Introducing A New Way to Eat Locally and Deliciously

Traveling can sometimes be a lonely endeavor. Sometimes, you’ll find yourself in a strange town surrounded by people you don’t know.

At dinnertime, you will call down for room service, pull out a menu from one of the local restaurants from your hotel nightstand or you venture out into the darkness hoping that something will spark your interest.

a delicious alternative

Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. If you are familiar with how the online website, Airbnb works, then “Eat With” may be just the thing for you when you would like to eat locally. The website describes itself as “ a technology platform that brings people together. Sharing a meal, sharing stories, sharing laughs with new people in someone’s house is deeply personal, authentic, and intimate- it also happens to be the original social network.”

You can enjoy a home-cooked meal specially prepared for you and other guests in the private homes or exclusive private venues of chefs and cooks who’ve registered with and have been vetted by the site’s owners.

how it works

The first step is to sign up for an account with Eat With. Once you have done that you will be given an option to “Search for Meals” or to “Become an EatWith Host.”

Once you click on “Search for Meals,” you will be directed to a page where you can now scroll down and select the city where you plan to visit.

The most popular eat locally locations are listed first. You can scroll further and click on the other cities links to search for yours.

Please note that this site is a few years old, so not every city will be available. So, if you fancy yourself a good cook, maybe you should sign up as a host for your city!

Naturally, I had to see what was available to eat locally:

The local host, Kenan, also indicates the length of the meal (3 hours) and the group size ( 4-8 people) and like Airbnb, the previous guests offer comprehensive reviews of their experience (all five stars!). The site also provides a brief chef bio and a way to contact the host if you have specific questions.

The next time that you find yourself in a city with nowhere particular to go for dinner, think about pre-planning a dinner experience with an in-town host to enjoy a local home-cooked meal and the chance to meet and make new friends.