Recently, Nick and I went on another foodie road trip. It wasn’t really a foodie trip because we didn’t decide to travel just for food but it was a long road trip to attend a wedding and we found a few stops along the way.

We had planned to make four stops – two on the way to our destination and two on the way home. But, after a very short weekend full of wedding and family activities, we were exhausted by the time we hit the road back home and decided to stop as little as possible. The two stops we did make, however, were totally worth it!

Parkette

For lunch, we stopped at the Parkette Drive-In in Lexington, KY (click that link to see it on Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives). Featured in the video are the Poor Boy burger, the chili cheese dog, and fried chicken; we decided to share the burger and chili dog. I wanted to try the chicken but Nick said we shouldn’t overdo it.

Poor Boy burger, Tots, and Chili Cheese Dog

Poor Boy burger, Tots, and Chili Cheese Dog

The Poor Boy was just like a Big Mac but way better! In fact, the owner in the DD&D video describes it as the original Big Mac 😉 The ingredients were fresh and it was nicely seasoned, peppery. There was a whole slice of onion on it, instead of a few measly rings. Overall, Nick said it was a “good, old-fashioned burger.” The chili cheese dog was as good; I was really looking forward to the homemade chili sauce but I think they scrimped a little on that. What I did get was meaty and tasty. And it was all on a nice, soft poppy seed bun. Yum!

Overall, it was a quality drive-in and the prices were unbeatable, especially for such fresh ingredients.

For dinner we stopped at Fat Sandwich Company in Champaign, IL. They have ridiculously big, unhealthy but delicious sandwiches that include pretty much everything but the kitchen sink!

Fat Sandwich Company

 Their specialty is the “Fat Sandwich” is a large sandwich full of whatever goodies you choose, topped with french fries. We got a Fat F sandwich which had cheese steak, chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, mayo, ketchup, and french fries.

fat f sandwich

I have to say, it was better than I care to admit! I wasn’t sure how I would feel about a sandwich made up of appetizers but the flavors actually melted really well together and was an explosion of savory goodness on my taste buds. I think the key to the success here is the fries, since they go with virtually everything. The cheese steak worked really well with the fries (cheese + fries) as did the mozzarella sticks with the chicken fingers (cheese + chicken + marinara on the side). Any fries that fell off the top were easily eaten as a side dish, like you would for any sandwich. I can also see the appeal of this type of sandwich to the college crowd, as the shop was located on the campus of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I couldn’t eat these on the regular but I would definitely recommend you to stop by if you’re ever in the area.

Since we didn’t stop anywhere on our way home, we’ll have to plan another trip. A real foodie road trip where we first choose the restaurant and then the route to get there. Until then, we’ll just have to enjoy the delicious food in our own town.

See you at the next stop!

<3, NC Squared

ncsquared fat sandwich

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