How to choose a restaurant when nobody’s given you a recommendation

 

How do you choose a restaurant in a city you’ve never been to, with no friend to ask? I faced exactly that on a recent trip to Amsterdam. What I learned about how to choose a restaurant says a lot about how diners behave, and what restaurants need to do to get booked.

Starting from zero

I had no personal recommendations so I did what most people do and started googling.

TripAdvisor was my first stop, but it wasn’t my last. I also looked at:

• Google reviews
• Travel blog round-ups
• TikToks
• Instagram reels
• Articles from food and travel journalists
• Reddit

From all that, I built a shortlist of places I liked the sound of. Then I researched each one properly. What were bloggers saying? What did creators film? What did journalists write? What did ordinary diners rate them?

I wasn’t looking for one perfect review. I was looking for a pattern.

The top-rated places weren’t the ones I picked

Here’s the interesting part. None of the restaurants we chose sat at the top of TripAdvisor.

If I’d relied on one platform, I’d have eaten somewhere else entirely. It was the mix of sources that gave me the confidence to book. A good blog review backed up by a reel, a Google rating and a mention in a round-up felt far more convincing than a single high score.

I don’t think I’m unusual here. OpenTable research published in July 2026 found Brits spend 57 minutes, on average, researching and booking restaurants for a trip. Nearly half (48%) say finding places to eat near their hotel or plans is the hardest part of deciding where to eat while travelling. That’s a lot of time, and a lot of sources, before anyone books a table.

The moment of panic

When we walked into the first restaurant, it was almost empty.

My heart sank a bit. Had all that research been for nothing? Was there a reason nobody else was there?

Within half an hour, the place had filled up. The atmosphere picked up, the food was excellent, and we had a great evening. We’d simply arrived early.

It was a useful reminder that a quiet room tells you very little. But it also showed me how much I’d been relying on other people’s opinions to feel reassured.

What this means for restaurants

This is where my PR hat goes back on.

If diners like me are piecing together a picture from five or six sources, restaurants can’t afford to show up in just one. A strong TripAdvisor rating helps. But if you’re missing from Google, absent from social media and nobody’s written about you, you’re easy to overlook.

The places I chose had done the work. They had:

• Press and blog coverage that described the food and atmosphere
• Social content from creators and diners showing what to expect
• Consistent reviews across more than one platform

None of that happens by accident. It takes a steady effort to get your restaurant in front of the people who influence where others eat.

How do you choose?

I’d love to know how you approach it. When you’re somewhere new and nobody’s given you a tip, how do you choose a restaurant? Do you trust one platform, or do you cross-check like I did?

And if you run a restaurant and want to make sure you’re on more people’s shortlists, get in touch with us at In The Bag PR.

Sophie Kermani Jibet