The Guide

Looking for the best oysters in Maine? Some top-notch barbecue in the Carolinas? Going on a quest for the most authentic tacos in California? Or maybe you’re just looking for someone who can explain what “sonker” is. Whatever it is, when it comes to regional or cultural food trails, this is the source. We’ll be adding new listings each week and, if you want to recommend a trail, hit the Contact link and let us know.

_{NOTE: Please call ahead, as some locations might have hours of operation or menus, or might be closed indefinitely.}

Kentucky Bourbon Trail

Kentucky

Bourbon could be made somewhere other than Kentucky, but why bother. The state has pretty much cornered the market on crafting fine barrel-aged whiskey in the United States since the 1700s, and it’s unlikely any other state is going to take that title. The Bourbon Trail is divided into two different lists, one for the state’s “signature distilleries” such as Bulleit, Maker’s Mark or Four Roses, and a second list that focuses on 28 “craft distilleries” across four regions. According to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, the second list should take about six days, so plan ahead, get reservations and don’t forget Kentucky is split into two time zones.

Beaumont Crawfish Trail

Texas

Most travelers think of Texas and Louisiana as completely different states, but in the no-man’s-land where southeastern Texas meets southwestern Louisiana (some of which was literally called “No Man’s Land” on historical maps), it’s clear that culture overrules state borders. It’s Bayou Country and Beaumont, Texas, is one of its capitals. Which is why crawfish, typically associated with Louisiana, are a significant portion of Beaumont culture and, of course, Beaumont cuisine. Follow this trail of 15 places to savor “mudbugs” at “the grocery store, the local seafood shack, or a traditional sit-down restaurant,” and, if nothing else, learn that everyone has their own secret technique for prepping and devouring a freshly boiled batch of crawfish.

Santa Maria Valley Barbecue Trail

California

Santa Maria-style barbecue is about as distant from South Carolina style as California is from, well, South Carolina. Instead of pulled pork and ribs with mustard or vinegar-pepper sauce, think beef tri-tip, simply seasoned with black pepper, salt and garlic and grilled over the valley’s native red oak. According to locals, the style has been around more than 150 years and “has been perfected ever since.” Among the stops on the trail’s two-day itinerary is The Hitching Post, older sister to The Hitching Post II, one of the backdrops for the wine-centric movie “Sideways” (2004).

Surry Sonker Trail

North Carolina

Sonker is a  hyper-regional dessert found almost exclusively in Surry County, N.C., and its origins date back to the early 1700s, before the county was a county. Sonker aficionados describe it as “a hybrid between a cobbler and a deep-dish pie” that includes fruit and a dough topping, usually with a glaze of sugar or molasses. The best part is that this dish is so specific to Surry County that you really don’t have to drive far to find the best of the best.

Southwest Louisiana Boudin Trail

Louisiana

This hyper-regional delicacy is technically a sausage, but that’s where the similarities end between boudin (usually pronounced “boo-dan”) and what the rest of North America calls sausage. A Cajun staple, boudin typically is pork meat and liver, onions and and a spice rack’s worth of seasonings (boudin makers guard their secret recipes religiously), wrapped in pig casings. There is enough variety in the dish that the best way to find your favorite is on this trail, which includes an unlikely menagerie of restaurants, local markets, mom-and-pop grocery stores and gas stations. It’s considered a snack that can be enjoyed 24/7, and is the perfect nosh while exploring Lake Charles and the rest of Southwest Louisiana’s bayou country.

Tuolumne County Craft Burger Trail

Tuolumne County, Calif.

Around 1848 to 1851, the Sierra Nevada of California was a great place to find gold. It was not, however, a great destination for food: Think rabbit, deer, squirrel and a lot of really bad bread. Fortunately, that scale has reversed and the precious commodity in Gold Country these days is history, great craft brews and, apparently, really good burgers. Follow a route through Tuolumne County that was mostly paths for miners on mules in the 1800s to find some of the best and most inventive burgers in the state. There might still be gold in “them thar hills,” but these days it’s on a bun.

Macon Bacon Trail

Georgia

A cynical person could wonder if thinly sliced strips of hog are an integral part of the culture in Macon, Ga., or if there’s a trail just because Macon rhymes with “bacon.” Seriously, who cares? It’s bacon, and if people are willing to devise a map that includes more than a dozen ways to savor one of the most perfect foods, we say more power to them. Along the trail: Pimento bacon fritters, Rockefeller oysters, a bacon-ladden green tomato salad, a bacon bagel, BLTs from traditional to nouveau, bacon jalapeño poppers, pimento bacon jam sliders and the famous Jimmy Carter Shake, with banana ice cream, peanut butter and a slice of bacon. We’d call that presidential approval. (Note: At last check, Jag’s Pizzeria is closed permanently.)

South Carolina BBQ Trails

South Carolina

The state that claims to be the “birthplace of barbecue,” which is a bit like picking which caveman (or cavewoman) invented fire, has so many joints for great grilled and smoked meats that the “trail” is actually three regional trails (mountains, midlands and coastal), and the trails are actually non-linear listings of the best places to go for pulled pork and ribs. Around these parts, the word “barbecue” nearly always means pork and, more often than not, is pulled pork with ribs coming in a close second. South Carolina might or might not be ground zero for barbecue, but they do take their sauce science seriously, differentiating the four different styles — mustard, vinegar, light tomato, heavy tomato — and the trail website that color-codes which sauces to expect at each joint is extremely helpful.

Denver Beer Tour

Colorado

Craft brewing has been booming since the 1980s, thanks in large part to then President Jimmy Carter’s changing the laws that had heavily favored giant corporate beer companies, and the place that has been mostly closely tied to that boom is Denver, Colo. So it comes as little surprise that Denver’s beer trail is a who’s who of brewing rock stars, from Blue Moon to Wynkoop to Gordon Biersch. Caution: The flights of different styles at each stop can add up and, unlike wine tasting, no one spits. Enlist a designated driver or stick to ride sharing.

Wisconsin Cheese Tour

Wisconsin

You don’t have to be a Green Bay Packer fan to be a “cheese head.” Fans of frommage can find 60 artisan cheesemakers turning out more than 600 different styles of cheese, according to state officials, including “hundreds of complex, one-of-a-kind artisanal, farmstead and organic varieties made by hand in small batches.” The Cheese Tour is two separate itineraries, one for the southwestern region that is predominantly focuses on cheese, and one for eastern side of the state that features cheese as well as many other Wisconsin specialties, from sausage to beer to chocolate. Since both itineraries are multi-day journeys, the site includes recommendations for where to crash for the night after a long day of cheese tasting.

Boise Idaho Potato Trail

Idaho

There are only so many ways to eat a potato — or so we thought. This trail takes the tuber to another level with a wildly inventive array of dishes, including Idaho Potato Ale, classic poutine, a potato donut, white cheddar “tots,” potato bacon pizza, Idaho flatbread, peanut butter mashed potatoes and, for dessert, the “Famous Idaho Ice Cream Potato” at Westside Drive-In. Among the 22 stops, diners will find multiple variations of fries and potato skins, as well as a sweets shop that stocks the “Idaho Spud” candy bar.

Hoosier Pie Trail

Indiana

Also called “sugar cream pie,” Hoosier Pie likely originated in Indiana as a byproduct of the scarcity of eggs during the Depression, although it might also have roots in the state’s Amish community. There are plenty of variations, but the foundation is the same — sugar, flour, cream. The best way to sample a broad variety of Indiana’s “state pie” is on the Hoosier Pie Trail, a listing of restaurants, bakeries and diners that are known for exceptional sugar cream pie, from Lake Michigan to the Kentucky border. It’s a sweet slice of the down home culture (although the Surgeon General would probably not recommend doing the entire trail in a day).

NoDa Craft Beer Trail

Charlotte, N.C.

It turns out North Carolina’s largest city has more than Mint Juleps and Manhattans on the menu. The home of the Charlotte Hornets (a Revolutionary War reference to a British general calling the feisty city a “hornets’ nest”) is abuzz with great beer. The city is home to more than 75 craft breweries, including a solid concentration in the artsy NoDa (North Davidson) neighborhood that are accessible through a pair of walkable trails that carry beer fans through a host of brewing styles, from traditional to experimental.

Buffalo Wings Trail

Buffalo, NY

When you really need spicy, sauced chicken from the mothership of wings, you don’t go to Miami, L.A. or San Francisco. You go to Buffalo. Seriously. This particular category of pub grub is named for the place, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that there’s a Buffalo Wings Trail in, well, Buffalo. The trail includes 13 restaurants, pubs and “tucked-away corner taverns” around the greater Buffalo-Niagra area. According to the trail site online, each stop has its own distinctive style, so it stands to reason you pretty much have to try all of them. The site also includes a fun “Wing Personality Test” based on how spicy you like your wings and whether you prefer drumsticks, flats or both. There are no wrong answers — unless you get your wings from Pizza Hut.

Anthony Bourdain Food Trail

New Jersey

Sure, they guy traveled to scores of destinations worldwide to find great food, but as it turns out some of his favorite dishes can be found in his home state, New Jersey. Chef, author and TV host Bourdain shot an early episode about growing up in Bergen County for “No Reservations,” but these 10 spots around the state are taken from the later program, “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown,” including some of his favorite delicatessens, oyster houses and grills from summers at the Jersey shore.

Hood River Fruit Loop

Oregon

A scenic, 35-mile loop up and down the Hood River Valley (east of Portland on the Columbia River) that includes “28 on-the-farm fruit stands,” wineries, breweries and cideries. An excellent day trip when staying in Portland and, frankly, we just love the trail’s name.

Concord Taco Trail

Concord, California

Oddly, Concord (about 30 miles east of San Francisco) has two things you wouldn’t expect from a quiet, unassuming suburban town — jazz history and tacos. Not only does the city’s taco trail include more than 40 locally owned Mexican restaurants and taquerias, many with styles and recipes tied to specific regional cuisines in Mexico, but the city also says the route is “El Original Taco Trail” — the first taco trail. Historically accurate or not, the important thing is that the trail includes some amazing tacos. The jazz history also is amazing, but not quite as filling.

Food that’s worth a journey?

Information policy: Wanna know what we do with your information? Nothing. Yup, that’s right. We might use a quote and a first name in future features, but we will never sell your email or any other information to anyone else. Promise.

MANY More coming soon!