How to identify great tasting items on a restaurant menu

[Anonymous]

I think you have to give the waiter some direction on your preferences rather than a blanket "what's the best thing on the menu?". Like level of spice or how heavy a dish is. Often times because I'm vegetarian a waiter will just automatically recommend the salad when I know there's little chance I will be satisfied by that (even if it is a farm to table place) so I'll specifically ask about the pastas or different appetizers. There are restaurants that are famous for a particular item (and you can typically find that out on Yelp) but most of the time there are several great dishes depending on what you enjoy.