<p>How about posting your suggestions for reasonably good and not-mega-chain roadfood stops in major college-holding geographic areas? This is not haute cuisine, mind you. Just fun or funky (but biologically safe) places near major college hubs.</p>
<p>I have one to start off with: Mason’s Barn Family Restaurant near Cumberland, MD:</p>
<p>In Williamstown I’m with driver on Mezze for upscale and Water Street Grill for more casual. Haven’t made it to the Mill on the Floss yet.</p>
<p>One of our favorite experiences is to get a sandwich and designer soda at the Store at Five Corners, which is about 10 minutes outside of town on Rts. 7 and 43 and have lunch outside either in the area provided by the deli or at the nearby roadside picnic tables. The food is very good and the view, especially in October, is incomparable!</p>
<p>Thanks so much. Lots for Williamstown-- does this mean it is more fun to visit there than Smith or Middlebury? We’ll see how the de gustibus competition unfolds.</p>
<p>Personally, choosing a college based on surrounding restaurants, at this frazzled point, doesn’t seem so nuts.</p>
<p>Yes, I know Williams is a stretch, even for the super-qualified. We have this firmly in mind. I view it as motivation for my daughter to exert her fun-loving self long enough to produce a decent application.</p>
<p>If you’re going to Williams, you must stop at “Where’d ya get that” in Willamstown, a fun store with wonderful owners Michele and Ken. They do a lot with Williams college, including all the balloons for activities. BTW you can get some great candy snacks there (if that counts as food)…but that is not the focus of the store, which is more of an intellectual toy store for kids and adults.</p>
<p>There are so many good restaurants in the Northampton area, it is hard to know where to start! We are talking in the dozens, with food ranging from Tibetan to Moroccan, all within easy walking distance of the college’s front gate.</p>
<p>There’s an old 1950s-era A&W Rootbeer joint in Middlebury–they have burgers and root beer floats, and the food is still served by rollar skating servers.</p>
<p>For a quick bite, check out Noonie’s deli in the Marbleworks. </p>
<p>For a more traditional dinner, go to Mr. Ups, Woody’s, or Fire and Ice.</p>
<p>Uh, the one I mentioned in my first post is not exactly up to these standards, it being rural Maryland…just a disclaimer. If one has lived as long as I have in neither-South-nor-North, our delightful national capital city, one learns to make do, kinda like the Pilgrims. </p>
<p>City restaurants are acceptable if you are starving, mostly, I guess. Foodwise, it’s not San Francisco, unfortunately. But we have nice museums and lots of Starbucks. My standing advice to tourists is to find the nearest Whole Foods or Balducci’s and eat there until you get your bearings and can interview us locals about eateries. I work near the National Mall and get stopped by visitors a lot. I am delighted they are here, as are all taxpayers, and if I am feeling brutally honest about nice lunch places I tell them to go back to their hotels or Starbucks. Sad but true.</p>
<p>Well if you are heading South from Washington to New Orleans my best food suggestion is a shovel, a pot, and something dead along the side of the road that you cook yourself because that as good as it gets until you hit NO. It is a gourmands wasteland.</p>
<p>PS - if you absolutely must eat on the way and don’t care for 'possum fricassee whatever you don’t make the mistake of order iced tea with specifying unsweetened. And under no circumstances try the boiled peanuts or the Goo-goo pies.</p>
<p>On the roadfood.com site, you can plug in your intended destination and they will provide suggestions that you can then cross reference on their discussion board. Their discussion board can also point you in the proper direction.</p>
<p>On the chowhound.com site, click into your area on their US map, then post your request on the appropriate board. The chowish folks that populate that board are some of the most helpful and friendly around.</p>
<p>And WHOA!! I just discovered that Paru’s Indian Vegetarian Restaurant is still on S Street in DC!! I used to walk there for lunch, it was a little hole in the wall where Grandmother cooked parattas and curries for dirt cheap. I haven’t been there since probably 1981. Wow.</p>
I haven’t been to Smith or Middlebury so I can’t compare but I always look forward to time spent in Williamstown.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in art be sure to visit the Clark museum. If you’re really interested in art include the Williams College Museum and MassMoCA (contemporary art in nearby North Adams–Really wild stuff!).</p>
<p>Will you be spending the night on campus? If yes, I’d recommend the Williamstown B&B. I’m not usually much of a fan of B&B’s but this one is delightful and right on campus so you can walk everywhere. </p>
<p>Traveling through the south means two things–BBQ and fried chicken. Both are available pretty much everywhere and darn good eating. Most are away from the interstates so you have to plan a little.</p>
<p>If you think we are delusional, please try not to mention it. There is no harm in seeing them, right?</p>
<p>Besides, if I see them, I can try to contribute better to CC. Right now, I am all questions.</p>
<p>Any suggestions for roadfood near Bowdoin and Bates? I particularly love Patuxent’s pot and shovel comment, but I am hoping for better things from the sophisticated New Englanders. </p>
<p>I grew to love chicken-fried steak, Texas-style, and fried catfish and hushpuppies, but before you all snort with disgust, remember that in the hands of a great cook, nearly any weird thing tastes good. In other words, I did not eat this in restaurants. Well, okay, I ate catfish in lakefront restaurants. With beer. Shiner. It mitigates the pain.</p>
<p>The websites and suggestions you all have provided are terrific. I remember the Sterns’ first Roadfood book from way back in my salad days (i.e., pre-child). Thanks!</p>
No, it’s not all pulled pork and fried chicken.</p>