Family Restaurant Hell

[suseyblue]

And it was good, incredibly good. My daughters both finished off their patty melts (on Jewish Rye, with sauteed onions, swiss cheese, and thousand island dressing)

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I am just glad to be forewarned that there are some places who put the Devil's Own Condiment on my beloved Patty Melts . I never think to check, I've been fortunate so far. Burgers are a crapshoot, although since food allergies have become so shockingly prevalent, at least people don't try to scrape crud off & then serve it to you as untainted.

[Toliver]

I figured any place with a couple Highway Patrol cars parked there had to be good, right?

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With my luck they'd be serving a warrant on one of the owners.

I'd hazard an estimate that about a third of the local Ma & Pa family restaurants here in town can be qualified as "good". The rest seem to get by on their looks, I guess.

Fortunately(?) for most of the people driving through town, the joints closest to the freeway are chains where they can get something predictable.

[purplewiz]

There's a rather famous place on Hwy 152 in California, between 101 and 5. We only stopped there once because our camper bus was overheating (a story for another time and board). We figured since it was advertised heavily and relatively well known, it wouldn't be such a bad place to get a meal. Silly us.

I ordered the strawberry waffle. While I didn't expect the strawberries on top to be fresh, they could have at least defrosted them. My companion ordered the spaghetti and meatballs. Watery and tasteless, gummy pasta. I don't know if they're any better now, but I never tried them again.

Sadly, this has been more the rule than the exception when eating at non-chain family restaurants around the country. Just because a place is local doesn't mean it's any good.

Marcia.

[cocoagirl]

I just spent some time in mid Maine. This is an area where there are many tiny towns hooked together by a somewhat larger town. In one case the town was about 1/2 hour away from a skiing area. What I found that while there seemed to be some fairly decent breakfasts (hearty), lunch and especially dinner were poor. And yet this is where the locals eat and they are used to. So ask a local and........I adjusted accordingly

[Mel Altenderfer]

Interesting site. Too bad there is no way to search based on route (i.e. the roads you are taking).  There ARE maps available that have all of the places marked, but you have to pay $20 per year to get it. 

Not sure I understand your post. "Too bad there is no way to search based on route..."

Yes there is. As you go on to point out.

The only thing listed on the route from Dallas to Lubbock is in Ft. Worth.

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It costs money to get the maps, and there really is no convenient way to figure out if any of the places you can see on-line are actually along your route of travel. If you poke around in your state or a state you are familar with, you'll notice that some places don't really meet one important definition of "road food". Close to the highway. What I'd like to see is to combine route planning with an option that says how far you are willing to deviate from that route to get to a place (i.e. 1 mile, 2 miles, etc.) That would make it more useful.

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You can, however, post for free in the Forums-- there is a thread called "Where Should I Eat?" wherein you can post your route and ask for suggestions from locals in the area. I have had great luck with this method-- especially when you cross reference the suggestions with the restaurant directory.

[Jaymes]

We were vacationing in Branson, MO, last weekend for Labor Day (not something I'll do again soon - it makes California traffic look tame...), and we wanted to avoid the chains and "all-you-can-eat" buffets which clog Branson like a syringe of lard to the jugular...

Love this description. I live about an hour up the road from Branson, and know exactly what you mean. Too bad, too, because it used to be such a lovely little Ozark mountain/river/lake town.

Haven't sought out any decent restaurants down there because I avoid the place. Although I do go to some of the shows when somebody I like swings through (like Delbert McClinton), I don't usually extend the visit any longer than necessary. Next time, though, I'll see if I can't throw a few bucks Danna's way.