Interstate 80 (I80): West of the Denver Turnoff (I76)

Driving to California on I80, I searched for help on the board, but Wyoming seems to be a food desert (even on Roadfood, it is as if southern Wyoming doesn't exist). I decided to make up for this. When I got to Rock Springs, WY I decided to find the most GNR restaurant around. Well, I didn't quite succeed, but I did find a decent place to eat. I pulled off the Interstate, and started asking. I was pointed to a Chinese and American restaurant across from the gas station (I checked it out, but sort of rolled my eyes). However, the clerk at the gas station told me that she had been a waitress at Lew's Family Restaurant, and that sounded suitably western, and I drove a mile or two to find it. Surprise. Lew's Family Restaurant is ALSO Chinese and American, and Lew is the family name of the Chinese owner. I was a pleasant, clean space. Still, they advertised their chicken fried steak. I ordered the breaded veal with gravy with hash-brown potatoes. The potatoes were nothing much, not crispy at all, but the veal had a nice crispy coating and the gravy tasted home-made. I don't know if Lew's deserve an honored mention on Roadfood, but it is better than Subway.

Lew's Family Restaurant
1506 9th Street
Rock Springs, WY 82901
307-382-9894

Looking forward to an upcoming Chicago to Northern California roadtrip and wondering if any LTHers have any favorite stops or routes they like to take. While this will be mostly a 'get there as quickly and painlessly as possible' trip, we'd still like to plan our attack around some better than chain/fast-food dinners. We'll likely make a three-night journey and are loosely aiming for stops in Lincoln, NE, Rawlins, WY, and Elko NV.

We'd greatly appreciate any and all recs! We'll be going with pets and will likely be repeating the trip in a bit more leisurely fashion in a couple of months. I'll be happy to update this thread with our experiences.

Thank you for any insights!