Stop Fighting About Where to Eat Already!

Okay so like… can we PLEASE talk about how absolutely insane we’ve all become with this whole “where should we eat” thing? I’m not even kidding – last Tuesday I literally sat on my couch for an HOUR scrolling through DoorDash while my leftover lo mein got all gross and congealed because I couldn’t figure out if I wanted more Chinese or something totally different. Like… what is wrong with me? An entire hour of my life that I’m never getting back, all because I couldn’t just pick a damn restaurant.

And group dinners? Oh don’t even get me started on group dinners. My sister texted our family chat last weekend asking where we should meet for Mom’s birthday dinner and I swear to god we went through like fifty different places before my dad (bless his soul) finally just said “Olive Garden, 6 PM, end of discussion.” Which honestly? Best executive decision anyone in our family has made in months. Maybe years.

This is literally why I’ve become completely obsessed – and I mean OBSESSED – with using a random restaurant generator. I know how it sounds, trust me. Super weird, maybe kinda lazy, definitely not normal. But I’m telling you right now this thing has saved my sanity and probably my marriage because me and Tom were starting to have legitimate arguments about pizza versus Thai food on Thursday nights. Like actual bickering. Over food. We’re adults!

Why Our Brains Just… Break When It Comes to Food

So here’s my totally unscientific theory about why we’re all so incredibly bad at this. You wake up and your brain’s like a brand new phone – 100% battery, ready to conquer the world, right? But then life happens and you spend the whole day making these tiny little decisions that slowly but surely drain your mental battery.

Should I wear the black sweater or the navy one? (They’re literally almost identical but somehow this feels like it matters.) Highway or back roads to work? (Construction on Main but traffic might suck.) Regular coffee order or try that pumpkin thing? (It’s fall but what if it’s too sweet and I waste six bucks?)

By dinner time your brain is basically running on fumes. Someone asks where you wanna eat and it just… nopes out. Like when your laptop starts making that angry whirring noise and everything slows to a crawl. That’s your decision-making ability after eight hours of adulting.

Plus – okay this might sound dramatic but whatever – we have WAY too many options now. My mom grew up in some tiny town with exactly three restaurants: a diner, a pizza joint, and one fancy steakhouse for anniversaries and graduations. That was it! Simple! Easy!

Now I’ve got… let me think… Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Mexican, Italian, Greek, Ethiopian, Peruvian, Lebanese… and that’s just ethnic stuff. Don’t even get me started on all the burger places or how many “farm-to-table” spots have popped up everywhere. It’s actually overwhelming when you think about it.

Me and Jess spent THREE WHOLE HOURS last month trying to pick a brunch place. Three hours! We made actual lists. We stalked Instagram accounts. We read Yelp reviews until our eyes were bleeding. Finally just gave up and went to IHOP because we were so exhausted from deciding that we needed something totally predictable. A random restaurant generator would’ve saved us from that absolute shitshow.

How This Random Restaurant Generator Thing Actually Changed My Life

Okay “changed my life” is probably a bit much but seriously – this has made food decisions like 1000% easier and way more fun. First time I used a random restaurant generator wasn’t even planned. More like an act of pure desperation.

So I’m at work and it’s Kevin’s birthday (Kevin from HR, not Kevin from accounting – different Kevin), and we need to pick lunch for like twelve people. You know exactly how this goes. Someone’s vegetarian but also picky. Someone else is doing keto but “not being super strict about it.” Jake’s “watching his money” but then suggests the most expensive sushi place downtown. Sarah can’t eat gluten but doesn’t want to “make it a whole thing.”

Twenty-five minutes of this nonsense when Maya – love her – just grabs paper, writes down eight random places, rips them up, throws the pieces in her coffee mug. “We’re picking randomly or we’re ordering pizza again and I swear I’ll quit if we get pizza one more time,” she says. Maya doesn’t mess around.

Random pick was this Vietnamese place called Pho Real. Yes really. Pho Real. (I love whoever named that place.) Anyway it’s smooshed between a nail salon and one of those weird stores that only sells phone cases, so definitely not screaming “amazing food” from the outside.

But holy shit. Best banh mi I’ve ever had in my entire life, no joke. The bread was like perfectly crusty, pickled veggies had this perfect tangy bite, and they had this spicy mayo thing that I’m pretty sure was actual magic. I’ve been back probably… what, twenty-something times? Not even exaggerating.

That’s when it clicked for me. When you use a random restaurant generator, you don’t have all these weird expectations messing with your head. When I pick somewhere myself, I’m already building this whole story about what it should be like. But when something else makes the choice? You just show up curious and open to whatever weird thing might happen.

The Totally Weird Psychology Behind Why Random Actually Works

There’s something seriously magical about not being the one responsible for the choice. Like when I suggest a restaurant and it ends up sucking, I feel SO guilty. I picked it, so if everyone has a crappy time, that’s totally my fault, right? I’ll be apologizing for the slow service like I personally trained the waitstaff myself.

But with a random restaurant generator? Nobody can blame anybody because literally none of us made the decision! We’re all just on this weird little adventure together. And somehow that “let’s see what happens” energy makes everything more fun, even when stuff goes sideways.

This one time the random restaurant generator picked this super sketchy-looking diner that I would never, EVER have chosen myself. Like the vinyl booths were held together with actual duct tape, the coffee tasted like it’d been sitting there since Bush was president (the first Bush), and the fluorescent lights made everybody look kinda green and sick.

But we had the BEST time! Our waitress was this tiny old lady named Dolores who’d been working there for like thirty-something years and had opinions about literally everything. She told us which pies were worth eating, complained about her ex-husband Frank, gave us free coffee refills while sharing gossip about the other customers. It was like dinner theater but real.

Would I go back for the food? Probably not. But memorable and fun and totally different from our usual routine? Absolutely. That’s the kind of experience you miss when you only go places you’ve researched to death or stick to your same boring rotation.

Plus – and this is really the cool part – using a random restaurant generator basically forces you out of your comfort zone in the best way possible. Left to my own devices, I probably bounce between the same five places because they’re safe and I know what I’m getting. But safe gets old real fast, you know?

Actually Making Your Random Restaurant Generator Work (Not Just Exist)

Here’s where I learned some painful lessons. You can’t just dump every restaurant in your entire city onto the wheel and hope everything works out. Made this mistake early on when I included that fancy French place downtown and the random restaurant generator picked it on some random Wednesday when I was wearing yoga pants that had seen better days and had exactly fourteen bucks in my checking account.

Standing outside a place where appetizers cost more than my weekly grocery budget while wearing clothes that… well, let’s just say they’d been through a lot… was NOT the adventure I was looking for. Super awkward. Do not recommend.

So now I’m way smarter about this stuff. Different random restaurant generator wheels for different situations. There’s my “lazy weeknight looking like garbage” version with places that won’t judge me if I show up in whatever I threw on three days ago. Then there’s my “actual date night with real pants” version for when I want to pretend I’m a functional adult.

For everyday use, I stick to places within maybe twenty minutes because hungry me has absolutely zero patience for long drives. Also everything on my random restaurant generator list has to be somewhere I’d genuinely be okay eating. If I’m gonna trust the wheel, I need to know it won’t completely ruin my night.

Before going anywhere, I always do this super quick check on Yelp – not reading reviews or anything, that defeats the whole point – just making sure they’re actually open and haven’t turned into a construction site. Learned this one the hard way when the random restaurant generator picked somewhere that’d been closed for months. Standing in an empty parking lot at 7 PM on Friday night while your stomach makes angry noises is not the vibe.

Group Dynamics: When Random Restaurant Generators Go Amazing (Or Horribly Wrong)

Using a random restaurant generator with other people can either be absolutely incredible or turn into a complete disaster. Honestly it all comes down to whether everyone’s actually committed or just pretending to be cool with it.

Learned this during what I now call “The Great Restaurant Disaster of Fall 2023.” Out with six people – me, Tom, our friends Mike and Jenna, plus Jenna’s sister and her boyfriend who I’d literally never met. Classic setup for decision-making chaos.

Twenty minutes of the usual “I don’t care where do you wanna go” dance, so I suggest the random restaurant generator. Everyone seems totally into it! I quickly throw together a list of reasonable group dinner places. Wheel spins, lands on this cute Persian place with good reviews. Perfect!

But THEN. Oh my god then the negotiations started. “Mmm I don’t really do rice dishes.” “Is that place actually good though?” “Maybe we should try again?” “I was kinda hoping for something more casual.” Suddenly everyone had opinions they somehow forgot to mention before we spun!

Ended up at Applebee’s. APPLEBEE’S! Because it was literally the only place all six people could agree on and nobody was happy. The whole entire point of the random restaurant generator is avoiding exactly that kind of negotiation nightmare!

Now when I suggest this with groups, we set actual rules first. Everyone gets to veto ONE thing they absolutely cannot handle – allergies, serious dietary stuff, whatever – but after that we’re committed to whatever comes up. No backsies, no “well actually,” no spinning again because you were secretly hoping for tacos.

Best group random restaurant generator experiences happen when everyone’s genuinely excited about not knowing. There’s this fun anticipation while it spins, and even if it picks somewhere none of us would’ve chosen, we’re all discovering it together. Those dinners you actually remember months later.

Building Your Perfect Random Restaurant Generator List

Start with places you already know you like. I know that sounds super boring but you want some reliable options so you’re not constantly gambling with totally unknown places. Like I love this little Thai spot near my house where they know my order and always hook me up with extra spring rolls. That’s definitely going on the random restaurant generator because sometimes you need a sure thing.

Then add places you’ve been curious about but never actually tried. You know those spots you always notice driving by and think “I should check that out sometime” but somehow never do? Random restaurant generator is perfect for finally giving you a reason.

Mix different price points too. Learned this after ending up at either McDonald’s or somewhere requiring a small loan three times in one week. Now I make sure I’ve got quick lunch spots, casual dinner places, maybe one or two fancier options for when I’m feeling ambitious.

Be real about logistics though. If you hate downtown traffic during rush hour, don’t put downtown places on your weeknight random restaurant generator. Save those for weekend adventures when you’ve got patience for parking situations.

And please PLEASE update your list regularly! Nothing kills the random restaurant generator excitement like getting pumped about a pick then showing up to find out they closed six months ago. Add new places when you hear about them, remove spots that sucked, keep it current.

When Your Random Restaurant Generator Pick Goes Sideways

Look I’m not gonna sit here and pretend every random restaurant generator choice has been life-changing. Sometimes you end up somewhere totally mediocre. Sometimes service is slow or food’s just okay or the whole vibe is weird. That’s just life, right?

But here’s what I’ve noticed – even the random picks that aren’t amazing usually make way better stories than going to the same three places forever. This one time the random restaurant generator sent us to this family Greek place that looked like it hadn’t been touched since maybe 1975.

Wild orange and brown carpet that probably seemed stylish back then, plastic grapes hanging everywhere, one of those fake fireplaces with spinning lights trying to look like flames. It was… a LOT. Like walking into someone’s basement from the 70s.

But the owner treated us like long-lost family! Brought this huge appetizer thing we didn’t even order because “you’re trying our place for first time and you look hungry.” Told us stories about his family back in Greece while we ate. His kids doing homework at a corner table, Greek music playing, felt like we’d accidentally crashed someone’s family dinner.

Most sophisticated dining experience? Definitely not. But real and warm and completely different from anything we would’ve picked ourselves. We still talk about that dinner and it’s been over a year now.

Point isn’t having a perfect meal every time you use a random restaurant generator. It’s breaking out of your routine, trying new stuff, taking the stress out of deciding. If you’re expecting every random pick to become your new favorite place, you’re gonna be disappointed.

My Absolute Best Random Restaurant Generator Discoveries

Okay I have to brag about some of my favorite finds because they’re honestly too good not to share. There’s this taco truck that parks behind a Shell station on weekends – I KNOW how sketchy that sounds – but the guy running it used to have a restaurant in Guadalajara and just started this truck last year.

Never would’ve tried it if the random restaurant generator hadn’t picked “that Mexican place by the gas station” which honestly sounded like a recipe for food poisoning. But desperate times, right? Now I’m there basically every Saturday and Luis knows my order. Al pastor with extra pineapple, no onions, their green salsa that’s basically liquid fire but so worth the pain.

Then there’s this Ethiopian place I’d driven past literally hundreds of times but never actually noticed as a restaurant. Just looked like a regular house with a tiny sign, so I always figured it was some kind of office or whatever. Random restaurant generator picked it on some random Tuesday when I was feeling adventurous.

Walking in felt like stepping into someone’s actual living room – which it basically was. Owner’s family runs everything, no real menu, they just bring you this massive platter with different stews and vegetables and injera bread. You eat everything with your hands! Completely unlike anything I’d ever done, now it’s my go-to for special occasions.

These discoveries happen when you let a random restaurant generator push you into adventures you’d never plan yourself. Miss all this stuff when you stick to places you’ve researched online or only go somewhere if a friend specifically tells you to.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if the random restaurant generator picks somewhere way too expensive for me right now?

Don’t put expensive places on your everyday random restaurant generator! That’s like putting designer stores on your shopping list when you’re eating ramen for dinner. Make different lists for different budgets. Your “just got paid” wheel should look totally different from your “broke until Friday” wheel.

Should I read reviews before going to a random restaurant generator pick?

I mean you CAN but doesn’t that totally defeat the purpose? If you’re gonna research it anyway why not just pick the place yourself? I usually just check they’re open and maybe peek at photos to see if it’s somewhere I need to change out of my Target leggings.

How do I get my picky friends to try a random restaurant generator?

Start small, lead by example. Use it yourself a few times, share the cool places you find. Once they see you having fun adventures and discovering great food, they’ll get curious. Or just pull it out when everyone’s stuck in analysis paralysis – sometimes people are desperate enough to try anything.

What about allergies and dietary restrictions with a random restaurant generator?

Only put restaurants that can handle everyone’s needs! If someone’s vegetarian don’t include the steakhouse hoping they’ll have a decent salad. Someone has nut allergies, stick to places you know are safe. Whole point is eliminating stress, not creating medical emergencies or making people feel left out.

Can I use a random restaurant generator for delivery and takeout?

Absolutely! Might be even MORE useful for delivery because you’re usually deciding while hangry and tired on your couch in pajamas. Just make sure everything on your delivery random restaurant generator actually delivers to you and check their hours before getting your heart set on something.

What if my random restaurant generator keeps picking the same place over and over?

That’s just weird luck but it totally happens. Keep getting the same restaurant, maybe the universe is trying to tell you something about your culinary soulmate? Or just remove that place temporarily and add it back later. Sometimes you gotta give the wheel time to forget its favorites.

How many restaurants should I put on my random restaurant generator?

Enough that you won’t get bored, not so many that half are places you forgot existed. Somewhere between 12-20 is perfect. Want variety without making the list so huge you end up with places you’re not actually excited about trying.

Should I include chains or focus on local places for my random restaurant generator?

Include whatever you actually like eating! Sometimes you want the predictability of knowing exactly what you’re getting at Panera, put it on there. Mix chains with local spots – whole point of the random restaurant generator is variety and taking decision pressure off yourself.