Breakfast Across the States

In about 7 months I plan to retire from a job I’ve held for 30+ years. The inevitable task in September will be to fill the 8-5 weekday void. I love to travel and I love to eat so it was not hard to come up with my first idea – to get in the car and have breakfast in all of the 48 contiguous states and DC.  I’m calling this cholesterol- laden odyssey BATS (Breakfast Across the States). This two month road trip has already been planned but is certainly open to amendments.  Over the past year I have used a number of internet sites including Roadfood, Chowhound, Yelp, Tripadvisor, Mr. Breakfast, and local magazines to choose  48 breakfast spots. I’ve also seen the Food Network’s website “50 States 50 Breakfasts”.  Again, my choices are not set in stone. Some of them may even have closed.  I know there are some real food experts out there. You may have much better suggestions or negative experiences with the spots I have chosen. Beginning next week I’ll reveal a few at a time and let you react if you are so inclined. I have really enjoyed reading your reports.  Of course, during the trip I’ll be reporting back with pictures.
 I do have some criteria that I tried to stick with:
1)      The most important criterion is geography. I’ll be doing a lot of driving to hit all 48 states and DC in one trip so I have no desire to drive to very Northern Maine (although I’m sure the blueberry pancakes are awesome) or all the way down to Key West Florida (sorry Blue Heaven).  My goal is to minimize mileage yet find some great breakfast spots.
2)      No chains!  The breakfast spots must be single independent establishments.
3)      I travelled for my job about 15 times a year and have eaten breakfast at some great places (e.g.  Golden Harvest in Lansing MI).  On this trip I want to go to places where I have not had breakfast before. 
4)      I’m inclined to avoid the very large cities. Ease of parking is important.
I’ll start and end in Washington DC, where by the way a good breakfast is hard to come by. Next week I will start to reveal the BATS plan a few states at a time and look forward any feedback you care to share.
 

Mealot, that is a very ambitious plan that you have developed.  I am sure that many posters will chime in once they are more aware of your travel plans.  You indicated that you want a limited mileage drive?  I find that somewhat impossible because you are driving 48 states.  Good luck with your plans and I hope you can keep us apprised with your travels and breakfast finds.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Do you realize how big the states are West of the Mississippi?

mealot,
 
48 States in two months is awfully ambitious. You might burn out and not enjoy the pace. In the past 5 years I have been traveling in a Class B camper van and have only managed a little over 40 states in a combined off and on one year+ on the road. Over 80% of my road travel has been on the "blue highways" and off the freeways. If you are retired, then relax.
 
Here is my breakfast photo gallery to give you some ideas:
Breakfast to Start the Day
 
Minnesota has two nationally reputed must stop breakfast spots in Hell's Kitchen and Al's Breakfast both in Minneapolis. You don't want to travel to extremes like northern Maine and Key West, FL so my favorite spot, Trail Center Cafe on the Gunflint Trail in extreme northern Minnesota is probably out.

big trip but can be done in 2 Months.   Don't know if you have certain places, like parks, schools, site seeing stuff  in the states you plan to cross. For you can cut alot  mileage off by using the panhandles of states.
I would like to know the routes.  Sept. depart, I would be doing the northern section first. Out west it snows anytime after Sept. 2

There are a lot of people out there that have done similar quests (The Iron Butt Motorcycle association, in particular, has contests for visiting 48 states in 10 days).  So a quick google search out there yields quite a few people that have found more-or-less optimal driving routes to visit all 48 states.
 
I'd recommend taking something like http://colinm.org/blog/sh...h-through-48-us-states and perturbing that route to go through places with better dining.
 
I think one of your bigger challenges is the fact that you are trying to do breakfast, which requires you to arrive at a place during breakfast hours, meaning that you can't pick off locations by passing through them mid-day.
 
If trying to do major cities, look up the Traveling Salesman Problem, since that will give you the shortest circuit of state capitals you can do (calculated by straight line distance, not driving route).  The route isn't much different from the one linked above.
 
Having been to all 50 states (and 35 of them in the last few years), I'm more than happy to help you plan your drive.

Wow, 48 states in 30 days is ambitious, but for me it would be torture.  I traveled for almost 20 years and can't imagine such an itinerary.  Most assuredly, I wish you Godspeed.

48 states in 30 days would indeed be ambitious. I don't think I could eat more than one breakfast a day let alone drive that much in 30 days. I think in the original post I stated it would be a 2 month trip. Even with that some are still calling the trip ambitious.  I agree it is ambitious but I also think it is realistic. I've planned the trip to take exactly 66 days. My preliminary estimate is that it will cover 10,800 miles. I plan on staying put on 10 of those 66 days leaving an average of about 190 miles of driving a day.  Not to bad. The longest one day drive will be 540 miles. I still think I can smell "some of the roses" on this trip and not burnout. It would be nice if I could stretch the trip out longer but two factors prevent me from wanting to do that.  First I just don't want to be away from home any longer than two months.  Second, because I am leaving at the beginning of September, the trips abuts on winter and since some tent camping will be involved I would rather be back in my toasty bed before it gets to cold.
Davydd: your pictures were truly saliva inspiring.  I have always dreamed of getting up to Northern Minnesota and the Boundary Waters but will have to make it another trip.

Tentative BATS:  States 1-3
Maryland:  My plan is to leave in the very beginning of September and I thought it would be prudent to initially head north and more or less cover the USA in a counter-clockwise direction.  In theory, the average weather I would face would be warmer than if I went clockwise.  My choice on the first morning is Blue Moon Café in Baltimore. This already breaks one of my criteria as Baltimore is a fairly large city and parking could be a hassle. Blue Moon Café is not in downtown Baltimore but in Fells Point where parking can be a hassle.  Nevertheless, this place looks interesting and has very positive reviews on the Web.   Another option may be Pete’s Grille which won Best Breakfast 2010 in the City Paper. There may be other places that people really like.  Please let me know.
Delaware:  My research didn’t turn up much in Delaware. This Roadfood site listed Lucky’s Coffee Shop and Helen’s Sausage House as possibilities.  Lucky’s seems promising but was dissed by a blog called Mac & Cheese.  Helen’s is in Smyrna which could mean significant backtracking. If I was to go to Smyrna I would have to find another Maryland breakfast place around Annapolis or on the Eastern Shore.  The Yelpers like a place called Fresh Thymes in Wilmington. It bills itself as a healthy eating establishment. That’s okay with me since I’m sure I’ll get my fill of cholesterol on this trip.  So far it is a toss-up between Lucky’s and Fresh Thymes.
 
New Jersey:  One of the reasons I chose to have breakfast in all 48 contiguous states rather than lunch or dinner was that I didn’t want to be overwhelmed by choices.  A pizza place? A burger?  Diner?  Ribs? Seafood?  Beef? Ethnic?  No doubt I will try to seek out some interesting dinner places (and probably just skip lunch) on the trip.  Breakfast is pretty much breakfast and in many locations the choices of establishments are few and  manageable. Except New Jersey. It seems everyone has their favorite diner for breakfast.  Places like Mastori’s, Tick Tock, Hightstown, and Summit seem to dominant food review sites.  As positive as many reviews of these diners are, some are negative. I was all set on Mastori’s but there seems to be a large contingent  of folks who think it has gone downhill and is no longer up to snuff. Maybe I’ll be a maverick and avoid the famous diners of New Jersey.  I searched for a place not too far from the beautiful  NJTP and came up with Teddy’s Luncheonette in Cranbury. Anyone been there? Or tell me why your diner is great.
 

I've twice had really good breakfasts at the Post-House in Wilmington, DE, although it is a smaller Delaware chain.  Libby's is pretty good as well. 

I wouldn't let a mixture of positive and negative reviews steer me away from a place.  Jersey breakfast - has to be a diner.
 
I know you said no chains - and Waffle House is most certainly a chain. I just don't see how one can survey breakfast across the U.S. without breakfast at a Waffle House.

Edited to add:  When your choice is between a Roadfood and Yelp recommendation - go with Roadfood. 

I agree with Holly, go for Waffle House.  I always enjoy their breakfast.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Delaware- If you are making some kind of meaningful roadfood breakfast road trip then your Delaware stop has to be Helen's Famous Sausage House.  It is a certfied institution.  If you have to have a Maryland stop then the Breakfast Shoppe outside Annapolis a bit or Chick and Ruth's in Annapolis.

RC51Mike


Delaware- If you are making some kind of meaningful roadfood breakfast road trip then your Delaware stop has to be Helen's Famous Sausage House.  It is a certfied institution.  If you have to have a Maryland stop then the Breakfast Shoppe outside Annapolis a bit or Chick and Ruth's in Annapolis.

 
Crap, I forgot Helen's.  Yes, that's a good place for breakfast.

Holly Moore


Edited to add:  When your choice is between a Roadfood and Yelp recommendation - go with Roadfood. 

 
I'm going to  have to respectfully disagree with Holly on this one (but only partially)
 
Sometimes yelp recommendations outweigh roadfood recommendations and I'll explain why.
 
If  you have a choice between a yelp recommendation and a Sterns Reviewed recommendation on Roadfood I would then go with the roadfood recommendation in heartbeat
 
However other than a few select posters on Roadfood whose advice I trust, I would sooner go with a yelp recommendation under the following circumstances:
1- Make sure that that the place has been reviewed several times
2- Make sure that the posters have reviewed at least a few places
3- If you've heard "good things" about a particular place and there are more negative reviews than you anticipated check to see the other reviews that particular person posted, they may just prefer a different style of restaurant...
 
Following these criteria to the letter I've found some excellent gems  on yelp and also urbanspoon.com that I may not have found on Roadfood.
 
 
 

I like the roulette method of finding breakfast places. Go into a small town preferably less than 5,000 people, drive to the center of town and look for the local independent cafe. Works most of the time. I don't research much ahead  because in our travels (61,000 miles in a camper van the last 5 years) we never knew exactly where we would be at breakfast time. We also mostly drive the "blue highways" and in the farthest hinterlands away from cities. We even do that now crossing the Great Plains states.

Wandering Jew,
 
I guess I see Yelpers more as foodies and Roadfooders as eaters. I'm more down with eaters. 
 
It is also my sense that Yelp reviews can sometimes be petty or vindictive, overreacting to some minor issue.  Not so much with Roadfood.
 
Finally, I have a better sense for the criteria of many Roadfood reviewers than those of the myriad of Yelpers.
 
That said I have used Yelp as a resource and am glad it, along with Roadfood and other sites, are out there for my road trip research.
 
No reason not to consider both sites and then disregard either or both sites. Sometimes a place intrigues me despite negative reviews.  Just costs me a meal to find out for myself.  

Delaware- again.  By all means skip Fresh Thymes.  Some of their prices are ludicrous by Delaware standards.  $7 for a grilled cheese sandwich?  $5 for a bowl of millet?  Yum.  I'd rather be robbed.  Only a few blocks away is Angelo's.  Lunch counter lost in time.  Only open M-F 6:30- 2.

One of my problems with yelp is that once you get off the beaten path, the data just isn't reliable.  They seem to require a *lot* of people to flag places as closed, so when I use Yelp to try and find places to eat when I'm in a fairly obscure area?  It's quite likely that a substantial number of places on the list aren't open any more.

What are you doing for lunch and dinner?

Holly Moore


Wandering Jew,

I guess I see Yelpers more as foodies and Roadfooders as eaters. I'm more down with eaters. 

It is also my sense that Yelp reviews can sometimes be petty or vindictive, overreacting to some minor issue.  Not so much with Roadfood.

Finally, I have a better sense for the criteria of many Roadfood reviewers than those of the myriad of Yelpers.

That said I have used Yelp as a resource and am glad it, along with Roadfood and other sites, are out there for my road trip research.

No reason not to consider both sites and then disregard either or both sites. Sometimes a place intrigues me despite negative reviews.  Just costs me a meal to find out for myself.  

 
Holly first of all, I don't think I ever let you know, but  even though I disagree with you on Pats, I'm a HUGE fan of your website, Hollyeats.com Your other suggestions have been spot on and you've provided extraordinary assistance and recommendations for my trips to Philly.
 
I'm a combination of a foodie and an eater.
The problem with foodies is that they may  criticize stuff that's more traditional which I've seen done on yelp, perfect examples are Durgin Park in Boston and Hollyhock Hill in Indianapolis. The problem with eaters is that many recommendations are made by folks who have no problem eating at McDonalds, Taco Bell and all you can eat chinese buffets so I question their taste buds to begin with.
 
For the most part I'm a regionalist- and I don't mean this from a snooty perspective it just means that this is what I picked up from the Stern's roadfood books which I started reading back in 1990. Whether it's an unhealthy Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza, a healthy southern California Smoothie, a "Sexy" double cheeseburger dripping with  cheese, greasy bacon and grilled onions or a more "modest" plate of broiled scrod it's all roadfood to me.

wanderingjew

I'm a combination of a foodie and an eater.
The problem with foodies is that they may  criticize stuff that's more traditional which I've seen done on yelp, perfect examples are Durgin Park in Boston and Hollyhock Hill in Indianapolis. The problem with eaters is that many recommendations are made by folks who have no problem eating at McDonalds, Taco Bell and all you can eat chinese buffets so I question their taste buds to begin with.

This reminds me of a time last year when I was in New Jersey for work, and used Yelp to look up nearby highly-rated restaurants.  Wendys and McDs were at the top of the list...
 
Myself, all sorts of places have their place, and especially with the foodie crowd, I have to mention that sometimes there are reasons I go eat someplace other than just the food being good, such as history (Louis Lunch comes to mind), nostalgia, and quality-to-cost ratio.

Not to hijack the thread, but: Wow, WJ, I had no idea that the Yelpers were trashing Hollyhock Hill.
 
So I went to read the posts, many of them from what seem to be young folks who don't think HH is cool enough for them.  Or who want HH to serve spicy food.  Or something other than what it does serve.
 
OK, yes, it is true, it is not a "young and hip" kind of place.  But the food is great, and the atmosphere unique.  I've been going there since I was perhaps four years old, and I love it.  But of course, I'm not "young and hip."  And I suppose some of these old classics do have to be worried if the newer generation doesn't appreciate what they have to offer. 
 
[You may now return to responding to the OP's questions about breakfast.]
 
 

Breakfast is DC has to be at Bardia's New Orleans Cafe in Adams Morgan (2412 18th ST, NW).  It the only DC breakfast spot that's worth my 25 mile drive in from Woodbridge.  It's very small and offers kitchen tours, the only restrooms are actually in the kitchen.  I know this in not 'native' food but it is very authentic.

Thanks for the tip cyold1. I'll ride my bike over there one of these days and check out the beignets.
When someone (RC51Mike) from Wilmington DE tells me to go to a particular Delaware place I listen. I now have Helen's Sausage on the list for Delaware which means for driving purposes I'm dropping the Blue Moon Cafe in Baltimore and substituting the Breakfast Shoppe in Severna Park.
Davydd - you my man have a "perceiver" personality; one that feels restrcited by schedules. I have a "judger" personality where I need to set schedules or else I feel lost. In fact I have as much fun planning a trip or vacation as the actual event. Which brings me to the question from TJ Jackson: "what are you doing for lunch & dinner?" For lunch - carrot sticks? I don't want gain 50 pounds on this trip so lunch may not be much. As for dinner I might change into a "perceiver" personality and jsut end up somewhere. 
Re. Yelp, I agree with the comments to some degree or another. Yelp has helped me a lot in finding some intersting  good restaurants especially of the ethnic variety (as has chowhound, Tripadvisor, urbanspoon, local blogs, local newspapers and magazines) when I travel. True, some Yelp choices have been complete busts for me. I've also been to over 125 establishments listed in the various Stern books and have really enjoyed most of them but there were a handful I really disliked. Reviews are only opinions and will not guarantee a stellar meal. The best one can do is take all available information and make a choice that you feel will meet your needs.
Finally a question for Holly. Why isn't the Waffle House on your website? I appreciate the suggestion but I think I'm sticking to my guns re. no chains.

Here it is - kinda hidden under "Eating my way to Texas" http://www.hollyeats.com/WaffleHouse.htm

I don't know if I feel restricted by schedules. In fact I have a very keen sense of working schedules out in our travels. It is just that I am a blazer rather than a tracker. It is more fun and challenging snowshoeing in fresh fallen snow through the woods off the path than plodding down a well worn track by others. Or ask yourself this. What book do the Sterns use?
 
I will stop at places in the Roadfood books and places mentioned here in the forums if they coincide or if there is something unique I am intrigued by or am searching out. I just don't go out of my way to knock off the list or let restaurant stops guide my direction. I admit too I do a little bit of pre-planning for seeking out breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches with opportune lists I've databased but more times than naught I end up switching out at the last minute for many reasons. Whim mostly.

Davydd


I don't know if I feel restricted by schedules. In fact I have a very keen sense of working schedules out in our travels. It is just that I am a blazer rather than a tracker. It is more fun and challenging snowshoeing in fresh fallen snow through the woods off the path than plodding down a well worn track by others. Or ask yourself this. What book do the Sterns use?

I will stop at places in the Roadfood books and places mentioned here in the forums if they coincide or if there is something unique I am intrigued by or am searching out. I just don't go out of my way to knock off the list or let restaurant stops guide my direction. I admit too I do a little bit of pre-planning for seeking out breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches with opportune lists I've databased but more times than naught I end up switching out at the last minute for many reasons. Whim mostly.

 
DavyDD, since you mentioned snowshoesing, you might enjoy thie article on my brother who resides in Edina, Minneapolis.  He is much more a athelete than myself.
 
http://www.snowshoemag.com/viewContent.cfm?content_id=411
Paul e. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Tentative BATS:  States 4-6
Connecticut:  I think I’ll go from New Jersey to Connecticut for my next breakfast.  I realize that NYC is a breakfast Mecca but I don’t want to deal with the traffic and parking. I’ll find a place in Upstate New York after covering New England. I researched potential breakfast spots along the Connecticut coast. Kitchen Little in Mystic seems to be a slam dunk choice.  The Web reviews (including this Roadfood site) were superb and I have a personal recommendation from a friend who went there recently.  I would also like to tour the Seaport after eating.
Rhode Island:  I can’t recall why I was in Rhode Island about 30 years ago (the only time I have been in the state) but I do remember I had my Roadfood book with me and I was trying to find the Dovecrest Indian Restaurant in the dark.  Without GPS and Mapquest it took me considerable time to track the place down but once there I partook in the johnnycakes.  They were delicious and more than made up for the fact that I had been driving in circles for some time.  So in my internet search for a breakfast place I tried to find a place that served this Rhode Island -only specialty.  It seemed that Jigger’s Diner in East Greenwich was the one so I put it on the list.  Then I heard that they were shut down for owing back taxes and my search continued. I came up with another place that had johnnycakes on the menu called Spoonem’s JP in Cranston. So I took Jigger’s off the list and replaced it with Spoonem’s. Now I hear that Jigger’s is opened on a limited basis Fri-Sun. I think I can time it to get there on a Friday so Jigger’s is back in contention.  Has anyone been to both places and would recommend one over the other or is than any other place you would recommend that serves Johnnycakes for breakfast?
Massachusetts:  I plan on staying with a relative just north of Boston so I searched for a place in MA going North toward NH & ME.  I found a couple of interesting spots in Lynn but Red’s Sandwich Shop in Salem really caught my eye.  A number of posters at Chowhound raved about the place. That doesn’t mean I’m not willing to consider other places in the Salem, Lynn, Peabody, Ipswich area.  
 

mealot


Tentative BATS:  States 4-6
Connecticut:  I think I’ll go from New Jersey to Connecticut for my next breakfast.  I realize that NYC is a breakfast Mecca but I don’t want to deal with the traffic and parking. I’ll find a place in Upstate New York after covering New England. I researched potential breakfast spots along the Connecticut coast. Kitchen Little in Mystic seems to be a slam dunk choice.  The Web reviews (including this Roadfood site) were superb and I have a personal recommendation from a friend who went there recently.  I would also like to tour the Seaport after eating.
Rhode Island:  I can’t recall why I was in Rhode Island about 30 years ago (the only time I have been in the state) but I do remember I had my Roadfood book with me and I was trying to find the Dovecrest Indian Restaurant in the dark.  Without GPS and Mapquest it took me considerable time to track the place down but once there I partook in the johnnycakes.  They were delicious and more than made up for the fact that I had been driving in circles for some time.  So in my internet search for a breakfast place I tried to find a place that served this Rhode Island -only specialty.  It seemed that Jigger’s Diner in East Greenwich was the one so I put it on the list.  Then I heard that they were shut down for owing back taxes and my search continued. I came up with another place that had johnnycakes on the menu called Spoonem’s JP in Cranston. So I took Jigger’s off the list and replaced it with Spoonem’s. Now I hear that Jigger’s is opened on a limited basis Fri-Sun. I think I can time it to get there on a Friday so Jigger’s is back in contention.  Has anyone been to both places and would recommend one over the other or is than any other place you would recommend that serves Johnnycakes for breakfast?
Massachusetts:  I plan on staying with a relative just north of Boston so I searched for a place in MA going North toward NH & ME.  I found a couple of interesting spots in Lynn but Red’s Sandwich Shop in Salem really caught my eye.  A number of posters at Chowhound raved about the place. That doesn’t mean I’m not willing to consider other places in the Salem, Lynn, Peabody, Ipswich area.  

 
Been to Spoonem's once and Jigger's many many times. Jiggers is a short 1/2 a mile walk from my condo.
 
If I had a choice, I would make sure you get to Jigger's when they're open Friday thru Sunday and go there for Jonnycakes. They're still my favorite