Road trips teach you things that travel guides don't. They teach you that the best meal of a trip rarely happens at the restaurant you planned for. It happens at…
My aunt used to make oxtails on the last Sunday of every month, and I would start thinking about them around Thursday. She'd start the pot early in the morning,…
Growing up, there was a family-owned Mexican spot in our town where the owner seemed to know everyone by first name. The booths were worn smooth. The margaritas were enormous.…
In our household, Friday nights meant the kitchen filling with the crackle of hot oil and the earthy scent of cornmeal. To my family, fried catfish wasn’t just food; it…
Breakfast is the meal I'm most opinionated about. Not dinner — anyone can get worked up about a fine dining tasting menu. I'm talking about the meal that sets the…
Here's one of my personal rules on road trips: if I smell smoke from the highway, I pull over. No exceptions. No "I'll stop on the way back." The "on…
My grandmother had a rule about fried chicken: if you can't smell it from the street, don't bother going in. It's an extreme standard. But there's something to it. The…
Some of the best food experiences happen at places that refuse to be impressive. No exposed brick. No craft cocktail menu. No host stands with an iPad. Just a window,…
Route 66 is one of my favorite kinds of American road trips. Not because of the destinations — although those are wonderful — but because of what happens between them.…
My relationship with the blue plate special started young. Somewhere around age seven, my grandmother introduced me to the concept: one hot meat, two or three sides, a roll, and…
There's a type of restaurant that food people talk about in hushed, almost reverent tones. Not a Michelin-starred tasting menu. Not a trendy rooftop with a famous chef. Just a…
There's a particular kind of restaurant that earns its reputation the hard way — not through a flashy grand opening or a prime location on a busy boulevard, but one…