The Tastiest Eats for Great American Eclipse Travelers
On Aug. 21, a total eclipse of the sun will be visible coast to coast in the U.S. for the first time in a century. Plan on putting yourself in its path? We've scouted out eateries near the totality's arc so you can fill your belly before feasting your eyes on the sky (with eclipse glasses, of course).
Portland, Oregon: The Original Pancake House
Begin your day the old-school way at The Original Pancake House with their signature apple pancake, a sautéed-Granny-Smiths-and-cinnamon-sugar-smothered masterpiece that’s been fortifying hungry Oregonians since 1953. No napping afterward, though—you’ve got an astronomical event to chase. (Featured on Food Paradise, "Keepin’ It Retro")
Portland, Oregon: Hat Yai
The eclipse hits the West Coast at about 10:15 a.m. local time. Once it’s arced over Oregon, head to Portland for a spot of southern Thai home cooking at Hat Yai. Think: fried chicken, Malayu-style curry and house-made roti, a buttery griddle-cooked flatbread. (Featured on Food Paradise, "Lay It on Thick")
Portland, Oregon: Fire on the Mountain
If you’re angling for a pile of mouth-scorching wings after eclipse-chasing, Fire on the Mountain has you covered. If you’ve just realized they were serious about the "fire" part, suds from their microbrewery have you covered, too. Safety first, travelers. (Featured on Food Paradise, "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner")
Portland, Oregon: Pacific Pie Co.
The husband-and-wife team behind Pacific Pie Co. began baking up a storm for local farmers markets in 2009. They traded up to a small café a year later, and these days their creations (like this picture-perfect slice of apple sour cream streusel pie) are in high demand across Portland and Seattle. Psst: Save room for their savory pies, as well. (Featured on Food Paradise, "Like Mama Made")
Kansas City, Missouri: Woodyard BBQ
The eclipse’s path arcs across Missouri and touches Kansas City from the north and St. Louis from the south, so be sure to double-check your map (and plan on heading a bit out of town) before picking your spot. If you’re planning on being in Kansas City, leave your lunch spot to us: Woodyard BBQ has the last remaining outdoor smoker of any restaurant in town. (Featured on Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, "Kansas City: Snoots & Spleens")
Jackson Hole, Wyoming: The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar
Eclipse observers in Jackson Hole will get their show at about 11:30 a.m. local time, when darkness will fall for two minutes and 15 seconds. Lunch will fall immediately afterward at The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, a knobbled-pine jewel box stuffed with bespoke beer and wine, Western memorabilia, live country and western music ("Yes, both kinds"), and both a grill and a steakhouse. Out west, you go big or you go home. (Featured on Food Paradise, "Here’s the Beef")
St. Louis, Missouri: Charlie Gitto’s On the Hill
As the story goes, St. Louis’s much-beloved toasted ravioli got its start at Charlie Gitto’s On the Hill (then called Angelo’s) when a chef dropped a pasta pocket in oil instead of water. How better to celebrate the sun crossing paths with the moon than by crossing paths with that happy accident? Mmm, happy accidents. (Featured on Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations, "St. Louis")
St. Louis, Missouri: Sauce on the Side
If you’re in the mood for a half-moon of calzone, in turn, swing by Sauce on the Side, where hand-tossed dough hugs house-made, locally-sourced ingredients in 15 different combinations. Even the tables in this joint are handmade—by the owners themselves. (Featured on Food Paradise, "Extra Cheesy")
Nashville, Tennessee: Cori’s DogHouse
Nashville’s city limits and suburbs will fall under the totality’s shadow at 1:27 p.m. local time. Meat-lovers and vegans alike can pre-game at wiener wonderland Cori’s DogHouse, where 38 signature hot dogs and sausages and 35 topping options can yield 4 million ("mathematically possible") combinations. Science is beautiful, isn’t it? (Featured on Food Paradise, "Keepin’ It Retro")
Nashville, Tennessee: The Catbird Seat
Speaking of science, folks who planned far in advance will pull up a coveted, somewhat exclusive chair the weekend before the eclipse at The Catbird Seat, where Chef Ryan Poli serves 22 guests an innovative, intimate tasting menu. This mystery bite is his high-concept riff on bar nuts, made with nuts, egg whites, bacon, and a few secret ingredients. (Featured on Bizarre Foods America, "Nashville: Crane Meat and Pigeon Feet")
Nashville, Tennessee: Sky Blue Café
Missed breakfast en route to the totality? Fret not—it’s served all day at Sky Blue Cafe, in East Nashville. Pair a favorite like Em’s Bowl (a biscuit topped with home fries, scrambled eggs, sausage gravy and colby jack cheese) with Sky Blue’s Bloody Mary, made in house with saké(!). (Featured on Food Paradise, "Like Mama Made")
Nashville, Tennessee: Biscuit Love
After three years as a popular food truck, Biscuit Love put down roots in Nashville’s historic Gulch district (which originally housed the downtown railroad terminal) in 2015. Feeling nibbly? Share an order of bonuts (fried biscuit dough with mascarpone and blueberry compote) with friends. Need something more substantial? You might appreciate John’s Ham Bar. Yes, there’s a ham bar. (Featured on Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations, "Nashville")
Nashville, Tennessee: Hattie B’s Hot Chicken
Though Hattie B’s Hot Chicken fires it up for Nashville spice hounds, you don’t have to leave your tastebuds at the counter: Its heat levels range from Southern ("no heat") to Shut the Cluck Up!!! ("burn notice"). Not feeling chicken? Consider pimento mac and cheese or banana pudding (a local favorite). (Featured on Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations, "Nashville")
Nashville, Tennessee: Arnold’s Country Kitchen
For a classic "meat and three," it’s hard to beat (or even keep up with) the ever-changing menu at Arnold’s Country Kitchen. The line snakes out the door from 10:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., Monday through Friday, for an array of favorites that rotates daily. (Featured on Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations, "Nashville")
Nashville, Tennessee: Wendell Smith’s
To wind down with a pitch-perfect southern dessert, head to Wendell Smith’s, where Big Wendell and his descendants have been baking chess pie from scratch since 1952. The "ole restaurant" feeds up to 500 customers per day—"some of which are two-a-day'rs," they say. (Featured on Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations, "Nashville")
Nashville, Tennessee: The Sutler Saloon
If you’re still hungry, join Nashville night owls at The Sutler for local favorites like hot catfish tacos or fried pickles and okra. Music legends like Townes Van Zandt and Johnny Cash have flocked to The Sutler’s stage since 1976, and modern heavies like Luke Bryan and Keith Urban play to a packed house these days. (Featured on Food Paradise, "Midnight Munchies")
Asheville, North Carolina: Biscuit Head
The eclipse’s path will graze the western edge of North Carolina at half past two in the afternoon, which gives you plenty of time to go wild at breakfast at Asheville’s celebrated Biscuit Head (where the biscuits are in fact the size of a cat’s noggin, gravy is available in flights and you’re probably going to want to take some make-at-home dough to go). Why doesn’t every breakfast joint have its own jam bar? (Featured on Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations, "Asheville.")
Asheville, North Carolina: The Market Place
After the sky brightens again, drive back to Asheville for a farm-to-table feast at The Market Place, Chef William Dissen’s love letter to local food. Check out the long, long list of farms and artisan producers Dissen taps for his supplies—and get ready for the best of Appalachia at his place. (Featured on Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations, "Asheville.")
Asheville, North Carolina: Buxton Hall Barbecue
If you’re hankering for a taste of history, get thee to Buxton Hall, where a pair of James Beard Award nominees dish up whole-hog, Eastern-Carolina-style barbecue. Wash that down with an utterly original house cocktail: Family Traditions, made with Ancient Age bourbon, house-made Mountain Dew and house-made Tang. (Featured on Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations, "Asheville.")
Asheville, North Carolina: 12 Bones Smokehouse
For Lexington-style pulled pork and slow-smoked babyback ribs, in turn, head to Asheville’s River Arts District and claim a chair at 12 Bones Smokehouse. Early birds get the 'cue there: The 12 Bones team feeds in-house diners between 11:00 AM and 4:00 PM, then serves up takeout and only takeout between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM. (Featured on Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations, "Asheville.")
Charleston, South Carolina: Charleston Burger Company
The Great Eclipse of 2017 departs the United States via Charleston, where it passes through town and leaves the eastern coast at approximately 2:38 p.m. local time. Taylor Keene of Charleston Burger Company, on the other hand, will be sticking around to feed astronomy buffs planet-sized sandwiches like The Killer Beehive and The Big Hurt. (Featured on Food Paradise, "Bigger Is Better")
Charleston, South Carolina: Hominy Grill
For true grit(s), pay a visit to Hominy Grill, where James Beard Award winner Robert Stehling prepares its namesake Low Country dish with quintessentially Southern care. "This is the food we wish our grandmothers could cook," his team says. Game on, grandmothers. (Featured on Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations, "Charleston")
Charleston, South Carolina: Fleet Landing
At Fleet Landing—on the waterfront near City Market in Charleston’s historic downtown—traditional she-crab soup is a specialty of the house. Executive Chef Drew Hedlund combines cream, crab meat, roe, and a splash of sherry, per Charleston tradition. (Featured on Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations, "Charleston")
Charleston, South Carolina: Bowens Island Restaurant
Eclipse-chasing seafood lovers will also find a warm—nay, fiery—welcome at Bowens Island Restaurant, five minutes from Folly Beach. In The Oyster Room, the Bowens team dumps bushels of freshly-harvested oysters on a steel plate heated over an open pit, then covers them with wet burlap to steam them open. (Featured on Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations, "Charleston")
Charleston, South Carolina: Bessinger’s Barbeque
The Bessingers are known as the "first family of barbeque" in South Carolina, and Andrew Zimmern called their mustard-based sauce the best spicy sauce he’d ever tasted. If you find it hard to say goodbye to Bessinger’s Barbecue at the end of your Great Eclipse trip, fear not: They’ll happily send you home with ribs, pork, brisket, chicken, and as many sides as you can carry. (Featured on Food Paradise, "Barbecue Bliss")