The Globe restaurant critic has 8 tips for finding great food on the cheap

Ask the hotel staff where to eat. Then ask them where they actually like to eat, with their friends and family. Repeat with shopkeepers and random strangers on the street. People are often delighted to share their favorites.

Residential neighborhoods, cultural enclaves, the area you yourself would live in if you lived there ... all are troves of good food at prices that attract locals.

TikTok has made this less of a sure thing. Still, if locals are queueing for food, and not making videos of themselves doing so, it’s generally a good sign.

From Borough Market in London to Nishiki Market in Kyoto, markets offer destination grazing, and are great spots to find souvenirs. Don’t sleep on smaller, less-touristy spots, and hit local supermarkets for spices, candy, tea, spirits, and other fun groceries.

If you like to cook, it can be a real treat to prepare a meal with ingredients from that area’s markets.

Some of the best local specialties arrive through immigration and admiration. Eat Indian food in London, or pizza and pastries in Japan. There’s variety there, and value, too.

Do you have local connections, however distant? See if they want to get together at their favorite spot. If you get invited to eat at the home of someone you know isn’t a creepy ax murderer, say yes.

—Devra First

Whenever we’re traveling, we always check the James Beard Foundation’s list of America’s Classics along our route. These restaurants — often family‑run, sometimes seasonal — offer local flavor and atmosphere, typically at reasonable prices. These 12 New England spots are on the list.

The potatoes at Al’s French Frys (1251 Williston Road, 802-862-9203) in South Burlington are fresh and fried to perfection. Would you like a great burger with that? They’ve got those, too.

Start the day with pancakes doused in maple syrup at Polly’s Pancake Parlor (672 Route 117, 603-823-5575) in Sugar Hill. You can chow down on chicken fingers where they were invented in 1974 at the Puritan Backroom (245 Hooksett Road, 603-669-6890) in Manchester.

The Nezinscot Farm Store cafe (284 Turner Center Road, 207-225-3231) in Turner features the Varney family’s own bread and cheeses as well as the organic farm’s beef, pork, and chicken. At Bagaduce Lunch (145 Franks Flat Road) in Penobscot, freshly caught haddock stars in the fried fish sandwiches. The fillets are so big they hang over the edges of the bun.

Frank Pepe pioneered Neapolitan-style pizza in New Haven in 1925. Try the original “tomato pie” or the famous white clam pizza at the original Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (157 Wooster Street, 203-865-5762) in New Haven. Grill cooks have mastered the magically crispy cheese edges of cheeseburgers at Shady Glen (840 Middle Turnpike East, 860-649-4245) in Manchester.

During warm weather, fish lovers shouldn’t miss the gigantic clam fritters and three varieties of clam chowder (milk, plain, or tomato) at Aunt Carrie’s (1240 Ocean Road, 401-783-7930) in Narragansett. “Hot wieners” with meat sauce, mustard, onion, and celery salt at Olneyville New York System Restaurant (18 Plainfield Street, 401-621-9500) in Providence are favorites with night owls.  

In Boston, sample the award-winning turkey hash for breakfast or lunch at Charlie’s Sandwich Shoppe (429 Columbus Avenue, 617-536-7669), a 1927 South End diner. Line up early for crispy-oozy arancini and slabs of Sicilian pizza at Galleria Umberto (289 Hanover Street, 617-227-5709) in the North End. Watch for thieving gulls when you take your hot dogs and fries to a picnic table at Sullivan’s Castle Island (2080 William J. Day Boulevard, 617-268-5685) in South Boston.

—Patricia Harris and David Lyon

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Devra First can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Instagram @devrafirst. Patricia Harris can be reached at [email protected]. David Lyon can be reached at [email protected].