How to tell a good restaurant from a tourist trap in the US

A tourist trap restaurant usually gives itself away: someone outside trying to pull you in, a long laminated menu with photos of every dish, a location right beside a famous landmark, and a dining room full of people carrying shopping bags and maps. A good restaurant tends to have a short, focused menu, regulars, and a reason to exist beyond the foot traffic. A few minutes of looking saves an expensive, forgettable meal.

What are the warning signs of a tourist trap?

• Someone outside steering you in. Good restaurants rarely need a person on the sidewalk persuading passers-by.
• A huge menu covering every cuisine. A kitchen that offers pizza, tacos, sushi and steak is unlikely to do any of them well.
• Laminated menus with photos of every dish, especially when translated into several languages and posted outside.
• A prime spot by a landmark. High rent at the busiest corner has to be paid for, often with higher prices and lower quality.
• No locals. If everyone inside is a visitor and nobody seems to be a regular, take note.
• Generic dishes named after the city, offered as the house specialty with no detail about how they are made.

Are photo menus always a bad sign?

No. Photo menus are normal at diners, many Asian restaurants and some fast-casual places, and they help when you do not know a cuisine. The warning sign is a combination: photos, many languages, a sidewalk greeter and a landmark location together. One alone means little.

Are tourist traps always expensive?

Not always, but value is usually poor. Prices near major sights tend to be higher for the same food. Watch for automatic service charges, high prices on drinks that are not shown clearly, and specials offered aloud without a price. In the US, menu prices exclude sales tax, and some restaurants add fees, so read the bottom of the menu and ask about any special's price before you order.

How do you find where locals actually eat?

• Walk a few blocks away from the main sights. Quality often goes up as foot traffic goes down.
• Go to a residential neighborhood with its own main street of shops and restaurants.
• Look at who is eating. Workers on a lunch break, families and people greeting the staff by name are good signs.
• Ask people who live there, such as the staff at a café, a shop or your hotel, where they eat on a day off.
• Look for a short menu that changes with the seasons or focuses on one cuisine.
• Go where the line is made of locals, not tour groups.

Is a famous restaurant always a tourist trap?

No. Some famous, long-running places are famous because they have been doing one thing well for generations, and locals still go. The difference is whether a place is known for its food or only for its location. Read what people say about specific dishes, not just the atmosphere, and go at a quieter time if you want to avoid the crowds.

Can you use health inspection results to choose?

They help as one signal. Many US cities publish restaurant inspection results, and New York City and Los Angeles County post letter grades in the window. A good grade does not mean the food is good, but a pattern of serious violations is worth knowing about. Search for the local health department's inspection page.

How do reviews help you avoid a tourist trap?

Reviews are most useful when they are specific. "Great food" tells you little. A note about which dish was excellent, with a photo of what actually arrived, tells you far more. Be wary of a place with a sudden burst of vague praise, and look for reviewers who have eaten at many places in the same city. Mosey is built around this: people rate the places they ate at and the dishes they ordered, with photos, and you can follow friends whose taste you trust and keep a list of places to try.

When is a tourist area worth eating in?

Some busy visitor areas are also where a city's best food is, such as long-established neighborhoods known for a particular cuisine, food halls and markets. In those places, the rules still help: choose places with short menus, look for regulars, and favor the counters with a steady line of locals over the ones with a greeter outside. Eating at off-peak times, such as a late lunch, also makes a difference, since the best places are less rushed and you can see the room for what it is.

What should you do if you end up in one?

Order plainly, ask the price of anything that is not on the menu, read the check carefully and tip on the pre-tax total for the service you received. Then use what you learned to choose the next meal better. If something on the check looks wrong, such as a charge you did not agree to or a special priced far above what you expected, ask politely to see it explained or corrected before you pay. Most problems are mistakes, and a calm question at the table usually fixes them.

More guides to read next:

• How restaurant reservations, deposits and cancellation fees work in the US
• How to split the check at a US restaurant
• US restaurant etiquette for visitors from Europe

More in the US food guides and the ranked lists of places.