Will you go to a restaurant if you can't see the menu before-hand?

[unicorn]

We'll be going on a New England trip next month, and I've been looking over restaurants at the places where we'll be going. While it's not the norm, I'm still surprised by the number of restaurants which either have no website (!) or have a website, but no menu. Sometimes one can find the menu on other websites, sometimes not. I'd never go to a place without knowing what I was getting into. Would you?

[PeterRS]

Absolutely not!

[floridarob]

17 hours ago, unicorn said:

We'll be going on a New England trip next month

Where?

[FunFifties]

I would! In my experience no menu is often an indication that the restaurant cooks with whatever is fresh and available on the day. They will usually have the menu on a large board or have the waiter present the options at the table. Some of my most memorable restaurant visits have been to places with no menu on their website. 

[unicorn]

6 minutes ago, floridarob said:

Where?

Landing in Bangor, visiting Roosevelt Campobello International Park, Quoddy Head Lighthouse (easternmost point in the US, closest point in the US to Africa), Acadia National Park, Camden Hills State Park, Boothbay Harbor, Portland, Ogunquit, Mount Washington (weather-permitting), Lake Winnepesaukee, Castle in the Clouds, Franconia Notch State Park, Montpellier, Shelburne Museum, Burlington, Vermont covered bridges, Bennington Museum, Clark Art Institute, Norman Rockwell Museum, Providence.

[unicorn]

5 minutes ago, FunFifties said:

I would! In my experience no menu is often an indication that the restaurant cooks with whatever is fresh and available on the day. They will usually have the menu on a large board or have the waiter present the options at the table. Some of my most memorable restaurant visits have been to places with no menu on their website. 

So how do you come to the decision to eat at that restaurant? Friends' recommendations? Just walking by? Tripadvisor?

[FunFifties]

4 minutes ago, unicorn said:

So how do you come to the decision to eat at that restaurant? Friends' recommendations? Just walking by? Tripadvisor?

All of the above plus Lonely Planet reccomendations. Michelin Guide too.

[floridarob]

22 minutes ago, unicorn said:

So how do you come to the decision to eat at that restaurant?

I usually start with Google reviews—but I filter out the oddballs who give 1 star for silly reasons like “it was closed on Monday” or “no parking.” That way, you get a clearer picture of the food and service.

In New England, you’ll generally have plenty of good options. My experience growing up in Boston is that bad restaurants don’t last long—local diners and regulars keep the good spots alive.

It’s different in places like NYC or Orlando, where the sheer volume of tourists means even mediocre places can survive on turnover. In New England towns, consistency and quality matter a lot more, so you’re safer taking a chance even if a place doesn’t post a menu online.

[unicorn]

1 hour ago, FunFifties said:

All of the above plus Lonely Planet reccomendations. Michelin Guide too.

Wow. Going into a place without knowing either what's on offer nor what prices to expect. I admire both your sense of culinary adventure and financially care-free nature! 😉

[unicorn]

3 hours ago, floridarob said:

... In New England towns, consistency and quality matter a lot more, so you’re safer taking a chance even if a place doesn’t post a menu online.

 

😄

[PeterRS]

7 hours ago, FunFifties said:

All of the above plus Lonely Planet reccomendations. Michelin Guide too.

I have been to only one Michelin-starred restaurant in my life, although several times. That prints its basic menu for checking in advance. It also has a relatively short list of daily specials inside.

There are certain foods that I utterly dislike and that is one reason for my wanting to know what is being served. I have been to two or three very fine restaurants in different countries with no menus whatever. You just take the set menu of the day. But I am one of probably just a few that loathe oysters, for example, and if the starter happened to be oyster based, my meal would be all but ruined. 

[Keithambrose]

When I was in Florida, some years ago, we asked the Owner of a jewellery store for a recommendation for a good restaurant.  He said we were at a disadvantage, as, being British, we had a palate! I would stress that he was American. 

[floridarob]

1 hour ago, Keithambrose said:

I would stress that he was American. 

It was Florida 🙄

[unicorn]

8 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

When I was in Florida, some years ago, we asked the Owner of a jewellery store for a recommendation for a good restaurant.  He said we were at a disadvantage, as, being British, we had a palate! I would stress that he was American. 

There was someone who obviously knows nothing about British cuisine. While it is true that half of Americans don't even own a passport, ask anyone who's traveled to name a country with bad cooking, and the UK will probably top the list. There's the famous saying anyone who's traveled in Europe agrees with:

[Keithambrose]

1 hour ago, unicorn said:

There was someone who obviously knows nothing about British cuisine. While it is true that half of Americans don't even own a passport, ask anyone who's traveled to name a country with bad cooking, and the UK will probably top the list. There's the famous saying anyone who's traveled in Europe agrees with:

Things have changed  somewhat since the days if Bertrand Russell!

[unicorn]

3 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

Things have changed  somewhat since the days if Bertrand Russell!

Yes, a lot of foreigners have opened restaurants in the UK. Indian restaurants in the UK are among the planet's best. There are also plenty of good options in London and other large cities. But if one has to eat at regular British restaurants, one quickly tires of Fish 'n Chips, Bangers 'n Mash, and Haggis.

[PeterRS]

2 hours ago, unicorn said:

Yes, a lot of foreigners have opened restaurants in the UK. Indian restaurants in the UK are among the planet's best. There are also plenty of good options in London and other large cities. But if one has to eat at regular British restaurants, one quickly tires of Fish 'n Chips, Bangers 'n Mash, and Haggis.

Your post is rubbish as you have clearly not been to Britain and eaten some fabulous dishes in a vast number of cafes and restaurants. For many decades the British have travelled overseas a great deal - far more than Americans. They learned aeons ago that they were not prepared to put up with the typical British stodge they had been served till then. Then food writers like Elizabeth David in the 1950s became hugely popular by introducing different forms of continental cuisine. I learned my basic Italian cooking from one of her books! Add to that the introduction of a wide range of celebrity chefs whose influence was spread though television.  There was soon a vast change in the food served in most British restaurants. At the top end, Britain now has 208 Michelin-starred restaurants; the USA whose population is over five times larger than the UK's has 235 Michelin-starred restaurants. Go figure! No doubt that's in part because far too many Americans gorge themselves and become far too overweight on fast food.

You mention Indian restaurants. For more variety, like many British people try some of the simple Chinese restaurants in British cities serving various types of utterly delicious Cantonese, Shanghainese, Szechuan, Beijing, Chiu Chow and Hunan cuisine. Or Thai restaurants are found in most cities serving dishes that would give many restaurants in Thailand a run for their money.     

On a personal point, though, you mention haggis which is of course a Scottish dish. You may not happen to like it when it is served in its simplest form with bashed neeps and chappit tatties (mashed turnips and potatoes). But pour some Drambuie liqueur over it and it becomes a very different almost gourmet dish. 😀

[unicorn]

4 hours ago, PeterRS said:

...At the top end, Britain now has 208 Michelin-starred restaurants; the USA whose population is over five times larger than the UK's has 235 Michelin-starred restaurants. Go figure! ...

That "factoid" is highly misleading. Most US cities are not even visited or rated by Michelin. A quick inquiry on Google explains it:

AI Overview

 

Michelin rates restaurants in the United States within five specific markets: Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando>>, and the Tampa Bay area (collectively known as the Florida market), the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, D.C., and the New York metropolitan area. 

 

These are the designated areas for Michelin's restaurant ratings in the US: 

 

• California: The San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento.
• Florida: Miami, Orlando, and the Tampa Bay area.
• Illinois: Chicago.
• District of Columbia: Washington, D.C.
• New York: The city and some parts of Westchester County.

If you knew your statement was misleading, well, shame on you for being such a weasel. If you didn't know this, then you're just showing how ignorant you are. Michelin doesn't even visit any of the places I'll be visiting (New England), not any city in Texas (the 2nd most populous state in the US), nor New Orleans, which showcases some of the best restaurants anywhere (and local cuisine, too boot--cajun and creole--not restaurants serving foreign dishes). And, as you know, most Michelin-recommended restaurants in Britain don't serve British food. 

[PeterRS]

9 hours ago, unicorn said:

If you knew your statement was misleading, well, shame on you for being such a weasel.

I have never had the faintest idea how Michelin stars are awarded other than their inspectors are anonymous - or so I am told. But then my understanding is they also limit the number of hostelries they visit in all countries. It would clearly be totally impossible to visit every restaurant. In the USA its own site states it visited 1,557 restaurants. It also states that the number in the UK was 1,062. And you are wrong in your list of cities. You are clearly unaware that inspectors also now visit restaurants in Atlanta and the state of Colorado. And perhaps ironicallywhen you add up the poulations of the 5 areas you listed and add in Atlanta and Colorado, you have within 1% the population of the UK. So while my total number was out, the US still has 50% more restaurants visited than the UK. But it certainly does not have 50% more Michelin starred restaurants!

And you are again totally wrong. To suggest that the restaurants the inspectors visit in the UK are all serving non-British food is still nonsense. In the first 48 listed on the first UK page of the Michelin's own Guide, 6 serve "Traditional British" cuisine and 9 serve "Modern British" cuisine. Another 11 serve what is termed as "mdern cuisine" which includes cuisine from Britain and other countries. A total of 63 restaurants in the UK serving "Traditional British" food were awarded Michelin stars. And that blows a big hole in your suggestion that Michelin stars go only to restaurants serving other cuisines.

Now compare that with the USA restaurants. 5 are listed as serving American cuisine and 6 Californian Cuisine. The UK has 220 Michelin starred restarants while the USA has 235.

Your facts were a little more than slightly out!

[Mavica]

On 9/9/2025 at 10:14 PM, unicorn said:

 I'd never go to a place without knowing what I was getting into. Would you?

Trip Advisor and other sites do or may have copies of Menu's uploaded as part of contributor reviews.  But when confronted by that I walk up to the host/hostess station and ask to see a menu, which I read through .... before deciding to stay or eat someplace else. 

[unicorn]

2 hours ago, PeterRS said:

...And you are again totally wrong. To suggest that the restaurants the inspectors visit in the UK are all serving non-British food is still nonsense. In the first 48 listed on the first UK page of the Michelin's own Guide, 6 serve "Traditional British" cuisine and 9 serve "Modern British" cuisine. Another 11 serve what is termed as "mdern cuisine" which includes cuisine from Britain and other countries. A total of 63 restaurants in the UK serving "Traditional British" food were awarded Michelin stars. And that blows a big hole in your suggestion that Michelin stars go only to restaurants serving other cuisines...

As you know, you're lying. What I said was "as you know, most Michelin-recommended restaurants in Britain don't serve British food." Again, as you know, I never said "Michelin stars go only to restaurants serving other cuisines." By your own figures, only 15/48 serve either modern or traditional British food, which is 31%. You think that's "most"?? At least in the US, most children are taught percentages in the 4th or 5th grade (ages 9 or 10). Is that the age at which you tuned out of mathematics classes?

[PeterRS]

This is a completely silly discussion, and if I played a part in it I apologise. Have it your own way. But for your interest I was top of my maths class at school LOL