Top 5 iPhone Apps for Picking a Restaurant

A long time ago, before there were iPhones, if you and your friends wanted to go out to eat, there was a whole ritual involved. They’d call each other’s “dumb” phones, have a full conversation about who’s hungry for what, then call each other with restaurant suggestions. Then everyone would call each other over with competitive suggestions based on price, proximity, etc. Eventually, everyone would gather in the club, flip phones still in hand, and realize you were there.

Now, “there’s an app for that.” She searches for locations, price ranges, cuisines, and even good nutritional options using her iPhone, and she’s chomping away in record time.

So what is the best app to find a place? It depends on the features you want. Here is a quick menu:

Restaurant Finder (Free) – Perfect for travelers, Restaurant Finder lets you enter the cuisine you want and the city/zip code or location, and displays the nearest restaurants that have what you’re hungry for, showing the address, phone number, and URL, if available. available. It also gives you a helpful weather forecast, so you know when “closer is better.”

Find a Restaurant (.99) – This handy app improves on Restaurant Finder; it’s He says your your current location using GPS. Search by cuisine and gives you nearby restaurants complete with phone number, GPS map location, driving directions and one-touch website visit (but not weather). Also includes Tip Calculator (yes, split check if you want. Cheapskate).

Urban Spoon (Free) – This is Apple’s commercials app with the “slot machine” randomization feature to add a bit of fun to your quest. Of course, you can also filter the options by cuisine, price, or location. Urbanspoon also includes access to ratings and reviews and a “friends” feature to add a social networking touch… but it’s not Yelp.

Yelp (Free) – Yelp isn’t jumping on the social media bandwagon; it’s the real deal. That’s because Yelp is a website first and an app second (which is both good and bad, but we’ll get to that in a bit). With Yelp, search for a restaurant, bar, club, or any business similar to other restaurant search apps, or simply enter the name of a food (for example, “Peking Duck”) and Yelp finds a place for you . You can post ratings and reviews (although you have to go to the Yelp site to post, hence the “good and bad” comment above). The “Sign Up” feature allows you and your friends to track each other’s whereabouts. Fear not: registration is voluntary, so if the ex-stalker comes back, you’re safe. Check in to the same place often enough and Yelp will decide you’re a repeat customer. Some user complaints about outdated/inaccurate information; not bad to find the meals, great on keeping the party rolling.

Where to eat (2.99) – Another GPS food finder. But WTE has a couple of features that just make sense. Searching is done by particular cuisine or type of food, and there are separate categories for bars, takeaways and delivery. Emphasize intuitive experience; typing is optional. Shake-to-Suggest shuffle works on the same principle as Urbanspoon’s “slot machine.”

What if your interest is more depth than breadth? Verify sushipedia (free) for loads of sushi knowledge and of course a database of places to buy it. And if you’re watching your weight, click on Lose It or Nutrition Menu once you get to a place for calorie counting and more. Fortunately, none of them tell their friends that they are on a diet.