Best way for many categories

Hi

I come across a little problem with my directory. I’m currently thinking how to get started with categories since I got a lot of them and according to this post
https://wpgeodirectory.com/support/topic/add-category-drop-down-in-sort-filter/
the dropdown feature is currently not available.

So, let’s take a look how I my directory will be organized, example:
Accommodation
– Hotels
– Hostels
– Resort
– Camping
…

Restaurant
– Cafe
– French
– Grills
– Indian
– International
– Italian
…

As you see, I only want two categories, Accommodation and Restaurant. All other items are subcategories.
What is the current method of setting up places to make sure the directory is well organized. When I’m searching for a restaurant, I don’t won’t to see all when I’m only interested in Italian food. Using the free text search won’t work but I don’t want to use at least 12 main categories only to cover those “two categories”.

Am I missing something here?

Thank you!