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 GuidePizza
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Vegas
Everyone knows Las Vegas for its bright lights, humming slot machines and big shows. But if you play your cards right, you can also eat at some of the most interesting, delicious and unique restaurants. We're going on and off the strip to discover those eateries. After this, you'll be convinced to spend an evening outside of the casino.
Polynesian Paradise
We're taking a trip to the 50th state for an indulgent culinary weekend, finding out which chefs and restaurants make Hawaii a true foodie destination. From unique takes on traditional Hawaiian seafood to inventive drinks to keep you cool beachside, it's a palate-pleasing trip through paradise.
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.
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.
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.
Gastropubs
These are places where the drink list may be long, but the dining is the real reason to visit. We meet the chef who brought the tradition of gastropubs over from England and experience her nose-to-tail cooking. Then, a gastropub that serves American favorites like hot dogs and tater tots, but this fare is far from the ordinary. Plus, a traditional German-style beer hall that boasts the best homemade charcuterie in town.
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.
Adventure
We're taking you on a gastro tour of some of the most adventurous efforts in dining today. From a nine-course underground dinner party to a double-decker bus serving gourmet comfort food and an all-out Beef Seven Ways feast, these unique culinary adventures are not to be missed.
Americana
From heavy metal-inspired burgers in Chicago and stick-to-your-ribs barbecue in Brooklyn to a downtown LA hot spot taking desserts to new heights and the craziest ice cream creations you can fit on a cone, classic American fare gets the royal treatment at these extraordinary spots.
Food Fantasy
Imagination roams free at these amazing dining spots where food and fantasy meet. A pioneer chef in molecular gastronomy pushes the boundaries between food, science and art at WD-50, while culinary innovator Jose Andres offers up a collection of magical dining experiences entwined in an artistic Spanish-inspired setting at The Bazaar. Plus, get an inside glimpse at an exclusive Hollywood speakeasy serving tea-inspired tastings to LA's most elite eaters.
Great Spaces
Take a tour of the most unique places and spaces in dining today, from a food truck serving the most delectable Korean-Mexican dishes on four wheels and a bowling-alley-cum-music-venue boasting its own special Blue Ribbon menu to a locally inspired farm table dinner requiring reservations up to a year in advance.
Italian
Classic Italian meets passion, authenticity and innovation at these noteworthy restaurants. Vetri has been called one of the best Italian restaurants in America, presenting simple, fresh and authentic Italian dishes in utterly unique ways. Chef Nate Appleman brings gourmet savory and dessert pizzas to Pulino's from brunch to late night, while Porchetta's Sara Jenkins draws a steady stream of the hip and hungry to the Lower East Side with her drop-dead-delicious pork.
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.
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!
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.
Chocolate
Give in to your cravings at these unique hot spots that make everything you could ever desire in chocolate! From gourmet confections like chocolate fleur de sel toffee and nostalgic baked treats like whoopie pies to outrageous hand-formed chocolate salami and chocolate sea salt crostatas, these handmade treats will tantalize your taste buds.
Extreme Farm to Table
Farm-to-table dining has certainly swept the nation, but these locations take the idea to the extreme. At Blue Hill at Stone Barns, they take farming to a scientific and educational level, then turn the fruits of their labor into fine dining. At Dinners at the Farm, you dine under the stars on the very farm where the ingredients were picked moments ago. And at Ubuntu, where the plates are like works of art, even meat eaters eat their vegetables -- and love it.
Ice Cream
If you like ice cream, you will be wowed by these unique treats. How about bourbon and corn flake flavored scoops at Humphry Slocombe? Or the sweets at Sweet Rose Creamery where everything from the cones to the chocolate chips are made from scratch? And don't forget to visit the Dairy Godmother for unique ice pop flavors like grilled pineapple and pink peppercorn.
Sandwiches
We're showing you unique sandwiches from across the country and the people who make them so special. A Jewish deli in New York with roots in Montreal is serving up their signature smoked meat. Classically trained French chefs in San Francisco are upgrading some Asian classics while just down the street, a hands-on chef from Massachusetts is making everything from scratch. And in Portland, OR, three friends from North Carolina are turning out the best biscuit sandwiches in town.
Street Food
These unique eateries churn out some of the best street foods on the planet. Enjoy authentic Thai dishes in Portland, Oregon. Feast on succulent chicken and porchetta from a rolling rotisserie truck in San Francisco. Bite into coconut jam sandwiches in Los Angeles and grab a Belgian waffle to go in Portland.
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.
