Ready to take vacations beyond sightseeing?
Food has become the main event for travelers in 2025. Dining experiences now factor into 50% of travel decisions, and travelers will purposefully choose their trip destinations around new restaurants and dining concepts. So, according to Hilton’s 2025 Trends Report, travelers will book restaurant reservations before making flight reservations.
Yup, you heard that right. We are booking restaurants before we secure airplane seats.
What is exciting is that planning a foodie trip isn’t complicated. With a few simple strategies, any traveler can customize a culinary adventure that satisfies wanderlust and taste buds simultaneously.
Your Delicious Plan Includes:
- Why Food-Focused Travel Is Booming
- Top 5 US Restaurants Worth Traveling For
- How To Plan The Perfect Culinary Trip
- Essential Tips For Foodie Travelers
Why Food-Focused Travel Is Booming
Food is the main event for travelers in 2025.
And here is why: Eating and drinking experiences are now the second-biggest budget category when planning a trip in 2025. In fact, nearly one in five travelers will purposely choose a new restaurant or dining experience as the reason for travel.
Affluent travelers are driving this trend. Marriott’s Luxe Landscapes Report found that 88% of this group ranked new food experiences as important or very important when it came to picking a travel destination.
Restaurant experiences are now the deciding factor when it comes to travel decisions more than ever.
What’s more is that social media and food content will likely only continue to fuel this trend. Who isn’t sharing their meals on social media these days? Celebrity chefs are now household names, and cooking shows are taking over streaming services.
Bottom line: A whole new generation of travelers is planning entire vacations around where they want to eat. Destinations with standout dining options are the clear winners.
Top 5 US Restaurants Worth Traveling For
There are places, and there are destination restaurants.
The spots that should be on every foodie travel list are the ones so exceptional they will make you consider booking a flight. So, here are five of them.
1. Stubborn Seed – Miami, Florida
Standout: Stubborn Seed is arguably one of the best among Miami’s Michelin-rated restaurants.
Chef Jeremy Ford brings a strong background in both molecular gastronomy and traditional French cuisine to Miami’s rapidly growing food scene. The restaurant’s tasting menu in particular showcases Ford’s technique and eye for innovation while remaining firmly rooted in flavor.
The Stubborn Seed kitchen is a playground where dishes blur the line between art and gastronomy. Seasonal ingredients play the starring role in innovative techniques that surprise diners at every turn. The experience may be rooted in Miami, but it has the feel of a global culinary movement.
Ford has already earned top honors from many major culinary organizations and continues to raise the bar for fine dining in South Florida.
2. Alinea – Chicago, Illinois
Standout: American dining is now redefined by this three-Michelin-star restaurant.
Chef Grant Achatz’s philosophy: food is a medium for creativity and experimentation. Edible balloons, table-side dessert preparation, and dishes that challenge diners’ every preconceived notion about food are the norm.
Visiting Alinea is like a multisensory exploration of flavor, form, and texture. For good reason, few dining experiences on Earth rival this for creativity and execution.
3. SingleThread – Healdsburg, California
Standout: Farm-to-table dining is at its absolute best at this Sonoma County restaurant.
Chef Kyle and Kim Connaugher are hands-on operators. Not only do they run the kitchen and helm the acclaimed farm-to-table restaurant, but they also operate their own farm minutes away from their restaurant.
Ingredients travel mere hours from soil to plate. The result is a Japanese-inspired kaiseki menu that changes daily to feature the best of what is growing on any given day.
Add the incredible wine country setting and the restaurants’ on-site accommodations and the complete culinary retreat makes SingleThread a truly special travel experience.
4. Canlis – Seattle, Washington
Standout: Fine dining done the classic Pacific Northwest way.
This Seattle institution has been serving guests since 1950 and continues to delight with local ingredients cooked with heart and flair. Chef Eduard Sevidagi’s takes on Dungeness crab, wild salmon, foraged mushrooms, and other regional treasures keep diners coming back for more.
Nothing ruins a great meal like a long commute home. Canlis has an unbeatable location with panoramic views of Lake Union and stellar service to match. A true destination dining experience.
5. Eleven Madison Park – New York, New York
Standout: You will not find a better plant-based fine dining experience anywhere.
Chef Daniel Humm completely reimagined this legendary New York restaurant to create one of the world’s most outstanding plant-forward menus.
The multi-course tasting menu will show that vegetables can easily be the star.
This one is a must-visit for foodies and New York in general. It’s a restaurant that has witnessed and helped to shape the city’s dining scene over many decades.
How To Plan The Perfect Culinary Trip
Ready to plan your foodie trip?
There are a few simple steps. First, let the restaurant be your guide. Choose a destination-worthy restaurant (or two) first. Then plan your trip around it. This is counter to traditional travel planning methods, but it is a whole lot of fun.
Book your restaurant reservations early. Top-tier spots will open reservations 30 to 60 days in advance. Put those dates on the calendar. Set multiple reminders on your phone. This stuff books up in minutes.
Research the local food scene, too. A robust culinary destination has more than one great restaurant. Seek out farmers markets, food tours, cooking classes, and local specialties to round out the experience.
Consider the timing of the year, too. Restaurant experiences are not the same year-round. Menus built around local ingredients will be best when those ingredients are at their peak.
Book your accommodations strategically. Stay close to the restaurants on your itinerary. Long commutes will take all the fun out of a great meal.
Essential Tips For Foodie Travelers
A few simple strategies will level up any culinary-focused trip.
- Make reservations as early as possible. Tables at top spots disappear within minutes of reservations opening.
- Let the restaurants know of any dietary requirements in advance. Fine dining kitchens can accommodate most requirements with advance notice. Surprise them at the table, and the options are limited.
- Space out elaborate meals. There is no need to schedule a large meal the night before another. Diners will need a reset between these major culinary experiences.
- Document the trip. Take pictures of menus, and of course, food. Memories will fade faster than diners imagine.
- Ask the team for recommendations. Servers, and sommeliers in particular, at top restaurants know the best secret gems around town. Tap into their local expertise.
The point is this:
Planning a culinary trip does take more upfront work than booking a standard vacation. But the experience of a truly incredible meal makes it all worth the time and effort. Nothing stays in a traveler’s memory longer than a great dining experience.
Bringing It All Together
Food-focused travel has moved from niche to the mainstream when it comes to exploring new places.
Travelers are making restaurants equal to, if not more important than, traditional sightseeing when they book trips. The experience at the table is now the main event.
Food-focused travel will likely only accelerate as social media and video content around food experiences flood travelers’ feeds.
This has made all the difference. The clear winners in the travel game are destinations that offer up top-notch dining experiences. Savvy travelers will only continue to take advantage of this by customizing trips based on their taste buds.
To quickly recap:
- Dining and drinking experiences now drive major travel decisions
- Top restaurants will justify the flight
- Reservations and strategic planning are everything
- Local food scenes offer great experiences beyond the headlines
Pick a destination-worthy restaurant. Plan your trip around that experience. Follow it up with local dining secrets that foodie travelers know and locals eat.
Travelers create their best memories at the table.