CHUCK TAKES A BITE OUT OF AMERICA 24 Photos
Flip through Chuck's photos of some of his favorite places to eat on the continent.
GO EAT THE STREET
Get a list of all the spots Chuck hits on the show so you can eat the street for yourself.
HOME-COOKED TAKEOUT 30 Photos
Print top recipes from some of the amazing restaurants Chuck visits on the show.
Season 3 Web-Exclusive Videos
What's the Dill with These Pickles?
Pooyie! Poutine
Thriving at the Drive-In
Bacon and Caviar
Honky-Approved Steamed Buns
Mexican HOTT Chocolate
The Greatest Joe on Earth 12 Videos
Austin's Lulu B's truck has a way of making coffee taste like chocolate.
Episodes
See Episode GuidePlanet Portland
The food culture in Portland, Ore., is famous for being casual, quirky and totally amazing and Chuck checks out the good food on Division Street. Despite the notorious rain, chuck finds sunshine in the Monte Cristo sandwich with an egg on top at Chef Jenn Louis' Sunshine Tavern. At Sen Yai, Chef Andy Ricker specializes in mythbusting Americans' view of Thai food. Next, Chuck stops in at Woodsmen Tavern to sample chef Andrew Gregory's lamb skewers with romesco and pea salad. Chuck's last stop is at Block + Tackle, where chef Robert Lucas makes delicious old-fashioned Oregon seafood dishes like crispy fried cod sandwiches with tartar sauce and brioche buns.
Mountain State Surprise
Chuck explores the heavenly cooking deep in the Allegheny Mountains on Washington Street in Lewisburg, W.V. His first stop is at Stella's Tea House where he digs in to Chef Samantha Hall's sticky toffee pudding. Next, he visits a historic landmark that dates back to 1778, Greenbriar Resort, where Chef Bryan Skelding prepares a 14oz veal chop with cheddar grits and fresh veggies. At The Bakery, Sandy Carter makes a jalapeno bagel that rivals any bagel from New York -- or Montreal. Last, Chuck stops by the Livery where Chef Michel Neutlings prepares an Appalachian-style dish with roasted quail, wild rice, apples and fig.
Minneapolis Melting Pot
Home of 10,000 lakes, the only Minnesotan lake that Chuck is interested in is Lake Street in Minneapolis, home to the city's most delicious and diverse cuisine. First stop is at Manny's Tortas, where Chef Manny Gonzalez makes what many believe are the best sandwiches in the whole city. Next, Chuck samples the Japanese Fried Chicken at moto-i, a sake brewery, where Chef Omar Gillego invents fresh adaptations of Asian street food. Chuck and Craftsmen's chef, Ryan Swaim, go ice fishing for the walleye they prepare with sautéed mushrooms and potatoes in a cream sauce made from popcorn. Finally, Chuck pays homage to the city's Scandinavian history with a stop at Ingebretsen's, where owner Steve Dahl explains how old-school favorites are made.
Motor City Meals
Everybody loves a comeback story, and Detroit has one of the best. The city that gave us Motown and muscle cars also has people with grit, pride and food traditions they stick with through thick and thin. To find them, Chuck Hughes follows Michigan Avenue to Slow's Bar-B-Q where Chef Brian Perrone pairs smoked St. Louis ribs with potato salad. At Hygrade Deli, Stuart Litt teaches Chuck about the art of meat with a triple-decker roast beef sandwich, aka the "Packing House." At La Pita, Chef Hassan Hamid introduces Chuck to Lebanese home cooking with a dish called Melokhieh, made with Egyptian mallow leaves. Then, he hitches a ride with Brenda Matthews who distributes fresh produce throughout city neighborhoods by way of a mobile market called Peaches and Greens. Finally, Chuck cooks up a Motown classic -- a grilled bologna sandwich with a "smosh" of potato chips -- with Chef Ariel Millan at Mercury Burger & Bar.
No Place Like Pittsburgh
Famed steel town Pittsburgh is going through a food renaissance and Chuck is on a tour of Penn Avenue starting at Meat & Potatoes where Richard DeShantz pays homage to his hometown's culinary roots with updated comfort food like pot roast with horseradish gremolata. Chuck's next stop is at Penn Avenue Fish Company where Chef Henry Dewey runs a wholesale fish market and eatery and uses the belly of a yellowfin tuna to make a barbecued tuna sandwich with guacamole and sweet potato chips. Chuck goes inside an 1860s firehouse and one of the hottest restaurants in town, Bar Marco, where Chef Jamilka Borges makes imaginative food like gemelli pasta with stinging nettle pesto and ricotta. At the stylish restaurant, Salt of the Earth, Chef Chad Townsend figured that the formula for success comes from using Western Pennsylvania ingredients from a local farm.
Houston Goes Global
Houston, Texas, is a huge city with over two million people and to meet its equally huge community of chefs, Chuck heads to Westheimer Road. First stop is Underbelly, where Chef Chris Shepherd is known for his crispy ham ribs with sorghum mustard glaze. At Osteria Mazzantini, Chef John Sheeley uses red snapper straight from the Gulf of Mexico to create a recipe with squash and cabbage handed down from his Italian family. Next, Chuck samples an Indian breakfast crepe at Chef Anita Jaisinghani's restaurant Indika. And no trip to Houston would be complete without Mexican food and Chuck gets his fill at Hugo's, where Chef Hugo Ortega prepares handmade blue tortillas filled with salsa, guacamole and chapulines -- grasshoppers!
Santa Fe Spice Up
Santa Fe is one of America's oldest cities, and, in every bite, you can taste its history -- native culture, Spaniards who founded the city, the Old West, and the artists, writers and chefs who came from everywhere else. Chuck's first stop is on Water Street at Coyote Cafe to try a dish rooted in the American West, chef Eric DiStefano's elk tenderloin marinated in hoisin and beer. At Rooftop Pizzeria, Chuck dives into chef Russell Thornton's Southwest pizza with its signature blue-corn crust and green chiles. After a tour of New Mexico's most famous food, chile, Chuck answers the state question at Chris Beck's Chile Shop: red or green? Finally, Chuck and chef Katherine Kagal of Cafe Pasqual's make a roasted turkey and sides in a unique outdoor oven, but not before hand making the pottery in which it cooks.
L.A.'s Island Paradise
Catalina Island is a unique place, with species of plants and animals that are found nowhere else on earth. You can find them, however, on diners' plates all along Crescent Avenue, a hotspot for cruise ship tourists and foodies alike. Lloyd's of Avalon is famous for caramel apples, and Taylor Wilson shows Chuck how to make their iconic creation replete with all the trimmings. Chuck stops in to Steve's Steakhouse where Chef Frank Blair prepares stuffed Channel Island swordfish and garlic mashed potatoes. At Cafe Metropole, Chuck and Pam Albers forage for wild fennel to incorporate into her cole slaw and deconstructed elote salads. Finally, Chuck can't resist the fried sea bass and French fries that Miguel Tejeda prepares at Avalon Seafood.
Where the Ocean Meets the Farm
The "foodiest small town in America" has a lot to brag about. Portland, Maine, is where the ocean meets the farm, and Chuck tastes it all, including an underappreciated fish that gets its moment to shine in a delicate Pollock stew at Farmer's Table. Chuck also experiences the best sticky buns outside Paris at Standard Baking, along with a smoked lamb inspired by Italy at Vignola Cinque Terre and a fresh, steamed lobster that Chuck catches himself at Three Sons Lobster & Fish.
Rocky Mountain Meals
Nowadays, Aspen is famous for being a swanky winter hangout, but it was built by miners, ranchers and even hippies. Those folks are still here, and they eat on Hopkins Avenue. A snowball's throw from the slopes, rodeo rider turned chef Kathleen Crook serves Chuck a massive 30-ounce steak with a big rib-bone handle called the Tomahawk. At Ute City, so named for the original Ute Indians of the region, chef Rob McLanahan shows Chuck how to grill duck a la plancha. After stopping in at Sarah Helsley's Cheese Shop, Chuck indulges in fondue, the ultimate post-ski meal. Chuck finds dessert at Creperie du Village, a cozy eatery where chef Jason DeBacker makes a sweet crepe with a jaw-breaking German name: the Schokoladepalatschinke. Try saying that with your mouth full.
Food with a View
In cold remote Alaska, the views are amazing as the food. Chuck heads to Fourth Avenue in Anchorage to sample local favorites like traditional Russian dumplings called pelmenis and reindeer sausage (sorry Santa!). After Chuck goes fishing for salmon, Chef Reuben Gerber applies exceptional creativity to the native ingredient, pan-searing the fish with an orange gastrique high above the city in the Crow's Nest restaurant. Finally, Chuck enjoys a sweet rhubarb and strawberry popsicle from Kaity Reiley's vintage bike equipped with a cooler side car, called PopCycle. Even in summer the goodness of Alaska is best enjoyed frozen!
Best of the Blue Ridge
On any list of the most food-friendly towns in America, Asheville, N.C., figures high in the rankings. There's great eating everywhere, but nowhere more so than on Biltmore Avenue. Chuck Hughes is in for a treat at his first stop, The Blackbird, where pastry chef Roslyn Taubman bakes a decadent and uniquely Southern coconut cake. Then it's off to the largest privately-owned house in America, the Biltmore Estate, which is more than just a beautifully preserved relic of the Gilded Age. It's also where Chef Damien Cavicchi prepares historic meals, specifically smoked lamb with corn bread, grilled plums and brown butter vinaigrette. At Tomato Jam Cafe, Chuck gets a lesson in southern cooking from chef Daniel Wright when he bakes cat head biscuits with the eponymous tomato jam. Last, Chef Laurey Masterton introduces Chuck to the local produce, and the local producers, namely honey bees, whose bounty she uses to make honey-glazed pork tenderloin with fresh peach salsa.
Land of Cod
The easternmost city in North America, St. John's, Newfoundland, sits right where Arctic currents meet the warm Gulf Stream. That combination produces some nasty weather, the greatest fishing ground the world has ever known and some killer restaurants all located on Water Street. And that means good eating for Chuck Hughes. At Aqua, chef Mark McCrowe bakes speckled trout, stuffed with shrimp and topped with lemon-caper beurre noisette and lobster meat. Chef Jeremy Charles blends rustic and refined at Raymonds, where he and Chuck place pan-seared diver scallops and parsnip puree in the scallop shell and drizzle it with sea urchin beurre blanc. It's back to basics, Newfie-style, at The Ship Pub where chef Dianne Glass makes moose bourguignon with toutons (a traditional fried-bread pancake). Last, Chuck meets ninth-generation Newfoundlander Jason Brake, chef at restaurant and boutique hotel, Blue on Water, for tea ... tea made with fish.
Caribbean Surf and Turf
San Juan has tropical produce, Atlantic and Caribbean seafood, and Chuck tastes it all on Fortaleza Street. At Aguaviva, Chef Hector Cresto teaches Chuck how to catch spiny lobster in the ocean and then turn it into delicious ceviche with coconut cream and lime. At Siglo XX, chef Olga Flores and Chuck use an enormous 54-inch paella pan to make seafood paella for 80. At Cafe El Punto, Alejandro Jeffs teaches Chuck how to make a traditional mofongo with skirt steak that rivals that of any Puerto Rican grandmother. Then Chuck washes it down with coconut water straight from the source at Santana Nubios' street stall, Cocos Frios.
Magazine Street Mojo
New Orleans is a big delicious gumbo, and on Magazine Street, Chuck Hughes tastes a spicy melange of diverse influences. He starts with a crawfish pie straight from the bayou served up at Tee Eva's Pralines & Pecans, then gets a lesson in Creole roux at Ignatius. Up next, Chuck indulges his sweet tooth and penchant for hot sauce at the grocery store, Breaux Mart. Chuck gets a taste of a paneed Mississippi Rabbit sandwich at La Petite Grocery and then tries his hand at pulling taffy at a Roman Candy Company's roadside attraction.
Music City Meals
Nashville will always be known as Music City, but 8th Avenue is center stage for the artists whose instruments are skillets and stoves. Chuck starts with the fiery soul food favorite called hot chicken at Bolton's Spicy Chicken and Fish where Bolton and Dollye Matthews firmly believe that the dish will perk you up and cure your sinus problems. At the restaurant called Flyte, Chef Matthew Lackey celebrates Tennessee produce with seasonal cooking, like fresh radish, carrot and onion grilled alongside local, organic steak. Next, Chuck stops in at Eighth & Roast where Lesa Wood and her highly trained baristas have perfected the art of coffee. Finally, at Bella Nashville, chef/owners Dave Cuomo and Emma Berkey not only show Chuck how to make artisanal pizza with heirloom grains and 15-year old starter, they also treat him to a concert by their folk band.
Boy Meets Birmingham
These days, Birmingham, Ala., is known for great cooking, especially in the historic neighborhood of Five Points South. Chuck starts his foray into Southern cooking at Highlands Bar and Grill, where the chef/owner, Frank Stitt, treats Chuck to his signature dish of baked grits with parmesan-thyme sauce, wild mushrooms and country ham. Next, Chef Jan Moon shows Chuck how to make ice cream sandwiches with oatmeal cookies at her food truck, Dreamcakes. At the French-inspired Chez Fonfon, Chef Adam Grusin prepares a kale and egg salad tartine after playing the quick game of boule. Chef James Boyce showcases Gulf seafood at Veranda on Highland, where he and Chuck prepare a crab, avocado and blood orange salad. Last, Chuck stops at Melt, a food truck where Paget Pizitz and Joey Dickerson make over 25 different grilled cheese sandwiches, including the Black and Blue featuring steak and blue cheese.
Big D, Little Street
Dallas, Texas, has a big reputation, but on the other side of the river, in the little neighborhood of Bishop Arts, is the center of the best food scene in Big D. Everyone goes crazy for the little pasta and salumi spot called Lucia, where chef David Uygur shows Chuck how to use a hand-cranked machine to churn out the bigoli pasta that accompanies duck ragout. At German-influenced Lockhart Smokehouse, Chuck learns the history of legendary Texas barbecue from pitmaster Will Fleishman who serves up both brisket and shoulder clod. Dessert is handmade, artisanal chocolate "salami" at chef Katherine Clapner's simple, storefront lovingly called Dude, Sweet Chocolate. How sweet it is.
Taste of Soul
Memphis is on the bucket list for most music lovers, but it's also a mecca for food. Chuck gets a taste of rock-n-roll with peanut butter and banana pancakes cooked in a wood-fired pizza oven at Rock-n-Dough Pizza Co. Then, he experiences a nutty treat that's been popular since 1929 at The Nut Shoppe, along with soulful barbecue with a Memphis pitmaster at Rendezvous Rib Shipping. And no trip to Memphis is complete without fried catfish with the Queen of Southern cuisine at Felicia Suzanne's.
Houston Goes Global
Houston, Texas, is a huge city with over two million people and to meet its equally huge community of chefs, Chuck heads to Westheimer Road. First stop is Underbelly, where Chef Chris Shepherd is known for his crispy ham ribs with sorghum mustard glaze. At Osteria Mazzantini, Chef John Sheeley uses red snapper straight from the Gulf of Mexico to create a recipe with squash and cabbage handed down from his Italian family. Next, Chuck samples an Indian breakfast crepe at Chef Anita Jaisinghani's restaurant Indika. And no trip to Houston would be complete without Mexican food and Chuck gets his fill at Hugo's, where Chef Hugo Ortega prepares handmade blue tortillas filled with salsa, guacamole and chapulines -- grasshoppers!
Straight Up San Antonio
San Antonio has a beautiful river winding through downtown, cool art deco, old Spanish missions and fantastic food. On the colorful and quirky street called St. Mary's, Chuck digs into a new spin on a classic Tex-Mex breakfast, the Chalupa Robert, that Amador Montoya prepares at El Milagrito. At The Monterey, chef Chad Carey demonstrates his high-end take on a Texas football favorite, Frito pie, by smothering a po'boy with smoked pork chili, jalapeno mayo, cheddar and corn chips. At Restaurant Gwendolyn, Chuck samples chef Michael Sohocki's pre-Industrial cooking and makes braised quail with oyster mushrooms using only tools and methods that existed before 1850. Where St. Mary's crosses the river, Chuck stops in at legendary Biga on the Banks where he samples Chef Bruce Auden's oysters, an ode to Texas' love affair with everything fried.
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