Club Benefits
My hometown of New York City has an abundance of places to hit up whenever the weather is agreeable (before reverting to arctic temperatures at the drop of a hat).
Whenever I’m on the move, Google Maps tends to be my go-to GPS — as a millennial who was forced to print out the directions to Six Flags Great Adventure back in the day, it’s so convenient to have a lady in my phone tell me how to get to my location. With Gemini’s integration into Maps through the "Ask Maps" conversational interface, the app has become even more accommodating when I’m on the move.
Article continues belowDiscovering new restaurants, arcades, record stores and comic book shops
Accessing Maps, using it while in navigation mode and simply saying “Hey Google” during my walkable routes turns Gemini into the perfect tour guide. For my fellow foodies, these are the three best prompts I use whenever I’m looking for a new place to eat:
- Show me some under-the-radar spots in [neighborhood] that locals love but tourists usually miss.
- Are there any hole-in-the-wall restaurants nearby that have a 4.5+ rating but fewer than 200 reviews?
- I’m looking for a place with a cool vibe and a unique aesthetic that serves [type of food].
The first prompt led me to a wonderful spot in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, called “Cafe Mado,” which just so happens to be located near the Brooklyn Museum, Prospect Park, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Once I saw how useful Gemini in Google Maps could be as it steered me toward the next restaurant worth frequenting, I used other vocal prompts to push me in the right direction toward its recommended NYC record stores, comic book shops and arcades.
These are the vocal prompts I use to come upon any worthwhile spots from those three categories:
- For record stores: Find me a record store nearby that specializes in rare vinyl or has a great selection of 90s hip-hop or I’m at [current location]. Suggest a cozy record store I can walk to in under [time limit] that is still open for at least [time limit].
- For comic book shops: Are there any comic shops around here that have a wide variety of comic books from major and independent publishers? or Find a comic book shop near a highly-rated coffee house so I can read my new books immediately after buying them.
- For arcades: Find an arcade with vintage pinball machines and a dive-bar feel or My friends and I want to go to a retro arcade, but we also need a place that has good food. Can you find a spot that hits both?
On the record store front, Gemini in Maps introduced me to Human Head Records in Brooklyn. For comic book shops, Galaxy Collectibles — another standout Brooklyn spot — popped onto my radar as a highly rated store worth visiting. And the arcade Gemini helped me discover was Rullo’s, a Brooklyn hangout whose dive-bar atmosphere and lineup of pinball machines instantly spoke to my soul.
Beyond the places I chose to visit, Gemini in Maps also surfaced plenty of comparable spots tied to each of my hobbies. Now, as spring turns to summer, I can already see myself relying on my AI tour guide to map out routes to Needle + Groove Records, Everyone Comics & Collectibles and Coexist GameHouse.
The takeaway
Strolling through my city in search of a new favorite spot has quickly become one of my favorite hobbies now that Gemini in Maps works through voice chat. It turns wandering into something more useful, helping uncover places I might have walked past for years without noticing.
I’d recommend putting it to the test yourself to see whether it can guide you to somewhere new that instantly earns a place on your weekend list.
It’s also worth asking follow-up questions like, Why is [name of recommended place] considered a hidden gem? That extra context can help you learn what makes each recommendation special before you even arrive.
Have fun exploring and don’t worry about looking strange to passersby while chatting with Gemini about underrated dive bars, tucked-away cafes or neighborhood favorites worth checking out.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom's Guide on YouTube and follow us on TikTok.
More from Tom’s Guide
- I tried out Gemini on Mac — the native app is more useful than I expected
- I swapped calorie-counting for a month with AI glasses — and finally hit my goal weight
- I turned ChatGPT into my smartest toy — here are the 12 prompts I used to kill my boredom
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
