Favorite Online Restaurant Guides (US and International)

Our focus this week is on eating out with your kids when you're traveling. First we dispelled the myth that you must eat in uninteresting international chains when you travel with kids, then I shared my top tips for choosing a family friendly restaurant with fantastic food.

One recommendation was to start with a list of great restaurants and then narrow it down to the family friendly choices. In this article, I will share my favorite Internet resources for finding great restaurants around the world (regardless of whether you are with your kids).

• New York Times has great recommendations, many of them up-to-the minute.
• Concierge.com is CondeNast Traveler's website. I'm a fan of the annual HotList guide to the best new restaurants around the world and the "Insider's Guides" available for most major tourist destinations.
• Fodors restaurant reviews are clear, accurate, and up to date above the other guidebooks we've tried. In larger cities, Fodors often lists one or two child friendly restaurants. Look for the "Gold Star" recommendations (which can be in any price range).
• Epicurious.com, Bon Appetit's website, has a limited selection of restaurant guides for major cities, but they do a great job of selecting the very best in each city. We've had especially good luck with their budget restaurants, which tend to focus on excellent food in a casual atmosphere... perfect for kids
• Bugaboo's Daytrips are beautiful, artist designed maps of cities around the world, complete with Bugaboo's recommendations for the best activities and food for families. Their recommendations tend to focus on offbeat local favorites more than fantastic food, but the choices are reliably good and family friendly.

Online Forums and Communities
EGullet and Chowhound can be great places to get restaurant recommendations or to ask opinions about place you've already selected. Don't expect that the members will automatically know what makes a restaurant kid friendly though... instead focus your questions on finding the best possible food.

What's Next?In my next article, I'll share some of my favorite Guidebooks for finding fantastic food abroad. Later in the week I'll also be writing about breast-feeding, pumping, and bottle feeding when you travel.

What are your favorite resources for finding restaurants when you travel? Please share them in the comments.

0 comments | Posted on May 12, 2008 | Save to del.icio.us

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