Pork is king in Iowa, where an “Iowa Pork Chop” isn’t just a chop from local hogs. It is two or three times thicker than a pork chop from anywhere else, and its creamy goodness is beyond compare. Likewise, cinnamon rolls, available in virtually every restaurant, are immense. Iowa also is a nexus of the lower Midwest’s beloved tenderloin sandwich, and it is the custom in here to flatten a slab of tenderloin so it fries up three or four or five times wider than the bun that sandwiches it. Pies are blue-ribbon quality, too — fruit pies as well as that dairy country favorite, sour cream raisin pie – a delirious balancing act of sweet and tangy.
WITH THE EXCEPTION of the hot dog bun, there has never been an edible invention as useful as the ice cream cone. Eat it all and leave nothing behind...
In 1901, there were fewer than 7,000 cars on America’s roads. Just 40 years later, Duncan Hines’s guidebook Adventures in Good Eating was pinpointing hundreds of gems worthy of a detour....
For two-lane travelers, pulling into a parking lot perfumed by hamburgers and hot onion rings is as satisfying as any four-star dining experience. At a true classic drive-in, you...
OF ALL THE pie-eating destinations in all the world, Iowa may be the best. Its greatness is obvious in the jaw-dropping array of flawless entries at the State Fair...
If Dr. Seuss had been a restaurant reviewer, he would have liked soda fountains best, for they are where Pink Elephant punch and rootbeer Black Cows line up alongside...
The best-selling 1932 novel State Fair centers around Blue Boy, "the finest hog that ever was," and the quest of his owners, the Frake family, to get him the...
Road trip through Iowa The Loess Hills Scenic Byway through westernmost Iowa is describes as "truly an American treasure." The trip from Omaha, Nebraska, to Sioux City, Iowa offers Roadfood...
Unique Regional Dishes After 40 years and 5 million miles spent on the road looking for America's best regional food, we've assembled a list of the quintessential, must-eat food in...
Interstate 80 is the most efficient East-West route between New Jersey and San Francisco, but long stretches of it are a culinary wasteland. Not Iowa, where memorable heartland eats...
Even if you are not in town for the annual Iowa State Fair, which offers days worth of good food, Des Moines is a city of eating opportunities far...
Pancakes are especially appreciated by travelers in search of significant breakfast. While fair to middling ones are on the menu virtually everywhere, restaurants that serve four-star flapjacks are rare....
Many restaurants serve steak, but some places are dedicated to it. Although no great steak house is cheap, some of the best are extremely informal (like Doe's Eat Place...
The turtle sundae is not unique to the heartland. Its sublime combination of crisp nuts, hot fudge and caramel sauce atop vanilla ice cream can be found from coast...
Cinnamon rolls can be found almost everywhere, but no state has better (and bigger) ones than Iowa.
There are excellent tenderloins in Indiana, and some in Illinois, but no state has as many great ones as Iowa. By tenderloin, we don't mean a roast that requires...
Why Call a Food Loosemeats? Loosemeats has all kinds of aliases, including tavern, Tastee, Big T, and Charlie Boy. Whatever you call it, loosemeats is similar to sloppy Joe, but...
