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'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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Comfort Foods
We take you to some of the most unique eateries in New York City that are serving up their twists on comfort food staples. A rowdy meatball joint on the Lower East Side, a bustling restaurant serving knockout chicken and waffles in Brooklyn, an eco-friendly hot dog haven where the chef makes the condiments from scratch and a burger and fries shack in the middle of the city that boasts lines down the block every day.
Desserts
Visit a pie shop in Brooklyn where they sell by the slice and are sold out within hours every single day. Discover an ice cream truck that sells artisanal ice creams with specialty ingredients sourced from around the world, and stop by a bakery filled with treats so good, you'd be shocked to know they never use butter, eggs, milk or flour.
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.
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.
Hot Spots
Find out what the buzz is all about at these dining hot spots across the country. Visit a San Francisco legend turning Chinese food on its head, a New York City favorite where American classics get a twist and a cozy Portland, Oregon, favorite where the menu changes every night. After this, you'll be calling for a reservation.
