Road trip: eating like a local


Road tripping is fun, and vacation food is a component of a trip that makes it 'sticky' and memorable for me. I can tell you about the majority of my trips and vacations based on a particular local restaurant experience: Cochon Restaurant in New Orleans, LaBinnah Bistro in Hannibal MO and Cotogna in San Francisco come to mind.

One way we are trying to make a long drive more fun for our family is to enjoy local restaurants along the way. Last year on our 16+ hour drive to Florida, we stopped in downtown Nashville for some Hattie B.'s Hot Chicken. The upside: it was a cool restaurant with truly amazing spicy chicken as well as good sides. The downside is that there was a lot of waiting involved. So although we had some fun conversations with those around us waiting in line, I was getting a bit hangry, so that is never fun - for anyone

We've also begun to incorporate going to Waffle House for our breakfasts. There is a sense of good will and camaraderie that I remember from going out to pancake houses after church when I was a kid. The Waffle House crowd is local and the restaurant is always 'cozy sized'. The food is delicious (pecan waffle! grits!) and the wait staff seem to be hired for personality and warmth. There don't appear to be any Waffle Houses up here in Wisconsin, so breakfast at WH for us definitely signifies we are in the south.

This year Jeff has identified a more suburban Hattie B.'s and we're hoping the food will be just as good, but not as long of a wait. I am currently exploring options via Google Maps plus the help of Trip Advisor and Yelp to find a lunch option in southern Alabama. Poking around spots near Jackson, Luverne and Opp Alabama, what I'm finding isn't diet food, but sure looks good: BBQ, burgers, and many, many Chicken Houses, Shacks, etc. Since we are passing through this way on a Sunday, many of the local restaurants are closed because of church, and the ones that are open will likely have post-church goers there. I'll report back on how it turns out.

2015 local Mexican restaurant stop - John and Jeff


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