The Absolute Best Thing To Eat In Every State

In traveling this country, you'll quickly notice that there's no shortage of singular and delicious restaurants at which to pull over and enjoy a quick meal. But this poses a conundrum: What is the absolute best thing to order, and where can you get it? Each state has its own regional comfort foods and iconic restaurant dishes, so we've tracked down the very best thing to eat in every state and Washington, D.C.

Chris Lilly is one of America's most renowned pitmasters, and with good reason. He took over the pit at Big Bob Gibson in 1992, introducing new sauces and rubs to the equation. Suddenly, this restaurant that has been around since 1925 was on the map. Lilly is best known for his Alabama-style white sauce, a tangy concoction that best complements his smoked chicken. Since its introduction, Alabama-style has become one of America's essential barbecue styles. Half-chickens are smoked for three and a half hours over hickory and dunked in a zippy, peppery mayo-based sauce before being served.

Named an American Classic by the James Beard Foundation in 2012, The Fry Bread House specializes in fry bread, a traditional Native American round of dough fried in vegetable shortening until light and airy, then topped with a wide variety of items ranging from traditional taco fillings to ice cream. The Fry Bread House was founded in 1992 by Cecelia Miller of the Tohono O'odham Nation and is still family-run. You can order yours plain or topped with cheese or beans (the classic "Indian taco" contains pinto beans, shredded cheese and lettuce), but we suggest you go all-in Arizona-style and get the spicy green or red beef chili.

Run by Miguel Jara and his family since 1973, La Taqueria is the most legendary burrito (and taco) joint in San Francisco, and it's still the best. We suggest you go with the carnitas, which are rolled up with slow-cooked pinto beans and pico de gallo (you can also make it a "super" and add in cheese, sour cream and guacamole). To prepare the carnitas, Jara slow-cooks chunks of pork shoulder in cauldrons of bubbling lard until tender, then roasts them until they're crispy. All the praise this perpetually packed institution receives is well deserved. After all, it's serving the best burritos in America.

Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana is a bucket-list destination. The New Haven icon opened in Wooster Square in 1925 and the pizzas here are quintessential New Haven-style: oblong, just a little charred, thin-crusted, chewy, coal-fired and irresistible. There are 11 locations in the region, and at each one, the original coal oven has been faithfully replicated, brick-by-brick. If you visit, make sure you try the clam pie, a Northeastern pizza genre unto its own. Freshly shucked, briny littleneck clams, garlic, olive oil, oregano and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano sit atop a charcoal-colored crust. It's so good, in fact, that we've named it the very best pizza in America.

In many ways, the Cuban sandwich is the unofficial sandwich of Miami. Just about all Miami Cuban sandwiches contain the same ingredients — ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard on Cuban bread, pressed until melty. The definitive version can be found at Versailles, located in Miami's Little Havana. Fresh Cuban-style white bread loaves are baked in-house; ham is glazed with brown sugar, pineapple juice and cloves before being baked; whole pork legs are marinated and slow-roasted for three hours daily; and imported Swiss cheese is sliced thick. A good Cuban sandwich depends on the quality of its ingredients, and the ingredients in Versailles' version are just about perfect. The end result? One of the best sandwiches in America.

Honolulu's Rainbow Drive-In, which has been in business since 1961, is the best place in the state for that uniquely Hawaiian creation, the plate lunch. The traditional plate lunch is customizable, but here it always contains a protein, two scoops of rice and one scoop of macaroni salad or slaw. As for the protein? It's up to you, but options here include barbecue beef or pork, fish, beef or pork cutlets, chili, burger patties, beef stew or (on Tuesdays and Thursdays) "spaghetti with weiner." It's exactly as filling as it sounds, and it makes the Rainbow Drive-In one of America's drive-ins worth pulling up to.

Way back in 1938, Al's #1 Italian Beef started as a small food stand, later morphing into an iconic Chicago franchise with six Chicagoland locations. To make this beauty, sirloin is rubbed with a secret spice blend, dry-roasted, thinly sliced, made into a sandwich and then dunked in Al's signature "gravy" (similar to au jus). Customers can choose how much or little gravy they want, but Al's encourages customers to get their sandwiches "wet," in which extra gravy is added to the sandwich before serving. Topped with the signature giardiniera, a tart and spicy pickled vegetable blend, this sandwich is among the underrated sandwiches you need to try.

An Iowa staple that's a true Midwestern regional specialty, the "loose meat" sandwich (also called a tavern sandwich) can be thought of as a sloppy Joe without the sauce. It features crumbled seasoned ground beef on a bun, topped with mustard, pickles and chopped onions. Even though you can find it in plenty of small local restaurants, the one to visit is Taylor's Maid-Rite in Marshalltown. Going strong since 1928, it's a truly historic institution. If you can't make it there, don't worry — there are franchised locations all across the Midwest (just called Maid-Rite).

The Hot Brown is Kentucky's most famous culinary contribution, invented in the 1920s by Fred Schmidt, chef at Louisville's luxurious Brown Hotel. The hotel is still going strong, and the best place to enjoy this renowned open-faced sandwich is at its point of origin — it's served at the hotel's three restaurants and in-room. To make the definitive version of this classic dish, toast is topped with sliced turkey and doused in a creamy pecorino-based Mornay sauce before being browned in the broiler. Crispy bacon and sliced tomatoes round it out.

Red's Eats serves what very well might be the best lobster roll on Earth out of a tiny waterfront shack. The roll itself is heaping with fresh, wet lobster — so much that it falls all over. It tastes freshly caught because it is. Get butter (warmed in a kettle on the stove) and mayo on the side. It's lobster roll perfection, making Red's one of America's best hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

The Union Oyster House claims to be Boston's oldest restaurant, in business since 1826, and its New England clam chowder is the industry standard. It starts (as all great clam chowders do) with diced salt pork, which is rendered down and combined with butter, flour, onion and celery to form a roux. It's combined with house-made clam juice, half-and-half, chopped fresh clams, a couple dashes of Tabasco and diced potatoes. The end result is thick, creamy, simple and perfect.

Ah, the legendary Jucy Lucy (yes, Matt's spells it without the "i"). While the battle rages between Matt's Bar and the nearby 5-8 Club over who invented this brilliant burger variation (basically a cheeseburger with the cheese inside the patty instead of on top), the one at Matt's Bar is the superior specimen. Legend has it that shortly after the restaurant opened in 1954, a hungry customer came in and asked for two burger patties with a slice of cheese in the middle. He took a bite, proclaimed it to be "one juicy Lucy!" — and an icon was born. Only freshly ground beef goes into each hand-formed burger, and the first bite yields a river of molten, gooey cheese.

Arthur Bryant's grew out of a place owned by Henry Perry, the so-called "father of Kansas City barbecue." When Perry died in 1940, Charlie Bryant, one of his employees, took it over, and after his death, his brother Arthur assumed ownership. Millions have flocked to it ever since for its hickory- and oak wood-smoked ribs slathered in a tangy vinegar sauce and melt-in-your-mouth brisket. Arthur Bryant died at 80 years old in 1982, in the middle of working a shift, but the restaurant continues to thrive.

Sort of like a Hot Pocket on steroids, a runza (occasionally called a bierock) is essentially a long roll that's been stuffed with meat, onions, sauerkraut or other fillings. This Volga German-inspired sandwich is insanely popular in parts of the Midwest, especially Nebraska. That's the home base of a chain of the same name that was founded in 1949 and has about 80 locations throughout the region. The original ground beef, onions and cabbage runza is a good standby, but the addition of some gooey American cheese kicks it up a couple notches.

Family-owned and -operated since 1950, Brown's Lobster Pound has been serving some of New Hampshire's freshest catches since 1950. Pick your plucked-out-of-the-ocean lobster from one of the tanks, have it boiled and cracked to order, and enjoy it overlooking the water with some drawn butter.

Founded as Bobcat Bite in 1953, Santa Fe Bite has had a long and fraught history, recently complicated by a yearlong closure that was thankfully rectified by a reopening in a new location in August. And thank goodness for that, because the signature green chile cheeseburgers served here are astounding. These burgers start with a 10-ounce chuck-sirloin patty, which is seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic salt and onion salt as it sears on a griddle. A heaping spoonful of roasted and chopped Hatch green chiles (a New Mexico claim to culinary fame) is piled on top, followed by a melting layer of LaBlatt Swiss-American cheese. It's placed onto a custom-made brioche-style bun and served alongside some housemade potato chips.

It's all about the pork when it comes to "Lexington-style" North Carolina barbecue. Though countless restaurants serve their take on smoked pork shoulder sandwiches, none quite compare to Lexington Barbecue, which has been going strong since 1962. You can order yours sliced or chopped (we prefer chopped), but make sure you don't skimp on the slaw: a tangy mix of cabbage, vinegar and pepper. It's a smoky, porky, perfect expression of a beloved regional barbecue style.

There are hundreds of chili parlors in Cincinnati, and most of them are chains of varying quality. But ask around and plenty of people will tell you that Skyline is the place to go, chain or otherwise. There's a specific way of ordering your chili in this state. "Two-way" is topped with beefy, sweet chili (a regional style made with a bevy of spices including cocoa, allspice, cumin, and chili powder), "three-way" adds cheddar, "four-way" adds onions or beans, and "five-way" adds both beans and onions. Go all-out and get the five-way on top of spaghetti (the traditional way). If you're not a pasta fan, you can also get your chili on top of hot dogs, baked potatoes or in a bowl.

When Gabriel Rucker first opened Le Pigeon in 2006, he only served five of these outstanding burgers per night. How cruel. Today, thankfully, the burger can be purchased at all times at the original Le Pigeon. And what a burger it is. A thick square patty of beef from a local farm is seasoned with salt and pepper, grilled (a rarity) and topped with sharp Tillamook white cheddar, an iceberg lettuce slaw, thick slices of grilled pickled onions, mayo, mustard and house-made ketchup. That beautiful mess of ingredients is then piled atop a ciabatta bun.

Olneyville N.Y. System, with two locations in Providence, claims to serve "Rhode Island's Best Hot Wieners," and while that will always remain a point of contention, they're certainly the most legendary. The New York System dog is a regional specialty: Small franks are steamed, placed atop a steamed bun and topped with a cumin-heavy meat sauce, yellow mustard, diced onions and celery salt. You're going to want to order a few of these because they're little and addictive (see how many of them the counterman can balance on his arm).

A beloved landmark that draws locals and Black Hills tourists alike, Black Hills Burger & Bun Co. is run by the husband and wife duo of Claude and Christie Smith, who take their burgers very seriously. Burgers are made from chuck, which is ground in-house daily, formed into 6-ounce patties, seared and served on a house-made bun with your choice of toppings and a side (try the baked beans). There's a nice variety of burger styles on offer (including a few veggie options), but you can't go wrong with The Western, with cheddar, bacon, grilled onions and barbecue sauce.

Pitmaster Aaron Franklin and his wife Stacey started selling barbecue from an Airstream trailer in 2009, and today they're serving what very well may be the best barbecue in America. How did they get there? For one, attention to detail. The quality of the meat, the care and attention put into the seasoning, the wood, the smoking process and the carving ... Franklin literally has it down to a science, and the crowds show up in droves every day to sample the fruits of his labor. Salt and pepper, meat, smoke and time are all that go into his brisket, ribs, pulled pork and turkey, and the end result is, well, perfect. Visiting Franklin Barbecue requires some planning: Folks show up in the wee hours of the morning to claim a place in line, the doors open at 11, and they close up shop as soon as the meat runs out, usually by 3. It's a pilgrimage that all barbecue lovers should make. After all, Franklin Barbecue is No. 1 on our list of the best casual restaurants in America.

We made every effort to limit this list to only savory foods, but this one was just too singular to overlook. Sugar on Snow is one of Vermont's favorite foods, and there's nothing else quite like it. A mound of crushed ice (or "snow") with some fresh maple syrup drizzled onto it so it firms up like taffy, traditionally served with a doughnut and a pickle on the side. The combination may not make sense — until you try it. The best place to experience this uniquely Vermont food is at a sugarhouse like the one at Montpelier's Bragg Farm.

Eat blue crabs in Maine, king crabs in Alaska and Dungeness crabs in Washington. And the best place to indulge in the freshest Dungeness crab is at any of the several locations of Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar in Seattle and environs. The fifth-generation company has been farming shellfish in the Puget Sound since 1890, and from Olympia oysters to geoduck, its offerings are second-to-none. But the must-order is the whole Dungeness crab, which is simply served cracked and chilled with cocktail sauce or ginger slaw. It's the true taste of the Pacific Northwest.

The pepperoni roll is the definitive snack food of West Virginia, a no-frills bread roll filled with either sticks or slices of pepperoni. When baked, some of the spicy oil from the pepperoni seeps into the surrounding bread, resulting in a hearty and delicious nosh. Some contain cheese, some are served warm instead of room temp, some contain shredded or ground pepperoni, but the end result is always addictively delicious. You can find pepperoni rolls everywhere from gas stations to fine-dining spots, but the roll served at Terra Café in Star City is the one to beat. These plump round buns, made in-house by head baker Sue Hartman, are filled with wide pepperoni slices and cheese and served warm. They're a perfectly proportioned, perfectly delicious version of this West Virginia classic.

Wyoming is a meat-eater's state, and there's no shortage of options when it comes to big slabs of beef and its countrified cousin, chicken-fried steak. The best place to try this country classic, one of Wyoming's most beloved dishes, is at Cheyenne's Luxury Diner, which got its start as a trolley car diner in 1926 and hasn't changed much since. Chicken-fried steak is the signature dish here: a fresh steak pounded thin, breaded, deep-fried to golden-brown perfection and doused in a thick and hearty country gravy. It's gut-busting perfection, and some might even say it's better than what's found at some of America's best steakhouses.

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