In recent research digging into business travel dining trends, we delved into the psyche of the business diner, the typical business travel dining experience really depends on the trip.

The study found that in total, 64 percent of business travelers take their money to upscale casual restaurants, followed by fast casual (52 percent), fast food (34 percent) and finally, fine dining (29 percent).

Many business travelers tend to spend their meals in the company of others. For lunch, 30 percent report eating with clients, with an additional 23 percent eating with coworkers, and the numbers jump to 40 percent and 26 percent, respectively, for dinner.

During a recent Twitter chat, many of our participants shared their desire to eat like a local while traveling and gave us their best tips for doing so. Here were the top five:

1 - Ask cab or car drivers about spots where they would take their families to eat – not where they tell other travelers to go.

2 - Search “best places to eat in ____” as a start. Use websites like Thrillist to find the best spots to eat.

3 - Ask people in the hotel about the places they actually eat at.

4 - If meeting with a client, ask them about the best local place.

5 - Ask friends in the area.

Learn more about the study findings here, and be sure to check out this recent guest blog post from Dinova on incorporating a dining program into your managed travel program.