If, like us, you find that sampling the local cuisine and especially getting off the tourist track is a key component of exploring a culture, then you would be well served to make thorough and frequent use of the Boards on Chowhound.com: http://chowhound.chow.com/boards It's a foodie's site, with very active discussions that will help you with recommendations, whether you're in a huge city or a small town. Pick a location and use their search feature to check things out. Or if you don't find what you're looking for, register and post your question. There is no substitute for an unbiased recommendation from a local, not to mention a local foodie who is obsessed enough to spend time reviewing on a web site. (Don't bother with TripAdvisor for this, by the way.) And this is not all about expensive fine dining, either, although of course that is a popular topic as well. The Hounds abhor a ripoff or an expensive tourist trap above all else, and value for the $ is king. I think the discussion on where to find the best burger in Los Angeles has been ongoing for 2 years and hundreds of postings. I can only imagine the bytes devoted to tasty grits in the deep South! We have discovered tiny, memorable local gems that we never would have otherwise found... and in some cases, had we found them on our own, would never have stumbled inside... in places all over the U.S., the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe, Mexico and Central America. Currently we're in Lisbon for a few weeks, while our boat sits enjoying the rain and lightning in Costa Rica, and we've hit a few more home runs thanks to this web site. Enjoy your journey! Valerie m/v Pax Nautica, Selene 53 Marina Papagayo, Costa Rica On Aug 19, 2011, at 4:01 AM, trawlers-request@lists.trawlering.com wrote: > > > "I'm likely to be quite a bit South of NY. What should I eat? What do you > think will impress a Brit?" > >