New York to Chicago

I'm going to be driving from New York to Chicago at the end of the month. I'll probably take Rt. 80 but take every opportunity to digress.

Any suggestions on places to get good, off the beaten path, grub on the way?
Love to hear about your own road trips.

Thanks

I know that somewhere out there is a site where a guy has documented all the options on I-80 between the PA/OH border and the far eastern end...

If you want to digress off to I-76 as you're nearing Cleveland, I definitely suggest you try some of the fried chicken in Barberton (called by some the best fried chicken in America). I detail my experiences in Barberton towards the end of this thread:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=9161

Yes...for a truly unique local culinary experience, get off at the Hazleton exit, go about 3 miles up the hill into town, and get Senapes "Pitza" (yes, that's how it's spelled)...

Available from most convenience stores in town...made by the local Senapes bakery and a local delicacy for decades. Actually, sold boxed/cold....right next to the Twinkies! But made fresh daily....wrapped in celophane....more like a pizza bread...but it is truly like nothing else you've ever had...

Easy to eat while driving, so you can be back on your way to Chicago in a flash!

Well, actually, that style of "pizza bread" is common enough in Western PA/NE Ohio, and is exemplified there by a place called DeRosa in Newcastle. The same general kind of pie is available in my home town of Tampa, from the Sicilian-Cuban bakery Alessi and is there called schiacciata.

However, the best versions of this genre of pizza are made a little closer to home: Grand Avenue, Western Avenue, and Taylor Street, in Chicago by, e.g., D'Amato, Masi and Ferrara, e.g. Or if you'd like a less-good version, try the traditional pizza with breadcrumbs and grated cheese at Pompei.

I'll admit, the Western PA version of this is a little different in that the bread is dense, almost like Jamaican doughbread and sauce quite sweet, paste-based. My mom's always bringing the stuff from PA, and while it's a little apples and oranges, the D'Amato's wins by a landslide in "Pepsi Challenge"-style throwdowns.

Take a look at Mike G's opus on this same, often discussed route (quite possibly the most heavily traveled long-distance route in the country, considering it connects two of the nations' three largest cities and has lots of urbania in between). You could do much worse than lamb at Mr. B's and some custard at Forbush's.

Further north, a few places in or near Sharon PA might be worth checking out, including the original Quaker Steak and Lube, allegedly famous for chicken wings (the nuclear wings are indeed among the hottest things I have ever tried, though not especially good) and Combine Brothers, an Italian roadhouse serving massive portions of pretty good food.