•Tourists’ local food consumption value is effective on generating tourists’ positive attitude toward local food.•Attitude toward local food positively affects food destination image.•Both attitude toward local food and food destination image positively affect tourists’ behavioral intentions.•Taste/quality value and emotional value can be further emphasized to Chinese and Western tourists in Hong Kong.•Epistemic value needs to be further stressed to other Asian and Western groups in Hong Kong. Despite the importance of understanding food consumption value from tourists’ perspectives, few studies have explored how experiencing local food in a destination shapes tourists’ consumption value. This study explores the effect of tourists’ local food consumption value on their perceptions and behaviors. Tourists’ cultural background is used as a moderating variable. The findings show that tourists’ local food consumption value effectively explains tourists’ attitudes toward local food, food destination image, and behavioral intentions. In addition, the cultural background of tourists partially moderates the relationships between the proposed constructs. This study is the first empirical application of consumption value theory to the context of tourists’ local food experiences. It provides insights into appropriate marketing strategies for the restaurant and food tourism industries and offers practical suggestions to destination marketing organizations (DMOs) for using local food as a destination marketing tool.