From massive menus to over-eager hosts, here’s how to spot a tourist trap before it ruins your meal.
No matter where you travel, you’ve got to eat. And in tourist-heavy areas, there are always restaurants ready and waiting for you.
The problem? Some of them are less about good food and more about separating tourists from their money.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that—but you’re often paying more for something you could’ve gotten better (and cheaper) just a few blocks away.
Here are some signs you might be in a tourist trap restaurant
Your hotel recommended it
It could be because it’s popular with tourists—or because there’s a quiet incentive behind the scenes. Either way, hotel recommendations in heavily touristy areas often lean… predictable. It’s better to ask this question of your concierge—they may steer you somewhere more unique.
Lots of tourists are eating there
If a tourist trap restaurant is doing its job, there will be lots of tourists eating there. If they’re American tourists, there are several ways you can spot them from a mile away LOL! But if everyone around you looks like they just stepped off a cruise ship or a sightseeing bus, that’s usually not a great sign.
Chances are, the locals know to eat somewhere else.
They’re practically begging you to eat there
I remember our very first trip to Paris, way back in the mid-90s. We came across a very friendly man outside who invited us to eat at his restaurant. Like nonstop inviting us. He went on and on about why we should eat at their restaurant – how delicious it was, how inexpensive it was, you name it. We fell for it (hey, we were young and didn’t know any better). Aside from being charged for 3 bottles of wine when we asked for 3 glasses, the meal was utterly unmemorable.
If there’s someone outside trying harder to get you in than you’re trying to decide to eat there… that’s your first clue.
The menu is HUGE
Tourist trap restaurants want to ensure they have something for everybody. And I mean EVERYBODY. So their menus are a bajillion pages long, with choice after choice to match every palate from practically every part of the world for visitors from everywhere. From burgers for the Americans to fish & chips for the Brits, to ramen for the Japanese, to chicken parmigiana for the Aussies, to schnitzel for the Germans, to salads for everyone who’s watching their weight, to a huge kid-friendly menu.
When a restaurant tries to be everything to everyone, it usually ends up being mediocre at everything.
It’s in a touristy area
This one goes without saying. I mean, tourist trap restaurants are going to be where tourists are. We’ve seen them in Reykjavik, Cozumel, NYC, Tokyo, Paris—pretty much any big city that gets a lot of visitors.
Prime location often comes with prime pricing—and not always prime quality.
Fake plated food
Granted, there are places, such as Japan, where plastic-plated food is the norm. But that’s not the case in, say, Hollywood or Frankfurt. If the menu requires plastic replicas to explain it, that’s usually a sign it’s designed for convenience rather than quality.
The servers are dressed in costume
Are you in a restaurant in Paris where everyone’s wearing a beret? A place in Germany where servers wear lederhosen and dirndls? That steak place in a Midwest city where everyone’s dressed as cowboys and cowgirls? Yeah…they’re catering to tourists.
If the experience feels more like a theme park than a restaurant, the food may not be the main attraction.
A quick reality check
None of these signs on their own automatically means you’re in a tourist trap.
But when you start spotting a few of them together? That’s usually your cue to keep walking.
Because in most cities, the best meals aren’t the ones trying the hardest to get your attention.
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1 comment
This: They’re practically begging you to eat there
Happened when we visited Milan this year. Guy was pushy, pushy, pushy. I wanted to look at the menu to check prices. He sat us down at a table while we were looking and nonstop kept nagging us to eat there. Was like a used car salesman. Was a big turn off. When a few blocks around the corner and found a place with the same type of food for much cheaper.