Crickets actually aren't bad on their own. We did a "Fear Factor" themed fundraiser for Katrina relief back in high school. We made cricket sugar cookies, cricket-covered chocolate strawberries, flavored mealworms, things like that. Things weren't selling as well as we would have wanted, so, being the weird kid with an extra bag of crickets, I stated that I would eat a live cricket for every $20 that was pledged. That ended up raising an old extra $140, and I ate 7 crickets in front of my classmates. They were relatively tasteless, and, since I found that it didn't gross me out, years later, when I was an educator at our local aquarium, I would use, "Wanna see me eat a live bug?" strategically to bribe my summer camp kids into staying calm. If they were well behaved for an hour after lunch, I would pop one of the feeder crickets into my mouth. It brought much joy and disgust to the 10 year olds.

Crickets when fried are basically like chips, but with more texture (crunchier)

Definately a level 1 level of trying insects.

You can buy them online if you just wanna try them. This seller has a YouTube channel too.

They are decently popular in Mexico. From what I have heard it tastes like the fry batter and seasoning so basically delicious.

Grilled crickets taste like chicken with walnut imo