Top 10 roadside diners in the US: a trucker's guide

In the past seven years, Salena Lettera and her co-driver, boyfriend Ed Godfrey, have logged over a million miles behind the wheel of a 75ft rig, and together have visited all 49 of the continental US states. They have sampled virtually every regional delicacy at hundreds of roadside diners, restaurants and food stands …

Cookin' From Scratch, Doolittle, Missouri

If you're tracing the path of old Route 66, look for the El Camino with the giant chicken on top and take that exit. A favourite of long-haul truckers, Cookin' From Scratch makes pan-fried chicken, piece-by-piece in cast-iron skillets on the stovetop. It's a labour of love that produces a crispy, non-greasy exterior with a hot, juicy centre. The Big Pig is a must if you're a fan of pork tenderloin too big for its soft-bun britches, and the homemade desserts, such as bread pudding and wild blackberry cobbler, will leave you in a flavour-induced coma. Owners Tony and Melissa Sherrer work hard to put out some of the best food I've ever laid taste buds on.
• 90 Truman Street, Doolittle, Newburg (I-44, exit 179), + 1 573 762 3111, cookinfromscratch.biz. Open Mon-Thu 10.30am-8pm, Fri-Sat 7am-8pm, Sun 7am-3pm. Breakfast $2.99-$9.99, lunch and dinner $4.99-$13.99

Blue Gate Restaurant and Bakery, Shipshewana, Indiana

In some states you're warned of crossing deer and elk; in Amish country you're alerted to horse-and-buggy traffic. But it's well worth negotiating this for the fresh baked pies, homemade bread with apple butter, and moist, dense zucchini loaves at the Blue Gate. Make sure you try the Amish peanut butter, a dreamy spread unlike the thick concoction American mothers plaster on bread with grape jelly.
• 195 North Van Buren Street, Shipshewana, +1 260 768 4725, riegsecker .com/shipshewana/bluegaterestaurant. Open Mon-Thu 7am-8pm, Fri-Sat 7am-9pm, closed Sunday. Meals $5-$16

The Little America Hotel, Flagstaff, Arizona

The Little America Hotel, 90 miles from the Grand Canyon and less than a day's drive from the California coast, has everything one needs when taking time out from a road trip. With a travel centre, gift shop, hotel and the wonderful Western Gold Restaurant – where I indulge in its simple roast turkey dinner – the atmosphere is five-star. Set among the towering Arizona pines, and a haven for truckers and travellers alike, this place offers quality you can see and feel at every turn.
• 2515 East Butler Avenue, Flagstaff, +1 928 779 7900, flagstaff.littleamerica.com. Open daily for breakfast 6.30am-10am (Sat 6.30am-11am, Sun breakfast brunch 8am-1pm), lunch 11am-5pm, dinner 5pm-9pm. Meals: breakfast $4-$15, lunch $8-$16, dinner $10-$38

Iowa 80 Kitchen, Walcott, Iowa

Built by Standard Oil in 1964, the Iowa 80 has grown into the world's largest truck stop. Housed inside the main building is the kitchen, famed for its 50ft salad bar. Serving 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, is a great place to have breakfast for dinner – eggs any style, airy stacks of pancakes, and bacon that'll make a pig squeal. When you're done dining on what America's heartland has to offer, be sure to visit the trucker showroom and store, which carries more than 50,000 items. And if you happen to be rolling through in July, attend the Truckers Jamboree (11-13 July in 2013iowa80truckstop.com/trucker-jamboree).
• 755 W Iowa 80 Road, Walcott, (I-80, exit 284), +1 563 284 6961, iowa80truckstop.com. Open 24 hours

Captain Cooks, Monticello, New York

Located in the heart of New York's "Borscht Belt" in the Catskill mountains, Captain Cooks is owned and operated by a lifetime resident and third-generation restaurateur. It's best known for the Sabrett brand hot dog served in steamed buns and heaped with homemade chilli, or caramelised grilled onions and spicy brown mustard. But when you taste the meatball parmigiana or sausage and pepper hero, you'll be checking behind the chocked wheels of this food truck for the owner's Italian grandmother.
• 195 East Broadway, Monticello, no website. Open Mon-Fri, 7.30am-3pm. Meals $2-$7

Casa de Fruta, Hollister, California

Air thick with the scent of garlic draws you in, but the fruit, nuts, wine and chocolate will make you clear your schedule for the rest of the day. This "house of fruit" has been in operation since 1908, and now boasts an RV (recreational vehicle) park, restaurant, gift shop and hand-crafted Italian carousel. Nestled in the fertile valley of Pacheco Pass, Casa de Fruta offers complimentary tasting of its fruit wines (apricot, blackberry, pomegranate, Santa Rosa plum), samples of nuts and candy, and the largest collection of gourmet jams, jellies, garlic and other food items you'll ever see at a roadside stand. The fruit is so fresh, it pinches you. Be sure to add this Californian landmark to your road trip "to-do" list.
• 10021 Pacheco Pass Highway, Hollister, +1 408 842 7282, casadefruta.com. Restaurant open 24 hours. Fruit stand, wine, sweets, RV park, hotel and attractions, see website. Meals $5.95-$17.25

The Big Texan Steak Ranch, Amarillo, Texas

You can't miss the shocking yellow building with the bright blue trim; and not just because billboards line the highway in both directions to alert you of its presence. Famed for its 72oz (2kg) steak – free to anyone who can eat the entire meal in 60 minutes or less – the Big Texan serves more than 500,000 people each year from all over the world. If you're going to indulge in steak, the Texas panhandle, in the beef capital of the world (Hereford), is the place to do it. And if you're feeling guilty when you finish stuffing yourself, go down the road three miles to the Jesus Christ Is Lord truck stop and ask for forgiveness.
• 7701 I-40 East, Amarillo, + 1 806 372 6000bigtexan.com. Motel open 24 hours. Restaurant open daily 7am-10.30pm. Steak dinners from $17 for 8oz (225g)

Space Aliens Grill and Bar, Fargo, North Dakota

There's really only one reason to stop: the life-altering ribs. Slowly smoked, using apple and hickory wood, they've been judged America's best ribs at the National Bar-B-Que Convention Rib and Chicken Cook-off in Memphis, Tennessee. If you can win a ribs contest in Memphis … well, enough said. The restaurant may have a funny name but one thing these aliens know for sure: the south is no longer the centre of the universe when it comes to this crowd-pleasing finger food. And don't forget to stop at the Fargo-Moorehead Visitors Center to get your photo taken with the wood chipper from the movie Fargo.
• 1840 45th Street Southwest, Fargo, +1 701 281 2033, spacealiens.com. Open Mon-Thu 11am-10.30pm (bar until midnight); Fri-Sat 11am-11.30pm (bar until 12.30am), Sun 11am-10pm. Meals $9.99-$18.99

Gladys Knight and Ron Winans' Chicken and Waffles, Lithonia, Georgia

If you ever find yourself on a midnight drive to Georgia, be sure to make one of your stops the restaurant started by the Empress of Soul (Gladys) and a member of the First Family of Gospel (Ron). Sitting down to a meal of fried green tomatoes, braised oxtails and collard greens slow-cooked and seasoned with smoked turkey wings will have you smiling with the rest of the patrons in the dining room. Good 'ol southern fare will do that to you. End the meal with a Georgia peach cobbler and I guarantee you'll go home singingYou're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me. And it will be.
• 7301 Stonecrest Concourse Suite 123, Lithonia, +1 770 482.6766, gladysandron.net. Open Mon-Thu 11am-10pm, Fri-Sat 11am-midnight, Sun 9am-9pm. Mains $5.99-$16.75

Soulman's Bar-B-Que, Van, Texas

True Texas BBQ is cooked low and slow over hickory wood. Ribs fall off the bone. Thin slices of feathery brisket kiss the tongue and melt. Soulman's brings out the caveman in its diners. Meat to the left, meat to the right, meat everywhere, even stuffed into gigantic baked potatoes. The portions are jaw-dropping. If beef isn't your fancy, the chicken and turkey is smoked, juicy and satisfying. Pause for a moment to watch the staff behind the counter whack giant sides of beef down to manageable hunks before plopping them on to plates. It's not fancy, but it's filling.
• 2904 Interstate Highway 20, Van, +1 903 963 7777, soulmans.com. Open daily 10am-9pm. Meals $4.99-$19.99

Salena Lettera is the author of The Daily Rant at salenalettera.com