Like the title for the post? I should be in marketing....
In Albany, NY, down a small alley right off of Pearl St., you wouldn't even notice a tiny restaurant known for its cheap, tasty burritos. See the small sign in the middle of the alley picture? Yeah, that is Burrito Joes. The guy behind the counter is none other than Joe the owner, and he recommended the BBQ chicken burrito. It was great. It came along with chips which were completely unnecessary because the burrito was enough. The great thing about Burrito Joes is that it is cheap. My burrito would have originally cost me only four bucks, but with the extras it was more like six. When I ate there, I was staying at the Hampton Inn in downtown Albany,NY, and the restaurant is no more than 2 to 3 blocks from the hotel. Pearl St. is a great area of downtown to get something to eat, but I recommend Burrito Joes for the price, distance, and taste. Enjoy suckas.
Beachfront Italian cuisine. Sirena Ristorante.
I have never been anywhere as uniquely- and well-decorated! Found out about Library 2 from the front desk staff at the Hampton Inn in Voorhees/Cherry Hill, NJ and was surprised, when I got there, at their nonchalant attitude when telling me about it. This place has the epitome of a unique fine dining experience. The walls, shelves, and even parts of the ceiling/support beams are covered in books. Strange, however, for a place that is lit mostly by candlelight. Fine art, fine literature, and fine decor really make this place special, in my opinion.
Unassuming from the outside, Library 2 is an upscale restaurant with a steakhouse theme. Looking at the partial menu above, you can see that many of the entrees at this place focus on meat and seafoods, but don't give up, my little veggies, the salad bar that is included in each entree price is to die for! About $12 on its own, the salad bar is worth every penny, even without a tender beef or chicken main dish. Super fresh ingredients, fresh baked breads and rolls; and rolls of cheese with knives to cut your own servings...this thing has it all.
It's a bit pricey to visit this place, but I would suggest going at LEAST once in your time with BER. I plan to return and will, most likely, just get the salad bar and fill up on that alone. Just trust me on this place.
Pizza, a staple of any meal, is one of your choices for a quick, cheap, meal while out on your lunch break in Bethlehem, PA. Ask any of the hotel staff or the locals and they'll tell you: Lehigh Pizza's the best in town. Luckily for us, it's also a very short walk from the Comfort Suites.
Yes, once again, I said Detroit.
My last trip to Portland, ME pulled me away from Street & Co as my presenters wanted a real, full lobster-bib experience. So we went to Dimillos Floating Restaurant. A tourist trap for sure, but a tasty one. If you're determined to do lobster, this is a good place. Both of my presenters went for the full meal deal-- $38 for a 1 1/8 lb lobster, stack of maine clams, potato, vegetable, as well as chowder, salad, drink and blueberry cobbler. If that is what you want, this is an amazing deal. You won't pack any of it to eat the next day, it's all seafood, but damn if you won't still be full the next day! Just avoid the haddock chowder... it was mostly butter."A place where Students and Alumni, Rockers and Scholars, Beer Drinkers and Wine Lovers, Football Fans and Futbol Fans come together in Penn State Tradition."
Today was a case in point in knowing what to order. I got off my plane in Philly knowing that I was hungry and craving Pizza but if I go for the full cheesy, meaty, greasy Sabaro slice it’s never a happy ending. I walked up, fully expecting to pop a tums on my connecting flight, and saw it: a veggie pizza of my dreams. Broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, peppers... all on top of the fluffy yet greasy and crunchy crust that I was craving. I won’t kid myself that it was healthy, or that I should put my antacids away, but damn if it wasn’t a decent compromise.
And isn’t that what we’re looking for so much of the time? The option that isn’t going to stick in your gut, that’s going to give you a couple of vitamins, yet will fill that comfort food need that traveling brings out in even the best of us.
Enter: unsweetened applesauce in individual cups. 
Long Island. Two words that make any PM want to curl up and die. Yet, if you've got access to a car and are staying at the Holiday Inn in Ronkonkama, you are not doomed to eating at the Applebees across the street. Take a right out of the parking lot, then a left at the lights and drive for about 10 minutes to get to Sayville to grab dinner or lunch.
Staying at the Holiday Inn next to the Newark, NJ airport is basically miserable. Feeling up for a fancy (read: pricey) night out? Check out a place called Tony da Caneca in what, as far as I could tell, is the Little Portugal section of Newark.
EDIT: According to the Hampton Inn staff, Swanky Bubbles closed over the summer of 2010 and is now some Irish pub/bar. It will be missed.
Last week, my first week on the road, Joanne Troutner raved on and on to Matt and I about this cool sushi/champagne place in Cherry Hill, NJ and it sounded like a strange combination. This week, my second week on the road, it just so happens that I found my way to Cherry Hill and convinced my presenter to go along with me to check it out.
Swanky Bubbles is exactly what it sounds like; a super swanky, chic sushi restaurant and champagne bar. They serve some other eclectic dishes, but a two-page spread of sushi rolls on the menu is the place to rest your eyes. Not cheap by any means ($8 or $9 for some of the cheaper six-piece rolls), but certainly delicious. My presenter, a pescatarian and somewhat of a connoisseur of seafood, absolutely loved the lobster roll he had. I also enjoyed the Enlightenment roll and another whose name escapes me. [ directions ]
Decorated extremely well and a close drive to both The Mansion on Main St. and the Hampton Inn where I stayed, Swanky Bubbles is an establishment not to miss in Cherry Hill.
If you end up in Portland, Maine, odds are you're going to want lobster. There are many places to go, but Street & Co. is worth a visit, even if you're not chasing down the succulent crustacean. It's a wonderfully rustic place tucked into an alley off of the main drag by the water. The grilled lobster will set you back about $30, but it's fabulously cooked and served over a mountainous pile of butter and garlic linguine. And save room, the blueberry pie (another Maine classic!) is melt-in-your-mouth fabulous. I've been here twice, and most recently they had a special fish stew with half lobster, which was stupendous (and so good I forgot to snap a picture before devouring it!). They also serve a dish for two--Lobster Diablo, which I believe has other seafood as well, if your presenter is game.
Welcome back for a new year of tasty treats! I wanted to start off the year with a favorite from last year. If you are in Champaign, IL, fear not. Head to Jarling's Custard Cup and your worries will melt away before the frozen custard melts in your mouth. It's not too far from the airport and it has so many flavors your eyes will glaze over when you see the selection board. My personal faves include the rootbeer float and anything involving raspberries. Just make sure you bring cash, since they don't take credit card.
Sooooo... After a big day of going on the Miller Brewery Tour and seeing the waterfront in Milwaukee (2 awesome things to do there), finish it off at Ziffaro's It a small Italian joint close to north downtown that has been open since the 1940s. They serve everything fresh and its all made in-house. They serve Italian beers like Peroni and also have a good selection of white and red wines. The lady that served us was really salty and kind of a bitch, but the food makes it worth the trip. I got the Ravioli with sausage and had a side salad to compliment. My speaker had the lasagna and it was literally a brick and a half of food. The portions are MASSIVE and its a good bang for your buck (no not that kinda bang you perv....). It's definitely a meal you can take in a to-go container and eat the next day for lunch. ZIFFAROS!! HOLLA!!
So maybe they stole the WSU coach, but Charlottesville isn't all bad (especially if you're a Dawg, haha!). If you're at the Holiday Inn near the University there's an Indian restaurant with a tasty lunch buffet, Milan Indian. Don't be like me and try to get your fill of the rice pudding without remembering that rice goes *puff* in your stomach about 20 minutes later. I found their vegetarian options to be better than their curries honestly, but their kabob chicken (which looked like a giant fajita platter sizzling away) was succulent and tasty. 
KN and I found out that taking photos in grocery stores is verboten, so sadly I only have the one illicit photo of the candy display that got me yelled at by a cashier on a power-trip.
Here's a good option if you find yourself in Richmond with a same city and some adventurous presenters: Nile Ethiopian will provide you with a platter of what looks like dog food, but which tastes like heaven. I convinced a crew of six of us to head there one evening when there was a massive pileup of seminars in the city, and we were not disappointed. If you're there to share, I'd recommend getting an order or two of something meaty and then splitting the vegetable dish medley. It's perfect to get you out of an all-cracker-barrel-all-the-time rut.
Yeahyeahyeah, chainsarethedevil.com, but I thought this might be a good time to expound upon my love for certain restaurants with multiple locations scattered across the United States. And I thought we might cleverly call the series the Chain Gang. OMGPUNZ! So here is entry #1:
Not to be a brand whore, but Healthy Choice (and potentially Marie Callender's as well) has released a new microwavable pasta dish that actually cooks up really well and requires no refrigeration. The "Fresh Mixers" taste decent, and while they do take up a significant amount of space and cannot be carried on (due to liquid sauce, LAME), chuck one in your suitcase or snag one at your local Target or grocery store. It's better than a frozen dinner, and surprisingly filling. They're around $3 a pop, but pretty nice to have on hand when you get to your middle-of-nowhere hotel only to find the restaurant closes at 8pm.
Option 2, in which you pass through Charlottesburg, is the longer route, but has WAY better options as far as dinner is concerned. Charlottesburg has in fact completely won me over--thank your lucky stars if you get a seminar in this adorable college town near Jefferson and Madison's homes. The first time, I passed through as a drive by dinner stop, where I had fabulous chicken catchatorie at the South Street Brewery in the historic downtown area (South street and 2nd). They also had an amazing-sounding porter that had "chocolate" in it's name, if you're not a lightweight, don't pass out after a beer, or if you can get your sober presenter to drive the rest of the way... There's also a great pedestrian walking area not far from the brewery, where you can find a ton of good options. If your presenter has hinted at taking you out for a nice dinner, or has expressed a craving for crab, look no further than Hamilton's on the Pedestrian walk way near 2nd street. Their crab cakes (pictured at left) were their specialty for good reason. It's not quite as good as dungeness, but full of huge lumps of crab. I shared them with my presenter, along with a salmon dish which was very nicely done as well, and then the "chocolate many ways" dessert, which was to die for. We caught a glimpse of the key lime and coconut cake as we were walking out, completely stuffed, and wished we had just another inch of space in our stomachs. There are non-seafood dishes on the menu, all looked very well done.
Sometimes you don't want to go very far once you've gotten to your hotel. You've valet parked your car and just want a quick bite at the restaurant in the hotel, but cringe at the prices and the lack of taste. Lucky for you, the Marriott at the Richmond Convention Center actually has a decent restaurant, The Bluefire Grill. I ordered their Bluefire salad and asked if they could put some grilled steak on it. For under $25 I had an amazingly well cooked medium rare steak of decent size over a delicious salad with a glass of red wine. It pays to be creative since that exact dish wasn't exactly on their dinner menu.
Ahh the South... So much good fried food available. But what if you want something a little lighter? Like maybe seafood? Do you tuck your tail between your legs and wimper? No, you go to Fishmongers in Durham, NC.
When I'm on the road I find that decent vegetables are the hardest thing to find. You can get a good steak, frothy mashed potatoes, a tasty salad, a Panera sandwich... but finding broccoli or green beans is near impossible. So if you're passing through State College, Pennsylvania and have only gotten vitamins via the Flinstone chewable variety, walk past the Panera and stop in at the Green Bowl.
If you're up for something a bit off from the typical fare, there are a million ethnic restaurants on State St. in Madison. You gotta love a college town for the plethora of coffee houses and decent Asian restaurants.
Right across the parking lot from the Stoney Creek Inn in East Peoria, IL is a nice little Italian restaurant. Basta East Port has extremely reasonable lunch dishes (sandwiches, pasta, entrees, and salads all under $10, and generously portioned!) that taste amazing. I had a grilled chicken and portabella sandwich which was accompanied by a small cup of penne with marinara sauce.