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KAYAK reveals Top 25 Hidden Gem Restaurants Worth Flying For

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A new survey reveals B.C. residents have a keen appetite for culinary adventure and would go to great lengths for a good meal. In fact, 1 in 5 would book a vacation solely to dine at a restaurant they wanted to try. 

That’s why KAYAK and OpenTable joined forces to reveal the top 25 hidden gem restaurants worth flying for with travel tips and restaurant recommendations all in one place. 

Osteria Savio Volpe Vancouver

Key survey insights about B.C. residents include:

  • Good food is worth the road trip: A lengthy drive is no obstacle for B.C. residents, with 70 percent claiming they would travel an hour or more to eat at a restaurant on their wish list and 48 percent claiming they would take a full day trip to reach a dining destination while on vacation.
  • B.C. residents have an adventurous palate: 70 percent of B.C. residents would forgo familiar foods to get an authentic taste of a city. 
  • B.C. is home to one of the world’s top dining recommendations: Osteria Savio Volpe in Vancouver is one of only two Canadian restaurants on KAYAK and OpenTable’s Top Hidden Gem Restaurants list. 
  • Food is top of mind for B.C. residents when making travel plans: 25 percent of B.C. residents research restaurants in another country before booking their flights.

Best hidden gem restaurants

To help uncover the best hidden gem restaurants in some of KAYAK’s most popular travel destinations, OpenTable looked to diners for their top recommendations. Findings are below:

  1. 12th Avenue Grill – Honolulu, Hawaii
  2. Alux Restaurante – Cancun, Mexico
  3. Battista’s Hole in the Wall – Las Vegas, Nevada
  4. Bistro Campagne- Chicago, Illinois
  5. Cafe Luxembourg- New York, New York
  6. CRUST- Miami, Florida
  7. Frances- San Francisco, California
  8. Gilda by Belgious- Barcelona, Spain
  9. Mamma Maria – Boston, Massachusetts
  10. Musso & Frank Grill- Los Angeles, California
  11. Nusr-Et Dubai- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  12. Omonia Taverna & Bar- Frankfurt, Germany
  13. Osteria Savio Volpe- Vancouver, British Columbia
  14. Paddock & Vine- Sydney, Australia
  15. Rosetta- Mexico City, Mexico
  16. Schnitzelei Charlottenburg- Berlin, Germany
  17. Serafina by the Water- Fort Lauderdale, Florida
  18. Stella Cocktail Club- Dublin, Ireland
  19. Terroni Queen – Toronto, Ontario
  20. Tatel Madrid- Madrid, Spain
  21. The Tap Room at Dubsdread- Orlando, Florida
  22. Van Speyk- Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  23. Westerns Laundry- London, England
  24. Wirtshaus in der Au- Munich, Germany
  25. 開花屋 (Kaikaya by the Sea )- Tokyo, Japan 

OpenTable + KAYAK Methodology

OpenTable’s list of the top 25 Hidden Gem Restaurants worth flying for is generated solely from diner reviews collected between 7/1/2018 and 6/30/2019. Cities were chosen based on KAYAK’s list of the top 50 most popular destinations for travel between July 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019. 

All restaurants with a minimum “overall” score and number of qualifying reviews were included for consideration. The overall score is made up of unique data points, such as overall diner rating, user klout, total number of reviews and regional overall rating. Qualifying restaurants were then scored and sorted according to the sum of tags for which “neighborhood gem” was selected as a special feature. 

YouGov Survey Methodology

Total sample size was 1,056 Canadian adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between August 6-13, 2019.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all Canadian adults (aged 18+).

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