TRACK DOWN A UNIQUE EAT
Plan a Unique Eats restaurant road trip, starting with breakfast at VooDoo Doughnut.
FEAST YOUR EYES 31 Photos
See the best Unique Eats from across the country. Warning: pictures will induce hunger.
More Unique Eats from Across the Country
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See Episode GuideCheese
Everything is better with cheese, and these restaurants will show you why. Take a tour of a cheese cave and enjoy a world-renowned fondue and cheesecake in New York. Find out how many cheeses can fit into one macaroni and cheese dish in Connecticut. And enjoy some of the most unique and sought-after grilled cheese sandwiches in San Francisco.
Seafood
Roll up your sleeves and get ready to dive into some of the most unique seafood dishes. A traditional oyster roast and seafood boil prepared right on the water in Charleston, S.C. A New York restaurant that features twenty five different mussel pots, complete with French fries and bread to sop up all the unique flavors. A cozy restaurant in the heart of Boston's North End where you can get two different lobster rolls and lobster spaghetti. And Montreal, Canada, where a Texas chef adds global flavors to his seafood menu.
Asian
We've found the most unique Asian food in the country. Find out where all the foodies go to fill their bellies with the best dumplings and noodles in Chicago. Take a seat at the bar and be dazzled by Japanese robata-style cooking in New York City's East Village. Sample creative Chinese cooking like tea-smoked chicken, salt and pepper shrimp and steamed duck egg custards in North Carolina. And step inside a funky retro diner in Boston where a husband and wife team serve up innovative Cantonese and Taiwanese dishes.
Delis
We're checking out some of the most unique delis in the country. Deli by day, intimate restaurant at night, Torrisi Italian Specialities in New York's Little Italy neighborhood is celebrating Italian-American food but peppered with many modern and delicious twists. Joan's on Third is the go-to gourmet deli in Los Angeles where you can rub elbows with celebrities while devouring a grilled cheese short rib sandwich. The humble hot dog gets a culinary upgrade at Neal's Deli in North Carolina, and for Jewish delicatessen classics just like bubby used to make, step into Eleven City Diner in Chicago.
Pubs
Pull up a barstool at these unique pubs where the food is delicious and daring. Step into Joe Beef in Montreal for their signature creamy lobster spaghetti, rich Swedish Meatballs and indulgent Foie Gras. Visit Double D. Longman and Eagle in Chicago where there is a critically acclaimed gastropub downstairs and a cozy inn upstairs. Go to Citizen Public House in Boston for the Carpetbagger, a filet mignon with fried oysters and oyster butter. And, it's a step back in time at Henry Public in Brooklyn for pre-prohibition cocktails and comfort foods like braised turkey sandwiches and made-to-order doughnuts.
Drinks
Check out creativity at its best at these eateries where it's not just about the food, but also the unique drinks. Visit a java boutique where coffee drinks come in the most unique flavors, a brew pub where the beer menu reads like a book and the ales are used in the dishes too, a Mexican eatery shaking up margaritas and mezcals in unusual combinations and a prohibition-style gin joint where even the ice is carefully crafted.
Small Plates
Small plates with big flavors are the attraction at these restaurants. Enjoy unique tapas in one of Boston's hottest hangouts, Peruvian seafood specialties by the bay in San Francisco, Mediterranean bites in Los Angeles and Southern twists on American comfort food in Charleston, South Carolina.
Chicken
Whether you like it fried, roasted, grilled or smoked, we've got a chicken dish you will want to sink your teeth into. Two different styles of Korean fried chicken are the delicious draw at Crisp in Chicago. Approximately 5,000 people come to Wright's Farm in Rhode Island on the weekend for their $10, all-you-can-eat roast chicken dinner. Romados in Montreal specializes in Portuguese rotisserie grilled chicken that's slathered with a top-secret sauce, and at Hill Country in New York, chickens and game hens are smoked with Texas post oak and dunked in a sticky, sweet and tangy barbecue sauce.
Cheap Eats
If you're hungry for big flavors without breaking the bank, these unique cheap eats will deliver. In Chicago, a honky-tonk whiskey bar serves amazing tacos, and a small restaurant dresses house-made haute hot dogs and sausages with global flavors. In downtown New York, students flock to a delicious Cambodian sandwich shop the size of a dorm room, while in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a quirky Venezuelan restaurant offers 17 different arepas that will fill you up quickly.
Fried Food
We're checking out the most unique spots for the ultimate guilty pleasure, fried food. At La Banquise in Montreal, choose from 25 different toppings to go with your poutine. Also in Montreal, a fish and chips shop offers different fish and unique batters like orange soda and maple syrup. In Brooklyn, fried risotto balls go gourmet with unique sweet and savory fillings, and in Austin, Texas, big fat doughnuts are piled high with the craziest combinations like deconstructed peach cobbler, fried chicken and honey butter.
Queens
Taste your way through Queens, New York, and experience something culturally diverse and utterly unique. Check out Egyptian clay pot cooking, Mexican delights from scratch, grilled cheese in all of its gooey glory and Korean dishes where the atmosphere experience is just as thrilling as the food.
Bistro
You don't have to go all the way to Europe to have the best bistro fare. In Los Angeles, a hip restaurant updates French bistro classics, while in Boston, seafood is highlighted in the famous Provencal dish, bouillabaisse. La Fourchette in South Carolina celebrates hearty French countryside dishes, and at Landmarc in Tribeca, Chef Marc Murphy pays homage to the foods he grew up eating in France and Italy.
Pizza
The beloved American comfort food is raised to new culinary heights. At Jane in Montreal, the thick, sweet and chewy pizza crust is a tribute to their city's bagels, and they're covered with wild combinations like macaroni and cheese with meatballs and smoked meat, cheddar and pickles. At Domenica in New Orleans, pizzas are topped with rare Mangalitsa pork and baked in a wood-burning, rotating oven. Pizza lovers cram into Great Lake in Chicago where they feature only three pizzas, and none of them are deep dish. And Neapolitan-style pizza is celebrated in the most delicious ways at Motorino in Brooklyn.
Between the Bun
Forget the traditional hamburger, these meals between with bun are truly unique. Get a taste of gourmet hotdogs and sausages made from almost anything you can imagine, sandwiches with the most unusually tasty combinations, biscuits stuffed with ooey goodness and that all-time favorite, the burger.
Mexican
We discover amazing Mexican food with a twist. Dive into a Mexican brunch in Boulder, Colorado. Find out how one chef in New York is really breaking the mold. Feast on small delicacies in Washington, DC, and then head to Cleveland for a grocery store-turned Mexican food hot spot.
Bar Food
When you're out having a drink, you gotta have food to soak it up. So why not dig into something beautifully prepared and utterly unique, yet still sinfully delicious? Taste a devilish concoction called The New Luther, a hearty and addictive steak and kidney pie, a total twist on chicken wings and a curious bar snack called Num Nuts.
Local Legends
These are eateries that have quickly become famous food destinations. From Ogunquit, Maine, and Cleveland to Baltimore and San Francisco, these restaurants showcase unique and pioneering dishes that turn first-time customers into long-time fans.
Dirt Cheap & Delicious
You don't need to sacrifice taste to eat cheap at these joints. We're off to Cleveland for a pulled pork PBLT and squash dumplings, Brooklyn for an outdoor food market with a bevy of satisfying barbecue and biscuits, Washington, DC, for spicy Asian fare and finally Austin, Texas, where the weird tastes wonderful.
Food by Fire
We're taking food back to its roots -- cooked by open flames but in new and inspiring ways. We discover the most unique dish to come out of the ashes, dive into Dungeness crab from a coal-stoked grill, savor skewers licked by flames and devour delights from a wood-burning oven.
Pasta
Forget ordinary pasta with red sauce, we're visiting restaurants that are turning out pasta dishes like nothing you've tasted before in San Francisco, New York, Seattle and Boulder, Colorado.
Philadelphia Weekend
Spend a weekend in the city of Brotherly Love and discover some truly unique eats. From exciting Spanish tapas and gut-busting Philly-style sandwiches to an osteria creating inventive Italian classics and an eatery dedicated to fried chicken and doughnuts, you'll feel as though you have tasted your way across the world.
Portland Weekend
Spend a food-filled weekend in Portland, Oregon, where up and coming innovators meet local legends. Enjoy a breakfast of baked eggs and tomato stew, your favorite comfort foods turned into dumplings and Asian street food turned on its head.
Eat & Sleep
We travel across the country to visit great getaways. From a luxury seaside spa and restaurant and a romantic getaway nestled in the woods to a summer camp for grownups serving unique dishes fresh from the local farms and sea, the food is just as worthy of the trip as the lodging itself!
Maine Weekend
Maine is a great vacation spot and a fantastic food destination. Feast at a Portland farm-to-table legend, dive into the most unique lobster rolls, stay at a resort serving innovative fare and don't forget that whoopie pie for dessert!
Wine Country Weekend
Excite your palate with a gastronomical weekend in California Wine Country. Indulge in fried chicken at the more casual sister restaurant of a local legend, twirl your fork through unique pasta dishes, make room for amazing Mexican fare done right and find out how a "Truckstop Deluxe" fits right in, even in Napa Valley.
Eat Your Veggies
We travel from the east coast to the west, discovering restaurants that are creating truly innovative dishes with vegetables. This isn't just about a healthy diet, it's about completely changing the way you eat your veggies.
