Stopping to eat on a road trip when you’re, say, just 200 miles away from home, is spiritually different from a road trip that requires 500 miles of driving. When you reach hour six of a road trip, you are a different person and, if you do it right, there are different rules. Different expectations. Different foods.
The question I’m asking today is not your favorite road trip food or the best rest stop. This isn’t Whataburger v. Sonic v. In-n-Out. This is about the food your soul and body require when you’ve exited the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to. This is about chasing waterfalls.
My waterfall is a cod sandwich from Culver’s. I grew up in Texas, and the cheerful and butter-based Midwestern cuisine has always been a little foreign to me. Fried cheese curds instead of stuffed jalapenos. A frozen custard instead of the hand-dipped cone. Wisconsin cheddar on a fish sandwich instead of American.
There’s a specific Culver’s in Sandusky, Ohio that calls to me even now. Perhaps I shall return there soon…
Until then, what’s the Culver’s in your mind?
top photo: Culver’s
I don’t have anything set in stone for snacks during trips, but I will always start a trip with a canned coffee and a breakfast sandwich. Otherwise my vibe is off the whole day.
As someone that does a grueling 26 hour drive several times a year across the vast nothingness of Nebraska and the flyover states…. fresh food. Lately we’ve resorted to stopping at Walmart and buying prepackaged salads. Fast food is ok like once, but once you’re hungry again, it is not very appetizing, or healthy. And it’s super heavy, which makes me tired more easily, especially late at night.
I will say that the Taco Bell App has been an absolute GAMECHANGER in terms of being able to customize food into healthier options, especially if you’re trying to avoid factory farmed meat like we do. You can click on ANY menu item, and swap the ground beef for black beans at no charge. You can swap out tons of ingredients, and add tons of other ones, it’s honestly the best thing that’s happened with eliminating ordering at the cash register and using the touch kiosks/apps.
The spicy potato softshell taco is one of the cheapest things on the menu, but once you add some options to it it becomes super dank.
Normal hardshell taco? How about instead a black bean hardshell taco with tomatoes and avocado ranch sauce? You can make all sorts of weird stuff and keep it light/healthy.
Fresh salad, yes, especially after munching on trail mix and the like for 8+ hours. I’d have never considered ordering off-ish menu at Taco Bell, but that’s a good tip if the grocery stores are closed.
People don’t know this/sleep on it and I don’t know why. Taco Bell, with the app, will make you damn near anything you desire for which they have the ingredients. They need to get the word out in their ads
Culver’s Is Always The Answer. CIATA ?
Funyuns and a Diet Mt Dew.
That’s funny, you’re from Texas and crave Culver’s, of which there are thousands near me.
I’m hooked on Buc-ee’s brisket sandwich. The closest location is way TF down in Kentucky, so I’m anticipating the opening of the location in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, which will be balls to the wall for like 6 months after they open.
Pad Thai and chocolate milk shakes. The 5 year old approves as well.
I used to crave me some Steak-n-Shake when I got to the midwest. Chili 5-Way was a must have — provided I was staying the night nearby!
It really depends on where I’m at, though. Road-tripping to Lubec, Maine? A lobster roll from Margaret’s in Northport on the way up.
Driving across Texas? Gimme some brisket.
Last time I was in Arizona? Sonoran Hot Dog.
But, if I’m ever in need of a quick bite when I need to keep racking up the miles, nothing beats a basic-ass McDonald’s cheeseburger or two. Hit the drive-thru and get back on the road. They’re dead simple, so the staff can’t eff ’em up too badly, and they’re unlikely to drip juices or lose toppings, so can you steer with one hand and shove ’em in your facehole with the other.
If I run into a braums I’m probably going to stop for a bag of burgers and some ice cream. Bag of burgers has become too rare in today society where burgers have to be huge and expensive. I want a bag full of small cheap burgers. My food destination would probably be for lobster bisque and a lobster roll and maybe a hot weanie.
This really depends on the destination.
If I’m visiting my parents, it’s Spiffy’s. It is a local burger joint next to the high school I attended. I didn’t need it back then, but it was a nice break from the school cafeteria. I probably don’t need it now. But it’s almost the only game in town (well, the next town over–my parents’ town has a tavern, but no restaurant).
If I’m going down to Texas or Oklahoma for some reason, it’s Sonic. We have them up here, but it’s just different when I go down there.
Otherwise, it’s usually either McDonald’s (fast and consistent) or something interesting and local.
Regardless of where I am going, though, the important thing is that I have a good supply of gummy candy, some sort of beef jerky or pepperoni, and the one-liter Brisk iced teas. Even if I don’t stop for a proper meal, I’ll be fine.
After getting food poisoning at the first stop of a cross country drive when I was a kid, I only eat at McDonalds when I’m travelling. I don’t like McDonalds, but it’s safe and consistent.
I want a big, messy cheeseburger and fries. Doesn’t matter where it’s from.
Cheddar cheese-pretzel Combos for me; not big on the cracker ones. But I agree that Combos just don’t go down well at home. Great in the car with a Coke tho.
I know of a small truckstop in Benjamin TX (tiny farm town, basically middle of nowhere) that makes a fried baloney sandwich just right.
Breakfast Burrito (Green) from Pinion Coffee in Albuquerque. Anytime I’ve road tripped through there, thats what I start my day with.
Beef jerky and Chick-o-sticks always on the road trip menu.
If I’m home, a whiskey sour and a pizza, if I’m traveling, whatever they have at the absolute nearest bar or restaurant to the hotel, preferably inside the hotel
This. Dive bar food (pizza, wings, burger) with a nice cold beer is great after a 12 hour drive.
When I was a college student, I did an 8-10 hour trip a couple times a year. Usually I’d just order a medium pizza at 9am, put it on the passenger seat, and slowly consume it over the course of the day.
Upon arrival, Metamucil.
I live near the middle of England, Driving 500 miles in any direction will have me in the sea, So maybe fish and chips ?
Schlotzsky’s regular
Damn good sandwich
Since there aren’t any within 100 miles of us and I know just where a nice one is on one of our semi annual out of state trips.
I would kill for a ham and cheese on jalapeno sourdough.
Is that still around? We had some in the 90’s but they all went away.
They’re all over Texas, but seem to be a lot less common outside of the state.
They’re rare but there’s a quite nice one just off I55 north of Jackson, MS
Yeah the last time I even saw a Schlotzky’s was over 20 years ago, in Memphis, somewhere between the freeway and Graceland. Didn’t stop there at the time; when there was one near my grandparents’ house in Orange County, CA in the ’90s, my grandfather liked to go there, but they never seemed to catch on in this part of the country and have to all be long, long gone.
We have one left at the outer edge of our metro area and it still feels like a special treat to go there.
I’m very lactose intolerant, so for my own comfort and the comfort of my companions, I avoid anything dairy on a road trip even with the benefit of Lactaid pills.
Road trips are usually when I indulge in some Wendy’s french fries for a meal break, and peanut M&Ms while driving.
I’m new to lactose intolerance. It’s very hit or miss for me, but I’ve definitely learned to avoid dairy on the road.
If Cabot brand cheeses are available in your area, most of their line is lactose-free, and is real cheese. And I have found oat milk to be the most dairy-like for things like a latte when traveling.
Duly noted, thanks!
I didn’t pay enough attention to the label to know it was lactose-free, but damn Cabot Seriously Sharp cheddar is my crack. Don’t need anything else but some buttery townhouse or even plain saltines with it, and maybe a good beer.
I too swerve when I encounter a cow in the roadway.
This question doesn’t work too well for Californians… depending on where you’re starting from and where you’re going, you can drive for a couple of full days without leaving the state, so if you’re talking about regional chains, there’s really not much variation to speak of until you’ve been driving for a loooong time.
That said, we do have a hole-in-the-wall spot in Santa Barbara for the best breakfast burritos, so we try to time our trips to pass through around breakfast time.
And, of course, there are the chain places that aren’t exactly exotic, but that I only ever eat at on road trips, like Dairy Queen, Carl’s Jr., or Jack in the Box, because convenience + reliability + ice cream treats you can consume while driving is never not a winning road trip combo.
Got a name for that spot in SB? Always on the lookout for new options.
Super Cuca’s Taqueria. It’s a little ways off of the 101, but worth it because there’s a beachfront park nearby where you can take your burrito and eat it overlooking the ocean.
Beach Liquors in Carpinteria is famous for the breakfast burritos. Pay in front, the grill is in the back. Llucky Llama is just around the corner for your coffee fix.
Lower Milpas has Taqueria El Bajio, which is a must-stop when we’re on the Lower Eastside of SB.
Because of your intro, I read the entire comment just like Fred Armisen in The Californians on SNL.
You just needed to talk about taking the 210 to the 134 to the 101. Or the 210 all the way up to the 118 and then down to the 101 if traffic is backed up in Glendale.
Once you have kids, you know that it doesn’t matter anymore what you want, only what causes the least complaining among the back seat mob.
Comment of my life.
On the one or so occasion every 2 or 3 years when I actually do get to choose my own food, I kinda end up dumbfounded and can’t decide on anything.
Soooo Macdonald’s? I never could figure out why kids like it so much.
It hits the four major notes perfectly for taste buds that aren’t fully developed. Ages 4-16 it hits perfectly. Always drove me crazy when my son was younger that he has a chef dad and only wanted McNuggets
I took the family on vacation, and we passed through Las Vegas. Arguably one of the most interesting cities in the US to eat. Where did we stop? Fucking Chic-Fil-A. Couldn’t even talk them into In-n-Out.
My 12yo daughter is obsessed with CFA. I admire the work they do, better than almost anywhere, but the food is just…mid, as the kids say.
How much for a sandwich?
Six….seven…..bucks.
Or the occasional “I guess we’re eating at CVS while we purchase supplies to clean the bodily excretions out of the back seat.”
I wouldn’t joke if that had only happened once.
Lol, perhaps covering the back seat on trips would be another use of the cat pee car cover?
It wasn’t the day of, but after a day of driving 13 hours to Oklahoma, I was introduced to Del Rancho, and damn if I don’t still think about it from time to time.
Whatever is closest to the highway so I can get on and off most quickly and get where I am going.
Cracker Barrel grilled catfish with double broccoli side. Surprisingly delicious and like 300 calories. We can’t believe we look for these for lunch when we’re on the road for a long trip and there’s no local alternative.
We do enjoy Culver’s too though.
Lately it’s been whatever kind of unholy mashup of burritos and barbecue that Bucc-ee’s has on hand that particular day, and then I regret it from the next 30 minutes until some time the next morning.
Definitely a key road trip stop for me over the years. Especially for Kolaches
That’s why they have a billboard informing you the distance to the next Buc-ee’s immediately after departing one. They know you’re gonna need a bathroom sooner than later after shoving the Southwestern Brisket Queso burrito down your gullet.
For me, it’s not so much the establishment as it is the order. Where I live in the northeast, McDonald’s doesn’t sell the McRib, for whatever reason. So when I roadtripped to Chicago a few weeks back, my first stop was at a drive-thru to bless my taste buds with that specific sandwich
I have to admit, I start salivating like Pavlov’s dogs when the ad hits that the McRib is back. Though I get mine plain and put hot mustard nugget sauce on them Carolina-style McRib! Just came and went here in God’s Waiting Room, FL. And Dear God, they want $5.19 each for the damned things now – total ripoff. I still got them a couple times.
Unfortunately it’s such a delicacy for me that I don’t mind the insane prices they now charge
Yeah, same. I’d eat more but I am trying to avoid such things in general.
Forget the McRib, when will Ron bring back the Cheddar Melt?