Anthony Bourdain's 'Bad Clue' To Avoid When Picking A Spot To Eat

When Anthony Bourdain offered food advice in the poetic way that only he could, it was something you took to heart, and after years of watching his show "No Reservations," you can hear the advice in his voice in your head. Traveling around the globe, you pick up a thing or two about navigating each food scene, and Bourdain shared quite a few of his hard-earned lessons in his "World Travel" book. One tip for travelers to take note of is to not only listen to locals but also observe what they line up for.

In a 2016 interview with Bon Appétit, Bourdain advised, "If a place is crowded, but the people lining up are not local, that's a clue — a bad clue." In this case, he was describing an outing in Singapore, but his example is a microcosm of dining out. For those of us who love authentic food, that's what we're looking for in our dining experience. In huge cities like Singapore, the street food scene can be overwhelming, and you're probably not going to find what you're looking for on Instagram. If you're someone who likes to plan what to eat on vacation so you don't miss an opportunity, you'll have to be okay with waiting until you reach your destination to start planning; this is one of those cases where you'll have to rely on your eyes and ears instead of your social media travel algorithm.

Beyond avoiding a crowded line of tourists, Anthony Bourdain let people know what restaurants to avoid and encouraged travelers to look for the signs that are hidden in plain sight. If it's foreign to you, you're on the right path. "If it doesn't have signs in English, it's almost always worth investigating," he told Bon Appétit. To him, that meant the food wasn't tailored for travelers, but for the locals who made it part of their daily routine.

He also trusted the patience of locals more than any online review site. "I look to see if locals are willing to inconvenience themselves and wait in line for a long time to get something that only costs a dollar fifty, especially if it's a mixed bag of different incomes," he said. It's all about the authentic experience and the food at the end of the line; in this case, it was the Malaysian rice dish nasi lemak. Even at home, this is excellent advice and an overall ethos to take to heart. Sometimes, the places that get the most hype don't live up to the food truck on the corner or the hole in the wall off the main drag.