Food: Recipes, Restaurant Reviews, Healthy Diets and More
With findingDulcinea’s Food Web Guide, you’ll get up-to-date restaurant reviews, recipes, overviews of healthy diets and much more. We’ll help you find old favorites like Cheerwine soda and get organic and specialty food items delivered to your door. Learn about ingredient substitutions or watch a cooking tutorial. Whatever your inclination, we’ll help you taste, cook and order your favorite foods.
Expand All Guide SectionsFood Resources Online
Meatloaf again? Give your taste buds a much-needed pick-me-up with these inspiring food Web sites and blogs. Find recipes, cooking tips, restaurant reviews, advice about wine and lots of other food talk from people with a passion for food.
Insights for Food Resources Online
- Blogs provide a way to read someone else's personal rants and raves about cuisine and life. If you're looking for straightforward information about food and are not interested in extra narrative, blogs may not be for you.
- If you have a question that you can't seem to find the answer to on any site, try writing the question on a food Web site's message board. You may get an answer from another user.
Top Sites for Food Resources Online
For food Web sites …
Chow offers a great "Stories" section (although the message boards are also exceptional resources). Read regular columns like "Table Manners" where you'll find out if it's okay to send back food just because you don't like the taste. Chow also has blogs, articles, recipes and even instructional videos.
Leite's Culinaria has an interesting "writings" section; in it, you'll find a "Food History" category that provides insight into the origins of foods as common as cheesecake or as distinctive as the cuisine of ancient Rome. The articles and interviews are also worth a browse.
Food411 offers a "Food Reads" section that gives you a directory of online magazines, blogs, bookstores, and other sources of information about the culinary world. Also find lists of Web sites where you can buy ingredients, cookware or deliverable meals, or look for recipes and gift ideas.
For the online versions of food newspapers, magazines or television shows …
Food & Wine magazine's Web site includes interviews with chefs, restaurant reviews and recipes. Also look for columns and articles from the current issue of the magazine.
Food Network has recipes from all of its television shows. This site helps you find what you saw on TV a few days or weeks ago. If you’re looking for a new recipe, this is a great source of menus or dishes for holidays or special occasions.
The New York Times presents a food and wine travel guide that gives you mouthwatering accounts of restaurants and foods from around the world. Find out what the Times' writers are trying in Mexico, Italy, Ethiopia and other exotic locales.
To read the personal chronicles of food lovers …
The Food Section is as much a food newspaper as it is a blog. Whatever is happening in the food world, be it kosher Coke for Passover or a review of a new restaurant, writer Josh Friedland posts an opinion about it. You’ll also find lots of links to other current food news.
101 Cookbooks documents one woman's adventures exploring the recipes in her cookbook collection and recipe box. Find new twists on classic dishes as the author sprinkles her own reviews and additions into the mix. Also read about her favorite cookbooks and some upcoming book releases.
Delicious:days, with its stunning photos and sleek design, looks more like a photography book than a recipe archive. You'll be delighted with the presentation—and the wide variety of intriguing recipes and entertaining suggestions.
Specialty Foods
If you've ever wondered what people mean when they talk about the bouquet of a wine or why cheese with mold on it can be considered a delicacy, these specialty foods and libations Web sites can help. Pick up the basics or get the details about specialty food items like wine, beer, coffee, tea, cheese and chocolate.
Insights for Specialty Foods
- You won’t become an expert just by reading; the best way to learn what you like (or dislike) is to try various specialty foods yourself.
- Can’t find the specialty food you're looking for here? See the "Food Resources Online" section above, and look for message boards or forums on more general food sites that deal specifically with your food of choice.
Top Sites for Specialty Foods
For wine ...
WineAnswers.com explains almost anything you could ever want to know about wine, including how to pair it with food, and the difference between kosher and non-kosher wine, for example.
WineLog lets wine enthusiasts track and record the wines they try and how much they like (or dislike) them. The site is unique because it automatically recommends wines based on the taste you've expressed through your previous wine ratings.
Vinorati is a free community site for wine lovers, created by people with experience working on vineyards. The site lets you rate and share wines with friends, and has a special feature called "tasting groups" that helps you find people with similar interests in wine (or life) and explore new wines together, either virtually or in person.
For coffee ...
CoffeeGeek has opinions, articles, product reviews and tips for the coffee amateur or expert. Learn skills like how to properly froth milk and brew Turkish coffee, or read articles about coffee-related events like the World Barista Championship.
Coffee Review presents a "Coffee Reference" section full of information on coffee, including the differences between regional coffees and styles of roasting, how it is processed for drinking, the health effects of coffee and its history.
For cheese ...
Fankhauser's Cheese Page was created by Dr. David Fankhauser, a professor at the University of Cincinnati. You'll find instructions on how to make cheese, lots of recipes and instructional videos to aid you in the cheese mongering process.
The American Cheese Society welcomes cheese makers and enthusiasts. Find information about upcoming competitions and industry news as well as tips on buying, serving and storing cheese.
Restaurant Review Sites
Tired of cooking? The Internet has plenty of resources to help you discover a new favorite eatery. Below you'll find restaurant review sites that usually include menus and links to a restaurant's Web site.
Insights for Restaurant Reviews
- If you’re looking for a particular restaurant, try entering its name as well as your city into a search engine. There are a number of duplicate restaurant names nationwide, so specifying your city can help you find the right restaurant.
- A restaurant's site is typically going to show you only positive information and reviews, so use independent restaurant review sites to find unbiased opinions.
- If you have a spectacular (or spectacularly disappointing) experience with a restaurant, post a review of your own on the restaurant review site of your choice. This is especially valuable if your experience was contrary to the opinions that you'd read about the restaurant.
Top Sites for Restaurant Reviews
To find a restaurant nearby ...
Zagat is a well-respected restaurant rating service. This site has detailed descriptions and ratings based on food, service and atmosphere. Some parts of the site are subscription-only. If you frequently dine out, or use other services, the fee may be worth the few dollars a month it costs.
MenuPages has conflicting but informative reviews from patrons of restaurants in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago and more. You'll find a link to each restaurant's Web page, printable menus, driving directions and maps showing the location of each restaurant. Search for cuisine by neighborhood, restaurant name or type of food.
MenuPix has a database of actual scanned pictures of the menus from restaurants in major metropolitan areas in the United States: Boston, New York, Providence, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boulder and a few others. If you want menus without a lot of extra site features, MenuPix is the place for you.
For restaurant review sites ...
RoadFood covers the local restaurants and diners found on the highways and back roads of small towns and city neighborhoods. The site's reviews, unlike most of the other restaurant review sites, include pictures of the restaurants and dishes and list helpful information like hours of operation and average cost of a meal.
Menuism is a social networking site for foodies who share their opinions of local restaurants. Find reviews along with a map showing the location of the restaurant and sometimes even photos.
Food Delivery Services
It is possible to get more than just pizza and Chinese food delivered to your doorstep. You might be surprised at the number of establishments that offer food delivery services, especially in larger cities. The Web offers directories of delivery options and helps you find menus and restaurant reviews. In many cases, you can even place your order online.
Insights for Food Delivery Services
- The restaurants that allow you to place your order online often offer Web-only deals. Check and see if you can get a discount on your food delivery service.
- Some third-party sites make menus available. Although these menus can give you an idea of what a restaurant offers, the pricing and selection is sometimes outdated. Check with the restaurant to verify the menu.
- To avoid surprises, ask about food delivery service charges before you place your order.
- Some restaurants let you pay over the telephone with a credit card. If you don’t have cash on hand, ask if you can pay in advance for your food delivery. (Remember to add a tip to the charge placed on the card.)
Top Sites for Food Delivery Services
SeamlessWeb lets you set up an account so that you can order for yourself, or for an entire office. Hover your mouse over an item on a menu to see details such as a list of ingredients or suggested accompaniments.
Campusfood.com offers online menus, ordering and delivery for restaurants near college campuses. Although the site doesn't list every restaurant or campus, you can request that they add your favorite eatery or your school to the list.
Delivery.com has a neat feature that tells you what restaurants will deliver to you at the moment. If you live or work in a big city, you're likely to find some good options.
Online Grocery Shopping
Online grocery shopping makes it possible to buy your food online and have it delivered directly to your front door. There are also plenty of Web sites that can help you organize your shopping list and find out what deals are available in your area.
Insights for Online Grocery Shopping
- Before you start stocking up on items, take a look at these articles about how long you can store your food before it goes bad. Real Simple provides a list of some surprising expiration dates. BusinessWeek gives some general guidelines, regulations and information about expiration dates.
- One way to ease yourself into online grocery shopping is to use a site that tracks your grocery lists and helps you find coupons before you start making purchases online.
- If you have a product that you especially like, check the manufacturer's site for coupons. You can also check coupon sites like Ebates to find printable coupons. For more coupon sites, see our FindingDulcinea Shopping Web Guide.
- The Internet is a handy place to buy hard-to-find or international grocery items.
- As you do your online grocery shopping, be aware of delivery fees and other delivery specifications. For example, many companies only deliver grocery items during certain time slots.
- There are some grocery delivery sites, such as Peapod.com, that deliver only to certain regions of the country. These online grocery shopping sites be convenient and inexpensive alternatives to the national delivery sites.
- There are a number of grocery sites that specialize in certain ethnic cuisines. Some examples include Greekshops.com for Greek food, MexGrocer.com for Mexican food and Polana.com for Polish food.
Top Sites for Online Grocery Shopping
To save money on groceries ...
MyGroceryDeals.com requires you to create a free account before you can look at the grocery deals in your area, but the effort is worthwhile. Instead of scouring your local paper for coupons, browse the sale flyers in your zip code. Search by store and food category or use the "Quicklist" feature to create your own shopping list.
To have your online grocery shopping delivered ...
NetGrocer offers nationwide online grocery shopping. They have special items like "Kosher" and "Natural & Organic" and also offer weekly deals.
DineWise.com delivers frozen, chef prepared meals to your home in 3 to 6 business days anywhere in the United States. You'll find nutritional information and several meal plans, including Senior, Diabetic and Weight Loss plans.
Food411.com has a list of sites that deliver ready-made meals to your door. Menu options range from gourmet and vegetarian to Texas BBQ and Chicago flavors.
Online grocery shopping for specialty or hard-to-find items ...
Hometown Favorites is an interesting site to browse even if you don't have a specific product in mind. You might discover a hard-to-find or location-specific favorite such as Gold Mine gum or Cheerwine soda.
Gourmet Grocery Online provides nationwide delivery of online grocery shopping options for gourmet items like foie gras, imported wine and cheese, and fruit baskets.
Diamond Organics offers online grocery shopping for all kinds of organic foods (for example, produce, dairy, meat and flowers) delivered to your door overnight.
Who knew?
Hillbilly Housewife presents an "Emergency Menu" that can feed a family for one week on only $45. You'll find a shopping list of ingredients and recipes for each dish.
Recipes
You may never need to buy a cookbook again. You can find recipes online for almost any dish imaginable, and search for recipes that include certain ingredients or specifications, such as "black beans" or "healthy." Get hundreds of recipes online that cater specifically to your cooking tastes.
Insights for Recipes
- User ratings and commentary can help you decide which online recipes to try. User comments can be especially valuable for ingredient substitutions or suggestions on how to improve a recipe.
- Many of the recipes and cooking tips you find on the packaging of your favorite food products can also be found on the manufacturers' Web sites. Remember the original Chex Party Mix recipe?
- You can find cooking tips on manufacturer sites both for food products (e.g., Butterball has turkey cooking tips on its site) and for cooking instruments (Weber's site has tips on grilling technique).
Top Sites for Recipes
For an online recipe database ...
Epicurious gathers recipes from Gourmet Magazine, Bon Appétit and others. Each recipe comes with user reviews, and includes an estimate of how long the dish will take to prepare. Search for recipes by cuisine type or dish.
Allrecipes has individual recipes and complete menu ideas. The "Tips & Advice" section has articles about your health, holiday celebrations (such as what to eat for Independence Day or Chinese New Year), food budgeting and more.
FoodieView is a recipe search engine that searches lots of sites . Narrow your finds by cuisine type, ingredients, special diet considerations or by chef. Or go to "Food and Cooking Resources" for a list of other great food sites.
For recipes and advice or community ...
Group Recipes not only allows you to browse recipes by main ingredient, course, cuisine or cooking method, it also lets you search for recipes by flavor. This site has listings of a few recommended restaurants by city, and the user groups allow members to post recipes and chat.
RecipeZaar is for you if you're looking for a culinary community and recipe search engine in one. In addition to searching for recipes online, you can search for a cookbook or trade recipes and chat with people who share your food interests.
MyRecipe.org helps you share your recipes with others. Follow the video tutorial to upload your own recipes and photos, and then get feedback about them from other users.
For specialty online recipe sites ...
Simply Recipes is a blog-like site full of recipes for comfort foods. It also includes recipes for low-carb and wheat-free dishes.
Retro-Food is a blog that posts recipes online from old recipe books (think first-edition Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book). Have a hankering for Flaming Cabbage or Grapefruit Fluff? Retro-Food shows you how to make it.
CopyKat is the place to go if you want to recreate any of your restaurant favorites. Find recipes online for things like the McDonald's breakfast burrito, Hooters' hot wings or a Cinnabon danish. Occasional modifications are suggested by other users to help make the results taste even closer to the real thing.
For culinary resources or tips ...
The Cook's Thesaurus lists foods, ingredients and kitchen utensils and their uses. Each item includes a photo, description, pronunciation guide and suggested substitutions.
The Epicentre provides an encyclopedia of spices. Individual spices and spice blends are listed along with a full description of each item. You’ll even find recipe ideas that help you put each spice to use.
The Exploratorium presents "Science of Cooking," an entertaining and educational glimpse at the chemistry of cooking. Learn how different kinds of candy are made and the science behind cooking an egg, and take a quiz to test your knowledge on recipe quick fixes: Too much salt in the stew? Find out if you know how to save the pot.
Reluctant Gourmet is a cooking resource and blog in one. The site exists to help hesitant would-be chefs learn to love cooking. If you love food but are scared of the spatula, this site can help. Look for tips on technique and tools, as well as a few online recipes and a lighthearted word or two from the Reluctant Gourmet himself.
Food and Health
The following food and health Web sites give you a deeper look at the value of your food. Learn what ingredients are helping or harming your body: You'll find nutritional information, government food specifications and suggestions for making your diet as healthy as possible.
Insights for Food and Health
- In general, be wary of health Web sites. The Web is an easy place for misinformation to spread quickly (be especially skeptical of chain e-mails). If you are confused as to how to verify a Web site's credibility, see the findingDulcinea Guide to Web Search.
- Consult your doctor before you begin any weight loss program or undergo a major change in diet.
- You might be surprised by what your body is telling you: Take a look at this list of what food cravings really mean.
Top Sites for Food and Health
To find food and health news and information …
Center for Science in the Public Interest has food safety news, information about food additives, food safety tips and other food safety related studies and legislation information. The Center is an advocacy group that encourages legislation to keep consumers safe and healthy.
MyPyramid.gov has the updated food pyramid from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The pyramid published a decade ago has been seriously modified: Look at this new chart to see if your diet needs to be tweaked accordingly.
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition helps carry out the mission of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by monitoring the safety and proper labeling of food and cosmetics in the United States. Find fact sheets on topics like food safety and product allergens as well as links to consumer safety news.
To find healthy food...
NutritionData.com provides an incredibly detailed nutritional breakdown of food. Find healthier substitutes for the food you eat at restaurants, or see how balanced a specific food is. This site also has a daily calorie counter, a tool to find foods that meet your specific nutrient needs, a body mass index calculator and a nutrition glossary.
Lime has a food section complete with informative videos, recipes, articles and a newsfeed from other sources. The site recommends products and additional resources on how to live a healthy lifestyle.
FoodFit has a collection of healthful food recipes and guides. Find information about seasonal fruits and vegetables, or visit the "Tools for a healthy lifestyle" section for tips and advice on proper cooking, eating and living.
Meals For You allows you to search for recipes by nutritional information, ingredient, name or course. Choose what recipes you'd like to make, and Meals For You builds a shopping list that you can print with the proper ingredients and amounts to make shopping easier.
Who knew?
WiseGeek shows you pictures of what a 200-calorie serving looks like in a variety of foods.
Special Diets
There’s no reason to limit your food choices simply because you’re on a special diet. Use the Web to diversify your palate or to tailor your diet to specific needs, whether you are an athlete, have food allergies or want to try a specialized eating plan.
Insights for Special Diets
- Use the restaurant and product listings from the following sites as a reference, but make sure to inquire at a restaurant or read the ingredients of a food item before you consume it, to ensure that it complies with your special diet requirements or restrictions.
- Consult the findingDulcinea Vegetarianism and Veganism Web Guides for more information on those special diets.
Top Sites for Special Diets
For vegetarian or vegan food information ...
VegWeb.com consists mostly of user-generated content. Your biggest problem on this site might be choosing among all of the recipes listed in each category: There are more than 30 recipes for banana bread alone.
Happy Cow provides a window to vegetarian restaurants and health food stores around the world. Find a list of famous vegetarians and resources to help the vegetarian traveler fullfill their special diet requirements on the road.
Vegan Lunch Box is a blog from a stay-at-home vegan mom. It's full of suggestions for packing vegan lunches for yourself or your family members. Check out "The Magical Loaf Studio:" Simply choose from a list of ingredients and the site generates a recipe for your very own vegan loaf.
Vegan Resource Library has a guide to food additives to determine whether they meet your special diet requirements for eating vegan.
For raw or living food information ...
Raw Food Chat is a community for those who follow special raw diets. Take a look at the Forums to find recipes, comments and advice on how to keep a raw lifestyle.
Living and Raw Foods is an online community for living and raw food eaters. Get special diet recipes and additional Web resources, chat with other members, create a profile to meet other raw and living eaters, or send someone an organic Internet postcard from the site.
For organic food information ...
LocalHarvest lists where to buy locally grown food (for example, produce or grass-fed meats). Find farmers markets or sustainable farms near your home.
Organic Consumers Association has strongly pro-organic information and news about sustainability, health, fair trade, genetic engineering and more.
Organic Trade Association aims to promote the organic farming industry. Check out the "Organic Facts" section to learn more about organic food, or take a look at The Organic Pages Online to see the OTA's list of organic food retailers.
For kosher food information ...
Shamash's kosher restaurant database lists thousands of restaurants around the world that meet the special diet requirements of eating kosher. Search by location, restaurant name or category. Find helpful information like hours of operation, type of cuisine and comments from patrons.
Chowhound's kosher message board is an open forum to ask and answer questions about what, where and how to find and make great kosher food.
For people with diabetes ...
American Diabetes Association is a resource detailing diabetic nutrition and recipe choices. There's even a guide to eating out, and information on desserts and alternative sweeteners.
Diabetes UK has a database of recipes for special diets, ideas for menu planning and a guide to help you manage your weight with diabetes.
SugarStats is designed to help you monitor your blood sugar levels and medicine intake, as well as food intake and physical activity. It’s a great way to stay on top of health and lifestyle patterns, and helps you keep your doctor informed about your blood sugar level history.
For people with food allergies ...
Living Without is for anyone with a food allergy or sensitivity. Look for recipes, product recommendations, events and suggested retailers.
Food Allergy Initiative allows you to choose the allergy you'd like to know more about from the icons on the upper right of the page. Learn what it means to have a food allergy, what foods commonly contain that allergen and what key words in an ingredient list indicate that the food product contains an allergen.
The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network has a section that's just for kids. In the "Common Food Allergens" section you'll find information about the most common allergens as well as potential hidden sources of allergens.
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