In most of the huge tourism capitals of Europe there are enough tourists coming through to keep terrible restaurants in business. Accidentally eating at one of these restaurants, as Dan and I did yesterday, is very disappointing.

In spite of your best intentions it's easy to be tricked when you're starving, tired, and too lazy to wade through the foreign language menu and huge crowd at the better places. In these occassions, you may find yourself settling for the easiest thing, asking - "How bad can it be?"

Well, it can be pretty bad. Freezer-burn on the ice cream bad. Partially frozen mushy vegetables bad. Chicken so dry you have to swallow it down with water bad. Unlike America, the customer is not always right in Europe, and it's not always as simple as sending it back to the kitchen. If you make a bad choice when choosing a restaurant, you have to live with it.

Since there are a million fabulous places to eat in Europe, you'll feel like an idiot for the rest of the day if you choose a dud. So Here are some things I've learned to avoid when choosing a place to eat.

1. Pushy salespeople out front showing you menus in English and escorting you to their "best table." If the food's good, it sells itself.
2. Places that have menus in 9 different languages. You know these restaurants are looking for clueless tourists.
3. Picture menus. This can be tempting when you're hungry and you see a picture of what you think you want, but resist the urge.
4. Empty restaurants. It's usually empty for a reason.

You also should be careful when you're in a super touristy area. That's not always a give-away though, because if you're willing to pay a little more, there are some really great restaurants in touristy areas (Dan and I found a great place in Il Campo de Fiori in Italy.) When in doubt, I've learned the best thing to do is look at what other people are eating to see if it looks fresh and appetizing before you give it a go.