Road food favorites?

[Bruce B]

When Dorsey and I are traveling, we have a habit of trying very hard to avoid the corporate restaurants that populate this land of ours. We have the iPad out looking at the reviews of anything that is not a chain. It becomes the focal point of evening to try and find someplace interesting where you can sample local fare. This is part of what I look forward to when we are on the road. Between Google and an app "Where to" we have had some outstanding discoveries...
Does anyone have a different approach to this?
Bruce

[slowmover]

A thread search (as before) will reveal depth.

My favorite the past decade has been Roadfood.com - Your Guide to Authentic Regional Eats

[Bruce B]

Originally Posted by REDNAX

A thread search (as before) will reveal depth.

My favorite the past decade has been Roadfood.com - Your Guide to Authentic Regional Eats

I read through about 6 pages of search results before I posted. Didn't see what I wanted...
Bruce

[richinny]

bruce, these days the health inspection reports are more important to me than variety ;-) that is one area where the corporate eateries are a plus to me. i will live vicariously through your discoveries!

[overlander64]

Greetings Bruce!

Originally Posted by Bruce B

When Dorsey and I are traveling, we have a habit of trying very hard to avoid the corporate restaurants that populate this land of ours. We have the iPad out looking at the reviews of anything that is not a chain. It becomes the focal point of evening to try and find someplace interesting where you can sample local fare. This is part of what I look forward to when we are on the road. Between Google and an app "Where to" we have had some outstanding discoveries...
Does anyone have a different approach to this?
Bruce

I like to travel secondary highways and in so doing often find that I am in small towns with cafes. One thing that I often will do if there are multiple restaurants in a town, I will visit the city hall or library and just ask about a favorite local eatery . . . and also ask for a recommendation for local specialties. Over the years, I have come to look for Cornish Pasty when traveling in Wisconsin/Minnesota/Michigan, Bierochs when traveling in Kansas/Nebraska, and Steamburgers/Maid Rites when traveling near I-80 in Illinois/Iowa. When there are local specialties, I always try to at least sample as part of the travel experience.

Kevin

[eubank]

Go to Indian country in the four corners area, locate a stand beside the road, and get yourself an Indian taco, especially one made with mutton! Yummy! Kind of doubtful that you'll locate any place like that via the Internet, though.


Lynn

[Bruce B]

This is exactly what I am after.... I have become so reliant on the "net" as an information source that I am forgetting everything that I learned in the first 35 years of my life. Now I want an Indian mutton taco.....and what exactly is a steam burger????
Bruce

[Aage]

Originally Posted by Bruce B

Does anyone have a different approach to this?
Bruce

We focus on trying to avoid "mystery food" from the unknown restaurants that show up in many small towns along the routes we take.

It's not hard, in view of the fact that we are towing a trailer that has lots of food in it. I love peanut butter sandwiches! And saving money is fun, too!

Need I say more...?

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Bruce B

When Dorsey and I are traveling, we have a habit of trying very hard to avoid the corporate restaurants that populate this land of ours. We have the iPad out looking at the reviews of anything that is not a chain. It becomes the focal point of evening to try and find someplace interesting where you can sample local fare. This is part of what I look forward to when we are on the road. Between Google and an app "Where to" we have had some outstanding discoveries...
Does anyone have a different approach to this?
Bruce

We might ask a local for the name of a good eatery, but more often we just look for local diners. We always have a decent meal and sometimes an extraordinary one. We look for full parking lots, and especially pickup trucks.

We like the back roads, and have found lots of great places this way. Most will have plate lunches, full meals of whatever the special is, at a good price. We usually do this mid-day, and then just a salad or something else light for supper.

It's an adventure.

Maggie

[overlander64]

Greetings Bruce!

Originally Posted by Bruce B

This is exactly what I am after.... I have become so reliant on the "net" as an information source that I am forgetting everything that I learned in the first 35 years of my life. Now I want an Indian mutton taco.....and what exactly is a steam burger????
Bruce

If you have ever watched Roseanne on TVLAND, you may have viewed an episode where they talk about serving "loose meat" sandwiches in their diner. There was a time when Roseanne and Tom Arnold operated The Big Food Diner in Eldon, Iowa where the featured meal was their "Loose Meat" sandwiches. Maid Rite diners are an old chain of cafes located in Iowa and Illinois along I-80 and throughout that region . . . local copies are called "steam burgers", "loose meat", etc. Basically, hamburger is prepared in a large container cooking until it is well done and crumbly . . . to this is added a variety of liquid flavorings . . . (kind of like a sloppy joe without the tomato sauce). Each interpretation is a little different, but they are very popular with the locals - - I lived and taught school in the area for more than a decade so Maid Rite/Steam Burgers/Loose Meat sandwiches are a part of my favorite foods when traveling.

Kevin

P.S.: A typical recipe for Steam Burgers can be found at this link. The only addition that I make to the recipe at the above link is to add a tablespoon of beef bulion flakes and a teaspoon of garlic flakes.

[azflycaster]

Sometimes you have to travel for days to find that perfect item...

This was 1500 miles from home

[Hibby]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

Sometimes you have to travel for days to find that perfect item...

This was 1500 miles from home

I think I'd like to be 1500 miles from that Airstream... Keep the windows cracked to avoid overpressurization!

[Hibby]

Originally Posted by Bruce B

When Dorsey and I are traveling, we have a habit of trying very hard to avoid the corporate restaurants that populate this land of ours.
Bruce

I agree! I love Carrabas, Olive Garden, Taco Bell, you name it... But our favorites are "Pete's" and "Sam's Joint" or "The Dungeon". We have found each of these simply by asking someone in a parking lot or gas station one simple question:

"where does everyone go to eat around here?"

We found a place called "Mineo's" in a strip mall that makes the best burritos I've ever had!

[ROBERT CROSS]

Our Classic has a stove, fridge, microwave and a nice pantry.

Otherwise it's a good fill-up at Pilot or Flying-J when we need Gas.

If we're at our destination...ask the locals, their usually very proud of the regional specialties, just don't go anywhere but Buffalo for wings.

Bob

[Bruce B]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

Our Classic has a stove, fridge, microwave and a nice pantry.

Otherwise it's a good fill-up at Pilot or Flying-J when we need Gas.

If we're at our destination...ask the locals.

Bob

It is true that our Airstream is still very new to us. We haven't yet traveled long distances with it so I am not certain how it will change our "style". I really do love finding those local favorites though. We'll have to see...
Bruce
p.s. I just saw the picture of those wings! Now I'm hungry. Do people eat wings for breakfast????

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Bruce B

It is true that our Airstream is still very new to us. We haven't yet traveled long distances with it so I am not certain how it will change our "style". I really do love finding those local favorites though. We'll have to see...
Bruce
p.s. I just saw the picture of those wings! Now I'm hungry. Do people eat wings for breakfast????

In Buffalo.....24/7/365. Picture taken at the Anchor Bar.

Bob

[Kosm1o]

We have found reviews on the internet completely unreliable. I wonder if many of them are written by the owners themselves or the competition. Peoples tastes are so different that we have just decided that if a place looks clean and has a nice menu we might give it a try. One example is a place called "The Dogpatch" in Munising. Lots of good reviews and even many locals recommend. We found it thoroughly disgusting.
That is just one of many examples. We now just take reviews and opinions with a grain of salt.

[Bruce B]

Originally Posted by Kosm1o

We have found reviews on the internet completely unreliable. I wonder if many of them are written by the owners themselves or the competition. Peoples tastes are so different that we have just decided that if a place looks clean and has a nice menu we might give it a try. One example is a place called "The Dogpatch" in Munising. Lots of good reviews and even many locals recommend. We found it thoroughly disgusting.
That is just one of many examples. We now just take reviews and opinions with a grain of salt.

Everything I read online is taken with a grain of salt! This is one aspect of the internet that always amazes me... It is a virtual soapbox for anyone with a computer to abuse. I am getting used to it though.

I have also experienced the exact opposite of the "owner review" online where the competition tries to "spike" the reviews with damaging remarks. You need to read between the lines.
Bruce

[jm2]

On the Internet, Nobody Knows You're a Dog




The above cartoon by Peter Steiner has been reproduced from page 61 of July 5, 1993 issue of The New Yorker, (Vol.69 (LXIX) no. 20) only for academic discussion, evaluation, research and complies with the copyright law of the United States as defined and stipulated under Title 17 U. S. Code.

[KerriO]

I'm a self-described "foodie", so the local food thing is a big part of my full timing experience.

I always relied on yelp.com when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. Single reviews you can take with a grain of salt, but once there are many, the true patterns start showing up. But I find it's much less reliable in less metropolitan areas, and in really touristy areas, it seems like places like Cheesecake Factory are more likely to have more/better reviews than any local joint. But Yelp did just lead us to our best local meal so far on our 6-month trip -- Love Apple in Taos, NM!

I've had hit and miss luck with asking locals (no accounting for taste in person either, so I often think that reviews average things out better). Also, when a local knows you a tourist, I've found that they tend to direct you to the most popular place for tourists, not necessarily the best local digs.

I have a subscription to Savuer magazine (total food porn-- I read it for the articles ), which focuses on regional food, though a lot of it's international. I tear out all of the articles that focus on regions where we'll be visiting. Savuer didn't lead us astray on the New Mexico "Chile Cheeseburger Trail"!

I also have a couple of iPhone apps that tracks places featured on those shows like Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. If someone makes an app focusing on Anthony Bourdain's favorite places, then I'll be in heaven!