Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not being from New York, I didn't know what a "deli" was when I was growing up, but I think I know what they are now. I eat mostly supermarket food when I'm on the road, but I avoid the high prices behind the deli counter. Except for the rotisseried chicken.
Not being from New York, I didn't know what a "deli" was when I was growing up, but I think I know what they are now. I eat mostly supermarket food when I'm on the road, but I avoid the high prices behind the deli counter. Except for the rotisseried chicken.
If I can find an independent deli, I go there. There are all sorts of goodies to be found in an ethnic deli.
If I can find an independent deli, I go there. There are all sorts of goodies to be found in an ethnic deli.
That's a great hobby, and everyone should have a hobby that they can exploit when traveling. But I'd never spend an hour searching a strange city to try to find one.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,705 posts, read 58,042,598 times
Reputation: 46172
We eat on $3/ day whether at home or on the road.
In USA I use grocery stores, but not the deli,,, I meet the produce guy and buy the culls. (Much to the dismay of our resident C-D travel queen who calls this dumpster diving). Since I am a lifelong farmer / grower, I have no problem with a blemish or two (beats chemically treated or waxed 'presentation quality' produce.)
In Europe we use the local city center markets, and in Asia the wet-markets (all of which make a USA supermarket cull look like a product from a 'clean room'. )
Since we stay in hospitality guest homes, we frequently get 2 home grown meals / day included in our $10 lodging. Many hosts insist that they pack us a lunch too! They also offer great recommendations for local markets / farm stands, and as much garden produce as we can carry. Many are farms, and we can collect bushels of market produce / windfalls / culls. We have some nice plants on our farm that were provided by hospitality home hosts.
That's a great hobby, and everyone should have a hobby that they can exploit when traveling. But I'd never spend an hour searching a strange city to try to find one.
What "searching"? It's called walking the neighborhood, taking in the local culture, hanging with the locals, experiencing something that isn't in a tourist brochure, having a wonderful meal of strange foods purchased from a street stall or l8cal market.
And sometimes those experiences are exactly why we return again, once going back to live there for 6 months.
Everyone has different interests, different tastes and varying levels of comfort. I try not to look down my nose at those who travel to an different culture and insist on visiting every museum, every tourist stop, go shopping for souvenirs that were likely made in China, and eat every meal at Hard Rock Cafe or the dining room in their Hilton Hotel.
What "searching"? It's called walking the neighborhood, taking in the local culture, hanging with the locals, experiencing something that isn't in a tourist brochure, having a wonderful meal of strange foods purchased from a street stall or l8cal market.
And sometimes those experiences are exactly why we return again, once going back to live there for 6 months.
Everyone has different interests, different tastes and varying levels of comfort. I try not to look down my nose at those who travel to an different culture and insist on visiting every museum, every tourist stop, go shopping for souvenirs that were likely made in China, and eat every meal at Hard Rock Cafe or the dining room in their Hilton Hotel.
First, I did not look down my nose, I said it was a great hobby, which just doesn't happen to be mine. Which I thought was pretty fair to your sensitives, not at all condescending or fault-finding.
If you are traveling from A to B, which most people are, "walking the neighborhood, taking in the local culture, hanging with the locals" do not always fit into a time-constricted itinerary. Nor will it always yield "an independent deli". It has to be, by itself, your travel objective for that particular trip. And "searching" is what you have to do in an unfamiliar city to find an obscure place of business that even many of the locals don't even know about. I just "searched" for a delicatessen in my own city, found one in the yellow pages, and if you asked me how to get to that address, I'd have to say I'm not sure. I'd have to search for it myself. You sure as hell would not find it by "walking my neighborthood". You could spend several hours every day of the year walking random neighborhoods, and I bet you'd never find a single independent deli.
What remains unclear is what your goal is. Is it to "find an independent deli", or is it to "hang with the locals". Sounds kind of hit and miss.
First, I did not look down my nose, I said it was a great hobby, which just doesn't happen to be mine. Which I thought was pretty fair to your sensitives, not at all condescending or fault-finding.
If you are traveling from A to B, which most people are, "walking the neighborhood, taking in the local culture, hanging with the locals" do not always fit into a time-constricted itinerary. Nor will it always yield "an independent deli". It has to be, by itself, your travel objective for that particular trip. And "searching" is what you have to do in an unfamiliar city to find an obscure place of business that even many of the locals don't even know about. I just "searched" for a delicatessen in my own city, found one in the yellow pages, and if you asked me how to get to that address, I'd have to say I'm not sure. I'd have to search for it myself. You sure as hell would not find it by "walking my neighborthood". You could spend several hours every day of the year walking random neighborhoods, and I bet you'd never find a single independent deli.
What remains unclear is what your goal is. Is it to "find an independent deli", or is it to "hang with the locals". Sounds kind of hit and miss.
Yellow pages?
Smart phone. Yelp. Heck, even my GPS finds this stuff. Ask somebody in the street. I'm not just talking about deli's - that was just what started this thread. I use these methods to find all kinds of things - bars, restaurants, the bus stop, a taxi stand, wine shop, a museum, a grocery store, a shop selling such and such.
You're correct - if the goal is to get from Point A to Point B, this kind of travel makes no sense. Then, you eat at the airport, train terminal or where ever convenient.
In USA I use grocery stores, but not the deli,,, I meet the produce guy and buy the culls. (Much to the dismay of our resident C-D travel queen who calls this dumpster diving). Since I am a lifelong farmer / grower, I have no problem with a blemish or two (beats chemically treated or waxed 'presentation quality' produce.)
In Europe we use the local city center markets, and in Asia the wet-markets (all of which make a USA supermarket cull look like a product from a 'clean room'. )
Since we stay in hospitality guest homes, we frequently get 2 home grown meals / day included in our $10 lodging. Many hosts insist that they pack us a lunch too! They also offer great recommendations for local markets / farm stands, and as much garden produce as we can carry. Many are farms, and we can collect bushels of market produce / windfalls / culls. We have some nice plants on our farm that were provided by hospitality home hosts.
You pay $10 a day for accomodation and that includes three meals? Or you did that that one time you travelled in Thailand in 1960?
..............This past trip, up to Oregon, in Gold Beach, I stumbled across the best grocery store deli imaginable.......................... what's been your experiences?
The majority of hot delis in Oregon are good. Every one I've ever eaten out of has been excellent. Especially the junk food like the Jojo potatoes.
It used to be that gas stations in oregon sold the best friend chicken ever. That would be lunch when we traveled: fried chicken from a gas station. Some of them still sell fried chicken if they have a hot deli in their convenience store, but mostly fried chicken at the gas station is a thing of the past.
Some convenience stores have hot delis. Mostly for things like Jojo potatoes and fried burritos. The grocery store delis usually have salads and casseroles in addition to fried and roasted chicken.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
). Since I am a lifelong farmer / grower, I have no problem with a blemish or two 
(beats chemically treated or waxed 'presentation quality' produce.
)
