The Best Food on the Road

We love food. Randy makes the best food I've ever tasted, but we both like to go out to restaurants, too, looking for something good. There are a lot of disappointments out there but occasionally we find something so good that we pretty much always order it when we are at that place again. We haven't been everywhere or tried everything (yet), but this is the list of thing the best food we have tried so far.

Artichoke Hearts: Pia’s in St. Charles, MO. Lightly battered, fried crispy outside and tender inside, served with plenty of melted butter, and enough to make a meal.

Belgium chocolate: Leonidas, made in Belgium. This rich chocolate leaves Godiva far behind.

Banana Cream Pudding: Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House in Savannah, Georgia. After eating the fried chicken, BBQ pork, beef stew, meatloaf with gravy, dirty rice and sausage, chicken and dumplings, squash, white rice, mashed potatoes with cheese and onions, candied yams with raisins, creamed corn, okra and tomatoes, snap beans, cucumbers, lima beans, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, black-eyed peas, butter beans, cornbread and biscuits, and all the sweet tea I could drink, I still found room for this banana pudding. 

Blueberry jam: A Petra Canada gas station in Nova Scotia, located where Road 2 joins Highway 2. It has a small restaurant attached. A local lady cans fresh blueberry jam and brings jars to the restaurant for the customers. If your table doesn’t have a mason jar of jam, ask the friendly waitress and she’ll fix you right up.  
Calamari: Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville in Cozumel. Maybe all Margaritaville's have tenter, tasty fried calamari, but the one in Cozumel is where they gave us a free appetizer portion, and it was so good we bought more!

Crab-stuffed Grouper: Peck's Old Port Cove in Crystal River, FL. It's all good, and light sauce puts it over the top!
Diet Coke: Coke Cola Light, from Mexico. It just tastes better.

French Fries, International: Any vending cart in Delft, in the Netherlands. Find one, get the hot french fries with fresh mayonnaise to dip them in, and enjoy. 

French Fries, USA: Old Ebbitt Grill’s in Washington DC serves the best french fries I’ve had in the US, with the exception of the fries Randy made in the Snack Shack. But I can't put those on this list!

Fried ChickenCastelli's Restaurant (aka Moonlight) in Alton, Il. Exactly what fried chicken should be, and the side dishes are just as good as the chicken. (Thanks for the reminder, Randy Reddick!) 
Macaroni and Cheese Eaton's Beach Sandbar and Grill in Weirsdale, Florida. Made with three creamy cheeses, flavored with spicy Andouille sausage and Tasso. Randy's is still tops, but this is the best I've found on the road.
Muffuletta: Johnny’s Po’Boys, New Orleans, LA. I keep meaning to try their po'boy, but I can't go there without ordering the muffuletta, and that's so big that I can't order both!
Nepalese, Korean and Indian buffet - Mount Everest Cafe in St. Louis, MO. I generally don't care for these cuisines so every time we go, I think I won't really like it, I'm just going because Randy likes it so much. And every time I stuff myself.

Oysters: May River oysters, served at the Bluffton Oyster Company Family Seafood House in Bluffton, South Carolina. Or anywhere that serves May River oysters, as long as they are really fresh. Just so good!
Pastrami: Carl’s deli in St. Louis, MO. No contest. One sandwich is enough for us to share, and sometime we still have to take some home!

Pizza: There is nothing more subjective than pizza, and we've had a lot of great pizza. But you never outgrow your first love, so Avanti's, in Peoria and East Peoria, IL, gets our vote.

Ribs - Dry rub: Corky’s in Memphis. If you’ve tried them at one of the other locations and don't believe these are the best, try them in Memphis. For years I skipped these because I don't usually like dry rub. When I finally tried them, I ate most of Randy's order! So from them on, I order a full rack of ribs for myself! 
Ribs - Wet: Oklahoma Joe’s, which is not in Oklahoma, it’s in a Gas Station in Kansas City.  Don’t let that put you off, these are perfect.

Scotch Oatmeal Cookies: Dad’s Original Oatmeal Cookie in St. Louis, MO. This is a crunchy cookie, so the best way to eat them is to let them melt on your tongue. I can't stop.

Shrimp and Grits: Another dish from Eaton's Beach Sandbar and Grill in Weirsdale, Florida. Perfectly cooked shrimp and grits flavored with a white wine cream sauce, all topped with bacon and chives. So good that Randy orders this every time he's here.
Water: Skagway, Alaska. It's fresh from the glacier, so it’s hardly fair to compare any other water to this. 

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