Visiting a new place is as dangerous as shooting an apple out of someone’s head… in the dark… with your eyes closed… without any knowledge on how to use a bow… well, maybe it’s not that dangerous but you get the idea. The first impression might be the most important thing in a first visit. If the place looks clean and tidy then it might be a good experience, who knows? But if you get into a messy place, maybe a little dusty or without a good look, well, even if the food might be amazing your mind will be set to not-so-good mode and it’s going to affect your review for sure.
But let’s say you’re eating at a nice and cozy place, so everything will be about the food, right? Well, no. It shouldn’t. What I really like to do it’s getting in touch with the people working there. Visiting a new local place can get you to know the owners first hand, since they might be the ones running the place for a couple of days. Go ahead and talk to them, I can guarantee you that they will be the ones with the most knowledge of the place and you can even use this time to update the details of Google Maps (this is our duty, always remember this).
Talking to the people there get you a lot of insights of the place, the food, their experience… so ask them about their plans, where they come from, their past business and the reasons they had to open a new place. This will totally change your review and experience in this place. Remember, sometimes it’s 100% food, sometimes it’s not.
So, if I have to answer the question What is the most interesting thing you’ve done as a Local Guide? the answer is this: hearing their stories and getting close to the local experiences.