Food on the road?

[narby]

In Mid August. I am planning a 3300 mile, 9 day loop from Bay Area to Vegas, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Seattle, and back.

Although it may be inevitable, I would like to avoid fastfood entirely on this trip. Do any of you seasoned roadtrip veterans have any special recommendations for affordable, delicious mom & pop places along the way?

[Mark Sedenquist]

In Mid August. I am planning a 3300 mile loop

Wow, that look's like a great trip! Welcome to the Great Americana RoadTrip Forum!

Although it may be inevitable, I would like to avoid fastfood entirely on this trip.

My first question would have to be -- what would you consider FastFood? BurgerKing-like entries, sandwiches from Starbucks or local grocery stores? Snack food? If you really want to eat healthy, I would for the most part, avoid Mom & Pop places (or at least put them on the same parity as the McDonald's of the world) and purchase groceries and eat from coolers/camping. There are thousands of smaller restaurant operations along your route -- and I have probably eaten at many of them of the years -- but most of them serve fare pretty close to fast food establishments these days.

One of our road trip colleagues manages RoadFood and you can find plenty of suggestions therein.

Mark

[Mass Tim]

The only way you can guarantee that you aren't eating fast food each day is to have a grill and/or camp stove with you to cook your dinner. This of course takes some time and prep work, but you can be assured you are eating healthy.

Or this is a matter of principle, where you don't want to stop into chain restaurants?

[PNW Judy]

I usually only eat in a restaurant every 2-3 days. And then, when I do, I try to make it a nice meal. I try to find places with good, local cuisine. Here's some cooler ideas that might help you out.

[MrsPete]

This isn't exactly answering your question, but rather than trying to avoid fast food we tend to try to aim for a balance in our meals on the road:

Our rule is that the cooler can contain only healthy foods -- bagged salad, pre-cooked chicken or tuna, pre-cut fruit and vegetables, yogurt, boiled eggs, sunflowers seeds, etc. My husband and kids are sandwich people, so they always have bread and sandwich fixings handy.

If we've eaten healthy foods from the cooler, we feel like it's okay to "splurge" on restaurant meals, so we feel free to order fried foods, etc. We tend to eat once a day in a restaurant; my husband especially is GRUMPY if he doesn't have one good, filling meal per day, and he takes it out on the rest of us!

[narby]

thanks guys, I think we'll probably bring some type of cooking device and stop at grocery stores along the way. My purpose is to mainly avoid large chains in order to try more local and specialty cuisine.

Thx for the roadfood link. this place seems promising

[PNW Judy]

I'll have to remember that one!

I hope you followed my link for grocery suggestions. We are very satisfied with the wide range of healthy, filling food we can eat without even having to cook. Of course, bringing a stove gives you additional options. We often don't bother as a hot meal every two days is good enough when the weather is hot. If the weather is cooler, it is nice to eat warm food more often though. In that case, the stove is worth the extra space it takes.

[Midwest Michael]

There's never anything wrong with websites and the like that point out unique food stops, but they are always so limiting. Every city, and even many small towns have several restaurants, and they all have their own specialty.

Because of that, I've always found that recommendations from locals are far more accurate than databases and lists that highlight "road food"

[PNW Judy]

Except it does look like anybody can contribute to the recommendations at that website. I have a few local restaurants I'm thinking of submitting that are very popular, with good food, and an interesting ambiance. So, isn't that a local recommendation? ;)