Item — HN Reader

An interesting thing you can do in Google Maps mobile app is go to a city and scroll down and you'll start seeing reviews of restaurants and places left by locals. For example, look up Zanzibar in Google Maps mobile and scroll up on the info view at the bottom (where it has the Directions/Save/Share buttons) to get to "Latest in Zanzibar".

By seeing the pictures and reviews you can get an idea for local dishes.

1 comments

Those reviews are mostly tourists trying “local” dishes. I tried your method for Zanzibar and found reviews from “local” guides who were anywhere but from Zanzibar. And having visited Zanzibar before, those dishes aren’t really local either

Ah, I had trusted when Google said "local" guide, but maybe I should not have!

I think, at least 10 years ago, it was some algorithm based on number of reviews you leave vs average number of reviews for the area.

For example, on a motorcycle trip across Vietnam in 2015, I left a review for a super isolated pho stand that for whatever reason had a google maps profile. I got an email a few hours later that I was a "Local Guide" for Đồng Hới. Cool! Only once I got home to Houston did I realize, I wasn't a "Local Guide" for Đồng Hới, I was just now and forever a "local guide" for everywhere on earth! All my reviews had "local guide" next to it and would get lots of little thumbs up things, all my images I submit to restaurants now get TONS of views, it's really quite silly!

Very helpful once I started my own restaurant and left a review for it though ;) or my friend's restaurants