NC to Chicago - BBQ and what else?

I have a happy reason for a quick road trip this week: my brother-in-law returned from a 15-month deployment in Iraq, and I need to help my mom get her car back from Ft. Bragg. Since I just found out I am flying to RDU and driving from Fayetteville, NC to Chicago on Thursday and Friday this week, I need to get planning all the food stops!

I just checked the BBQ threads using the search function, but need more help. We are particularly interested in any regional specialties, BBQ and homestyle breakfast food. Mmmmmm, mouth is watering thinking of these yet-to-be-determined places I will visit.....

First of all, I will drag my brother-in-law and sister (and their 2-year old son, who eats everything!) to someplace great for BBQ in the Research Triangle. Was thinking of The Pit or Ole Time BBQ in Raleigh, but could hit Q Shack in Durham or Allen & Son in Chapel Hill. So we might be able to take care of the need for BBQ without leaving the Triangle.

And then onto the trip, where I need help with food along the road:

MapQuest has the route circumventing Charlotte, passing through Winston-Salem, crossing a bit of Virginia (I-74) and West Virginia (I-77), and into Kentucky (I-64/75), through Lexington (I'm sure there's something delicious there!!). It wants me to skirt Cincinnati on I-275, take I-74 to/around Indianapolis, and then I-65 and I-80 up toward Chicago. We probably won't want to stop for anything but a snack after Indianapolis because I know what my mom wants in Chicago (i.e. Ed's Potsticker House, Spoon Thai, Lou Malnati's, Milk & Honey).

I would appreciate any advice on this very long (875 mile) trip. We are open to small detours, but we have only two days to drive it so it would have to be something worthwhile. We plan to stop for the night wherever we can have the best breakfast the next morning. Even if that means staying in NC. I'm not joking about this! Great biscuits and cheese grits are that important to me. Thanks.

Cheers,
Susan

Personally, I would do I-74 into Cincinnati, I-75 into Knoxville and I-40 into NC. I am not really enthralled with I-77 or I-64 in West Virginia.

My one recommendation would be the Boone Tavern, a hotel/restaurant operated by the students of Berea College. The school charges no tuition but requires its students to work 15 hours a week in one of the campus work centers.

Boone Tavern
100 Main St. N
Berea, KY 40403
1-800-366-9358

Scratch the Berea Inn as the restaurant is closed until February for renovation.

You might want to consider the Kopper Kettle in Morristown, Indiana just off I74. I forget the actual history, but it was an inn and restaurant dating back to the 1800's. Now they only serve food, but it's a neat old building with lots of antiques. The food is family style and tasty. We've been going there for fried chicken since I was a little girl.

In Cincinnatti, Graeter's Ice Cream is worth a stop if you need something sweet.

Check Shapiro's (kosher deli) in Indianapolis for made to order breakfast or great sandwiches at lunch. And just north of Indy in West Lafayette you might want to try XXX Hamburgers (triplexxxfamilyrestaurants.com). They serve a pretty darn good breakfast and lunch as well as some ice cream treats and XXX root beer.

Have fun!

Susan wrote:Great biscuits and cheese grits are that important to me.

Good thing is, you really can't go wrong in the Biscuit Belt. Even the chains are good, and put the majority of biscuits in the rest of the country to shame. I would kill for a Bojangles biscuit right now, and kill twice for a biscuit from my go-to spot, Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen in Chapel Hill which would even make a guy named Jim from Logan Square swoon. Good biscuits are so easy to find I would let my desire for filling guide my choice. Some places have great country ham, fried chicken, or a noteworthy gravy, but the biscuits - the biscuits - they were always damn good everywhere.

You'll find Bojangles and Biscuitvilles along your route, just make sure not to pass a dozen of them, only to find out you've passed them all by just because you didn't have to pull over to pee. Check the locations on their websites and plan accordingly.

Biscuitville
http://www.biscuitville.com/default.aspx

Bojangles
http://www.bojangles.com/

Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen
1305 E. Franklin
Chapel Hill, NC
919-933-1324

As for barbecue in the Triangle, I would probably opt for Allen & Son in Chapel Hill (not the one in Pittsboro). The Q Shack is what I imagine Smoque is like (and their Eastern NC style pork butt isn't really in the same class as others in the area - I actually prefer their other offerings, like brisket). You are not going to find anybody smokin' hog in Chicagoland like they do at Allen & Son.

For something totally one-of-a-kind and definitely detour-worthy, stop in at Keaton's Barbecue in Cleveland, NC. Forget about the menu, you are here for the chicken. Which is deep-fried and dipped in house barbecue sauce, but that alone is a travesty of a description. There is some kind of other magic at hand, some of kind of beautiful alchemy, that, well, I'll let Stern at Roadfood describe it:

Michael Stern wrote:"The menu calls it barbecued, which it is, sort of, but it is also fried. In fact, what happens is that it is first fried to a crisp then momentarily immersed in a bubbling cauldron of founder B.W. Keaton’s fire-hot barbecue sauce. The hot sauce penetrates the crust and meat of the chicken and caramelizes all around its outside edges, resulting in pieces of chicken that are hot, sweet, and savory all at once: a culinary sensation.

They have a "No Profanity" sign there, because it really is that f#%&'n good.

Allen & Son Barbecue
6203 Millhouse Rd
Chapel Hill, NC 27516-8101
Phone: (919) 942-7576

Keaton's Barbecue
17365 Cool Springs Rd
Cleveland, NC
704-278-1619

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I'm drawing huge blanks for other ideas right now, but if I can think of anymore I'll post them here later tonight hopefully in time for your trip.

If you're going to hit or bypass Shelby in the NC Piedmont, you may want to check out Bridges Barbeque. The meat is cooked over electric heat rather than wood. But, it is a good sample of western NC tomato based sauce served with that piquant red "barbeque slaw".