Eat Your Way Across the U.S.A., Revised Edition [Paperback]

Jane Stern (Author), Michael Stern (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; Rev Upd edition (May 18, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767900936
• ISBN-13: 978-0767900935
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 4.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,102,491 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I know of for finding good regional food., May 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Eat Your Way Across the U.S.A., Revised Edition (Paperback)

I have been using the Stern's books for years to find unique eating places serving regional food. Even my kids like most of their choices. They don't just leave an impression on their stomachs, but also in their imaginations. I think they've done a good job of updating the book, down to adding a restaurant I was about to write to them about. If you want "fancy places" this book isn't for you. If you want real stuff, this is the source. R. Jeffs

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From a professional traveler, July 4, 2000

By 

Brian Myers Cooper (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eat Your Way Across the U.S.A., Revised Edition (Paperback)

I'm on the road 365 day a year, and acclimating to new surroundings is a survival skill I've learned over the years. When I roll into a new town, the first things I do are: buy a map, find a Post Office, a decent grocery, a good gym, the quickest route home from my work and call all the recomendations in the Stern's witty and unfailingly accurate guide for directions. I've not had a bad meal yet, and the person who gave me the book at the start of my tour told me the same thing. If you travel a lot, and you can't face another Applebees/McDonalds/Denny's/SouperSalad et.al. then this will steer you right to where you and your stomach want to be. It's just indespensible! Their descriptions of "shatteringly crisp fried chicken" and "glorious sloppy joes" are enough to cause you to drool embarassingly. But don't worry, the places in this guide are used to Pavlovian patrons! Enjoy.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not as useful as I'd hoped, July 2, 2001

By 

C. Ryan (Winthrop, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eat Your Way Across the U.S.A., Revised Edition (Paperback)

The best parts are the "sidebars", short articles on things like different styles of clam chowder and lists of good steak houses or pie spots that you might want to copy down for quick reference if you travel a lot. However, the restaurant listings are far too incomplete to really use this as a comprehensive source of advice for long road trips. Even "500+" listings have to get spread pretty thin over a country as large as the good old USA! And be warned, this is a meat eater's book that lists LOTS of steak houses, hot dog stands, hamburger joints and bar-b-q spots.

There is an average of about 10-12 places listed for each state, with no apparent relationship between the size of the state and the number of restaurants listed: Maine gets 20 listings (surprise, there're a lot of lobster shacks along the coast up there!) while New York gets just 19, and our largest state, California, only gets 26 (of which 70% are in SF, LA and San Diego).

Western states are particularly sparsely covered. There are only 7 tips for Colorado, but the Sterns guide us to 16 culinary Meccas in Alabama. The Sterns can't find even one place to list in Phoenix (admittedly not a great restaurant city, although I managed to find a few good spots the last time I was there). "Oh well, Mildred, there's nothin' here, we'll just have to drive a few hundred more miles to LA before we can eat."

Based on the authors' selection of restaurants for the area of the country where I live, Seattle, I concluded that the Sterns have no more insight into the identities of good local restaurants than you can find in a typical travel guide. My experience is that most conventional city and regional guidebooks list at least as many worthwhile places as the Sterns and they are usually written by locals who really do know some of good spots. For metro areas I've had good results with the Zagat surveys.