T+L's Top Travel Apps 2010

Food and Restaurants

Pick a restaurant

Yelp and Aloqa are great for user-generated restaurant reviews, but one of the best sources remains Zagat to Go. The service displays a map with your location and icons indicating nearby restaurants (as well as hotels, nightlife, and shopping) for 60 U.S. cities and 30 international cities, including Paris and London. Click on the icon and you’ll get the full review, along with the average price of a meal and Zagat’s numeric ratings for food, service, and décor. You can also search using filters, such as “open late” or “trendy.”

Cost: $9.99.

Runs On: Android, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, Palm, Symbian.

Runners-up: Michelin Guides ($18.99; iPhone), OpenTable (free; Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Palm, Windows Mobile), Urban Spoon (free; Android, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch).

Eat at a food truck

While the food-truck trend means great meals on the go, tracking down the actual vehicles can be difficult. Enter RoadStoves, which gives you an up-to-the-minute list of the nearest gourmet food trucks—along with directions to wherever they happen to be located. The service is currently available in Los Angeles and coming to more cities soon.

Cost: $0.99.

Runs On: iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

See dishes at nearby restaurants

While other apps may tell you where to eat, Foodspotting helps you decide what to order. The location-based service gives you user-generated pictures and reviews of specific dishes in your immediate area—all served up in an attractive scrolling interface.

Cost: Free.

Runs On: iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.