Places worth eating at on a road trip

[ZLoth]

Here are my picks:

• Samoa Cookhouse, Samoa, CA (near Eureka) - Admittedly, this is a themed restaurant. But, it's a LUMBERJACK theme. There is no menu to order from, just a flat rate and generous portions. What gets served changes daily.
  
• Archie's Giant Hamburgers & Breakfast, Reno, NV - Located across the street from University of Nevada, this is always a stop-at place whenever I head up to Reno for a Toastmasters event.
  
• Pancake Mill, North Bend, OR - Great breakfast. I got the recommendation from this board.
  
• Cirino's on Main Street, Grass Valley, CA - Excellent Italian food. There is another Cirino's that is in nearby Nevada City that isn't worth going to.
  
• Johnny's Restaurant, Manteca, CA - Another "hole in the wall" restaurant off the beaten path, but excellent American food with generous portions.
  

[jeffandnicole]

I will do chain & fast food restaurants while on road trips, but I try looking for ones that I normally don't see in my local area. 

[1995hoo]

Bodo's Bagels (3 locations all in Charlottesville, Virginia)–one of the few good bagel places outside New York

The Varsity (Atlanta; I think there's another in Athens)–I could understand why greasy onion rings might prompt some people to put this on the "do not visit on a road trip" list, but I love stopping there.

Someone in this forum, I think it was realjd, recommended a place in Melbourne, Florida, called the Mansion. Might not be an ideal lunch stop on a road trip because one major reason to stop there is the extensive beer list! We gave it a try (took my sister-in-law with us–she lives in the area but had never eaten there) and we thought it was pretty good.

Company 7 Barbecue in Englewood, Ohio (just north of I-70's Exit 29)–quite good, owned by some former firemen. The bar looks like an antique firetruck. I was pleasantly surprised by how good the barbecue was. I'd never thought of Dayton as an area where I'd look for barbecue. 


When I was a kid, on trips to and from New York we used to stop all the time at the Town and Country Diner in Bordentown, NJ (we'd take I-295, which then ended at US-130; the diner is just north of 130's brief concurrency with US-206 and we'd continue up 130 to I-195 after eating to pick up the Turnpike–my father was not aware you could use Exit 7 on the Turnpike to reach that area and so we always used the route I just described). I believe the diner is still there, but I have not stopped there in at least 20 years so I'm hesitant to suggest it.

[vdeane]

Mazzaferro's in Rome, NY; best hot subs around

Karam's in Yorkville is awesome

I've heard great things about Bagel Grove on Burrstone Rd in Utica but I've never been there myself.

[realjd]

Someone in this forum, I think it was realjd, recommended a place in Melbourne, Florida, called the Mansion. Might not be an ideal lunch stop on a road trip because one major reason to stop there is the extensive beer list! We gave it a try (took my sister-in-law with us–she lives in the area but had never eaten there) and we thought it was pretty good.

Love that place! They're up to 75 taps. The owner keeps sticking new kegerators wherever he can find room.

Your family is up in Viera, right? Have you been to the World of Beer up there? They also have a great beer list. They don't have a kitchen but encourage you to bring your own. We usually hit up Chipotle or Pollo Tropical and bring it with us.

[1995hoo]

Someone in this forum, I think it was realjd, recommended a place in Melbourne, Florida, called the Mansion. Might not be an ideal lunch stop on a road trip because one major reason to stop there is the extensive beer list! We gave it a try (took my sister-in-law with us–she lives in the area but had never eaten there) and we thought it was pretty good.

Love that place! They're up to 75 taps. The owner keeps sticking new kegerators wherever he can find room.

Your family is up in Viera, right? Have you been to the World of Beer up there? They also have a great beer list. They don't have a kitchen but encourage you to bring your own. We usually hit up Chipotle or Pollo Tropical and bring it with us.

Just my sister-in-law, who is not much of a beer drinker. We have a World of Beer up here in Northern Virginia (it's in Arlington near the Capitals' practice facility), but I haven't been there yet. Heard good things but just haven't had time. I'm thinking I may take my RX-7 to the Mazda dealer for some repairs, then go to World of Beer and take the subway home since the dealer will need to keep the car to order parts!

[Duke87]

Roscoe Diner, Roscoe, NY. Diner in a tiny town in the hills and all that.

[Jardine]

Some of my road trips involve tracking down old friends and enjoying a good meal.

Over the years, Flemings, P.F Changs and Perkins (for breakfast) have been favorite chains.

As for stand alones, Dixie Quicks in Council Bluffs Iowa, and Trini's in the Old Market in Omaha Nebraska have been fun. Also Gorats Steak house, and maybe you get seated next to Warren Buffet and Billy Gates ?  For just fun and good food, try Petrow's, and for a good home cooking experience, try Lisa's Radial Cafe.

It's been many years, but I have fond memories of Glorioso's in Milwaukee.

Sad to say, have had a couple of bad experiences at Bonefish Grill, although I recall a spaghetti squash side dish as heavenly there.

For maybe a once in a lifetime treat, you otta spend a weekend at Palmer House  in Chicago. Yeah, it was pricey, but it was just so much fun.

[cpzilliacus]

The Varsity (Atlanta; I think there's another in Athens)–I could understand why greasy onion rings might prompt some people to put this on the "do not visit on a road trip" list, but I love stopping there.

Strongly concur (at least the one in Atlanta - I have never visited Athens).

[briantroutman]

I will do chain & fast food restaurants while on road trips, but I try looking for ones that I normally don't see in my local area.

That's one thing I look forward to on coast-to-coast road trips–going through different parts of the country and seeing names like Culver's or Waffle House or Roy Rogers which are more regional than national. Things I would never see at home in California.

But most of the time I'm driving cross-country, I'm driving 12 or 14-hour days and can't take the time to find out-of-the-way places or look up reviews for a local joint. Seeing regional names on the blue service signs is about as much local color as I usually have time for.

[empirestate]

Bingham's, on I-81 at Exit 211. Pie.

[ZLoth]

I will do chain & fast food restaurants while on road trips, but I try looking for ones that I normally don't see in my local area.

That's understandable. When I was in British Columbia last year, I dined at Boston Pizza and enjoyed the pizzaburger. Their US equivalent, Boston's The Gourmet Pizza, is nowhere near where I live, with the closest locations being in Los Angeles, Bend OR, and Layton UT. And, there are no Cracker Barrels in my area.

[formulanone]

The Varsity (Atlanta; I think there's another in Athens)–I could understand why greasy onion rings might prompt some people to put this on the "do not visit on a road trip" list, but I love stopping there.

Strongly concur (at least the one in Atlanta - I have never visited Athens).

I've hit up three of the others; the Athens, Alpharetta, and ATL International Terminal locations. They didn't ask me  "whattayahave, whatayahave?" at the last location, but they understood my order of a glorified with strings. The airport is also missing the free paper hats.

- Bib's for BBQ in Winston-Salem, NC. I've even made the trip out from Greensboro to go there.

- Leonardo's for pizza in Gainesville, Florida. Great excuse to stop in my old town and get a couple of deep dish slices. Fact: my wife and I took a day trip one day just for the pizza, even though we lived 300 miles away.

Some of the chain places I can't get, since they're in other states like Portillo's in Illinois, National Coney Island in Michigan, In-and-Out in California are must-haves on the road.

[cjk374]

Shakespeare's Pizza--Columbia, MO

Lea's Pie Shop--LeCompte, LA (they now have a satellite restaurant in Monroe, LA on Louisville Ave. [US 80])

Cody's Family Restaurant--Fifty-six, AR

Burgers-n-Blues--Ridgeland, MS

[hbelkins]

Typically, I will stop at at least one Sheetz if I am traveling through their service area.

If there is a Five Guys in a town where I'm spending the night, I will often go there.

[SSOWorld]

For those who manage to make it that far west, In-N-Out Burger.  Go Animal Style.  You'll find them all over California, plus Vegas, Phoenix, Kingman, Tucson.

Can't drive that far? You'll find plenty of Culver's in the Midwest - particularly Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa.  Cheese curds FTW.  No hidden menus unlike In-N-Out.

[Alps]

For those who manage to make it that far west, In-N-Out Burger.  Go Animal Style.  You'll find them all over California, plus Vegas, Phoenix, Kingman, Tucson.

Plus Dallas.

[briantroutman]

For those who manage to make it that far west, In-N-Out Burger.  Go Animal Style.  You'll find them all over California, plus Vegas, Phoenix, Kingman, Tucson.

Plus Dallas.

And and apparently Salt Lake City. I know it's more or less natural for businesses to expand, but personally, it's a shame to see In-N-Out become that much less special.

[agentsteel53]

the only thing "special" about In-N-Out is the stupidly long lines.  the food is indeed excellent; but I would not complain if there were three times as many in a given market, so that the service would be more reasonable.

[Brandon]

Personally, I don't mid eating at a tollway oasis or toll road service area.  I've done so for lunch around Chicago on more than a few occasions.

However, as for places worth eating on the road, away from my home area, for areas I frequent most often, there's...

National Chains
Wendy's
Arby's
Sonic
Popeye's (give me this any day over Chick-Fil-A)

Regional Chains
Rocky Rococo Pan Pizza (Wisconsin)
Culver's
Bandana's BBQ (St Louis)
Roy Rogers

Independents
Bell's Greek Pizza - East Lansing, MI

I won't include anything from the Chicago area that isn't really anywhere else (Portillo's, Giordano's, etc).  I can get those here at home. 

[renegade]

Whenever I am passing through the Cincinnati area, I usually stop for chili. Skyline, Gold Star, Dixie and Camp Washington are my favorites.

Gondolier Italian Restaurant in Murfreesboro, Tennessee was pretty good when I was there over the holidays.

Will usually pick a Denny's or IHOP over McD's or BK unless I am running behind or in a hurry.

I have a couple of local hole-in-the-wall Italian and Chinese restaurants that score lots of points over places like Olive Garden or P F Chang's, but I really don't want to hijack the thread.     

Found a small Mexican restaurant in Indianapolis once.  It was right next to a Taco Bell.

I try to avoid the large chains wherever possible.  Sometimes it's not as easy as it sounds.

[Molandfreak]

Sonic is usually my first choice. When I was in Temecula a couple years ago, I ate at a Wienerschnitzel and that was really good. I don't know if that's unique to California; I haven't seen them anywhere else.

[ZLoth]

I have a couple of local hole-in-the-wall Italian and Chinese restaurants that score lots of points over places like Olive Garden or P F Chang's, but I really don't want to hijack the thread.     

Oh, please, do tell.

[hm insulators]

For many years, I've enjoyed eating at a little Mexican restaurant in Cathedral City, California (near Palm Springs) called El Gallito. My most recent California trip, I didn't have a chance to get there.