More Idahoans are Planning Vacations Around Food

If you visit a great food city, do you eat several lunches and dinners each day just to make sure you try all the best restaurants?  Most people do.  No wonder we pack on the pounds on vacation!  But this is good news for Treasure Valley restaurants.

A new Zagat study on food trends shows that 56 percent of us admit to squeezing in several lunches and dinners each day on vacation, just to make sure we hit all the must-try places in that city.  Food is a big reason to take a vacation.  Ever plan a trip to Chicago just so you can eat deep dish pizza at Gino's East?  Some of us might have.

In New Orleans, maybe that means eating beignets at Cafe du Monde, and grabbing some cajun and creole at Restaurant August for lunch, and then keeping the momentum going at Cochon Butcher and Parkway Bakery and Tavern and ten other places that smell so good when you walk by that you just have to try them.

The Opus Co., Fremont Bowl, and Bok a Bok are hot in Seattle right now, and worth the trip.  A 4-day weekend in the Seattle can turn into a twenty restaurant feast if you plan it right and practice some competitive eating techniques headin' in so your stomach can handle it.

What restaurants do visitors hit in Boise?  The Boise Fry Company, Chandler's, Fork, and Bittercreek Alehouse come to mind.  Oh, and Guru Donuts five times!  I'm sure you can add to the list.

The Zagat study found that 54% of diners would travel up to 30 minutes for a good meal, 20% said they would hop in the car for a few hours, 13% would make a weekend drive just to eat, and 13% would plan a vacation around a must-try dish.  Like pizza in Chicago.  Or seafood at Lucky Fin's in Merdian.  Or beignets in New Orleans.

We've got a lot of great food in the Treasure Valley (at our restaurants and in your backyard on that grill), so there's no need to travel too far for some good dishes.  But if you are planning your spring vacation around a sandwich, you won't be alone.