Coasters Seafood, Steaks & Spirits (Santee, SC)

9135 Old Hwy 6, Santee, SC 29142, T: 803-854-9955 (Exit 98 off I-95)

Coasters is not a classic pig out spot, specializing in seafood, steaks and spirits, but it nevertheless offers a good selection of fried foods. In addition to the subtle shark coming out of the roof, the restaurant goes with a kind of Hawaiian surf theme inside.

While Coasters has a full menu, with dishes ranging from burgers to seafood, I had chosen it because of the fact that it offers alligator tenders. Thus, I ordered the Alligator Basket with Fries, while my wife went for the Mixed Fried Seafood. The alligator tenders were lightly breaded and perfectly fried; some were a bit chewy, some were even more tender than chicken. They tasted delicious with the zesty Asian-style chili sauce. The thick fries were a bit undercooked. My wife really liked the soft and tasty fried scallops and shrimps, which came with a red horseradish sauce and a tartar sauce. The side of coleslaw was spicy and very tasty.

VERDICT: 86/100

Coasters is a good place for fried seafood and alligator. Rather than taking fries as a side, go for the coleslaw (if you like spicy!).

Hot Tamale @ South of the Border (Dillon, SC)

3346 Highway 301 North, Dillon, SC 29547

South of the Border, at the border of North and South Carolina, bills itself as "America's Favorite Highway Oasis". For miles on either side of the I-95 billboards with stereotypical Mexican characters announce the many attractions of this "oasis", which include restaurants, shops, an amusement park, a hotel, etc. In essence, South of the Border is the Dollar Store on Mexican steroids. Trashy doesn't even capture it.

We decided to have a substantial lunch at South of the Border, expecting some really good Mexican restaurant. In reality, most of the 'restaurants' are touristic snackbars like Hot Tamale. Worried about the (lack of) quality, I decided to play it safe and go for the one remarkable item on the menu: the Gigantic Big Dog ($5.95) with Chili ($.60). While impressive in size, and sporting a good thick sausage, the chili adds little to the fairly standard taste of the hot dog.

VERDICT: 72/100
Touristic attraction with standard fast food at fairly decent prices.

Buz and Ned's Real Barbecue (Richmond, VA)

1119 North Boulevard, Richmond, VA 23230, T: 804-355-6055

Buz is initially from Richmond, VA, traveled around the country to work at the most famous BBQ places, met old-timer Ned in the middle of nowhere, who passed on (his BBQ secrets), which Buz brought back to his home town. Well, so goes the official saga of Buz and Ned's Real Barbecue.

We ordered a half slab of the spare ribs ($14.95) and a bbq pork sandwich meal ($8.49); both come with two sides. The ribs were very meaty and had a delicious sweet coating. The meat doesn;t fall from the bone, but is tender and tasty. The fries were crispy and well seasoned. The pulled pork is chunky and tender and comes with slaw and hot sauce on a soft bun. The lemonade ($2.49) is cold and sour, but a bit too sweet for my taste.

VERDICT: 91/100
One of the best BBQ places outside of the traditional BBQ regions. A must stop in Richmond, VA!

Roll-n-Roaster (Brooklyn, NY)

Emmons & Norstrand Ave, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, NY, T: 718-769-6000

Roll-n-Roaster has been a staple of Sheephead's Bay for over forty years now. It is particularly famous for its roast beef sandwiches and its cheese fries. We got two Roll-n-Roaster Beef Sandwiches ($4.45 each), one with cheese (+$0.45), an order of fries ($1.75), and two lemonades ($2.50 each). The roast beef was very tender and juicy, topped with au jus, on a large and fresh kaiser roll: very tasty! The fries are wrinkled coins, crispy and tasty, but a bit dry. The lemonade was excellent: not too sweet, not too bitter, with an extra lemon in the cup.

VERDICT: 88/100

Roll-n-Roaster is clearly more than a fast food place at a popular location. It serves top roast beef sandwiches and very good lemonade.

Old Country Bagels (Queens, NY)

16226A Crossbay Boulevard, Howard Beach, NY 11414, T: 718-845-9211

Still known among locals by its old name, Bagels on the Bay, Old Country Bagel is an institution on Howard Beach's main street. Although its menu seems to be ever growing, now including salads and burgers as well as various hot and cold breakfasts, their huge bagels is what attracts hundreds of people per day to this small shop. They have at least fifteen different types of bagels, all HUGE, all freshly baked each day, and all ready to be decorated with a broad variety of cream cheeses, cold cuts, or warm options. Just a bagel sets you back around $2, while 'decorated' bagels go for $4-5.

My personal favorite is a sesame bagel with egg salad. The bagel is HUGE, while the egg salad is chunky and fresh. If only the bagels wouldn't be sweet, it would be perfect (then again, it wouldn't be America, now would it?).

The tuna salad is also awesome: the tuna is made with little mayo and big chunks of crispy celery. Any bagel will fill you up (almost) as much as a footlong at any sandwich shop. However, they are much more tasty!

VERDICT: 95/100

The best bagels are to be found in New York, and Old Country Bagel has some of the best in the city. On top of that, it has fantastic toppings and an amazing variety of drinks and snacks. And you can enjoy all this yumminess while you are Guido-watching!

Wert's Cafe (Allentown, PA)

515 N. 18th Street, Allentown, PA 18104, T: 610-439-0951

Wert's Cafe is an Allentown institution, serving its famous burgers and onion rings for more than 40 years now. It looks and smells like an old local pub-annex-restaurant where grandmas cook and grandpas eat.

Wert's Cafe has an extensive menu with many homemade items, some from East European cuisines. One item that directly stands out is their "famous onion rings". They seem quite pricey at $6.75, but the portions are HUGE. However, quality easily matches quantity here. The onions are cut into thin strings, which are freshly battered and fried, and taste absolutely delicious with the homemade horseradish sauce.

Halfway the onion rings, the burgers arrived. I had ordered Phil's Burger, a half-pound pattie with bacon and BBQ sauce. Although the sauce looked watery and thin, the burger tasted very good. However, the real surprise was my wife's Wert's Burger with chopped onions and mushrooms inside the half-pound pattie, grilled perfectly (medium-well), with very tasty pickles and smothered with cheese.

VERDICT: 92/100

Despite the look (and smell), Wert's Cafe is a great pig out spot and the onion rings and Wert's Burger must-eats.

Cheeburger Cheeburger (Chattanooga, TN)

138 Market St # A, Chattanooga, TN 37402-1029, T: 423-265-4108

As I only found out later, Cheeburger Cheeburger is a 1950s-style burger chain with 64 locations in the US and 1 in Kuwait. It specializes in burger, fries, onion rings, and shakes. I visited the one in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. Their burgers range from quarterpound to pound and you can choose which cheese and other toppings you want to add.

While tempted to try the "Pounder Burger" challenge, I fortunately decided not to (as I learned a bit later that this required you wearing a silly hat and being made the center of attention in the restaurant). Hence, I ordered "The Serious", a half pound burger ($7.39), and added lettuce, tomato, jalapenos, roasted red peppers, and bbq sauce. I also got a half basket of "best of both" ($3.79) with creamy horseradish sauce ($.99). I topped everything off with a soda ($2.39). The burger was very tasty, but the consistency of the bun and patty was suspect; both fell apart while eating. The onion rings were freshly breaded and tasted great, the fries seemed fried, rather than deep fried, and weren't very good.

VERDICT: 86/100

Cheeburger Cheeburger is a nice burger chain, which offer big and tasty burgers, great onion rings, and decent fries (if you are into the fried type). Next time I will also try the shakes. The quality does come with a price though.