Chicago to Florida I-65/75 (and Fort Laud./environs) - help!

So - a long road-trip, with a few too many foodie-constraints - but if LTH cant help, nobody can! (Ive done some research on the Florida-threads and a few road-trip threads on here already, but there are a few specific constraints which make this difficult, and unique...)

It will be a group of people - at least a couple of whom will be vegetarians(!!) - and all unadventurous eaters who will push for McWendys on the highway (time is a big factor). First, I was hoping for some help very very close to the highways (I-65 from Chicago, thru Indy, thru Louisville, to Nashville; then I-75 thru Atlanta, down to Florida...and then either the 75 thru Gainesville, Ocala, Orland to FortLaud, or US-23 and I-95 near Jacksonville, Daytona etc). Any help appreciated - esp. if its really close to the highway and can be taken to go (if its great bbq, for eg, Id go to lengths to make it happen - the non-bbq-ers can grab something from a chain on the same exit) Anything really worthwhile, Id love to call in and pick up (even great biscuits-and-gravy, Id be willing to eat in a car .. so few things are off-the-table, as long as its very close to the 65/75).

Then, a few days in Fort Lauderdale. Will have a car - but am restricted to somewhat close to Fort Lauderdale, Lauderhill, Sunrise etc (max 30-odd miles in any direction, if its *really* worthwhile, time is a constraint). Ideally great shacks (seafood, Caribbean, Cuban - or great diners, anything good really)- ideally under $20 pp or so (maybe a touch more on occasion - again, a few non-foodies involved..). Or if there's a spot or two that are *really* outstanding (which Id make a real attempt to drive to on my own if possible).

Any help greatly appreciated- thanks!

c8w

i just made the run twice, calumet fisheries and smokin pig bbq in brunswick ga. was awesome

Even though the northern outpost of Shapiro's in Indianapolis has moved a bit farther from I-465 than the previous location, I would still take the extra minutes from the highway to go there. Or, if you are taking I-65 straight through town, the downtown location is only a few blocks from the highway. The vegetarians can eat salads, mac & cheese, egg salad or cheese sandwiches, and desserts. The omnivores can enjoy excellent corned beef or pastrami on some of the best rye bread anywhere. If you are leaving Chicago in the morning, it's a great lunch stop. Plenty of love on LTH for this Indianapolis institution.

http://www.shapiros.com/

Shapiro's Downtown
808 S Meridian St
Indianapolis, IN 46225
317.631.4041
6:30am to 8:00pm Everyday

Shapiro's Carmel
918 S Rangeline Rd
Carmel, IN 46032
317.573.3354
Mon - Sat 6:30am to 9:00pm
Sun 6:30am to 8:00pm

seminolephil wrote:i just made the run twice, calumet fisheries and smokin pig bbq in brunswick ga. was awesome

Thanks for the Calumet Fisheries rec - had forgotten it would be right off the 90 (been there plenty of times, but usually internal roads down to 95th street!) The Smoking Pig bbq had me excited - googled it and it sounded terrific! But then I sadly discovered that its on the I-95, not the I-75 we'll be travelling in that area (only 70 or so miles away - if I was on my own Id have made the detour in a heartbeat!) One day...

c8w

EvA wrote: The vegetarians can eat salads, mac & cheese, egg salad or cheese sandwiches, and desserts. The omnivores can enjoy excellent corned beef or pastrami on some of the best rye bread anywhere. If you are leaving Chicago in the morning, it's a great lunch stop. Plenty of love on LTH for this Indianapolis institution.
http://www.shapiros.com/

Thanks, I'll put it on the list! (We're leaving Chicago at 7pm, so we'll unfortunately miss it on our way down.... but we should be passing Indy during the day on the way back, I think... in which case this sounds like a terrific option!)

c8w

P.S. Shouldnt most all-night-type-diners down south also have pretty darn good biscuits-and-gravy at least, BTW? I hope we'll at least run across some such places near the highway!

If you get off the highway for Shapiro's Downtown (a very worthwhile stop) you'll be about a mile from John's Famous Stew. It would be tough for me to choose between Shapiro's corned beef or a bowl of hot stew and/or a tenderloin from John's (vegetarians would probably be happier at Shapiro's). Why not stop at both?

Shapiro's pastrami


John's bowl of medium, bowl of hot*


In Nashville, Arnold's Country Kitchen is only a few blocks from I-65. I can't imagine being within 100 miles and not stopping in. Best meat 'n' three I've been to, without question. Just the "three" would be a spectacular vegetarian meal. Weekday lunch only.

Arnold's roast beef, mac & cheese, greens, fried green tomatoes


Shapiro's Delicatessen
808 S Meridian St
Indianapolis IN
317-631-4041

John’s Famous Stew
1146 Kentucky Av
Indianapolis IN
317-636-6212

Arnold's Country Kitchen
605 8th Av S
Nashville TN
615-256-4455

* At John's the bowls are color coded: red=hot, yellow=medium, white=mild.

I'm a big sucker for Indiana cafeterias, and Byrd's in Greenwood, Indiana, about 45 min south of Indianapolis is one of the best of the genre.

http://www.jonathanbyrds.com/

I've posted extensively on Broward, see various threads. It's filled with interesting places to eat for sure.

My favorite place in Lauderdale right now is YOLO, on Las Olas. It's very happening and actually pretty reasonably priced.

http://yolorestaurant.com/home.html

For breakfast, there is a great bakery called Gran Forno. They also have terrific sandwiches for lunch.

http://www.granforno.com/index.html

My next favorite bakery is Croissantime.

http://croissantime.com/

RevrendAndy wrote:My favorite place in Lauderdale right now is YOLO, on Las Olas. It's very happening and actually pretty reasonably priced.

http://yolorestaurant.com/home.html

For breakfast, there is a great bakery called Gran Forno. They also have terrific sandwiches for lunch.

http://www.granforno.com/index.html

My next favorite bakery is Croissantime.

http://croissantime.com/

Thanks! Quick question... on looking for a menu, I found 2 Gran Fornos in Fort Lauderdale... a Gran Forno Pronto (on 704 East Las Olas) also, which seems to have gotten awards... related at all? Or not worth the visit? (This one had a menu, the link above didnt..). I'll definitely make it to Croissantime - its very close (a couple miles) to where I'll be staying I think (thanks much for the recs..anything else in that vicinity, ie near Croissantime, that stands out? For a late-night meal on a weekday, perhaps?).

c8w

Once you get into Tennessee on I-75, Sonny's BBQ becomes a good, immediately-off-the-Interstate option.

www.sonnysbbq.com

It's not Smoque or Honey 1, by any means, but it's a good alternative to the unnumerable Cracker Barrels that line that Atlanta corridor.

...not that I care, since I'm not driving, but I wouldn't contemplate driving all the way down 75 to Central FL then driving down the bland center of the state on the Turnpike to Ft. Lauderdale, when I could instead drive down the Gulf Coast to Alligator Alley across to Ft. Lauderdale. You might lose some time, but you also go over the Skyway (an impressively high and long bridge over blue water), past the state's best beaches, then through the 'glades on a wicked cool drive and you can inclue the very well documented Tampa Bay area resources of LTH. Just sayin. Otherwise, you might be better served jogging over to 95 at Macon GA and enjoying some of the Low Country stuff. Driving down Florida's gullet on the turnpike is sorta like driving down California from SF to LA on the 5. Lotsa nothing.

Also, some people like the Sonny's chain (mentioned just above), which I think started in FL (I grew up with it), but to me it's usually serviceable at best with wild variations between the many franchises. Some can be quite good, but you'll need up to date research. A sure bet is Martin's, the modern whole-hog, wood-only BBQ place in Nolensville, TN -- close to an exit off 24, south of Nashville, which connects 65 to 75 in Chattanooga. Was just there a few months ago and liked it a lot. Hoe cakes with pulled whole hog, the "redneck tacos" are great.

I used to drive to FL frequently from Chicago. To me, the best route in terms of scenery and places to stop is clearly 65/24/75, with Indy, Louisville, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta all having merits, and the KY through North GA stretch of road being particularly pleasant and scenic, though Georgia south of Macon through North Florida is brutally flat and monotonous. BBQ nuts would go 57-24-75 to bring in far downstate IL and Western KY.

Gran Forno Pronto is a new place opened by the same owners so I imagine it's the same quality. Unfortunately, I don't have any other recommendations for you around Croissanttime.

Super Hans wrote:Once you get into Tennessee on I-75, Sonny's BBQ becomes a good, immediately-off-the-Interstate option.

"Groan"...the only good thing about Sonny's is his TV ads. That chain is the blueprint for factory que. There is one here in my town about a block from an independent, wood-fueled cooker run by a retired GA State Trooper, and yet there are still some folks who frequent Sonny's.

I just have no tolerance for pressed and formed turkey roll that hits your plate in uniformly round, thin slices.

Just MHO.

If you do end up near Louisville for a meal, there are 3 places right downtown off of I-65 that I can think of that may be worth your time.

For breakfast, Toast on Market is one of the better breakfast places in Louisville. Lively atmosphere and very close to the expressway (<1 mile). http://toastonmarket.com/

Two other spots for a casual meal in that area are Doc Crow's and Garage Bar. Doc Crow's has BBQ, oysters and southern style cuisine. Fairly large menu, I have enjoyed the oysters, ribs and po' boys there. Certainly not the best rendition I have had of any of those items, but all well done. Garage Bar is a pizza and whiskey bar. Fun atmosphere, unique setting and again very close to the expressway.

http://doccrows.com/

http://www.garageonmarket.com/site/

little500 wrote:"Groan"

I knew that this suggestion was likely to provoke this reaction from some posters.

Super Hans wrote:

little500 wrote:"Groan"

I knew that this suggestion was likely to provoke this reaction from some posters.

I would have been OK with it except for the use of "good". And you're right about the plethora of Cracker Barrels along the southern interstates. That said, I do like their eggs/smoked sausage/hashbrown casserole/biscuit breakfast. It's called something like "The Oldtimer".

Re: Arnold's (Nashville) and John's Famous Stew (Indy):

This is all still the best advice. Arnold's, Christ. On a recent visit I tasted the best version of a bunch of things - collards, chess pie, banana pudding, fried green tomatoes, chicken n dumplings, hoe cakes. Tremendous stuff. And I always go to John's when I'm in Indy for work. Always.

Let me add to the wealth here. In Knoxville there is one of the unlikeliest spots, a tweaked Neapolitan pizza place not unlike Stop 50 or Coalfire. This ex-Chicagoan is making stellar pies in a stripmall near the UT campus in a town with otherwise disappointing options. Hard Knocks Pizza:

http://hardknoxpizza.com/Menu.html

Oh yeah, and near the Great Smokey Mountain Nat'l Park, this specific Waffle House:

1116 Highway 321 N, Lenoir City, TN
(865) 986-9200 () ‎

The grill man is a genius and they had the best grits on a trip where I ate grits at least ten meals, usually at well-noted spots. This place, like all Waffle Houses, is all butter, eggs, frying pans and elbow grease. But it's the single best WH I've tried. So much has to do with who's at the grill. Got to love the use of an old Hamilton Beach milkshake blender to mix the highly-aerated omelettes, a low rent molecular gastronomy.

Last, it's been a number of years since driving through the Mid-South for me. I get there plenty for work, but by plane. Each and every exit on 75 and 65 in TN, GA and KY has both of the following: (1) a modest Mexican family restaurant in a repurposed chain restaurant, often referring to Acapulco; and (2) a chain Japanese steakhouse/sushi buffet that you've never heard of. Number one I get. That scenario now plays out everywhere in the US with some notable exceptions (the whole Northeast Corridor, the Northwest). Number two shocked an amused me. Who knew country folk were so into yakitori and sushi now. It's a freaking phenomenon.

JeffB--

Yeah, that Southern sushi thing is simply palmslapping. I do NOT get it. A dozen years ago I discovered the beginnings of this phenomenon in three county seats, pop. 50,000 that I frequented: Johnson City TN, Bowling Green KY, and Winchester VA. Each of these places has a strip on an interstate exit that has the Home Depot/Lowe's, WalMart, and other boxes, and then an instance of every chain resto in the observable universe. All of a sudden I noticed the opening of a sushi place, then, later another. They got enormously popular (maybe its the karyoke in the bar??), and more opened.

Now, it's happening up north. My nearest US market town is Plattsburgh NY, 25 miles south of the border, county seat, 50K population, small branch of SUNY. *Two* new sushi places have recently opened on Cornelia St/Rt. 3, the main exit from I-87 (WalMart, Lowe's, Home Depot, and the recently opened, most northernmost Target—with a parking lot just *full* of Québec license plates!)

Go figger.

Geo

I too have experienced the southern sushi/steakhouse phenomenon when I visitrd some friends in Greenwood, SC. They took me to a local spot that featured deep-fried maki. I kid you not.

Forgot to mention my wife's theory that there could be a connection to the Mid-South's many Toyota, Subaru, etc. Japanese auto plants, the Japanese joints that poped up to feed management, and the magic that happens when Larry The Cable Guy fans taste something that's good, cheap and lots of it.

Jeff (I'm from the South myself, sorta) B

Makes sense, sort of, JB. But Bowling Green has the Corvette factory, and Johnson City and Winchester got no fak-trees at all... Sooo, unless there's cultural bleed-through, I can't see it.

Geo

Stop by Smok N Pig when you go through Valdosta and Macon.

http://www.smoknpig.com/

Stopped at Smok'n Pig in Valdosta on the way down, and the way up last week. Had the pulled pork. The best bbq I have ever had. Better than anything in Chicago and I do like some of the places in Chicago plenty.

I took a ride down to Nashville to celebrate at my cousins bachelor party this past weekend. After scooping a couple folks we took off for good from Beverly and after getting nabbed for a ticket in NW Indiana, guess where my last one ten years ago was in We were finally off around 9a Thursday and arrived in Louisville about 130. It was a pretty easy albeit boring drive down 65. Aside from the windmills in the town west of Indianapolis theres not much going on and even so after 5 seconds those are boring too. Only when you you get to "Kentuckiana" do things start getting a little more scenic in the views department. We had planned on doing the Louisville Slugger bat factory tour but also wanted to get into Nashville at a respectable hour. We still had a three hour drive to go, so it was a stop in at the popular roadfood rec Lynn's Paradise Cafe before getting on the road again.


Louisville, KY

If you haven't been to or read about the place before it's a pretty quirky little spot in a old school turned hippie like neighborhood with art supply shops and bong shops sharing the block with an old time family hardware store and more. It's pretty big and at first it looked like we were going to have to wait because there was a big party standing and sitting around outside but they were just finishing up. There's a bar area (liquor is served) along with a good amount of tables inside and an outdoor patio as well. Inside as you first enter theres a large store area with all sorts of those things you buy someone for a quick laugh, haha, then its never seen nor thought of again. Although they did have some cool books including a Southern biscuit book with a tour and recipes of places that serve them up down there. I got a good Nashville rec' from it while waiting for the rest in my party to finish up.


Inside and outside dining


A bloody way to start the meal

I chose a Bloody to start my meal and was expecting something big time with the double digit pricetag and the mention of 36 ingredients it takes to make it. Not that I was really buying the whole ingredient thing I found the Bloody to be average at best. You can get a better one at practically any bar in Wisconsin where they at least put some meat and cheese and in many cases shrimp cocktail on the skewer. So I'd stick with the local bottled beer options. I wasn't sure if the entire gimmick was why people love this place but it was all good from there. My second option would of been the fried green tomato BLT and thats was got by the three others with me.


Fried Green Tomato BLT

I enjoyed my half of a half sandwich that I tried and thought the sides of which they give you a choice of with your sandwich order were pretty good too. The cheesy grits and onions rings that is. But I couldn't go thru Louisville and not try one of their famous signature 'Hot Brown' sandwiches. Created in the 1920's at the Brown Hotel the original was concocted as an alternative option to the typical late night ham and cheese offering of that era. Its a take on Welsh Rarebit that consists of bread layered with fresh sliced of turkey layered with mornay sauce and cheese served with bacon and in some cases tomatoes and iother things on top. They offer their own version at Lynn's with sourdough bread on the bottom and fresh roasted turkey in between locally made cheese.


The Paradise Brown "Sandwich"

According to the menu this was named the "best sandwich in America" by Alton Brown and while I'm not sure if that's due to the name connection I am sure it takes a knife and fork to eat it so its not really a sandwich anyway. But eat it I did. I thought it was pretty damn good and loved the bites where I could get some bread, turkey, tomato and bacon up in there. I'd get it again if I ever stop in and I just may when I find myself back out this way. On the way back, also along I-65 we stopped in at another popular roadfood rec Zaharkos in Columbus, Indiana the town that gave racing fans the gift that is the great Tony Stewart y'alls. Ha I keed and am not a NASCAR fan but you know they take that serious in these parts.


Columbus, IN

Well Zaharkos takes Ice Cream parlors serious and that's why I had always wanted to stop in to the historic landmark in downtown Columbus which is about a five minute ride off the highway. Originally founded in 1900 the place is as well upkept as any old time ice cream parlor I've been too and just like Lynn's Paradise Cafe is, it's a nice stop while with kids.


As we enter

Zaharkos also doubles as a museum and has some very nice old school fountains and other soda shop memorabilia on display throughout the place and a candy/ gift store too. You can take a seat at the fountain or sit a table with waiter service. The picture up above is of only one room with there being another with an old school no longer in use full soda fountain display and tables for larger parties to sit at in between the old soda fountains they keep in display.












The place was very nice inside and def. brought me back into another era sitting at the soda fountain. I'm not a big ice cream guy and since we still had a little bit of a ride back I only went with a real soda fountain style made Green River. Service was a little spotty but it wasn't awful either, just a few miscues and some stuff that needed to be cleaned up. The signature food item of the house is the 'Gom Sandwich' which is Zaharkos version of a Sloppy Joe served on thick toasted white bread. II liked the idea of making a grilled cheese with Sloppy Joe meat but didn't think the $7 (w/ cheese) pricetag on a sloppy Joe with chips in Central Indiana was accurate but whatever, it was tasty. The pork tenderloin even though it was homemade was just ok. From my experiences thus far, Iowa handles Indiana pretty easily in that game. If you like old school Midwest towns with the long gone independent movie theaters (theres a cool one here) and ice cream parlors like Zaharkos stop in Columbus, Indiana if you get the chance. I can also agree about everyone else when it comes to Arnold's as being well worth it (more to come in the Nashville thread) and John's and Shapiros along with a handful of other places in Indianapolis are too.


Gom Sandwich & Homemade Indiana Tenderloin

Lynn's Paradise Cafe
984 Barret Avenue
Louisville, KY 40204
(502) 583-3447

Zaharkos Ice Cream Parlor & Museum
329 Washington St
Columbus, IN 47201
(812) 378-1900

JeffB wrote:...not that I care, since I'm not driving, but I wouldn't contemplate driving all the way down 75 to Central FL then driving down the bland center of the state on the Turnpike to Ft. Lauderdale, when I could instead drive down the Gulf Coast to Alligator Alley across to Ft. Lauderdale.
............
I used to drive to FL frequently from Chicago. To me, the best route in terms of scenery and places to stop is clearly 65/24/75, with Indy, Louisville, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta all having merits, and the KY through North GA stretch of road being particularly pleasant and scenic, though Georgia south of Macon through North Florida is brutally flat and monotonous. BBQ nuts would go 57-24-75 to bring in far downstate IL and Western KY.

Its that time of year again - loong drive, from Chi to Fort Lauderdale, 10-odd-days in the Fort-L environs, then back. Far fewer food constraints this year tho! Any *great* places near the highway, cant-miss places short-distance or detour from the highway... I'd love to know! (Same with the driving, and a couple of areas to stay-overnight... might take 2.5 days each way, so anyplace with really pretty/scenic drives, great hole-in-the-wall local dinner/breakfast/lunch spots and nearby cheap hotels with something to do for an overnight stay... or good stuff to pick up before heading home.. all would be great to know

Last year (I find I forgot to report in!) there were many more foodie constraints - but I still managed to do Arnold's in Nashville, the single best thing on the trip. Am planning on 2 stops there this year, on the way there and on the return (so one constraint on route I suppose.. a Nashville-stop both ways Also did Shapiro's in Indy (good, but would be willing to go elsewhere if someplace really special were on offer)..

The JeffB driving-recs above I will use this year..either 65 or 57 (thru Illinois, Indiana, till Nashville), then 24, then 75 (thru Southern Georgia and Northern Florida).. probably will also take his rec of the drive down the Gulf Coast and thru Alligator Alley. Any great seafood to be had not crazily far off the highway down the Gulf Coast? Or maybe even a place to crash in the evening, about 5-7 hours from Fort Lauderdale... an area with good seafood, a decent bar, and a good breakfast before leaving next morning? (Didnt have need of those last year, since we went down the "other" coast - this year could do either, depending on great-scenic-drive, great-food-options, great cheap local-hotel for a night etc).

General preference - downhome local cuisine, BBQ, Seafood, terrific Southern food, soul food, Carribean or any ethnic, all greatly preferred. Ideally $20 per-person or below.

Any help greatly appreciated again. Thanks!

c8w

Sauganaut wrote:Stopped at Smok'n Pig in Valdosta on the way down, and the way up last week. Had the pulled pork. The best bbq I have ever had. Better than anything in Chicago and I do like some of the places in Chicago plenty.

Cool, thanks - didnt make this place the last time. Pulled Pork the way to go, rather than ribs etc here, then? Given that there's one in Valdosta *and* Macon, I think will almost surely make a stop at one of these!

c8w

Will you be hitting Atlanta around meal-time or even staying there overnight? As a former resident, I may have a number of recs for there, depending on what you want.