When Choosing the Best Food in America, What Matters?

Lately, the word best has been tumbling around my mind a lot. Blame it on the Beard Awards. Who was it going to be? Who would capture the crowns for best chefs in America?

Now, before you slam me for being anti-best, I’m not. I make part of my living off the damned, er, lovely word. As a travel and food writer, I package a bit of this from one place with a bit of that from another. Drape a coat of “best” on it—after extensive tasting and inner turmoil over who I’m leaving out—and, blammo, a list is born.

But I’ve been thinking about the intersection of Flyover America and, when it comes to food, the bests or the essentials. I’ve been looking back at my favorite food experiences while traveling the U.S. and, really, sometimes they’re not about the food. So, in considering working up a Best of Flyover America chow list, I can’t decide what it would look like. What information would help you when you travel the U.S.? While Bon Appetit’s The United Plates of America offers a great jumping-off point for debate over top tastes in each state, I think FA’s list will look a little different.

So help me, please. What do you think the criteria should be in developing a Flyover America best foods/restaurants/roadside stand list? Sure, taste is a priority. Consistency is always helpful. (After all, there’s nothing worse for a food fan than having your recommendations tossed back in your face with a why did you send me there?) Quality ingredients? Yeah, definitely—stale Oreos do not a good deep-fried Oreo make. And out-of-season ramps? Be gone!

But, more than any of that, I think the best Flyover America food comes courtesy of a shared moment with people (whether you knew them before you walked into the restaurant or not) or finding that crazy little place where, after a day of discovery, you kick back, try the local beer, and eat something that makes you want to move to that town. And, of course, there will have to be something about best breakfast spots—though they may require a list of their own.

What do you think? I look forward to figuring this all out with you…and then, in true Flyover America style, we’ll begin building our list(s). Hell, maybe we’ll even hand out an award or two. Can you goldplate a boiled peanut?

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