I’ve traveled quite a bit and no matter what country I go to I never fail to run into the same issue.: finding good restaurants.
I’m not even picky. If I could eat street food all the time I would. I just want to grab something, I don’t need to sit down. But not every country offers this kind of food.
So I’m left to walk around and go into restaurants and ask for a menu or look at google maps.
Let’s talk about going into restaurants.
The issue here is the time and effort of walking around, finding a place that looks decent, asking for a menu, looking at the menu and prices.
Issues in restaurants
- They don’t have a menu outside – Places on the beach are often good about this, but otherwise you have to go in and ask
- No English menu – That’s fine, it’s another country but if I don’t know the language it means I can’t order
- Asking for an item and being told they don’t have it – I’ve had this happen so I always have to pick 2 options just in case but can be frustrating if I wanted a specific thing.
- Photos of the food items, if they even have any, are AI or stock photos – That’s a hard no from me. If you can’t bother to take pictures of your actual food, I’m not going to eat there. As I start traveling again in 2026 I’m constantly seeing AI menus and assets for restaurants.
- No bathroom or bathroom is dirty or lacks supplies – Never fails that a bathroom has something wrong with it: no toilet paper, soap dispenser doesn’t work, no paper towels, hand drier is broken.
- If there’s a bathroom – It always has random stuff in it. Like random chairs, a table with assorted items, ugly art. It’s more like a storage closet. This is not a complaint, just something I’ve noticed.
- Restaurant is too hot – Some countries just don’t like AC. Or it’s winter and the heater is on way too high. I’m not going to sit somewhere that is stuffy. That’s a me issue, perhaps.
I don’t feel awkward getting the menu and giving it back and saying “thanks” if I don’t like what I see (or if I feel too hot). But some might feel awkward about this.
Google Maps
Usually to avoid spending time randomly walking into restaurants, I’ll just search google maps. But, again, there are issues:
- Hours are incorrect
- No website
- If no website, no photo of the menu in maps’ listing
- Storefront picture doesn’t show a restaurant – I’m not going to walk somewhere that doesn’t look like it’s even open anymore
Google maps is my default because it’s in English. I’m sure in certain countries there are better restaurant discovery apps but I’m not that huge of a “foodie”.
The biggest issue with these listings is the lack of menu or website. I can’t understand why in 2026 a restaurant does not have a website with clear hours, updated menu with prices, at the minimum! I do somewhat get it because these are probably not tech-savvy people and “web design” teens starting their business making wordpress sites probably wanted to charge them $1000 and the restaurant owner balked at it. But now it’s so easy to make one. Could be a nice little side business to build these sites in an hour and charge $200 each. Hardest part is getting photos from the client.
At the very least take a pic of your menu with prices and put it on every directory site. I’m not walking to a restaurant that lacks a menu with prices online.
In Budapest, because of inflation I have been seeing a lot of restaurants that used to have menu items posted outside with the prices have stopped doing that. Just update the prices! Makes it way easier for someone off the street to decide to eat with you. Lots of people feel awkward walking in and then leaving without buying anything, so they just don’t even walk in.
Why do restaurants experience so many of these issues?
Because most restaurant owners are not business-minded. They open a restaurant thinking they love food, so they should start cooking and selling it. Or someone tells them they are a good cook.
This is a universal issue. Restaurants are not great businesses.
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