iPhone apps: Local Eats knows the best places to dine
One of the most depressing prospects one can face out on the road it yet another merely inspired, corn sweetener-infused cookie cutter meal. Contrariwise, finding a little hole in the wall, mom n’ pop place with more authenticity than a thousand chain restaurant locations can be the wellspring for a lifetime of birthday, dating, anniversary and family memories.
You’ll probably never come to where I live — Erie, PA — but if your car breaks down, plane crashes or civil war makes you a refugee here, then you won’t want to compound your misery by eating corporate. That said, if your computer survived your arrival and there’s Internet access, you can check Where the Locals Eat, a Web site dedicated to finding actual food made by actual locals (i.e. that gramma lady in the back cooking is the real deal).
Thereupon, Local Eats ($0.99, iTunes) is the mobile, iPhone version of this invaluable tool. By using your location or searching by address/ZIP code, you can find a lovely meal. Moreover, most of the entries I’ve drooled over include a photo, basic pricing, directions (Google Maps), click to call dialing and a link to the restaurant’s website.
For example, the listing for one of my family’s favorite local eateries is Pufferbelly’s, a restaurant in an old firehouse that’s rich in character and history, not only mentions the above details, but also that this venue is vegetarian and kid friendly, and that there’s patio seating.
Ultimately, Local Eats for iPhone is simply a tool for discovering places to sup. If you want to add your own culinary destinations or give your opinion about existing listings, you’ll need to visit WhereTheLocalsEat.com to add to the canon of U.S. culinary knowledge. And, these are the two biggest drawbacks about Local Eats—a lack of integrated feedback functionality and its parochial, this side of the pond only nature.
All in all, I’m really liking Local Eats and I’m already using it and the companion website to plan this summer’s family roundtrip, which will find us in Pittsburgh, Hershey, Baltimore and Washington DC (your tips welcome). So, regardless of the weather or the amount of time we spend sitting in construction zones, I know we’re going to eat to well.
Do you have favorite iPhone app? Share an anecdote and a link or three in the comments below…
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August 3rd, 2009
“patio setting” should be:
“patio seating”.
Also, I’d guess that Pufferbelly’s is owned by a corporation.