Eat smart where it’s hard to be thrifty

MANY letters I receive from readers relate to the challenge of eating affordably while traveling -- a problem families in particular encounter. Theme parks play a large role.

One reader told me he and his family equip themselves with a backpack filled with “survival” food and drink -- peanut butter crackers, fruit snacks, juice boxes and the like -- enabling them to avoid buying food from the pricey outlets in the park. They also take advantage of water fountains and popcorn wagons. It is necessary to occasionally treat the kids (and the parents) to ice cream or pastries, the reader said, but the cost is manageable because the snacks they take keep them from becoming ravenous.

The challenge of theme park meals is the subject of numerous other letters too. One reader suggested that a family visiting a park take protein bars. These provide a cheap (about $1.50 each) snack full of nutrients and fit easily in luggage or backpacks.

Another young family made a point of eating an inexpensive early lunch at a warehouse shopping club before entering the theme park. These parents say outlets of Sam’s Club, Costco and BJ’s have begun to offer meals, and although their menus are limited, the food is tasty, filling and inexpensive. They said they had a barbecue sandwich for $1.25, a three-meat pizza slice for $1.75 (whole pies were $7.99) and, for 69 cents each, 32-ounce soft drinks with free refills.

Another family stopped off for an early lunch (before entering the theme park) at the deli counter of a major grocery store at Lake Buena Vista, near Orlando, Fla. This, they said, was a superb mealtime alternative to restaurants or fast-food fare. The food was fresh, there was great variety (hot and cold) and meals averaged as little as $3 per person, including beverage.

In the correspondence I receive, Europe is second only to U.S. theme parks as a place where the cost of meals poses big problems for American tourists. Readers recommend pubs and inexpensive Indian restaurants in Britain and point out that you will be charged less for your sandwiches and coffee in an Italian cafe if you order and consume these items while standing up rather than while seated at a table.

One reader supplied money-saving food terms one should look for in Spain and Portugal: the reduced-price menu del dia at restaurants in Spain, the ementa turistica in Portugal. And you should always limit your big meal to the comida, around 2 or 3 p.m., followed by a light dinner (cena).

In the letter I most treasure, a reader said he often earns a free meal by offering to translate a European restaurant’s menu into English. “It is amazing how many restaurants are happy to have a native speaker do that for them,” he wrote. “Of course, you have to be pretty good in the local language (I speak German, Spanish and Italian), but that isn’t always necessary. While traveling abroad, even outside of Europe, I frequently encounter some appallingly bad (and often very funny) English translations of menus. In those cases, I simply offer to clean up the translations and put them in proper English in exchange for a meal. This has worked quite a few times.”