The summer road trip - whether it’s an hour in the car to catch a couple waves and or a cross-country jaunt packed into an RV with family, a few things are a must: you should have good food, visit silly attractions and create memories. To help you out with planning, we’ve come up with a few good options, 50 to be exact. For each state in this great country of ours we’ve picked a food-focused attraction. Some restaurants, a few museums, food factory tours, festivals, monuments and activities. What’s on your list? Any must-sees that we missed? Please let us know in the comments.
I'm not sure I'm heading out for the Testicle Festival but that photo of the the only hand carved pastrami currently being served, in it's 100 year old habitat, makes me want to head to NYC. I "Heart" Katz's Deli!
ReplyDeleteIt would have been nice if they used a picture of a blue crab for Maryland, instead of what looks like an Alaskan king crab. Big difference.
ReplyDeleteAll comments on Maryland blues & how we eat & call them ring true - as a native Marylander, the piece really through me off. Come on Zagat, you can do better (I hope)
DeleteAgree. Absolutely ridiculous that the blue crab is shown for Delaware and not Maryland. And we don't "boil" crabs. We steam them.
DeleteYou took the words right outta my mouth! And why blue crab for Delaware? Doesn't Dogfish Brewery come out of Delaware?
DeleteOK so I now know what state each of these are in but less than one-fourth were identified with a psrticular city or town in the state. How about a little more info so that I don't have to use the phone numbers given to find out?
ReplyDeleteHow about some correct information? I was born and raised in Maryland and was at Cantler's on Saturday night. I can tell you that no one calls it a crab boil. We call it a crab feast or getting some steamed crabs. I can also tell you that we only eat blue crabs here in Annapolis. The picture does not show a blue crab.
ReplyDeleteAgreed on the Maryland crab. That photo shows a real lack of knowledge about crabs. The piece on Frito pie in New Mexico: It would have been nice to mention that the restaurant featured is in Santa Fe. And the best you all could come up with in South Carolina was South of the Border? Gimme a break!
ReplyDeleteOMG, South of the Border for South Carolina? There are SO many great festivals and local 'lowcountry' foods. SOUTH OF THE BORDER? The most ridiculous place, touristy and nothing of value the last time we stopped to use the bathroom. Maybe an ice cream cone......
ReplyDeleteAgreed! Charleston/Low Country has some of the best eats on the planet. And there's also that killer mustard BBQ...
DeleteFor Missouri, you listed a restaurant in Kansas. Woodyard is excellent, but it should have been the choice for Kansas.
ReplyDeleteTHIS. Should have listed LC's Barbecue or Arthur Bryant's. And Oklahoma Joe's or Woodyard for Kansas. This oversight is unforgivable. What a sham-job Zagat.
DeleteI'm a little disappointed in the Arizona choice. You've never heard of the Salsa Trail? or the bus tour of South Tucson?
ReplyDeleteYou have got to be kidding me.... South of the Border for SC when there's a culinary destination such as Charleston, and a Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum for TN... what a joke...
ReplyDeleteI guess this is what we get when Zagat sells out to Google!!!
DeleteAnd now I can't even see the article in full...EMBARASSED! South of the Border was a joke when I was a kid in the 60's!
ReplyDeleteThe Woodyard BBQ is at 3001 Merriam Lane. Kansas City Kansas not Missouri. http://www.woodyardbbq.com/
ReplyDeleteYou picked KC BBQ for Missouri when there's more to Missouri than BBQ. You could have picked IMO's or Ted Drews in St. Louis.
ReplyDeleteYes. KC Barbecue is the best food in the state... but they picked a KANSAS joint. How do they pick a Kansas place for Missouri?
DeleteHow about Fiorella's Jack Stack? Has that ever occurred to anyone? It's one of the best Missouri BBQ places - assuming that you're an aficionado of their sauce. It was certainly exceptionally popular with everyone when we lived in the Kansas City area, and we went there on a regular basis. (And I certainly agree about Oklahoma Joe's - our favorite BBQ joint in a gas station - as one of the top picks for the Kansas side of the border.)
DeleteLast year I visited Utah and had excellent cookies at a place at the outdoor mall in Salt Lake City, and great Mexican at the Red Iguana
ReplyDeleteNothing against Cafe Ibis--they're great--but I'm pretty surprised with how lazy the Utah choice is.
ReplyDeleteThis may be the worst food related article I have ever read. Do you even know what a foodie is? Cheer wine in NC?? South of the Border instead of Charleston's famous low country fare? For shame. Just terrible.
ReplyDeleteYou've got to remember that ZAZAT is a PAY-FOR YOUR-RATING SURVEY company.
ReplyDeleteAgree with the MD blue crab comments! Got a giggle from the photo of Michele and Tareq Salahi in the Virginia blurb too. Zagat blew this one!
ReplyDeleteYou lost all credibilty when you recommended Cheers in Boston-You can't do better than that?
ReplyDeleteI can think of three more foodie reasons to visit Utah:
ReplyDelete(1) Croshaw's Pies on South Bluff Street in St George - all of their pies are spectacular but the Very Berry will make your taste buds come alive.
(2) The Frei family fruit stand, maintained by the family for 56 years now. Some of its produce is grown out back and some comes from local farmers.
(3) Wasatch Brewpub & Brewery in Salt Lake City, http://www.wasatchbeers.com/, whose biggest seller is the excellent Polygamy Porter ("Take some home to the wives" and "Why have just one?").
Your photo is NOT of the Pike Place Fish Mkt. Looks more like
ReplyDeleteMatt's in the Market or the Athenian Grill. The fish market doesn't cook and serve food there...just the freshest imaginable seafood for you to take home/send home.
What a lame representation of food destinations. I agree with the previous commment regarding Pike Place Market...It never was called "Fish Market" although there are 3 great fish markets within this traditional farmers market. None serve food by the way. It is one of the very best farmers markets in America.
ReplyDeleteThere are several great restuarants in Seattle but not in the Market. The good fish restaurants are not located at the Market.
Your writer who produced this article doesn't have a clue about where to go in most of these states.
By the way the photo for Alaska is not a Dungeness Crab! And you don't need to go to Alaska for great Dungeness Crab, they are seasonally fresh and available from Alaska to Northern California...
I wouldn't say it's one of the best farmers markets or of even the highest quality but it is certainly an extremely overpriced tourist trap. If you want really fresh seafood in Seattle go to the fisherman's terminal out in Magnolia and for everything else go to either the Fremont or Ballard farmer's market on the weekend.
DeleteThere are many better choices to experience Seattle rather than going to Pike Place and it is certainly nothing compared to the Tsukiji Market in Japan. Mushroom or wild foraging and a picnic with a bottle of local wine would be a far better Seattleite/Washingtonian experience.
Based off of others comments this articles author didn't do their research and simply went with the easiest possible route to complete an assignment. Lazy, lazy, lazy!
I agree that the Utah choice was a lazy one. There are plenty of great reasons to visit Utah relating to food. Check out Forage, a restaurants that's had national attention from Food and Wine among other publications. Also, the downtown farmer's market is huge, offering tons of local products from Brazilian cheese bread, to Amour Spreads gourmet marmalade, and local honey. We also having a budding underground food scene like the small food gatherings slcmixers.com and the pop up restaurant slcpop. For more Utah food information go to theslcfoodie.com
ReplyDeleteA traditional Chicago hot dog does NOT include celery salt. You will thrown out of Superdawg for even asking. For a food blog, you should really get your facts straight.
ReplyDeleteIs this a joke posting? The Onion picks food destinations? I was expecting great food not the Salt and Pepper museum. This is indeed one of the worst food travel "articles" I've seen. No more Zagat/Google food articles for me.
ReplyDeleteI miss the original pre-Google Zagat! This article is poorly researched & sloppy! Looks like the research (if you can call it that with all of the egregious errors), writing & editing were all outsourced. No more Zagat/Google for me.
ReplyDeleteNumber 44, Utah's Caffe Ibis - did they intentionally draw the face of a pug in the cream?
ReplyDeleteMassachusetts: Cheers??? Ugh. Seriously?? Went to the original the first time to see what the big deal was - its old, dirty, food is crap. Went again with friends from out of town cause they wanted to see it, they felt the same. I would not be happy if I wasted my time going there visiting MA. Smelly pubs with crap food are a dime a dozen here. They could have at least picked something historic like Union Oyster House. More and more I don't understand this Zagat site, I feel more comforable with other sources for recommendations.
ReplyDeleteFor Utah, what about the world's only ski-in whiskey distillery, High West?
ReplyDeleteFor the whole state of Massachusetts all you can come up with is CHEERS? Dude, it's been off TV for YEARS. There's a little more than that going on here. Anyway, anyone standing in line to go to that place is . . . nuts. It's so over. Do you ever get out of the office?
ReplyDeleteFor Columbus and Ohio, don't overlook City Barbeque. Best brisket you can find. A staple at Ohio State tailgates.
ReplyDeletePride of NY state...Big W's roadside barbq in wingdale...absolutely heaven...Warren will even custom plan your order for you especially if u r a newbie! incredible ribs, brisket, chicken and pulled pork...all dry rubbed and smoked for hours...sides are delish too not just an after thought...
ReplyDeleteMost Cabot Cheese is Lactose free
ReplyDeleteUTAH: A coffee roaster? Seriously? (I'm sure it's excellent but hardly unique). Go to PARK CITY and check out HIGH WEST DISTILLERY & SALOON (Zagat rated 23). They make the award winning premium small-batch High West whiskey (& others) which has become a hot new name in spirits. They give tours for the distillery and the restaurant is in a historic, land-marked building at the base of Park City's ski slope (so yes, you can ski-in to this). The town itself is exceedingly charming, nestled in the Wasatch Mountains, with lots of fairs, festivals (incl. Sundance), outdoor activities etc, it's a great vacation destination.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with many of the other posters that this article is poorly researched and written. As a native Oregonian I will agree that the Willamette Valley have many fine wineries and vineyards and some of the best Pinot that I've ever tasted; however, as far as food goes, I wouldn't agree that this is the best attraction for food that the entire state has to offer. Wine, absolutely. Food, not-so-much. Last time I checked this article was called, ..."50 Food Attractions by State". It's like the writer did a Google search on attractions by state and just chose what he/she found to be the most searched. How about Moe's in Lincoln City, OR, which is famous across the state for it's Clam Chowder??
ReplyDeleteThe Star Valley Cheese Restaurant seems to come and go. I find a review for it dated May 1, 2010. We were there on June 20 2010, it was closed and no one knew if it would reopen. I find another review dated August 2, 2011. So I called the restaurant, no answer. I called the Star Valley Chamber of Commerce and found out that the restaurant had closed on about June 20, 2012.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, the admonition, "make sure to visit the adjoining factory first to work up an appetite." is bogus because the cheese factory has been closed for over three years.
You can't walk through downtown Portland, OR without running into an awesome food cart. That is the best they can do for Oregon? Never even heard of the vineyard they mentioned. Won't knock Oregon Pinot noir though...
ReplyDelete