’s markets are happening, users are able to see other people’s finds and deals at farmer’s markets across the world.