EVANSVILLE − Evansville has become known as a town that loves to dine out.

We are passionate about our next meal, and we’ve developed a few smart ways get information about local restaurants, chefs, and producers. There are, of course, numerous food and restaurant-related columns here in the Courier & Press every week including a Sunday Food News column, but in addition, Evansville boasts television segments, a podcast and social media pages that make it easy for you to keep current on the local food scene.

Podcast

'Food From Here'

Our newest source for interested foodies to find out “the rest of the story” is Food From Here, a biweekly WNIN podcast hosted by Peggy Pirro that began last September.

“We decided to create Food From Here as a podcast rather than a radio segment so there wouldn’t be a limit on time,” Pirro said. “I hang around with people who grow food and people who have food businesses, and it was easy for me to imagine how it would be, and the more podcasts I’ve made, the more people are interested in contributing and more doors are opening. I’m introduced every few weeks to a new cottage food business or catering business, or somebody’s growing something, or there’s a new food truck. There’s so much going on here and there’s a lot to explore and a lot of interesting stories.”

Food From Here segments range from 30 minutes to an hour. Subjects have included Cultivating a love of Mushrooms with Roger Winstead; Be Happy Pie Company with owner Jenny Lamble; Tending the Trees with Kristi Schulz of Evansville Countryside Orchard, Bringing the Kitchen to the Community with Bedford Collab with organizers DeAndre Wilson and Merrick Korack; and Talking Coffee with Alex Gale of Black Lodge Coffee, among others.

More: Evansville-area food news: 19 bites of food news for you this week

Television

'Tasting the Tristate'

Tasting the Tristate is a weekly production of ICR Advertising which airs on Saturday mornings at 6 a.m. on WEVV, and on Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. on FOX 44 and 9:30 a.m. on Local 7. Half-hour segments explore the kitchens and menus of many local restaurants. Recent videos cover Second Language and Siciliano Subs.

'Tasty Tuesday'

Weatherman Ron Rhodes hosts Tasty Tuesday with Eyewitness News on WEHT/WTVW. Roughly 8 minute segments include interviews with chefs and restaurant owners and discussions of menu items, previews for local events and more. You may watch videos here on tristatehomepage.com. One recent video covers Jan's Place, our newest Cajun restaurant.

Social Media

Fingers Fork Knife and Spoon Evansville

On social media, keep up with breaking restaurant news and find reviews, videos, and question and answer sessions with local chefs on Fingers Fork Knife and Spoon Evansville, which now has nearly 20,000 followers.

The page started eight years ago when Brian Buxton realized how important it was for people to be able to find small mom-and-pop restaurants that don’t have the visibility of large chains.

“When I would travel, I’d try to go to little off the wall, off the beaten path restaurants, and I’d post pictures of these hidden gems, and people started asking ‘what’s that dish?’ and 'Where is that?'" he said. "So it turned into me taking better pictures and talking about the background and history of the restaurant.”

Even more than the occasional review, Fingers Fork Knife and Spoon is known for having breaking food news.

“I’ve learned as I’ve gone what people do and don’t like,” Buxton said. “When I started out I’d do long and involved reviews, but people don’t want to read 27 paragraphs. So I’m doing more videos, stories and reels, then a Sunday Sit Down video that is longer, that gives me more of a platform to go deeper into some things."

Tri-State Restaurant Reviews

Also on Facebook, our oldest food and largest food site on Social Media is the Tri-State Restaurant Reviews group, where almost 35,000 members share pictures, ask questions, discuss, review, and sometimes argue about area restaurants.

"The page has come a long way in the last 14 years," said owner-administrator Kenny Garrett. "We started it in 2012 Because I was sitting in a parking lot trying to figure out where to go eat."

Garrett also has a website called tristate foodies and an app that is listed under TriStateFoodeez in the Apple store and Google Play Store. That is where you go to look up restaurants by cuisine or location, and restaurants may advertise on either to bump their local profile.

"I like that it gives you the ability to find the local mom and pop shops," Garrett said. "Not that the chains aren’t welcome, they are, but it’s always been about shopping local and having the ability to do that."

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Five places to find news and information about Evansville's food scene