the red flag waving
feasting on asphalt is back and a little weirder. this time AB is ... driving ... the mississippi. episode 1 didn't really touch on road-food stands as much as the history of the cuisine of the southern Louisiana region... it was interesting enough, seemed to be missing some of the charm of the first series.
got me thinking about road food around here. and i realized i don't know of a whole lot besides barbeque joints like walt's and jim dandy's and whatnot. but i don't know if those quite qualify. what diffs a mom-and-pop non-chain restaurant from a road-food joint? location? quirky food? unique design and vibe? family-owned?
there's the root beer stand in reading/sharonville... they rock the mighty Tim Dog and some very sugary homemade root beer...
there's small ice cream stops like the zip dip or the goody shop...
sebastian's is a good yardstick - small, family owned, delicious, famous by word-of-mouth, and probably exactly the same as it was when it opened.
skyline most certainly would have qualified... fifty years ago... now they're a chain... are they out?
maybe they have to be in the middle of nowhere to qualify? and we need to drive out to chillicothe or something to find a true example?
gimme a hand here. where's the small, out-of-the-way, non-chain joints you take out-of-towners to when they visit?
putz's off the montana ave. exit on I-74 is a classic....
Zips and the Works over here in Loveland. I'd say Skyline still counts. As does LaRosas and Graeters. If they didn't count than Unos in Chicago doesn't count up there. I'd say these are all places that folks need to stop at when driving through, so they count.
I disagree Artie. Those are great local food joints you've mentioned, but as for the hit and run type place that AB is showcasing in the series I have to go more with the Putz's recommendation. It's quite the tasty treat and I look forward to it every year when spring rolls around.
I would disqualify Skyline and LaRosa's as Feasting on Asphalt contenders. Mainly because they exist in cities like Columbus, Lexington, Louisville, Indy, etc. LaRosa's is about the same. So they now count more as regional restaurants.
Graeter's is out because they sell ice cream only and have been plugged by Oprah. Plus it can be ordered online and shipped to anywhere in the US.
The answer is only mom and pop stops. Putz's. Walt's. Zips (though I keep it borderline because of the location). Echo (Hyde Park-see previous tag). Love Root Beer Stand. Montoya's (Mexican place on Buttermilk Pike). That steak joint we'd hit after walking a week on the AT. I think we're all a little too afraid to walk into some of the places we see bc of the neighborhoods, the outside, the decor, the demographic of clientel, etc.
Ultimately I think AB wants to highlight a region that doesn't necessarily have unusual plates. He may stop at a 12 places and they all sell cornbread, but the cornbread is different from the last place and never the same as any other stop.
If he's looking for multiples (like the cornbread), chili places would be great, right? Add to the list: Mt Washington Chili.
Found a local food blog you might appreciate:
http://letseatout.blogspot.com/