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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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!
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.
Cheese
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.
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.
Mash-Ups
We're celebrating the best of all worlds with restaurants that mix different ethnic traditions to create new and unique flavors. A chef in Houston combines Texas tradition with Italian standards. In Las Vegas, burgers are flavored with Asian ingredients, while Japanese-Peruvian dishes are all the buzz at a Los Angeles hot spot. It's a mouthwatering journey of culinary mashups.
Hand-Held Eats
The meals are hand-held at these hot spots, but the unique flavors are the big attraction. Authentic Mexican cuisine pioneer Rick Bayless celebrates Mexico's most beloved street food and snacks, while two brothers bring decadent Italian toasts to one of New York's hippest neighborhoods. A Top Chef winner turns traditional Eastern-European cuisine on its head with inspirations from his own Scottish-Israeli heritage. And a former fine dining chef feeds the need for cheese on the streets of Los Angeles, one gourmet grilled cheese sandwich at a time.
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.
Brunch
Indulge your weekend cravings at some of the most unique brunch spots from the nation's capitol and New York to the Pacific Northwest. Check out a do-it-yourself pancake house, savor Italian versions of brunch favorites, dive into over-the-top sweets and treat yourself to an upscale brunch you won't forget.
Romantic Spots
We tour the Big Apple, dipping into eateries that are perfect for you and that special someone. Whether it's a first date or the tenth, a budding romance or the finale to a steamy weekend, these are the romantic hot spots to put in your little black book.
Hot Lunch Spots
The lunch hour just got a little longer because the dishes at these restaurants are meant to be savored. Perla in New York City's West Village serves rich Italian sandwiches and delicious pizzas. It's all about the unique "baco" sandwich served daily at Baco Mercat in downtown Los Angeles. At Local Three Kitchen and Bar, diners order fast food classics without the guilt because only fresh, top-quality ingredients are used. Merchants Restaurant in downtown Nashville is a quiet retreat from bustling Broadway and serves elegant Southern food.
Cupcakes
We're taking you from coast to coast to taste the most unique cupcakes in the country. Indulge in artisanal cupcakes paired with beer and wine, stuff yourself with custard-filled cupcakes, take a trip to the frosting bar to create your own unique combination and take your cupcakes to go in a jar!
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.
Cupcakes
We're taking you from coast to coast to taste the most unique cupcakes in the country. Indulge in artisanal cupcakes paired with beer and wine, stuff yourself with custard-filled cupcakes, take a trip to the frosting bar to create your own unique combination and take your cupcakes to go in a jar!
Seafood
Take a tour of restaurants with unique takes on seafood standards. In Philadelphia, oysters are smoked with hay, while in Portland, Oregon, you can savor a pot pie filled with local fish and shellfish. And how about a fish sandwich like you've never had before? It's all about the ocean's bounty served in the most one-of-a-kind way.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hotlanta
Atlanta is a hotbed for unique eats. Heirloom Market BBQ brings together Korean and American barbecue in a quirky roadside eatery. Seafood dishes are brought to delicious new heights at swank newcomer The Optimist, while cozy corner restaurant One Eared Stag serves edgy American food. And Abattoir adds global touches to its Southern dishes.
Hot & Spicy
We're visiting hot spots around the country that are literally spicing it up in the kitchen. From dishes that will set your mouth on fire to plates with just enough heat to make your eyes water, find out why people keep coming back for more.
Meats
We'll find out why the burger at Minetta Tavern is the most talked about burger in town and what makes this eatery top everyone's reservation hot list. Plus, starred chef Daniel Boulud takes us inside his first downtown eatery for an international tour of his house-made sausages. And, there's nothing more unique than a restaurant that specializes in every kind of grilled meat imaginable -- and it's all you can eat.
Off The Grid
Go off the beaten path and visit extraordinary eateries that are unknown to the average tourist. Stop by a rustic Italian restaurant in Staten Island, New York, where the nonnas are in charge, a perfect pizza joint outside the bright lights of Las Vegas, a dining destination only for those in the know in Hawaii and a cool spot for shaved ice under the palm trees.
Innovators
These innovative chefs are creating uniquely modern food across the country. In Austin, Chef Paul Qui is keeping it weird and uniquely delicious at East Side King. In New York City's Atera, Chef Matt Lightner and his kitchen are the stars of this jewel-like culinary theater. A well-known Philadelphia innovator keeps it kosher while wowing the crowds, and in Los Angeles, a couple has gone from illegal dinners in their apartment to a full-fledged restaurant serving irresistible Pan-Asian fare.
Small Bites
It's easy to sample everything on the menu when it comes in the form of small bites. My Ceviche in Miami Beach, Florida, keeps it light with the freshest local fish and zesty dressings that define the traditionally Latin-American ceviche dishes. Barley Swine in Austin, Texas, features 13-15 small plates a day, each highlighting ingredients from the local farmers' market. Amis in Philadelphia puts a twist on classic Roman trattoria food where diners are encouraged to order several dishes to share, and Momo Sushi Shack in Bushwick, Brooklyn, serves sushi and dumplings that have Manhattanites crawling through the tunnel to try.
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.
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.
