How To Find The Best Food While On The Road For Business
Business travel tends to bring out the worst in a traveler's eating habits. It happens for a variety of reasons. Most business district restaurants are built around the lives of 8 to 5 employees, crescendoing at the busy lunch hour and then buttoning up service at 6 or 7 when workers have gone home to their families. At the Comcast Center, where I occasionally work in Philadelphia, the underground food court is opulent and packed at 12:30 on a Tuesday. By 8 p.m. it's a ghost town.
There's also the mentality of being on the road for work. Out of one's comfort zone it's easier to splurge on meals that are more convenient or for special occasions. It also helps when someone else is paying. But the cost goes beyond the pocketbook – your health is also on the line.
We're all frequent travelers at Gadling Labs, so we compiled our best tips for eating well on the road and put them into this handy list for business travelers.
1. Escape the room service blues. Wouldn't you know it? Sitting Indian style in front the television isn't the ideal posture for consuming your after-meeting engorgement. Moving over to the desk is a better approach, but an even healthier option is to get up, get out of your room and find your food. The exercise that you get on the way will do plenty to counteract the carbs that you're about to consume. And you'll probably find something better than what the room service is going to provide.
2. App it up. Yelp is the number one resource for any business traveler who wants to eat healthy. Those stuck in central business districts may find that the only visible nearby options are big box franchises, with smaller, more thoughtful places scattered thin. A quick search on Yelp will show the best-ranked restaurants in the area and will give the traveler an idea of what sort of fare is best received. Tip: "Healthy Food" is actually a searchable genre.
3. Home cooked meals are always the best, because you know exactly what ingredients are going into them. Check out the components of this barbecue sauce (only three tablespoons of brown sugar!) and you'll see what I mean. The problem, of course, is that it's difficult to cook while on the road. You can get around much of that by finding a hotel with a kitchenette. Homewood Suites and Elements are two great brands that feature stoves and utensils in each room. Stop by the grocery store on your way home; pick up an onion, a zucchini and some pasta and you're in business.
4. The grocery store is your friend. Even if you don't have the time or resources to bring food back to your hotel, there are myriad opportunities to find ready-to-eat meals at your local grocery store. Most outlets have prepared meals made from their produce sections, and barring that option there are big-brand-curated meals. Just stay away from the salt-rich TV dinners and you'll be in good shape. As an extra bonus, it's also cheaper.
5. Talk to the locals – the real locals. Think your hotel concierge has the best take on dinner options? Maybe. Or maybe he's going to send you to the same Hard Rock Cafe that the tourists go to – or to somewhere that gives him a cut. Real locals, the ones on the street, have the best opinion on nearby food; you just have to work up the guts to ask them. Take a hint from Gadling's culinary czar David Farley and ask a cab driver.
[Flickr image via Hamed Saber]
3. Home cooked meals are always the best, because you know exactly what ingredients are going into them. Check out the components of this barbecue sauce (only three tablespoons of brown sugar!) and you'll see what I mean. The problem, of course, is that it's difficult to cook while on the road. You can get around much of that by finding a hotel with a kitchenette. Homewood Suites and Elements are two great brands that feature stoves and utensils in each room. Stop by the grocery store on your way home; pick up an onion, a zucchini and some pasta and you're in business.
4. The grocery store is your friend. Even if you don't have the time or resources to bring food back to your hotel, there are myriad opportunities to find ready-to-eat meals at your local grocery store. Most outlets have prepared meals made from their produce sections, and barring that option there are big-brand-curated meals. Just stay away from the salt-rich TV dinners and you'll be in good shape. As an extra bonus, it's also cheaper.
5. Talk to the locals – the real locals. Think your hotel concierge has the best take on dinner options? Maybe. Or maybe he's going to send you to the same Hard Rock Cafe that the tourists go to – or to somewhere that gives him a cut. Real locals, the ones on the street, have the best opinion on nearby food; you just have to work up the guts to ask them. Take a hint from Gadling's culinary czar David Farley and ask a cab driver.
[Flickr image via Hamed Saber]
Filed under: Business, Food and Drink
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Darcy Sep 16th 2012 8:57PM
You'd trust a cab driver over a concierge for a great restaurant? I give the best advice on the best restaurants in my city. I would not be doing my job if I gave my guests a bad choice for dinner. Your advice is worse than I could ever give!!
Jesse Duvall Oct 15th 2012 12:00AM
NEVER trust Yelp. They are bogus, they have their own agenda and it is not to tell the truth. I know this first hand.
Erik Sep 16th 2012 9:16PM
I've worked at a hotel for 10+ years and yes concierge's can "get a cut", but the truth is they'll still tell you best place to go.
Why would they recommend a mediocre restaurant, if instead telling you about an amazing one would get them a bigger tip and then lead to more suggestions that would lead to even more tips?
It's all about trust, and trust equals money. It's in their best financial interest to get you to the best place in town.
KD Sep 16th 2012 9:49PM
I work in a hotel in a tourist town, and I always ask the guest what he or she likes or is looking for in a restaurant, then send them to someplace that fits the bill. Yes, some restaurants comp us or give us a discount for sending people to them, but I try to match the restaurant to the person's wishes. I usually won't recommend a restaurant unless I've been there. If I do, I always qualify it by saying, "I've never eaten there but I've heard. . . ." I want the guest to return to my establishment because of the service they received, and that includes the recommendations I make to them on restaurants.
garyM Sep 16th 2012 11:02PM
I always tell that i got the recommendation from a specific concierge so they know there will be feedback. I maybe a one time tourist, but the concierge is future recommendations. If I tell the concierge the service was bad, his tip suffers and future recommendations dry up.
Kelly Sep 17th 2012 9:16AM
We've never gotten a bad recommendation from a concierge, and we travel (for pleasure) quite a bit.
Frank "D" Conover Sep 17th 2012 5:55PM
Do not believe everything the Huffington post news paper prints. That paper sucks big time. So does the editor.
Joe Sep 17th 2012 10:20AM
We stayed at a Resort on Ft. Lauderdale beach the night before our cruise. We asked th Conceriege where to go eat, he tried to push us to the restaurants in the Hotel. After we checked them out and weren't interested, we went back and asked about an Olive Garden, Red Lobster, or other such places. He told us there were none around. We got into our car and drove around blindly, but found a place. We will never ask a Concierge again, use your GPS. All he wanted was to keep us on the property, and not help us with anything else.
Mary Ann Sep 17th 2012 11:15AM
I am a concierge and I think this is totally ridiculous! I do not get any cuts, incentives, kickback or anything else you want to call them. My recommendations are strictly off personal experiences from myself and my co-workers. I always ask people what they are looking for before I ever recommend anything for them. I work in the Orlando area and while Orlando is nice, here is what happens when you ask a local about a restaurant rather then someone in the Hospitality industry. They send you to the Ghetto. There are alot of bad areas in between the nice areas and while they don't mean to, there are ALOT of place I would never recommend a guest to because they are not good. Also, the guest who commented about his stay in Ft. Lauderdale, it is true that there is not a Red Lobster or Oliver Garden near the beach. The closest one is about 20 minutes away and those two restaurants are actually right next to eachother.
Sherrie Sep 17th 2012 11:42AM
If I'm looking for a pricy, splurge meal, I'll ask the concierge, or if it is late at night and I want to be safe. Otherwise I usually will ask a shop-owner, or a cabbie for the good, out-of the tourist type restaurants. One of the best, cheapest meals I had in England was a lunch at a basement pub reccommended by a Tower guard. And the hands-down best cheap meal in all my travelling was a great lunch in New Orleans at a cinder-block restaurant/bar where everybody else eating were postal workers, construction workers, and cabbies. No tourists, cheap beer and wonderful jambalaya!!
Audi Sep 17th 2012 12:35PM
I do work at a hotel at the Front Desk. When asked for restaurant recommondations I try to ask if they are looking for "chain style" or more local. I also try to find out what type of food they are wanting. Also when giving out recomnedations you need to know if they will be driving themselves, walking or taking a cab. Know these help to give the BEST options for the guest. As for getting kickbacks from restaurants we don't get any here. If I send you somewhere it is because I eat there or know someone that has eaten there and had a good experience.
Freq Traveler Sep 17th 2012 2:01PM
Best approach in asking concierge/front desk....
"What's the 2nd best resturant in town" otherwise you get "ours is the best"
Randall651 Sep 17th 2012 4:51PM
Don't ask the staff. They are constantly visited by reps from restaurants who offer them gifts, bonuses etc. A friend of mine worked at a big hotel and she said she was always being offered freebies to direct customers to certain restaurants.
Try looking on the Internet and check the ratings if you can. Maybe in advance of your trip, if you have the time.
Randall Sep 17th 2012 3:19PM
You are so right about not taking advice from hotel staff. At one fancy hotel in Palm Beach they suggested a restaurant not at the hotel. I fell for it. The meal was terrible. They owned the restaurant.
dickn2000b Sep 17th 2012 5:39PM
This was listed under "Caught Out Attention" ... How quaint! The Fluffpost hacks can't even get a Header right. That's what happens when you hire bloggers instead of journalists. It's CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION.
Randall651 Sep 17th 2012 4:56PM
You are probably bitter because you are a worker bee in the "old media". The Huffington Post nd others will put you all out of jobs within 5 years.
dickn2000b Sep 17th 2012 5:00PM
To Randall65: Sorry to disappoint you Randall, but I'm a retired scientist/engineer, professor with Ph.D.s in electrical engineering and applied physics. I've never been in journalism. I just hate amateurs such as yourself...and of course the Fluffpost.
dickn2000b Sep 17th 2012 5:44PM
To Randall651: WHAT? No witty reply? No suave repartee? Could it be you're one of those little, amateur worker bees, one of those pathetic bloggers that pimps for the Fluffpost?
dickn2000b Sep 17th 2012 9:33PM
To Randall651: It's been hours since you posted your pathetic reply, and I answered. Still no smart retort, no stinging, witty reply? I began believing you were a pain in the neck but, since then, I have lowered my opinion of you. You're depriving a king, in some far off land, of a royal fool. Please, don't bother to reply, save your breath. You'll need it to inflate your girlfriend.