14 Great Cities Where You Can Eat Like a Cabbie

You are visiting a new city, loving it, yet... you loathe tourist traps. Where does the curious and adventuresome traveler go to eat like the locals?

LLoviendo Cafe, Jorge Fernández-Trevejo Rivas
via creativecommons

Think about it. Who in the city, is watching their pennies, and has an appetite that needs ongoing love and attention?

Why the city's cabbies, of course!

It's a trick of the well-traveled: pick your cabbie's brain for the best cheap spots for good food in town.

How you ask the question makes a difference though: "Where do the locals go for breakfast around here?" or "Where do you and all the cabbies go for good, cheap food?", works better than "We're hungry. Where can we go for dinner?" (the latter runs the risk of being whisked off to his uncle's restaurant, or some diner where the driver gets a cut).

Leaving town before you find the best driver? Ask away and take notes; you never know when you'll be back. Bonus points if your driver mentions a spot you managed to find on your own!

Athens	Restaurants in Athens (see mentions of George the famous taxi driver of Greece)
Berlin	Berlin Food Adventures *
Buenos Aires	Buenos Aires Food Adventures *
Chicago	Eating like a cab driver
Dubai	Where taxi drivers dine: We visit the restaurants that fuel the city's cab drivers
Ho Chi Minh City	Eating by taxi in Ho Chi Minh City
Hong Kong	Taxi Tales: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers
Istanbul	Eating & Drinking in Istanbul: 3 Taxi Driver Tips
London	Hail London's new TV star: Cabbie who knows where to find the capital's best food Nosh and Knowledge: The lore, language and robust diets of  London's "black cab" drivers
New York	Looking for a culinary trip? Follow that cab. Famous Fat Dave: the Hungry Cabbie * New York Food Adventures *
Rome	Where to eat in Rome - by the city's cabbies *
Singapore	What Singapore Taxi Drivers Eat For Lunch or “Uncle, 载我去吃饭!” Top 8 hawker food centres taxi drivers patronise
Toronto	The top 10 restaurants for taxi drivers in Toronto
Washington DC	Where cabbies eat like kings

Created with the HTML Table Generator
*dated but likely still valuable tips

Just a sampling, of course. But rest assured, that if there is a city, and there are taxis, there are cabbies that know where the best eats are.

The famous Curry 36 in Berlin

Google is your friend - but so is Layne Mosler (@taxigourmet) of Taxi Gourmet, who is turning her website dedicated to her pursuit of the cabbie's lunch trail into a new book. Driving Hungry, with croudsourced funding by Kickstarter, will be out in 2014.

Curious? Read this interview with Layne by @epicurious.


Related resources:

• Taxi Mike's Where to Eat in Banff (where is Banff?)
• Invite your taxi driver to eat with you
• Confessions of a New York Taxi Driver (book trailer video)
• George: the famous taxi driver of Greece

In case you missed it... here's the answer to the burning question: Do we really hate taxis?

2013 Taxi Stories: The GOOD, BAD & UGLY

We're not far into the new year, so we are still reflecting on some of the more interesting taxi stories in the last year...

The GOOD:



You're in a taxi in Norway... driven by the Prime Minister?

One of the coolest stories to emerge last year was when Norway's Prime Minister,
Jens Stoltenberg, donned a taxi driver's uniform and got behind the wheel of a taxi
in Oslo, to find out what his constituents really think. Read the story here.

The BAD:



What's inside this ambulance in Moscow? A heart attack victim or leather couches and caviar?

It's so hard to get through the streets in Moscow that a new mode of
transport has emerged, as described in this story that emerged in 2013:
'Sick' in style: Meet the new Russian ambulance luxury taxi.
Read the full story here.

The UGLY:



Really, what's the worst that can happen if you accept a ride from a driver in a Chicago airport?

In 2013, Chicago hatched one of the worst taxi scam stories we've seen. Not only for how deep it gouged, but for how heartless it was. Here's how it went down: a Chinese student, speaking little English, lands at Chicago O'Hare Airport, and is approached by a taxi driver... Read the full story here.

A few other notable taxi stories from 2013:

• The Best and Worst Cities to Take a Taxi - featuring IHateTaxis
• English Speaking Taxi Scam At The Costa Rica Airport
• Taxi Driver Collusion at Rome's Ciampino Airport 
• New York: Four-Wheeled Future: Taking a Ride in New York City’s “Taxi of Tomorrow”
• New York: NYC Judge Nixes 'Taxi of Tomorrow' Deal
• Vancouver: Passengers the losers as more downtown weekend taxis put on hold

Read these posts in our Smart Travel Advice series:

• Airport Arrival Advice
• Taxi Rates and Fares: Airport Taxi Advice
• Dealing with Touts 
• Dealing with Taxi Drivers

In case you have missed it, please read our post: Do We Really Hate Taxis?

Travel Tax Squeeze: Best and Worst USA Cities

Here's interesting news if your travels take you to major cities in the USA.

This past week, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) released its annual travel tax report on car rentals, hotels and restaurants in 50 top USA cities. Of most interest to travellers are what the GBTA calls "discriminatory travel taxes", which are taxes imposed specifically on travel services, above and beyond general sales taxes. Here are a few highlights.

Worst USA Cities for Travel Taxes


Rental car return backup at Portland Airport - the USA city with the highest
discriminatory travel tax rate - that will effect your rental car bill

The top 10 U.S. cities with the highest discriminatory travel tax rates are:

2013 Rank	City	$ over general sales tax
1	Portland (OR)	$22.86
2	Boston	$19.34
3	Indianapolis	$18.10
4	Minneapolis	$17.46
5	Chicago	$17.39
6	New York	$15.96
7	Washington, D.C.	$15.61
8	Kansas City	$15.26
9	Charlotte	$15.16
10	Milwaukee	$15.04

Minneapolis jumped up two spots over 2012 (from 6 to 4), and Washington D.C. jumped up four spots (from 11 to 7).

Best USA Cities for Travel Taxes

Enjoy your rental car in California, the taxes won't break the bank

You may be interested to know that California and Florida are among the states with the lowest discriminatory travel tax rates in the country, making them tourist friendly.

The top 10 U.S. cities with the lowest discriminatory travel tax rates are:

2013 Rank	City	$ over general sales tax
1	Burbank	$1.58
2	Orange County	$3.16
3	Ontario (CA)	$4.48
4	San Diego	$5.27
5	Oakland	$5.79
6 *	Tampa	$7.27
7*	Fort Lauderdale	$7.27
8*	Fort Myers	$7.27
9*	West Palm Beach	$7.27
10	Los Angeles	$7.37

* tie

The biggest change since 2012 was Los Angeles, which dropped from 5th to 10th.

More...

The information gathered by the GBTA is helpful, and we are appreciative of the level of detail the organization shares in its press releases, allowing us to share it with you. You may also be interested in the total travel tax burden rankings - just refer to the references below for more.

All information in this blog post is from the following Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) press releases:

• GBTA Reveals Best and Worst Travel Taxes Across Top 50 U.S. Destinations
• Taxes and Fees on Travel Reaching the Tipping Point 
• Bad For Business: A Billion Dollars In New Travel Taxes

Chicago taxi driver scams student for $4K

A taxi in Chicago

If you missed it this past week, this taxi scam is one of the worst we've seen. Not only for how deep it gouged, but for how heartless it was.

Here's how it went down: a Chinese student, speaking little English, lands at Chicago O'Hare Airport. His destination: the University of Illinois (there is a bus service, but taking a taxi should cost, at most, about $300). The student was approached in the airport by a taxi driver, told there were no more buses running that night, and his only option was a taxi. For a cool $1000. The student agrees, and off they go.

But that's not the end of the story. We're not sure if somehow the driver caught wind of the fact that the student had a lot of cash on him, or perhaps he caught a glimpse of it, or maybe he was just a nasty dreamer, but whatever the reason, when they arrive at their destination, the driver demands $4,800 (and, no, that's not a typo!). Well, the student "only" had around $4,200, so he gave the driver all the money he had.

Our advice: NEVER trust an offer of a taxi or limo from someone who approaches you in the airport.

The practice of approaching customers to secure a fare is called touting.

Touts prey on newly-arrived passengers, at airports and train stations, taking advantage of them in many ways. Touts prey on new arrivals because:

• They may not be familiar with the local currency
• They may not be aware of the typical cost of goods and services
• They are likely tired and jet-lagged and just want to get to their destination
• They are  very likely carrying large amounts of cash 

To avoid being ripped off, avoid taxi touts completely.

Related reading: Dealing with Touts

Instead, go to the official taxi stand, or read up on your destination ahead of time to learn options for where you can catch a cab (IHateTaxis.com was created for this purpose - check us out!).

While we most often see stories about taxi touts ripping travellers off outside of North America, it can happen anywhere. So, get street smart, and know how to protect yourself.

We feel for the student who, in this case, really didn't know any better, and was willing to trust someone who he thought was helping him (the driver told him there were no more buses that evening). If you know a foreigner who is travelling to visit you, always advise them the best way to get a taxi, and what not to do, to avoid being scammed.

Related reading: Airport Arrival Advice

With regards to the recent Chicago scam, you can read the full story here.