Tim Hortons – Hallstead, PA

Have you ever avoided a restaurant chain because you didn't think it would be worth your time? Without any solid reason, other than a feeling? On a recent vacation in the Northeastern US, we noticed Tim Hortons restaurants, many of which were paired with convenience stores and gas stations right off the highway.

Buckhead Mountain Grill & Graeter's Ice Cream – Bellevue/Ft. Mitchell, KY (Cincinnati)

Two things I learned while traveling through the Cincinnati, OH/Bellevue-Newport, KY area: a Kentucky Hot Brown for dinner at Buckhead Mountain Grill, and Cincinnati's famous Graeter's Ice Cream for desert is a great way to spend an evening.

Eve's Cafe on the Square

Every so often you stumble on a restaurant where the food is so unexpectedly good that you have to wonder why doesn’t everyone know this place? Why am I just discovering it? Eve’s Café On the Square, in Lampasas, Texas is that place. Lampasas is not exactly a tourist destination, nor is it known for great restaurants. It is the seat of Lampasas County, in Central Texas, about 30 miles west of Killeen – and as it turns out, there is at least one great eatery in town.