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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
Southern Favorites
We highlight some of the most unique takes on Southern home cooking. From fiery hot chicken in Brooklyn and Southern heavies that are actually light and healthy to a decadent Southern Sunday brunch in Portland, OR, and a "Meat and Three" supper in Atlanta you'll want every night of the week.
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.
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.
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