Travel World guide

Off the Beaten Path is a great book to sit down and read through. Also has some very good recipes. Brought back a few memories as I read about a few restaurants that I had either heard of or visited at sometime in my life. Delightful

The Sterns have once again come out with a book on the great local places to eat in America. They say they have edited and added 200 new eateries. There are the new places, but I found several examples of previous favorites that I have visited recently and they are still up to their old high food standards, but for some reason they were dropped from this edition – one presumes to make room for new places. As for the claim that it is bigger, it is actually 4 pages shorter than the previous guide.

Previously I have been extremely enthusiastic about these books, however I guess I was spoiled by the layout and quality of the Sterns’ `500 places to Eat Before it’s Too Late’ in which the sections were clearly divided and easy to find.
The restaurants in this book are divided into regions and sometime as you are traveling it’s confusing to try to guess where a state is considered…deep south or mid south, etc. The index also would be much easier to use if it was divided into states alphabetically instead of having to page back and forth to see what region you are in. In the old edition – at least in the index, restaurants were listed by town under the state, now they are alphabetical, which does not seem to work as well when you are in or near a town looking for a different place to eat.

These are still great road guides, especially if you are not constantly searching on a lap top as you travel. It’s also still a great gift to give someone who will be traveling in order to find some casual non-chain real Americana food.

I discovered these two foodies years ago and have been buying their books every time a new edition comes out. Road Food, Good Food, Road Food/Good Food and Eat Your Way Across the USA – they have all served me and my wife well. We even give copies away as gifts.

Be aware, the authors are not dieters. If you ate every day at the places they chronicle, you might not pass your next physical. But using their recommendations for insider tips when you are on a trip to a new part of this great country is perfectly OK. For example – I was in Charlotte, NC with over 5 hours until my flight home to NJ. I called my wife and she directed me, using Road Food, to Lexington, NC and a great BBQ place (Speedy’s). The book has it’s limitations too. Because food joints open and close frequently, you could get disappointed, chasing a place that has gone belly up (pun intended). I speak from experience when we looked for a Bratwurst place in Sheboygan, WI, only to find it boarded up. Fortunately, the book directed us to another eatery close by but the lesson learned is call first!

You have to like eating and you have to like eating in casual, “home cooking” kind of places or this book won’t work for you. Don’t expect recommendations for haut cuisine establishments. Think atmospheric clam shacks, locals-only hot dog stands, cool burger joints and, of course, amazing and authentic BBQ. Our favorite find is Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough (I think the first entry in every book they have written). You would NEVER find this place unless someone told you or you read it in a book. Their hot lobster roll sandwich is, as then say in New Yawk – “tadiefor”. And I have Jane and Michael to thank for that.

Like to eat? Like local, insider-knowledge only kind of places? And Like to meet friendly locals? Get this book and get ready to hit the road.

This is a nice cookbook with good pictures and a nice variety of recipes. The recipe for buttermilk biscuits is excellent! I will refer to this book often.

I actually ordered this for our RV travels but found it so enjoyable that i read the whole thing as soon as i received it. the pictures are just great and in color making it a real cut above average. it is a fun book with wonderful recipes and information for off the beaten path travels. We will have it in the RV with us when we leave in two weeks and then it will go back in my kitchen cookbook library. a gem! It was advertised in an email from Coastal Living so i ordered it immediately from Amazon.

If you’re looking to explore the south through both travel and taste, this is the book for you. As a well-traveled Southerner who knows good food, I was impressed that the author managed to find hideaways that even I’d never heard of. I can see myself consulting this book in my kitchen–and in my car. I can’t wait to go to some of these places! Most of the small mom-and-pop restaurants covered in the book have never gotten much national attention, but this book really puts them in the spotlight they deserve. Amazing photographs, amazing food, good writing–all in all it’s a winner. Great as a gift for the road warrior, chef, or southerner in your life!

As full-time RV’rs, we look through this book when we are on the road. Haven’t been disappointed yet, hopefully we will have the chance to try all the restaurants in the book.

The recipes are easy to follow and taste amazing! Enjoyed reading about the places and where the recipes came from!

Nice production by well-known cookbook publisher Oxmoor House, itself owned by the oddly named Southern Progress Corporation of Birmingham.

The strength of the book is its narrative style, taking us to off-the-(b)eaten-path restaurants. In the style of the ubiquitous Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, the Sterns’ Roadfood, or even George Motz’s beefy labor of love (Hamburger America: One Man’s Cross-Country Odyssey to Find the Best Burgers in the Nation), author and guide Morgan Murphy visits over seventy dives across seventeen Southern states.

We get photos, history, and even local “Rubbernecker Wonders” (a.k.a. roadside attractions). I appreciate the personal nature of Morgan’s quest, but there are too many photos of the author: at least twenty, not counting the back cover.

This was recently published (May 2011) and while I received a review copy from the publisher, it is not an Advance Reading Copy. The placeholder typo below was thus surprising.
p.64: “Red Snapper Sienna, featured on page XX” (should be page 67)

Finally, and looking at the bigger picture, I would have chosen something sans-serif as the primary typeface.

But those are all small grievances. This book makes me want to drive around and find some of these dives. (GPS coordinates are included for each location.) If I lived anywhere close by, I surely would.

Disclosures: This review(er) does not judge the recipes, of which there are 150. I am not much of a cook, and could not properly “test” the recipes anyway. I do, however, enjoy watching Food TV. And I very much relish (!) trying new and interesting foods, especially regional specialties. The reviewer was provided with a complimentary copy of the book.

Love this Cookbook. It’s filled with good old fashioned down home Southern recipes, and the pictures to go along with it. If you’ve ever stopped at out of the way diners, and loved their food, then this is the book for you.

I thought that I would love this book as much as I love the local eateries that it features. I was wrong. I think that I was expecting a little more information about each restaurant – some background from the owners, customer stories, etc. Instead each restaurant is mentioned for a few sentences (mostly fluff) and the pictures and recipes take up most of the pages.

If you are expecting a book with recipes from places that you already know and love, you will be satisfied. If you want to learn about the history and stories of these places, you may be left wanting.

I have always loved dining at down-home resteurants to savor the flavor of a community. This collection of out-of-the-way finds gives me new ideas. I love the recipes, and thank the resteurants for sharing them with us.

I’ve only tried one recipe and that was the lemon bars they were delicious! I made them for Mother’s Day since they are one of my favorites. I’m not sure that they are much different than most recipes but I ate almost the whole dish myself!! Not in one day of course! The book is filled with beautiful picture’s not only of food but of the towns and history etc.. I found it fun and interesting to look through. There are two peanut butter pies I’d like to try and a turkey sandwich called The Hot Brown. Some things have different names and you don’t know what they are by the name so you need to check the ingredients. I enjoyed it!

I collect cookbooks and not just for the recipes. This book is great because it tells tales along the way, “Off the Eaten Path” if you don’t mind my stealing the title LOL

It goes by state, tells stories and then has glorious pictures and the recipes. YUM! It would be so much fun to grab this book and toss it in the front seat and travel along the same path and eat my way through the South.

If you are a Foodie like me, you’ve GOT to have this one in your collection!

If the price of gas has you fretting a summer vacation, a tour of Off the Eaten Path will feel like an extended trip through all things southern. Recipes abound – excellent recipes! Flipping though the photos will have you feeling like you are right there in restaurants and pit stops all over the South. A great read, a great cook, a great mini-vacation.

You cannot go wrong with this book – great for collecters – great for those who just love cookbooks – full of interesting stories and great receipes!

Oh, YUM! Best purchase ever and amazing recipes – BLT hash browns are my favorite. Southern soul food – I’m starving just thinking about it. What’s nice is that it includes a picture of what you’re cooking because, as we know, a picture speaks a thousand words. I can tell a lot about the dish from the picture. The print is big enough to actually read (go figure!), nice slick pages that won’t get gross, and not a bunch of filler and chatter, so more room for recipes! 150 recipes! Going to fry some catfish now.

My family and I let our fingers do the walking through this gem and found some enteresting stuff. I know I’d like to have the money to be able to acturally visit a lot of these places.

This is a fun recipe/book. It’s filled with interesting recipes and southern living appeal. Anyone who reads Southern Living magazine will especially enjoy this book.

It’s not often that I pick up a cookbook and read it cover-to-cover, but that’s exactly what I did after I purchased my copy of Southern Living author Morgan Murphy’s Off the Eaten Path. It was a quick read, full of Southern humor that made me laugh. I was proud to see Southern Hands, a great restaurant just a few miles from my house, featured in the book — and even more thrilled that the author was able to convince the owner to give up her famous cornbread recipe. I’ve driven to Southern Hands JUST to pick up some of that delicious cornbread! Now, I can also bake it in my home. I’m also grateful that Southern Living published the book in full color with photos — making it as much a recipe/travel book as a lovely coffee table book. I plan to buy this book for Christmas gifts for my Southern friends who have moved too far north to get any fried pickles or bacon bourbon. Well done!

nice to have the location of all these “off the road” eateries, but was very disappointed in the selection of the recipes….if you are buying for recipe potential….don’t purchase,otherwise, at least you have some great locations to find and enjoy

The content of this book is very good, but looking something up on it in the Kindle edition is quite a chore. I love my Kindle but wish for this one I had bought the paperback.

I bought the first Road Food when it first was published, and tried many of it’s entries. My love of that book prompted me to buy this one. I was not disappointed! My wife and I enjoy traveling by car abound the country. This book is an essential reference for our trips.

I ordered the book after seeing an add for it in my Southern Living Magazine. The price was great so hey why not. Im addicted to cookbooks and can spend hours just reading and looking at the pictures. The book arrived very quick (it might have been 1 day) and in great shape. This is a cute book with amazing pictures. I dont live in the South so I cant speak for how well it works as a travel/restaurant guide, but I’ve found some good recipes that I cant wait to try out. Even if I dont end up using the boook that much it does look GREAT on the shelf.

How fun is this!!! Now I have a new purpose to RV my way across the South. When/if I return home I’ll have the recipies to recreate the feelings and smells of the trip! Thank you.