As you have probably figured out by now, Darryl and I love to eat. Cooking our own, or dining out – we LOVE food! For me, one of the great things about becoming a better cook is that our home cooking is pretty darned good. But the other side of being a better home chef is that sometimes when we do eat out, the food just doesn’t seem to be as good as it used to be. So it can be really tough for us to find restaurants that have good food at a good price. Does that make us food snobs?
We stopped eating fast food a long time ago and finding something other than McDonalds or Wendy’s on the road can be a real challenge. Sometimes we bring food with us to eat on the way, but most of the time we try to find something not too far off the path that at least offers something fresh and reasonably healthy.
I’m not sure what in the world we did before the Internet, but there is an app for everything and my go-to app for finding good food on the road is Yelp.
Seriously, Yelp it is a foodie traveler’s best friend.
If you don’t have it – download it RIGHT NOW! I’ll wait….
Ok – now that you have it, you’ll see how easy it is to use, and the map and directions functionality usually doesn’t steer you wrong (although it never hurts to double check the restaurant website just to make sure they haven’t moved or closed recently).
I’m sure that most Yelp users have a philosophy how to pick a restaurant. When I look at Yelp, I always look for restaurants that have lots of reviews with a solid 3.5-4 star minimum. I figure that means a lot of people have gone there and the service/food has been consistently good. I will read through the reviews if I’m on the fence (note to reviewers – tell me what you ate!!). Too many so-so reviews and we’ll pass – but if it sounds good, we will give it a shot!
In addition to finding good healthy food, one of the other things we look for is finding a local business to support. We love contributing to the success of family-owned restaurants – and let’s face it, the service and the food is so much better when you are supporting a local business.
We’ve been spending a lot of time in south central Pennsylvania this summer, so when the weather was rainy and chilly this past weekend, we decided to go for a drive and have lunch at one of our favorite Yelp finds up in the small town of Bedford, PA.
Horn O Plenty is an amazing farm-to-table restaurant in an old farmhouse just outside of town. And when they say “farm-to-table” they mean it! The menu changes weekly based on what they are growing on their farm 3 miles down the road.
It is just so perfectly quaint! From the well-worn wood floors, to the wood-fired oven hypnotizing diners from the open-air kitchen – it just begs you to come in, sit down, and make yourself at home. Great locally sourced food, comfortable atmosphere, and supporting a family business – perfect.
See for yourself… as Ferris would say “If you have the means (or are just in the area), I highly recommend it”!
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