Buffalo, NY to Butte, MT and back-trip report

After a few years of reading road food I thought I would help contribute to this section since it's my favorite to read.  I meant to do this last year but kept putting it off.  Last May we took a long road trip and I documented most of the places we ate.  I need some help remembering, so any help is appreciated.  Here we go:
The Corner Cafe in New Lisbon, WI.  We drove off the thruway for gas and into this sleepy town.  This seemed to be the only place to eat in town and had all the locals inside.  The lady at the counter was really nice and served us some early morning cheese curds.  I was amazed at how much I liked these!  They had old photos on the wall of the place and is a definite stop if you are in the area.




Poolside Drive-In, Mott, ND.  This place was great!  The ladies behind the window where you order were very nice.  We ordered some sour cream fries which were fantastic.  Like a battered (maybe?) fry and seasoning.  Anyone know more?  There were chicken sandwiches, wraps, and soup ordered-all were good.  Also, they recommended this flaky pastry thing (in 3rd photo) which I can't remember what it was but it was tasty.  There were several regional items on the menu that we were unfamiliar with.



I learned about Maid Rite from Alton Browns travels and when we saw a sign for one on the side of the road, we had to stop.  I don't eat beef, but was told it was good but nothing great.  They were cheap sandwiches and something to try if you have never had one.

Continued...

Our first morning in Butte, MT brought us here since we missed our hotel breakfast.  By the time we made it to Montana we had learned that out west they call Cafe's what we would call a diner or plain old small restaurant.  Here, cafe's are cutesy coffee type houses without a full restaurant style menu.  With that knowledge, we walked into the M&M.  I have to admit it was strange eating pancakes in the AM while two ladies behind us were drinking beer.  This is a goldmine for roadfooders.  It's unique, full of character, old, and served good diner fare.  I had some fluffy pancakes with crispy edges and the boys had good eggs and omelets.  I have since read reviews saying this place has gone down hill but we hadn't noticed. 


Our relatives out in MT took us to Nancy's Pasties, across the street from a mine.  The inside was small, with a little dirty bathroom in the back, a counter to order, and kids school photos taped to the wall.  The ladies inside were nice, just like everyone else we had encountered on our trip.  The pasties were huge and heavy.  Our relatives said they sell frozen pasties and just about everyone in town keeps some in their freezer.  I thought the crust was really good but the inside was so heavy/dense that I ate about 1/4 of mine plus lots of water. 


We stopped at a bar/restaurant place that advertised pork sandwiches.  Apparently they are a popular item out here.  It was battered, had lots of onions and pickels.  The boys seemed to like them.  I do not remember the name of this place.  Pretty sure it was on S Montana St., heading south it was on our right side.  It was a simple square building, with a side door and the inside was a counter with stools, some small benches against the other wall and of course one or two gambling machines against the farthest wall.  Anyone know the name of the place?

With our GPS we found Custers Last Root Beer Stand in Three Forks, MT.  We pulled into a tiny town and thought this place had closed 20 years ago, plus it is for sale.  But no, it was open.  We ordered one small root beer float.  It was pretty good, can't complain about a root beer float really. It's too bad places like this are disappearing.


After about 200 miles of signs we finally arrived at Wall Drug.  I am sure many of you have been here.  Across the street from the store we ate at one of the places, maybe the Cactus Cafe?  The boys had Buffalo burgers that they loved and I had a veggie burger.  I was shocked to find one in MT.  Plus the service was good and so were the fries-I don't think we had bad fries once on this trip.


Milwaukee Wiener House, which I know has been featured on this site.  We were driving around and happened to drive past this gem.  They still where those cute white paper hats and service is cafeteria style.  It was busy and the guy behind the counter was very nice when he found out where we were from and how far we had traveled. 

It's always fun to read about places I haven't been to yet - my company has a branch in Butte, and I'm trying to decide if I want to volunteer myself for a project there.  Thanks for sharing your pics and trip!

Thanks.

I'm glad you had a good experience at M&M, which is, to this day, the worst RF experience I'd ever had.

My experience at M & M was great atmosphere, but ordinary food.  I did very much enjoy Nancy's Pasty Shop, though.


Really good photos and looking forward to the rest of the report.

Xwafflesx,

Welcome to Roadfood from a veteran of an entire year (I still have some catching up to do).  Always good to hear from someone else in the area.  Thanks for the trip report - I imagine you had quite the adventure making that drive.  Looking forward to more about the trip.

If time permits, there is an official Roadfood tour of Buffalo and Rochester in September, which would be a great event to go to.

Welcome to Roadfood.  Great report.  Looking forward to more.

Thanks everyone!  This trip was incredible.  It was my college graduation gift/celebration.  Our "excuse" for gong to Butte was to visit with some distant relatives after my brother and I had spent a year doing genealogy work. 

That is all my food photos from this trip.  Except some deep dish pizza in Chicago which we had already had on another trip and some Sioux City Sasparilla!  But honestly, nothing beats Buffalo area pizza.  If anyone is going on the trip to Buffalo make sure you have some... it's a medium thickness, with the bubbles in the chewy crust. 

I will be going to Greenville/New Bern, NC in August to help my Mom move.  She is afraid of major thruways so it is back roads the whole way!  I will be sure to document any food finds.  Thanks for the kind words everyone!

TNT:  Butte is a really nice place.  The mountains are gorgeous and people are really friendly.  The place is a little run down, as you would expect an old mining town to be.  The downtown area though seems to be on the upswing.  The old miners homes were something to see.  There were lots of roadfood opportunities here too.  I can't wait to go back some day and recommend it to anyone with a love of the old west. 

<She is afraid of major thruways so it is back roads the whole way!  >.

As long as you have time, that's the way to go!

I enjoyed your report. I'm way past "college graduation" (like 40 years past) but your trip reminds me of how good it was to be free to travel at that age. Enjoy it all!

Did that sandwich come from Porkchop Johns? It was being discussed in another thread and is one of the sandwiches I hope to try this August.

I'm way past my graduation too. Way past enough that I now once again have time to travel.

Outstanding report.

Ken:  I have been using google maps to change the route manually from highways to back roads and it seems like the 12 1/2 hour trip will be closer to 15 hours.  I am really looking forward to all the country scenes and off the beaten path stuff.  Luckily, I will be flying back.


Davydd:  It was not from Porkchop Johns.  We had forgotten about the sandwiches until we were driving out of Butte and that is when we stopped at this place. 

Excellent report xwafflesx.  I admire a man who can eat cheese curds for breakfast. That turnover thing . . was it spicy beef inside, or what exactly?  That pork sandwich did look good, wherever it came from.

Congratulations on your graduation!  Also if I remember New Bern well at all it's mostly back roads--a fur piece, as we say, from the highway.   Have fun in NC.