Roadfood in Kentucky

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties 
- Pit Stops for Roadfood in Kentucky

Kentucky has always been an interesting place to me. So much so that I have a huge google maps guide of Roadfood to seek out throughout the state. I've always wanted to take a road trip through there and explore the region. I've never been able to do one solely focused on the Bluegrass State but I have driven through there more than a few times over the years and whenever I do I always find interesting spots to stop at. Here's five from two separate trips I took to North Carolina and Florida. 

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150 Quick Stop (Bardstown)

This gas station / convenience store is home to some of the best breakfast sausage in the world. You'll find it in Bardstown which is in the heart of the states bourbon producing territory (about an hour southeast of Louisville). I was turned onto to this top sausage by Chef Newman Miller, a friend of mine who lives in the area. Actually he and the sausage at 150 Quick Stop made an appearance in an article at Food & Wine Magazine which you can see HERE. The recipe to this sausage might've been won in a local poker game, or lost depending on how you look at it. So the story goes the owners of the truck stop beat a local butcher in a poker game and won his breakfast sausage recipe in doing so. It's a spicy sage forward blend with plenty of red pepper flakes found throughout. If you show up early enough you can try it in a biscuit - they make up to 600 a day. I arrived around 11a on my visit and it was already too late to score a sausage biscuit but they also sell it raw in two sizes and since we were on our way to Carolina for a week of outdoor stuff I made sure to grab some for the AirBNB. It really is the best damn sausage I've ever had as far as the breakfast variety goes. Oh so f'ing good. 

Breakfast Sausage from 150 Quick Stop 
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Wilson's Pool Room (Versailles) 

Ever had Pool Hall Grub in Kentucky? Oh that's a thing. Handfuls of pool halls are hanging on around the Bluegrass State and each one serves up some form of locally loved grub be it chili dogs, burgers, or both. Below is the Willie Burger from an old pool hall in Bourbon Country. Nothing special as far as the prep or dressing of it (fresh ball of beef lightly smashed with lettuce, tomato, mayo, onion) but it was one of the best burgers I had that year. I had to pass on the country ham sandwich bc this was a second lunch so I limited myself to just one choice for the sake of this massive food database that I continue to build. I hope to visit a few more Kentucky pool halls at some point before they all close. 

Willie Burger at Wilson's Pool Room 
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Tortilleria Y Taqueria Ramirez (Lexington)

If you ever find yourself in or passing through Lexington (aka Mexington) you got to stop at Taqueria Ramirez. There's a sizeable Mexican population in both Lexington and Louisville and lots of taco spots too. If you only have time for one of them I suggest this family owned taqueria that serves up the best tacos in the U.S. I've ever had outside of California, Texas, or Illinois. Upon entry you're greeted by a big assembly line production of corn tortillas made with Weisenberger Mills corn from Midway Kentucky - a place famous for its grits. The fillings include options like cabeza, lengua and barbacoa with each of them being as good as the last. This is a real blue blood type of taqueria.  

Tacos at Tortilleria Y Taqueria Ramirez 
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G&E Burgers (Williamsburg)

As regular readers know I'm a big fan of regional food and an even bigger fan of hyper local dishes like the Eastern Kentucky Chili Bun. A chili bun is simply a chili dog without the wiener. It's said that these first started to appear at pool halls in the area around the 1950's. They made for a cheap and tasty snack for the local miners and others who hung out at these pool halls after work and what not. I had plans to stop at a different spot but it was suddenly closed due to the passing of the owner. Luckily G&E Burgers was just down the block which gives you an idea of the chili buns prevalence in these parts. If you grew up or lived anywhere near Appalachia you likely have a favorite spot for one and or an old family recipe. The bun is dressed with mustard and onions before the sauce goes on. The chili here is a well spiced meat forward blend with minimal tomato detected. It wasn't spicy but had plenty of buzz. Also of note was a side of "soup beans" that come with the chili bun meal. Pintos are a big part of the Appalachian diet and soup beans as they're called are commonly served with cornbread, greens, and potatoes and are considered both a main course and also a side dish.

Chili Bun at G&E Burgers
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Dovie's (Tompkinsville)

Our final stop is one of the most interesting stops you can make on the Roadfood circuit - but it's a bit out of the way from any major highway so it's also somewhat elusive. Dovie's is home to some killer burgers (literally). They've been frying up balls of beef since 1940. When I first found this place searching through food stops in random Kentucky towns I thought I came across a relatively unknown place but then I checked the Insta check-ins and saw that a few fellow burger connoisseurs had already been here (@motzburger, @burgerbeast, @jcstrutz). So I knew it would be a fun one and it was. Particularly made so by the handful of local ladies who run the place. It's quite a riot inside as far as the atmosphere goes and quite the heart stopper on the burger and baloney front. I ordered mine "unsqueezed" which means they don't release any of the oil that the beef soaks up while frying. It wasn't the best burger I've ever had but it was one of the best roadfood experiences I've partaken in. 

Cheeseburger at Dovie's

Baloney Sandwich at Dovie's 
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Roadfood in Kentucky (2015)

Stopping in at Three Paducah Favorites (2019)

Eating BIG in Louisville (over the years)

See ya next time @chibbqking 

Eating BIG in Greenville

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties 
- Exploring the hub of South Carolina's Upcountry 

While I realize Greenville South Carolina is a spot most people will never find themselves you never know exactly what the future holds. We stopped there on the drive down to South Florida last January but it wasn't at random. I decided to make it the halfway point (give or take) and spend a couple nights checking out the hub of South Carolina's Upcountry region. I'd been hearing that Greenville was on the come up and decided why not stop there and check it out as it made sense from both a geographical standpoint and also getting to go somewhere I've never been. Plus I've always been intrigued with the local chili dog culture as there's lots of hot dog stands in the area. Also it was just for one full day as we would arrive in the early eve and hit the road early upon leaving. At the very least I figured there would be restaurants to check out and some areas to walk around and see the town. 

Pics from Greenville
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Duke Sandwich Company 

Greenville's biggest culinary claim to fame is being the birthplace of Duke's Mayonnaise. It's a long story that starts in the early 1900's with a local woman named Eugenia Duke who started selling sandwiches with her mother and her homemade spreads during the first World War. The all female operation served soldiers stationed at the nearby Camp Sevier and then when the war was over they began supplying sandwiches to local stores and textile mills. In the mid 1920's Duke sold her sandwich spread recipes and her mayo recipe to two separate men. C.F Sauer went on to open a Duke's Mayonnaise factory in the area while her former bookkeeper went on to establish a wholesale market for the sandwiches along with the opening of a few stores where they were sold. Today there's zero connection between the sandwich shop and the mayo - in fact back in 2019 there was a lawsuit filed by a private equity firm that had recently bought the Duke's Mayonnaise brand. They claimed the sandwich shop was trying to profit off of their name. That's nonsense as the sandwiches and the shops it spawned have been a part of the Greenville area dating back to the first World War. I'm not sure what happened with the lawsuit but Duke Sandwich Company is still slanging old school sandwiches stuffed with spreads like pimento cheese, egg salad, and their famous baked ham with pepper and onion as shown below. They come toasted upon request and cost around $2-$3 each. 

Sandwiches from Duke Sandwich Company 
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Northgate Soda Shop

Our next stop also has alot of history in the area. The Greenville News describes it as a "living museum of Greenville history." It's one of those places that looks kind of dirty from the outside but in a good worn down way. Little has changed at this locals spot I've had on my radar going back to the days of Roadfood. It was featured for it's pimento cheeseburger and the Cincinnati steak - the latter of which is a fried baloney sandwich with chili sauce. As much as I would've liked to try a Cincy steak sandwich (nobody knows why they call them that) I couldn't pass on a classic pimento cheeseburger paired with a cherry smash from the soda fountain. I'm not sure why but they love cooking their burgers to well done in these parts but the creamy made on site pimento cheese really lifted it all up. 

Pimento Cheeseburger at Northgate Soda Shop 
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Holmes Hot Dogs (Arcadia)

Holmes Hot Dogs was the first stop on the 'Upcountry Chili Dog Trot'. It's about 30 minutes from Greenville on the outskirts of Spartanburg. It's been a hot dog stand since 1953 when Walt Holmes purchased a popular lunch counter and added hot dogs to the menu. Ever since then locals have been flocking to Holmes for chili dogs with crinkle cut fries and ice cold bottles of coke. They give you the option to add slaw so I tried one with chili and one with chili and slaw. Overall this was probably my favorite stop of the chili dog trot. I enjoyed both the atmosphere and the hot dogs were pretty good for what they were. I think they were like $2 each and despite being skinless they had a little bit of snap to them. The size of the hot dogs are much smaller down here too which is why they’re often just a couple bucks. The buns are heavily steamed which means they’re kind of like hot dog sliders.

Hot Dogs at Holmes Hot Dogs
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The Hot Dog Cafe (Lyman)

Hot Dog Cafe is about halfway between Greenville and Spartanburg. There's not much online info aside from an entry on the old Roadfood website. They make a thick and meaty chili that reminded me a bit of Flint style coney sauce due to how dry it was, like loose meat. Once again the wieners themselves are nothing special but when you add chili, mustard and onions they kind of become their own thing. The star of the show here though are the fries cut fresh with an antique potato slicer. 

Chili Dog at Hot Dog Cafe
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Red Hill Hot Dogs (Lyman)

You'll find Red Hill Hot Dogs a half mile from our last stop. This place looks like a house if not for the sign hanging above one of the front windows. Inside feels like a prohibition bar except they're pushing cheap hot dogs as opposed to watered down Canadian booze. According to their website they've been around for more than 30 years but it feels much longer than that. The chili at Red Hill Hot Dogs a bit wetter than the previous two stops likely due to some sort of tomato sauce being used. 

Chili Dog at Red Hill Hot Dogs
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Skins Hot Dogs (multiple locations) 

Last stop on the chili dog trot takes to us to a hyper regional fast food chain known as Skins. They got into the game back in 1946 when Skin's Thrashers opened in the small town of Anderson. I really wanted to go to the original location with a pool hall like atmosphere where they also serve beer (limit two) but Anderson was the opposite way of the previous four spots. But with Skin's having more than 10 locations in the region I was able to stop in at one of their Greenville outlets for a chili dog. Skinless beef/pork franks are topped with mustard and onions and slathered in a dry chili. The steamed buns from here have a little more girth to them, almost like a lobster roll bun. If I hadn't just been to the previous three spots I might've tried the hot dog in a cup along with the one in a bun. 

Chili Dog at Skins
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The Jones Oyster Company 

Greenville is about 3 hours from Charleston and the South Carolina coast which isn't exactly close but it's also not too far. My point being I shouldn't have been as surprised with Jones Oyster Company as I was as you can get fresh seafood from the Low Country delivered up here in no time. Same goes for fresh oysters from up and down the coast. Between the fresh seafood and the wonderful job they did rehabbing the old building that housed a furniture store for which the restaurant is named after, Jones Oyster Co. felt like a spot you would come across in Charleston or Savannah. We had cold and briny oysters from a family ran farm in Virginia and also hot and cheesy grilled oysters from the Gulf Coast and a stick to your ribs plate of Low Country Crab Rice with a fried egg and bits of crisp bacon. 

Seafood at Jones Oyster Co. 
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Sum Bar 

Greeenville got a good one when a local chef known for her Chinese dumplings went from pop up to brick and mortar. Sum Bar is the project of Khailing Neoh who made a name for herself and her handmade shumai on the pop-up circuit. This isn't an old school spot with the carts and the menu that you circle what you want. It's new school in that there's a smaller menu with cocktail options and some untraditional dishes like the crab rangoon which are served up as nachos with wonton chips and a warm mix of cream cheese and green onions for dipping. But the shumai with pork and shrimp is very traditional as it's her grandmas recipe and it was as satisfying as any I can remember. An order of the green beans, also grandmas recipe, rounded out a fantastic pre-dinner snack.  

Dim Sum at Sum Bar 
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Scoundrel 

I always like to read those 'Best New Restaurant' lists by local and national food publications. That's how I found Scoundrel which was named in one by Omar Mamoon and his team at Esquire. The kitchen at Scoundrel is led by Greenville native Joe Cash who had cooked at a few of the country's best restaurants before returning home and starting his own. Cash and his team cook French fare with local flair like a deviled blue crab infused with chilis, bay leaf and sweet cream - you'll be reading about it again at years end if you catch what I'm saying. A simply prepared bowl of pasta made with Reginetti, Parmesan and Aleppo pepper showed great restraint by the chef as it didn't need any truffles or bacon as it was delicious as is. A well cooked piece of duck breast has become a favorite of mine lately and with that it was easy to decide what we would try from the entrees. Aged Pekin Duck is mixed with grilled swiss chard, big cherries, and mustard. Having just come from the previous spot we only got a few things from here but they were all delicious with the deviled crab being memorable.

Dinner at Scoundrel (click pics to enhance)
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Clare's Creamery 

I'm a bit of a ice cream snob in that I mostly only eat the small batch stuff. But it helps me stay away from getting it at the grocery store and eating it all in one sitting or just getting some bc I'm paying for gas and there's a cooler of ice cream bars next to the checkout. But I do like to check out the independent spots so I searched around and found Clare's. There's nothing special about it per se in that it has that clean and light aesthetic that most of the new ice cream shops have going for them but it also has some out of the ordinary flavors that switch with the seasons. Good stuff.  

Ice Cream at Clare's Creamery 
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Previous stops to and from South Florida 

(click links)

Roadfood in Chattanooga
Eating BIG in Alabama 

See ya next time @chibbqking

More Burgers in Illinois

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
- Burgers in the Heartland 

Is there any food more American than the burgers? Today we celebrate one of our country's greatest culinary inventions - cheeseburgers. As I've typed many a times on this site, the Midwest is a hotspot for burgers. You'll find the largest concentration of old school burger spots in the Midwest region. States like Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois offer up endless options. Local places that have been serving their communities for decades on end. Here in Illinois you'll find a large number of old school burger spots in the central part of the state. It was back in 2015 that I first introduced the internet to the smashed crispy burgers of Central Illinois. The smashed burger has become a national phenomenon since that post first dropped. You can find one just about anywhere these days but today we head back to the land where they were abundant long before influencers were a thing. 

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Dairy King (Breese)

Our first stop is Breese, Illinois (pop. 4641) where there’s not one but two iconic burger stands that sit across the street from each other. First up is the local Dairy King which has been a part of the Breese community since 1951 when it was a small ice cream shack in the back of another business. The old building was torn down and a new one with a drive-thru lane was built. They have a couple signature items including the Cheese Squeeze which is two smashed beef patties with American and Swiss cheese plus grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, mayo. If melts aren’t your thing go for a classic cheeseburger which gets a textbook smash. A large selection of the locally made soda pop called Ski is the other big draw, along with ice cream. The soda pop comes from the nearby Excel Bottling plant and is avilable in different flavors like citrus and a cheery that was developed for Dairy King. They sell the largest volume of fountain Ski including an exclusive Rainbow Ski which is a mix of flavors and a bunch of crushed ice. A legendary stop in the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metro area.

Cheeze Squeeze and Rainbow Ski at Dairy King 
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Wally's (Breese)

You'll find Wally's right across the street from Dairy King. They opened in 1951 in a converted gas station. We arrived around 10:45a about 15 mins after opening and it was already packed with locals picking up lunch on the job and families coming from soccer and such. Many were leaving with boxes of burgers to bring elsewhere. The meat is ground on site and formed into thinner patties that are cooked up to 50 at a time on weekends. It’s best to get a double which is less than $4 and better than most burgers of any price-point. Although these weren’t smashed they were full of flavor and carried the aroma of a slider. I knew I would like me some Wally’s just from the looks of it but I was surprised just how good it was. One of the best anywhere but some still prefer the spot across the street.

Double Cheeseburger from Wally's 
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Fairview Inn (Fairview Heights)

We drove over the Mississippi River from St. Louis into Fairview Heights Illinois: home of the Fairview Inn, a dive bar known for it’s burger. Fresh balls of beef are smashed on a tiny four wheel flattop behind the bar. Pictured below is a double that almost melts in your mouth due to the softness of the beef and the bun. A real deal contender that’s relatively unknown outside of the area. Both the bar and the cheeseburger reminded me some of Green Gables in Hudson which served one of the best burgers in the state before burning down in a fire. Hopefully this place doesn't meet the same fate. 

Double Cheeseburger at Fairview Inn
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Bill's Toasty Shop (Taylorville)

I finally got to visit this Central Illinois classic that I’d been trying to get to for years but it just never worked out despite the fact it’s open 24/7. Bill’s Toasty Shop has been at it since 1932 and shows no signs of slowing down. Burgers come in 1/4, 1/2, 1 lb and 1.5 lb portions with the 1/2 pounder pictured below. It’s a classic setup with a long counter with seating for about 10 and a few tables lined up against the wall behind it. The grill is at the front near the window and there’s pretty much never a time when burgers aren’t being cooked on it. Fresh balls of beef are lightly smashed and full of flavor from the veteran flattop. This was one bad ass burger and the handspun milkshakes are also great.

Cheeseburger at Bill's Toasty Shop
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Fulgenzi's Pizza & Pasta (Springfield)

Double Smashed Crispy Burger, Slim Jim Sandwich, Chilli, and a housemade tortellini soup (not pictured). That was our lunch spread at Fulgenzi’s in Springfield across the street from the State Fairgrounds in the former location of the local legend that was Custard Castle. The space was taken over in 1979 by a local alderman who turned it into an Italian restaurant but kept around the regionally loved smashed burgers that made Custard Castle so popular. Central Illinois style Chilli, yes it’s a thing, always spelled with two L’s, is very popular in these parts too. The most glaring characteristic of Central Illinois style "chilli" is the puddle of grease on top of each bowl. This is called oleo oil and it comes from the suet used. You’re supposed to use all the oyster crackers you get with it to soak up all the oil. Other than that it’s ground beef, kidney beans and whatever other secret ingredients are used. I’ve seen recipes calling for tomato juice and other interesting stuff. Honestly I’m getting to old to eat this but I had to document it and gave it a taste too. I like it but it’s without a doubt a heart stopper. Despite numerous trips down here I’d never heard of The Slim Jim Sandwich which is another regional specialty which the lady taking our order told me is a relic of another long gone town favorite, Tops Big Boy. A Slim Jim is grilled hot ham, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, and sauce which here is thousand island dressing but elsewhere around town some spots use tartar sauce which is basically what Bob’s Big Boy Sauce was back in that chains heyday. No room for a Horseshoe but they have those here too. There's lots of interesting food stops down in the State Capital.

Lunch at Fulgenzi's (click pics to enhance)
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See ya next time @chibbqking