Over the years, dining while traveling has shifted from something that had to be done — and sometimes even dreaded when having to feed a tired, whiny preschooler — to one of the most anticipated parts of my trips. When I start planning a trip, I often look up dining options before I scour the list of attractions on the tourism website for a city or county.

While I once preferred a speedy, well-known drive-thru to grab a dinner in a bag while traveling, I now avoid those whenever I can in favor of a mom-and-pop or chef-owned venture. I enjoy lingering in a dining room, savoring each bite and taking in an atmosphere that I probably won’t ever visit again.

A few tips for planning out dining as you travel:

Contact the convention and visitor’s bureau for the area you are traveling to and ask that they send you a visitor’s guide. You can find the same information on most websites, but sometimes it’s fun to go old-school with a printed book that has dining listings to circle or highlight and narrow down.

If you find some places that sound interesting, Google them. If you’re someone that puts a lot of faith in reviews, see what other diners have had to say. Or search for articles that have been written about the place and read a little more about it.

Learn the history. Go to the restaurant’s website and you’ll usually find an “About Us” tab where you can get a little background on the place. I always like to learn the backstory of a business and love to learn a little before I go.