When traveling to a new city with limited time on your hands - whether it's for a 36-hour business trip or a quick getaway for your cousin’s wedding - you may have only one opportunity to venture to a celebrated local restaurant.
To experience the unique flavor of a city with one meal, consult our list of America’s Most Iconic Restaurants, released today.
Compiled by Zagat editors, this list includes 15 U.S. restaurants that embody the essence of their city.
Read on for some culinary inspiration - and maybe even a local history lesson!
Atlanta: The Colonnade
Food: 21
Decor: 12
Service: 20
Cost: $22
Most everyone is either “gay or gray” at this “step-back-in-time” Cheshire Bridge “institution” that looks like “God’s waiting room” and dishes out “classic meat-and-two” Southern plates in “dinner-tonight-lunch-tomorrow” portions; sure, it’s “cash-only”, the decor’s right out of the “’70s” and the service skews “sassy”, but compensations include “cheap” tabs, “seriously high-octane potables” and an experience that’s “like nothing else in Atlanta.”
Austin Area: Salt Lick
Food: 25
Decor: 19
Service: 20
Cost: $24
“Bring your appetite” to this“true Texas” BBQ for a “first-class orgy of meat” via “piles” of pit-smoked, “fork-tender brisket”, “spicy sausage” and “fall-off-the-bone ribs” served “family-style” in a “rustic” atmosphere with “great” live music on weekends; it’s cash only with “looong waits”, and although it’s BYO beer, you can also pick up a bottle of wine from their tasting room to open at the picnic tables.
Boston: Parker’s
Food: 24
Decor: 25
Service: 24
Cost: $47
"The only place to go for Parker House rolls and Boston cream pie” is this “glorious” Downtown Crossing restaurant where “the elegance of another era” thrives via “old-time”, “pricey” New England eats, “beautiful”, “formal” digs and “wonderful service”; “if you’re looking for something innovative, go elsewhere”, but to experience a piece of “incredible history”, this is the spot.
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