The best roadside attractions are the ones you can eat. No road trip is worth it if you don’t stop and take in the local flavors as you travel. You have to stop and eat, and you can certainly do that at any national or regional chain restaurant, but then you’ve missed out on a genuine cultural experience. Therefore, include home cooking as a roadside attraction. You might have to travel a little way off the interstate, but it will be worth it.
Those local restaurants are where the real culture will be waiting. The patrons will reflect the community. So will the food. The key to really enjoying the experience is to avoid restaurants that sell food from a culture that isn’t established in the area. For instance, TexMex wouldn’t be authentic in South Carolina. However, some local seafood would be an attraction to explore. When local people open a restaurant, they usually do so because they know they have some great family recipes that will sell. Regardless of the local economy, little home cooking dives almost always survive. Why? Because the food is good.
If you aren’t sure how to pick that perfect cultural culinary experience, look for the place with all the cars around it. Local folks will gravitate there. Keep in mind that healthy won’t be the intention in a local restaurant. Pack your health food for when you’re traveling and make comfort food the side trip attraction. If you travel the Southwest, you can experience several sub-cultures in the Mexican tradition. There’s TexMex in Texas, the firey green chili stew in New Mexico, Baja style seafood in Southern California. Bar-b-que makes a similar cultural shift as you travel from the Southwest to South Carolina. Actually, bar-b-que can be the basis of your travel. Pack up the Tums and get ready to enjoy some real Southern cooking.