500 Things To Eat Before It's Too Late: and the Very Best Places to Eat Them - Softcover

Product Description
What are the all-time best dishes America has to offer, the ones you must taste before they vanish, so delicious they deserve to be a Holy Grail for travelers? Where's the most vibrant Key lime pie in Florida? The most sensational chiles rellenos in New Mexico? The most succulent fried clams on the Eastern Seaboard? The most memorable whoopie pies, gumbos, tacos, cheese steaks, crab feasts? In 500 Things to Eat Before It's Too Late, "America's leading authorities on the culinary delights to be found while driving" (Newsweek) return to their favorite subject with a colorful, bursting-at-the-seams life list of America's must-eats.

Illustrated throughout with mouth-watering color photos and road maps, this indispensable guide is organized by region, then by state. Each entry captures the food in luscious detail and gives the lowdown on the café, roadside stand, or street cart where it's served. When "bests" abound--hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, apple pie, doughnuts--the Sterns rank their offerings. Sidebars feature profiles of idiosyncratic creators, recipes, and local attractions.

Amazon Exclusive: A Letter from Jane & Michael Stern, Authors of 500 Things to Eat

Dear Amazon Readers,

Can you believe that when we set out to write a guide to America's best regional food 30+ years ago, there were people in the world of publishing who said it couldn't be done? Back then, the belief among gourmets (the term "foodie" hadn't yet been coined) was that this country did not have too many interesting things to eat! WRONG! We have enjoyed a mighty delicious career proving that America is one appetizing, crazy quilt of amazing things to eat. And today, nobody doubts that fact! Just turn on the TV and you can't miss some wacky TV show taking you to all the great barbecue, chili, burgers, and pizza that we love to write about.

Like the population itself, our national diet is wild, iconoclastic, silly, kitschy, devil-may-care, tradition-minded, and tradition-be-damned. 500 Things to Eat is our Life List: the best of the best; the dishes every food-savvy person needs to eat. So if you haven't yet hit the road with this guidebook in your glove compartment, please "join us" and savor for yourself the memorable meals that all those silly TV food shows can only show you.

—Jane & Michael Stern

(Photo © Todd France)

Memorable Mileposts from 500 Things To Eat Before It's Too Late: and the Very Best Places To Eat Them
(Click on Images to Enlarge)

Don't Miss Marquees

Chicken Annies in Pittsburg, KS

Burgerville in Portland, OR

Leonard's Pit Barbecue in Memphis, TN

The Cherry Hut in Beulah, MI

Must-Eat Meals

Deep Fried Hot Dogs at Rawley's in Fairfield, CT

Huckleberry Sundae at Ekstrom's State Station in Clinton, MT

Cinnamon Roll at Gus Balon's in Tucson, AZ

Barbecued Oysters at Hog Island Oyster Company in Marshall, CA