Rating: 
Summary: The tired latest effort from the landmark chowhound duo
Review: Jane and Michael Stern are the original chowhounds...they blazed a trail for food writers by rhapsodizing over roadhouses and joints long before this kind of reporting was respectable, let alone sought after. Their writing is superb, but after decades of cross-country road work they've grown a bit lazy...more and more of their selections are obvious tourist places rather than real uncovered treasure (though there are still some good tips). Nonetheless, their stuff's worth reading for the writing alone...and though you'll be led to some clunkers, it's worth staying current on the authors who set the standard. This is their very latest.
Rating: 
Summary: Grab this book if you're traveling cross-country
Review: My wife and I spent three months traveling around the country. With this book, we found some truely awesome places to eat, including the best and biggest cinnamon rolls we'll ever have, in Billings, MT.The one time we ignored their advice and skipped a restaurant they suggested for the town we were in, we were really sorry. We ate at a truly awful Italian place. The book not only contains great information about restaurants and regional favorites, but is a pleasure to read.
Rating:
Summary: Still the best guide for travellers who want authentic food
Review: There is no other guide like this one. If you like to try off-the-Interstate real food; if you like to explore small towns and meet the real people there; if you like a guidebook with a sense of humor along with a sense of good eats, buy it. We've tried other guidebooks while travelling the USA, and they all fail in various ways. This book contains helpful information to find that out-of-the-way gem and chow down. We've never been led wrong by Jane and Michael's books. The only disappointments have been when old family-run restaurants close down. Unfortunately, no paper-based guidebook can be exactly up to date. Call for opening times, since they are no longer printed in the book. If you travel in the US and have time to savor the true local culture, you will find it in the food. This is the best guide we've seen to that culture.
Rating: 
Summary: This would be great if............
Review: This guide would be great if I thought to bring it along on roadtrips. Maybe I should make more of an effort, especially since I just read "Fast Food Nation" and now have to avoid fast food. (not that I have ever indulged much anyway.) I love hearing Jane and Micheal Stern every Sunday on the MPR show, "The Splendid Table". You can hear the voices of the authors in their descriptions if you're lucky enough to have heard them before you read this little guide. The best thing about this book is gaining inspiration for travelling to smaller, remote out of the way places, based "merely" on an All-American restaurant review- but you know, some of my most memorable meals have been in places like the ones Jane and Micheal suggest. Too bad I can't remember any names to see if they have discovered them too. :-)
Rating:
Summary: This would be great if............
Review: This guide would be great if I thought to bring it along on roadtrips. Maybe I should make more of an effort, especially since I just read "Fast Food Nation" and now have to avoid fast food. (not that I have ever indulged much anyway.) I love hearing Jane and Micheal Stern every Sunday on the MPR show, "The Splendid Table". You can hear the voices of the authors in their descriptions if you're lucky enough to have heard them before you read this little guide. The best thing about this book is gaining inspiration for travelling to smaller, remote out of the way places, based "merely" on an All-American restaurant review- but you know, some of my most memorable meals have been in places like the ones Jane and Micheal suggest. Too bad I can't remember any names to see if they have discovered them too. :-)
Rating:
Summary: This would be great if............
Review: This guide would be great if I thought to bring it along on roadtrips. Maybe I should make more of an effort, especially since I just read "Fast Food Nation" and now have to avoid fast food. (not that I have ever indulged much anyway.) I love hearing Jane and Micheal Stern every Sunday on the MPR show, "The Splendid Table". You can hear the voices of the authors in their descriptions if you're lucky enough to have heard them before you read this little guide. The best thing about this book is gaining inspiration for travelling to smaller, remote out of the way places, based "merely" on an All-American restaurant review- but you know, some of my most memorable meals have been in places like the ones Jane and Micheal suggest. Too bad I can't remember any names to see if they have discovered them too. :-)
Rating:
Summary: 5 yums for this great guide to eating on the road
Review: This is a book for people who like regional cooking and road trips, more or less in that order. My wife and I took a cross country trip from California to Pennsylvania and back, with this book at our side, and its restaurant/diner/take-out recommendations took us off the beaten track into culinary adventures we still talk about. We found the Sterns about 90% reliable in their choices, with a few wonderful picks that more than made up the difference. As fans of regional BBQ, we were delighted by a variety out-of-the-way, down-home purveyors of this mouth-watering soul food, from Oklahoma to Arkansas to (even) South Dakota. Our favorite wide-spot-in-the-road place served up both meat and coleslaw on the same bun, with a side of beans; across the street were fresh-baked pies still warm from the oven. Perhaps the most enjoyable discovery (thanks to the Sterns) was the dining room of the Inn at Pleasant Hill, near Harrodsburg, KY, where the lemon pie was beyond description, and after the meal, at sunset, we took a leisurely stroll around the tranquil grounds of what once was a large, thriving Shaker community. The book has handy regional maps, for finding those towns you've never heard of, and the descriptions of each establishment are pretty accurate (I found only one place that was not what I expected). The listings were largely up-to-date; only one restaurant had moved, which I found out when I called for directions. (In fact, a cell phone is definitely a plus for finding some places.) If you're looking for something near where you live, this book may disappoint you. It will probably list the places you already know (e.g., in Los Angeles, Du-Par's at Farmers Market and Phillipe's downtown). The West Coast, for that matter, seems somewhat under-represented. But if you're willing to get off the interstate far from home and take your chances, the book is an enjoyable adventure guide. Two recommendations: Take along a books-on-tape copy of Kerouac's "On the Road" and a cooler for left-overs -- some places haven't heard of portion control.
Rating:
Summary: God bless the Lewis and Clark of lowbrow travel cuisine!
Review: This outstanding book was of great use in a recent trip across the USA: it led us to pie in Utah, tiny hamburgers by the dozen in Kansas, B-B-Q in KC, custard in St. Louis, and an incredible Jewish deli in Indianapolis, among other delicacies and joints. Each review let us know what to expect: atmosphere, pricing, and specialty of the house. The only drawback was our disappointment at showing up (hungry) to a well-reviewed restaurant in Denver that had since gone out of business. My buddy and I, roadside gourmands with iron bellies, ate heartily and well from California to Virginia thanks to this fun, honest book.
Rating: 
Summary: Research Is First Rate
Review: We used the same level of fact checking and attention to detail that we've employed for all of our work. I'm sorry if a few places have closed; by one of the commentator's standards, you only need to be one day late to be out of date. Hope you enjoy the book, and happy eating!
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