Roadtrips

234 MILES | 4 hr 19 min

Scottsdale to Bisbee, Arizona

Roadfood Adventures are not just quests for great food wherever the road leads, but an invitation for travelers to connect that memorable food to the land, to its history and culture, and to the people who grow it, cook it, and eat it. Southern Arizona is rich with frontier history and southwestern food at its finest, as well as desert country that is a wonderland of unearthly natural beauty.

• With its pink-upholstered booths and swift young staff who look so cheerful carrying raspberry glaciers (Sprite and sherbet), golden nuggets (Sprite, sherbet, and ice cream), and Turkish coffee sodas, the Sugar Bowl is the ultimate ice cream parlor.
• Opened by Lo-Lo White, grandson of Mrs. White of the renowned Golden Rule Cafe, Lo-Lo’s Chicken and Waffles, a soul-food paradise, specializes in crisp fried chicken and soulful sides accompanied by waffles you can gild with either butter and syrup or beefy onion gravy.
• The Stand, a tiny-but-mighty burger joint at 36th Street and Indian School Road became an instant hit with the neighbors when it opened in 2013. A short menu of burgers, tacos, and shakes made with quality ingredients and executed with consistency locked in the locals’ loyalty. While the original Stand has paired down its offerings to hamburgers, fries, shakes, and their homemade lemonade, they’ve since opened the Grande Stand. In addition to the original Stand tacos (short rib, chicken and vegetarian), The Grande Stand menu features tacos al pastor plus a Sonoran hotdog.
• The Little One is not just a place to eat. It is a significant presence in the community. A blackboard in the dining room lists the charities and good causes in Tucson and south of the border to which customers’ donations are given: An elementary school, an orphanage, a children’s breakfast program, a girl who needs an operation, and more. Love is as much an ingredient in this exquisite find as is some of the best Sonoran Mexican food to be found.
• An empty-lot cart with a semi-attached dining area, Ruiz Hot Dogs serves one of Tucson’s best Sonoran hot dogs. It is magnificent, a beautiful cornucopia of bacon-wrapped dog and all the trimmings stuffed into a creamy-soft bolillo bun that has been toasted to crisp-edged luxury. On the side is a roasted pepper that strikes a fetching balance of sweet and heat.
• Hip, culinarily sophisticated, all about local groceries & flavors, 5 Points Market & Restaurant balances trendy & traditional by serving food that is delicious by any measure. A few bites of sticky bun and an order of biscuits and gravy, along with powerhouse espresso and eye-opening beet-apple-ginger juice, will quickly make you a 5 Points believer… even a proselyte. This is a restaurant that defies stereotypes, that goes its own way with a sense of purpose and the skills to realize its goals.
• The Bisbee Breakfast Club opened in the sleepy town of Lowell (a part of Bisbee, down by the border) in 2005 and has since opened four locations in Tucson and one in Mesa, Arizona. The everyday clientele at the original location reflect the curious population of a community that has gone from mining town to hippie enclave to artist colony and is now becoming coveted sunbelt real estate. Enjoy free-form wally cakes (pancakes with walnuts) at the or a chicken-fried steak topped with crazy-spiced gravy, followed by a lofty wedge of pie.

Sugar Bowl

Lo-Lo’s Chicken and Waffles

Stand

The Little One

Ruiz Hot Dogs

5 Points Market & Restaurant

Bisbee Breakfast Club

227 MILES | 4 hr 13 min

Hash (on rice) is the star side-dish at barbecue parlors throughout South Carolina. A byproduct of whole-hog cookery, but frequently also made with beef, it can vary from soup-loose to stew-chunky. It delivers intense barbecue flavor, but beyond that dreamy duet of meat and smoke, it can vary from relish-sweet to savagely peppery. True Barbecue of Columbia claims to serve the world’s best, which is a boast we wouldn’t debate; but the great cauldrons of hash made at Hite’s Bar-B-Que and the Red Shed Diner & Produce (weekends only) belong in the Pantheon, too. Freeman’s BBQ version is butter-rich; the hash at Maurice’s Piggy Park is dramatically smoky; it’s a swirl of complex flavor at Marina Variety Store in Charleston, and butcher’s-block fresh at Dave’s Grill & Grocery.

True BBQ

Maurice’s Piggy Park

Hite’s Bar-B-Que

Freeman’s Bar-B-Q

Red Shed Diner & Produce

Dave’s Grill & Grocery

Marina Variety Store

279 MILES | 5 hr 30 min

Watertown to Niagara Falls

This tour will take you on a five and a half hour drive along America’s Great Lakes Seaway Trail. Beginning in Watertown, you will end your tour by Niagara Falls. Along the way, we have picked 11 excellent restaurants and candy shops to fill your journey and your stomachs.

Watertown

• Crystal Restaurant is the oldest restaurant in all of Watertown. Meals include ham steak, accompanied by a boiled potato, as well as club sandwiches. Breakfasts include an assortment of eggs, bacon and toast. A full bar occupies one wall of the restaurant that offers a large array of drinks to customers.

Rochester

• The dogs served at Don’s Original are referred to as white hots and red hots. A white hot is an all-pork tube steak topped with mustard and diced onions. A red hot is closer to a traditional hot dog, made from a firmer weenie. Red hots are classically dressed with finely ground chili.
• Steak sandwiches at LDR Char Pit are not made from your ordinary shaved beef. The Char Pit uses a single slice of beef that is cut less than one centimeter thick. We always ask for ours to be cooked rare, 30 seconds on each side, and the chef has never missed the mark. No condiments are needed for this sandwich, the flavorful meat speaks for itself.
• Nick Tahou Hots was made famous for their garbage plates. Patrons choose a base, options are Texas hot wieners, hamburgers, Italian sausage, steak or grilled cheese sandwiches. Then baked beans, fried potatoes, macaroni salad, spicy chili sauce, mustard and chopped raw onions are piled on top. The result is a deliciously messy plate of food.

Buffalo to Niagara Falls Area

• Alethea’s is one of the best candy shops in America’s top candy city. Their dark chocolate is easily the darkest we have ever had. Homemade marshmallows are used as a topping to great ice cream or are wrapped in chocolate, coconuts and cashews to create a “Charlie Chaplin.”
• Originally a horse-drawn hot dog cart in the 1920s, Ted’s Hot Dogs serves a fantastic frank. Cooked over a charcoal grill, the dogs acquire a strong smoky flavor. Ted’s homemade hot sauce is a great condiment for any style of dog.
• “Beef on weck” is the most notable dish served at Charlie the Butcher. Made from thinly sliced slow roasted beef piled onto a hard roll, the top half of which is dipped into beef juice, this is an excellent sandwich.
• Another restaurant that serves excellent “beef on weck” is Schwabl’s. The rolls are hard and covered in grains, salt and seeds. The interior remains fluffy but strong enough to hold its shape after being dipped in beef gravy. With superb, thinly sliced, beef at its center, the beef on weck at Schwabl’s is unbelievably good.
• The Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, allegedly invented the Buffalo chicken wing in 1964 while making chicken stock. The secret for their wings today is that they fry them instead of baking. This gives them a crunchy outer shell while the meat inside is moist and tender.
• Located in the northwestern part of New York, Anderson’s Frozen Custard uses a higher egg content then most when creating their ice cream. Offering the classic flavors of chocolate, vanilla and swirl year round, they also have a flavor of the day and seasonal flavors.
• Baked fresh every morning, DiCamillo’s Bakery offers a variety of baked goods. Some of which are cinnamon rolls, donuts, cookies and loaves of bread. They also have pizzas sold in square slices.

Crystal Restaurant

Don’s Original

LDR Char Pit

Nick Tahou Hots

Alethea’s

Ted’s Hot Dogs

Charlie the Butcher

Schwabl’s

Anchor Bar

Anderson’s Frozen Custard

DiCamillo’s Bakery

313 MILES | 5 hr 28 min

Road Trip Overview

This 5.5 hour road trip will take you over a total of 312 miles from the chaotic fast paced streets of Las Vegas to the relaxed town of Palm Springs just next to Joshua Tree National Park. With 3 fantastic restaurants in Las Vegas and another 5 in and around Palm Springs, this food filled drive will take you down scenic Route 66 and passed Red Rock Canyon and the Mojave National Preserve.  With so many fast food and chain options, we hope this guide will help steer you to the best local, authentic eats on the road trip from Las Vegas to Palm Springs.

Las Vegas Eats

Las Vegas is the perfect gateway city from which to explore the vast and beautiful California Desert. But first, a visit to Roadfood’s favorite under-the-radar places in Sin City where the locals eat, on and off the strip.

• Weather you’re hungover or just flat out hungry, the panko-crusted fried deviled eggs at Eat are simply the best we have had. No question about it.
• It doesn’t matter if your order the “cold brown”, “fluff ‘n nut” or a slice of their apple pie, everything served at The Goodwich is unbelievably good.
• Located across the interstate from the Las Vegas Strip, The Oyster Bar always seems to have a line, forcing us to wait to belly up to the bar. We blame the impeccable food.

Along the Route

In order to make it from Las Vegas to Palm Springs you’ll have to take a lengthy drive down gorgeous Route 66. With many scenic stops along the way, the most notable ones we found were Red Rock Canyon and the Mojave National Preserve. Both offer beautiful views and rock formations that are worth the detour.

Through Palm Springs on to Joshua Tree

Beginning with a quick stop to the west, this next set of restaurants will help you eat your way through Palm Springs before sending you on your way to Joshua Tree National Park.

• Jack cheese is melted onto the tortilla prior to assembling the “giant taco”, the meat, onions, cilantro, salsa and guacamole are all an added bonus at Crazy Coyote Tacos.
• Felipe’s makes everything from scratch, tortilla chips included. Serving three meals a day, there is no reason you shouldn’t go. Their fish and shrimp tacos and the shrimp stuffed enchiladas were the most memorable dishes we tried.
• Serving excellent milk shakes, weenies and an 18 ounce hamburger, made with three beef patties, bacon, three cheeses, sauce and condiments, called “The Hulk”, Tony’s Burgers is a necessary stop after Palm Springs.
• With date batter, date butter, date milk shakes and date ice cream, Shields Date Gardens is one of a kind. Their tacos and nachos are also perfect for a lunch time stop (no dates in these dishes).
• After visiting Mimmo’s multiple times we couldn’t pick one specific dish to recommend. Most notable are silky gnocchi, anything that uses house-baked bread, or any of their seafood dishes. The tiramisu, made with chocolate sponge cake, was an amazing dessert.

Eat

The Goodwich

The Oyster Bar

Crazy Coyote Tacos

Felipe’s

Tony’s Burgers

Shields Date Gardens

Mimmo’s Italian Restaurant and Bar

316 MILES | 5 hr 27 min

Road Trip Overview

With a total of 316 miles to cover on this food filled road trip, the predicted drive time is 5 ½ hours. Beginning 30 minutes outside Dallas, the second largest city in Texas, this road trip will take you through small towns and fields, as well as the city of Austin, before ending at a bowling club café in Blanco, Texas, a town with a population of 1,956. You will travel right through the heart of The Lone Star State.

The Beginning : Dallas and Fort Worth

Landing in the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport will put you 34 minutes from the heart of Dallas, or 12 from the first restaurant on the tour. We recommend you go to Tolbert’s for your first taste of Texas.

• An excellent “bowl of red”, aka chili con carne, is available at Tolbert’s along with a variety of other southwestern dishes.
• A well-seasoned and juicy half pound beef patty can be expected from Kincaid’s, an old grocery store turned restaurant.

Along the Way to Austin

Could there be a faster way to get from Dallas to Austin in a car? Most likely. Is there a way that has better desserts, pastries or breakfast? Definitely not.

• Expect excellent pastries from the self-proclaimed home of the kolache, the Village Bakery.
• With some of the best desserts in all of Texas as well as a killer breakfast including our favorite regional dish, called migas, which consists of Mexican scrambled eggs with melted cheese, chunks of tomato and small ribbons of tortillas, Monument Café can not be missed.

Austin, Hill Country and Bowling

While you may be tempted to make your first stop at the Texas State Capital in Austin, we recommend you eat! Austin is home to a variety of restaurants, our favorites serve great BAR-B-Q and Tex-Mex.

• Since the late 1990s Maria’s Taco Xpress has been selling tacos for $2-$4 a piece, making it hard to not order all of them.
• Once part of the same store, Kreuz Market and Smitty’s were split apart by a family feud in the mid-1990s. However, these restaurants are located only a quarter mile apart and both offer some of the best BAR-B-Q we have ever had. Try them both to determine who won the feud.
• Home to an excellent lunch time menu including hamburgers, tacos and some of Texas’ finest pies, the Blanco Bowling Club Café is the perfect place to end your trip. Home to nightly bowling leagues, open bowling is only offered on Friday and Saturday nights.

Tolbert’s Restaurant

Kincaid’s

Village Bakery

Monument Café

Maria’s Taco Xpress

Kreuz Market

Smitty’s

Blanco Bowling Club Café