Arriving in a new city hungry and with no recommendations is one of travel's classic dilemmas. The wrong choice wastes both money and the one dinner you had in that city. Here's how to read the signals quickly.
Look for restaurants where the staff speaks the local language as their first language. In Italian cities, if every waiter addresses you in English before you've said a word, you're in a tourist restaurant. The food may still be fine, but you're paying a 30–40% premium for the privilege.
Check the menu language. A menu written only in English (or only in the tourist language) in a non-English-speaking country is a yellow flag. Authentic local restaurants typically post menus in their own language first, with translations below.
Observe the clientele at 12:30pm and 7:30pm — peak local dining times. If you see suits and families and nobody is taking photos of their food, you've found a working restaurant. If half the tables are empty at peak hours despite a full dining room next door, that's information.
Ask your hotel's back-of-house staff — the cleaners, the kitchen prep workers — not the concierge. The concierge is paid commissions. The kitchen worker eats at a different budget and knows every excellent cheap spot within walking distance.
Finally, trust the queue. A 20-minute wait means locals think it's worth 20 minutes of their life. That's the best recommendation money can't buy.