Looking For A Cheap Meal While Traveling? Here's Who To Talk To

It can be difficult to find a good, cheap meal when you're in an unfamiliar locale. Back home, you may have your regular spots you stumbled upon or were recommended by friends whose tastes you trust. When you're going somewhere new, it can take a lot of work sorting through online reviews to weed out the negatives. Plus, many of the sites popular with Americans may not be used by the people in the country you're visiting, meaning the reviews may miss out on cultural differences. It doesn't help that once a place gets popular with tourists, it often gets expensive. That's why, aside from tentpole restaurant destinations like Dishoom in London or Pizza Studio Tamaki to experience Tokyo's surprisingly good pizza scene that rivals Italy, I don't make reservations ahead of time and wait until I arrive to find places to eat. I'll ask around when I get there, and I've found one group of people who can consistently point me to great food on a budget — baristas at high-end coffee shops.

Over the years, I've found that these baristas who are passionate about making craft coffee are equally passionate about good food and, like me, usually can't afford to eat at any place with a Michelin star or aiming for one. They talk with each other about where to eat, and they know of the restaurants that are getting good word of mouth that the guidebook writers haven't visited, even if they haven't tried them yet.

I'll usually have a rough idea of the coffee shops I'll want to try before I go to a new city, although baristas can often also point you to other great places to get coffee. Wait for the morning rush to die down; the last thing you want to do is disrupt the barista's workflow. If it's slow, though, many baristas are happy to chat. When I worked at a shop in New York's East Village, chatting with customers helped the downtime pass by faster. Order a drink and just make small talk — letting them know you're from out of town and looking for good places to eat. I've often found the whole team behind the counter gets involved. People love to share their opinions! Sometimes other customers will jump in. One of my favorite espresso bars in LA is full of restaurant workers who love talking shop.

If you are somewhere that doesn't have much in the way of specialty coffee, don't worry. Anyone working in food or drink who is passionate about it can be a good source of restaurant tips. I've had good suggestions from bakers, market guides, and mixologists. I've had some amazing meals at places I never would have found on my own this way. Places like Aleppo Supper Club in Berlin, Humo Negro in Bogota, and Lopez Okonomiyaki in Hiroshima were just some of the great restaurants I only found out about through local word of mouth. Have fun and eat well!