In the past I’ve posted blogs with lists of my favorite two-lane roads, favorite RV parks, favorite travel websites, and quite a few others. So today I thought I’d share some of my favorite restaurants, based on what they serve, from coast to coast. All of these and more can be found in our Favorite Restaurants guide.
Best Chinese – With so many great ones nationwide, I’d still have to say that King Wha in Elkhart, Indiana is my favorite sit down Chinese restaurant.
Best Pizza – Oh, I do love pizza and we’ve enjoyed a lot of it over the years. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but if I absolutely had to name just one, it would be the white pizza at Angelo’s Pizza Restaurant in the small town of Montross, Virginia.
Best Seafood – Hands down, my favorite seafood restaurant in the country is Dixie Crossroads in Titusville, Florida. I never miss a chance to eat there.
Best Casual Seafood – Keys Fisheries, Marathon, Florida. It’s worth a trip to the Keys just to sit outside and watch the big fish swim past as you enjoy a blackened grouper sandwich at Keys Fisheries.
Best Clam Chowder – The Sporthaven Marina Bar & Grill, located on the waterfront, in Brookings, Oregon has won the Oregon Coast Chowder Cook-Off twice, and after having a bowl, Terry said she understood why. We’d go out of our way to have it again.
Best Fish and Chips: On our last trip to the Oregon Coast, several people recommended we stop at the Crazy Norwegian in Port Orford. Their signature fish and chips are second to none.
Best Mexican – Lindo Michoacan in Henderson, Nevada is probably the best, and again, we’ve been to a lot of places, so it’s hard to choose.
Best Cuban – Café Masaryktown, Masaryktown, Florida. We’ve drive as much as 30 miles out of our way to have one of their Cuban sandwiches or a serving of their pork medallions.
Best Fast Food Burger – You just can’t beat a Culver’s Butter Burger, and I’m delighted to see them expanding out of the Midwest and into places like Arizona.
Best Fast Food – I’ve been eating at Lucky Wishbone in Tucson for over 35 years, and when I’m on the road I crave their delicious steak fingers.
Best Sandwich – No trip to Tucson is complete without a stop at Luke’s Italian Beef for one of their shaved beef sandwiches and an order of fries.
Best Barbecue – Bandana’s Barbecue, Ankeny, Iowa. They have several other locations but this is our favorite.
Best Steak – Montana is cattle country, so I guess it’s not surprising that the best steak I’ve ever had was at the Broken Arrow Steakhouse and Casino in Deer Lodge. It’s not cheap, but it’s delicious!
Best Buffet – The Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earl, Pennsylvania has been a Lancaster County favorite for years, serving up at least five different meats daily, fourteen vegetable dishes, a massive salad bar, and a selection of deserts to die for.
Yeah, I know, there’s not a bit of healthy food anywhere on that list, and I don’t apologize for that. I don’t drink, smoke, or do drugs, and I stopped jumping out of perfectly good airplanes a long time ago. A guy’s got to die of something, and I don’t want to be like all those health nuts I know who’ll be laying in a hospital dying of nothing someday!
So how about you? What are some of your favorite restaurants, and why?
Thought For The Day – Rumors are started by haters, spread by fools, and accepted by idiots.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Chancys in Plant City FL, great seafood and hushpuppies.
Nick,
Just want to thank you for giving a shout out to Shady Maple here in my hometown area of Lancaster County. I live here and go there way too often…and it shows…lol
Wayne
Chancys in Plant City FL, the best seafood we found and wonderful alligator too.
You dont list Chinese Buffets although I do know you frequent them joyusly sometimes. My fave and a frequent stop in Florida while I snowbird is Buffet City in Brooksville and I do recognize its on your list somewhere.
Appreciate the list and have written them down for future use. All the time I have spent in Titusville and I have never tried Dixie Crossroads. Our frends that live there recommend Corky Bells and so now I will have to try Dixie Crossroads. In Seattle we think they have the best burger at Burgermaster. I have been eating there for over 50 years. Most are drive ins but they do have a sit down restaurant too.
CULVER’s hands down best burger ever. Grab some links for more great eating…thanks for sharing!
If you ever pass through Arkansas on I-40 pull off at Russelville for a Whatta-burger. This is not the chairn of stores but one started by Bob Feltner. You will not be disappointed. There is always a line out the door at meal times but it moves fast or you can call ahead.
http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/04/feltners-whatta-burger-review-russellville-ar.html
ever try the burgers at Cockle-a-Doodle Cafe in Elkhart? Pretty darn good! We always make a stop there when we are in town.
safe travels,
Phil and Rudee
OOPS! that should read Cock-a-Doodle Cafe
This is by far the best place we have ever eaten anywhere in the U.S. Just a few miles east of I-5 north of Seattle and about 5 miles east of the freeway. Only open for dinner Tuesday through Saturdays. Everything is made fresh EVERY day by Chef Martin’. Fine dining menu is best described as World Inspired Regional Cuisine consisting of fresh and local seasonal products.
In addition to high-quality meats and poultry, also offer sustainable seafood, amazing soups and irresistible desserts.
Vegetarian and gluten-free entrees are created upon request.
http://www.bistrosanmartin.com/.
You do need to compare Freddy’s to Culver’s just to make sure and there is one at Gilbert and Baseline in Gilbert, AZ you can go to while in Mesa. Also if you miss Cuban, Mimita’s in Chandler might not be the best, but it is as good as many in Florida.
Nick, I used to live 20 minutes from Shady Maple and I agree, it is the best buffet I have been to in our 13 years fulltiming. Last we were there was in 2005.
When in Florida try Tony’s in Cedar Key for the best Clam Chowder on the East Coast.
Here in good old Hondo and nearby town of Castroville we have a few good place we love to eat at. The first on here in town for Mexican is El
c
Try again fingers not quite awake, Here in our small town of Hondo we have three we love to go to. The first one is really in DHanis a very small town next to us. For good home down cooking it has to be Bill & Rosa, we frequently use it primarily for breakfast, word of warning unless you are starving order half orders. For Mexican El Charro is the best. Herman & Son’s is a good steak house and is always packed with locals. In Castroville our favorite for fresh Seafood is Nemo’s. Nice selection and reasonable prices. They do a great Coconut shrimp. Best of all they are all located on the main US 90 thruway
c
fast food burger….In N Out burgers
best burgers….Redemak in New Buffalo, MI
Best frys….5 guys
best clam chowder…. Mo,s Oregon coast than Ivar,s in Seattle
best prime rib Heston bar and grill, Heston, IN
best rib eye Saltgrass in San Antonio
best canned chili Nally’s mostly on the northwest coast, but did find it in Hondo, TX
Maggiano’s for Italian
Five Guys for burgers
If you’ve done a restaurant guide, we need to get a copy!,
We agree on the chowder place in Brookins.
El Indio for Mexican food in Old Town San Diego
Grill your own steak (or chop or … ) in West Des Moines
Ah, glorious food … Our only vice. : )). Thanx for starting an interesting thread.
Drove up from our summer jobs location in Natural Bridge, VA to the Lancaster, PA area for doctor/dentist appointments and had early lunch yesterday at the Shady Maple. Just as good as always although we were surprised to have prime rib sliced for us at lunch. (Usually it is only on the dinner menu.) Yum!
Best ribs I ever hav had are at Florida’s in Livingston, TX, it is a small hole in the wall but great food for the money and their Chicken Fried Steak is to die for!!!!!
Added a bunch of places to try. We have a list of ‘Our Favorite Things – Food!’ on our blog, http://bobandjotravelblog.blogspot.com/
Two of my favorite restaurants:
Lido’s Italian Restaurant in Lemon Grove, CA
Chiquita’s Mexican Restaurant in San Diego, CA