The Wednesday breakfast crowd at the Cracker Barrel off I-81 in Troutville has the same faces many weeks, parked in the same rocking chairs before the doors even open. One regular walks straight past the check-in screen by the door and heads for a table anyway. She’s been coming since before the porch had its…
For close to ninety years, a Publix shopper paid the exact same price as the person standing behind them in line, no matter who they were. Some of what changed since then made shopping easier. Some of it just costs more. These are the ways Publix changed while Florida shoppers weren’t looking. Note: This is…
Drive across the Ohio state line in almost any direction, and a whole category of restaurant signs disappears from the road. The chili spot vanishes. So does the burger drive-in with the double-decker sandwich, and the regional pizza chain down the street from it. These are Ohio restaurants many parts of the country have never…
Golden Corral lost about 185 locations during the pandemic, and the version of buffet dining many people picture went down with a lot of them. But that’s not the case for all buffet restaurants in Florida. These are the Florida buffets that people go out of their way for fresh-carved turkey or a dessert table…
Would you guess that Duke’s Mayonnaise, the jar many South Carolina pantries keep for sandwiches, also turns up in dessert? To many out-of-staters, that sounds like a joke. But in South Carolina, some of the tastiest food traditions are the ones that seem like they shouldn’t work, yet somehow do. 1. Dousing Pork in Mustard…
North Carolina keeps its own rules for what counts as a barbecue plate, a breakfast loaf, and a dessert. Some of it is protected by state law. Some of it has never left one county. These are the North Carolina diner menu items that you’ll be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the country. 1….
Waffle House’s hash browns come in 1,572,864 possible combinations. That’s not a typo. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution built that figure from Waffle House’s own sizes, toppings, and cooking methods. Steamed and cooked dry are two of those cooking styles, and neither term shows up on the printed menu servers hand out. These are the off-menu orders…
Arby’s brought its Potato Cakes back permanently in February 2025, backing the promise with a pledge to hand out $1 million worth of free food if the chain ever pulls them again. Many abandoned fast-food sides don’t get that kind of ending. These are the fast-food sides Californians think deserve one more shot. 1. Jack…
Three days is how long one Mississippi sandwich spends boiling before it’s ready to eat. Out-of-staters need talking into the first bite. Locals don’t need convincing. These are the Mississippi foods out-of-staters refuse to try that locals would never give up. 1. Koolickles Mississippi’s koolickles start as an ordinary dill pickle before someone drops it…
Food Lion backs its private-label groceries with one of the stronger guarantees in grocery retail. Nevertheless, it’s easy for newcomers to make mistakes that have nothing to do with a refund. These are the Food Lion habits that often trip up newcomers in Tennessee until they learn the ropes. Note: This is general information, not…
