Whoa Nellie Deli at the Mobil gas station on Tioga Pass
 

Mr. Cynnamin's step-dad told us about this deli when we were heading to the Convict Lake Resort near Mammoth Lakes. It's a deli inside a Mobil Station on Tioga Pass. You can't miss the gas station.

This "deli" has been written up in several gourmet magazines and the price is definitely not your normal cheap gas station price, but the food is really really good. Try their fish taco. So good!

Fill 'er up means more than gas at quirky mountain Mobil

59 miles west of Washington DC...
 

http://www.purcellvillerestaurant.com/

Magonolia's is a gem. I've eaten there a dozen times and have enjoyed a flawless, delicious meal each time. Dinner menu here.

Maxwell's Beach Cafe
 

Maxwell's Beach Cafe in Okoboji, Iowa. Only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Tasty .. owners know what they are doing. If you're there on the 4th of July, be prepared to wait.;)

+1

Less than an hour from TVC, in the little town of Ellsworth, MI, are TWO of the region's best - The Rowe Inn and Tapawingo

Worth the drive ;)

Reata Restaurant, Alpine, TX
"The original Reata restaurant, named for the majestic ranch in the 1950s epic motion picture "Giant," was opened in Alpine, Texas in 1995 by CF Ranch owner Al Micallef and Fort Worth businessman Mike Evans. From the very beginning, Reata has been dedicated to providing deliciously simple ranch cooking created by culinary geniuses who feel just as comfortable in their cowboy hats as their chef uniforms. Today, Reata Alpine remains a true destination restaurant, attracting loyal diners from miles beyond the charming converted farmhouse where our legendary Western cuisine was born."
http://www.reata.net/reata_alpine.html

Salt Lick, Driftwood, TX
"Bar-B-Que Like No Other."
"Take a deep breath and inhale the aroma of some of the best BBQ the Hill Country has to offer. You've found "The Salt Lick" so named by owner Hisako Roberts and her husband, the late Thurman Roberts, because "a Salt Lick is something where all the animals congregate. There is something good, something essential about it."
http://www.saltlickbbq.com/

Tendrils Restaurant, Cave B Inn at Sagecliff, Quincy, WA
"Taking seasonal cues from our surrounding Ancient Lakes region and the Columbia Plateau, Team Tendrils presents regional, seasonal fare. Our food represents the best from Washington wine country."
http://www.sagecliffe.com/Tendrils.htm

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8320/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Ummmmm. Salt Lick BBQ. While you're at it don't forget Blacks in Lockhart, TX.

Carine's Fish Grotto - Fort Bragg (Noyo), CA

Family owned bar, fish restaurant, and fish store... Great food (Best Manhattan clam chowder West of the Rockies) because the fish is fresh off the local boats. (Carine's hubby Dominic used to unload the "catch of the day" every afternoon)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++

Superior Dairy Products Company, Hanford, CA

Right across from the old Court House square is this classic soda fountain and ice cream parlor, like a time warp from the 1940s... Pink Naugahyde booths and waitresses in skirts and frilly aprons. And oh boy, the ice cream! Shakes and REAL malts served in the mixing can...and so thick that the waitress can turn the thing over w/o the spoon moving! Real hand made burgers and Ruben sandwiches.....with perfect fries and an a half-sour pickle spear. And of course, lots of ice cream sundaes!

Magnolia's features cuisine a la biere. I once interviewed Garrett Oliver, a noted foodie as well as brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery, when he spoke at a dinner there featuring his beers and amidst his praise of Magnolia's he told me he wished there was a restaurant like this in New York City.

I am going to suggest the quite possibly "middle of nowherest" restaurant on the planet: Daniel Thiebaut's in Kamuela (Waimea), on the Big Island. Since Hawaii is literally in the middle of nowhere, and since Kamuela is in a particularly deserted part of the Big Island, I think this one definitely qualifies.

Oh, and the food is out of this world.




http://www.danielthiebaut.com/

Hitching Post - Casmalia, CA (just north of Vandenberg AFB) - Campy but great steaks cooked over a mesquite fire.

Brookville Hotel - Brookville, KS - some of the finest fried chicken known to mankind.....witih all the fixin's.....just $13.95.

Oh just remembered.... The Wedge in Oklahoma City - sit at the bar in front of the open fire and let them wow you!

That will work but Honolulu need not apply ;)

Double down on Primo. The restaurant is only open nine months a year, everything is either grown on the property or local sourced and well worth the drive. I believe she was also an assistant executive chef at the Greenbriar. Either way, I have reservations on the evening of the 1st of November in case anyone's around for cocktails. ;)

I also agree with the Inn at Little Washington suggestion. Well worth the drive if you don't mind the price tag.

Timothy

Trattoria Molin Vecio outside of Caldogno, Italy (near Vicenza). Local ingredients, down-home but serious...when I was there a few years back most of the restaurant was taken up with a pig-fest -- lots of people at long tables enjoying many courses over a long evening. My companion had to content ourselves with a look at the menu, but our simpler meal was delicious.

Madidi in Clarksdale, MS. Definitely the middle of nowhere. 90 minutes to two hours from Memphis. I don't think there is more in the middle of nowhere than in the middle of the delta in Mississippi

http://www.madidires.com/

The Boma in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

The mapota worms were salty, but quite tasty....

I found the Boma to be fun, but not the tastiest meal in Vic Falls. Like any "theme" restaurant, you're paying for the atmosphere.

Savor in Midlothian, TX
 

With a population of about 10,000, only 7 restaurants listed on TripAdvisor, and being a good 10-20 miles from the outskirts of either Dallas or Fort Worth, Midlothian is pretty much "in the middle of nowhere". It's about the last place I would expect to find a nice restaurant, but Savor is one of the nicest I've ever been to. The food is truly gourmet, the portions are generous, the service is outstanding, and the prices are reasonable!

Not in the Middle of Nowhere but Dubai. The Fresh Fish Restaurant in Deira Dubai. Just up the road from the Sheraton (not the Dubai Creek Sheraton). Only a pavement restaurant but it serves the best value seafood in town. Fish is caught daily and simply cooked. Sea Bream, Squid, Gulf Prawns and Omani Lobster are perfect. A simple salad, a plate of squid and prawns for an appetiser and Omani lobster for mains are amazing value. This is where the locals will go to eat. The times that i have eaten there i have been the only Westerner in the place, well on the pavement anyway. No wine/alcohol, plastic garden furniture for the tables and chairs but at these prices who cares.

Thanks for all the great info!

Do Onboard Cruise Restaurant Dining during voyage count as "In the Middle of Nowhere"? :p

I'm gonna have to concur w/this one. Love that place. I do hope you get a BBQ'ed artichoke appetizer.

Sounds of Silence - Ayers Rock Resort
 

If you ever get a chance to visit the Big Brown Rock in the middle of Australia, make sure you pay the premium and have dinner at Sounds Of Silence.

The food is awesome, the scenery spectacular

A second vote for the Rowe Inn-outstanding.

And I'll add an entry- Vito's Ristorante in Punta de Mita, Mexico. About 40 minutes outside of Puerto Vallarta. Maybe the best northern Italian food I've eaten outside of Italy. The restaurant is located in the backyard of the family's home-which has been transformed into a little version of Italy. Menu changes daily when the chef/owner goes to the market to see what's fresh. I highly recommend this place.

Another great restaurant in the middle of nowhere:

Johnny McNally's Fairview Lodge, Riverkern, CA
Home of the 40 oz. porterhouse and the 24-oz filet mignon, cut from flavorful butter-tender local beef....that will make that piece of meat you paid big a$$ dollars at Ruth Chris's or even Morton's or Peter Luger seem like 2nd rate shoe leather. Sure, the place is rural cafe casual... But you are not here for overpriced "atmosphere" and snooty waiters but good food...especially the MEAT. (although local rainbow trout is darn fine too!)

Now I'm going to have to do some research, as the name of the place I'm thinking of escapes me. Maybe you know this place stut.

Gastropub, been around for years (before gastropubs were the in thing) in the middle of the Fens to the north east of Cambridge, that has won numerous awards for it's food. You have to book way in advance. I've been taken to it a couple of times in winter and it's totally in the middle of nowhere in so much as you drive down lane after unlit lane and finally along the top of a dyke, without so much as a house or signpost for what seems like miles.

It has reopened.

Hitchin Post Saloon and restaurant
 

3640 Las Vegas Blvd North
Las Vegas, NV 89115

Opened in August, they are way up in the middle of NOWHERE but have an excellent chef and the food is fab. 24 hours a day you can get all items on the menu. Excellent steaks. Amazing, considering it looks like a biker bar next to a no-tell motel in front of an RV park. BTW, that is precisely what it used to be (well, the motel and RV park are still there, but the bar is now a restaurant)!

Ah yes, that sounds like Fenland :)

Is this the place?

Yep, that's the place. Thanks stut

My metric for "great restaurant in the middle of nowhere" is Cafe Beaujolais in Mendocino California. Of course any great restaurant cannot be in the middle of nowhere (and make money), so being in a tourist destination that is food conscious helps. Better described at http://www.cafebeaujolais.com/

Double Musky ( "mountain cajun cuisine") in Girdwood, Alaska.
Turtle Club ( no finer prime rib have I ever tasted) Steese Hiway northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska.

Brick oven pizza in Kauai in Lawai. The best pizza I have ever had. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

RST, Mn, finally has a good restaurant. Go for the Walleye Pike Cakes with home-made tartar sauce. A great dish that I'll never find in my home town. The restaurant is Chester's, two blocks from the Mayo Clinic. A terrific restaurant

Kincaid Grill in Anchorage. It's in a strip mall south of the airport...mmmmmmm!

The Painted Lady, Newberg OR
 

Unbelievably good!

Just this past weekend I had the immense pleasure of dining here for the first time. I assure it will not be the last. Go for the four courses, choose Gnocchi, and if they have it Hazelnut encrusted Lamb Chops. Order a bottle and skip the pairing. 2005 Amalie Robert Pinot Noir Dijon Clones was a stunner that left me very, very happy.

The Double Musky is only an hour from an international airport... but still 'in the middle of nowhere' :D

I concur with its excellence...

Haven't made it to Turtle Club though- will keep in mind!

Shoulda' stopped in, passed it several times last year... but didn't :( Oh well... add that to the list next trip (other faves' : Ono Char Burger, Puka Dog)

Since when is ANC in the middle of nowhere :p

...And their Chef Al has his own cooking show on Wednesdays :D

...Middle of nowhere :rolleyes:- I know a good Thai place in the Southcenter Mall in SEA ^

However... I can attest that Tokyo Seoul is the best Japanese/Korean restaurant in greater PUW :eek:

While slightly outside the college student's budget... its a nice change from the typical lentil soup ;)

Kualapu`u Cookhouse, Kualap`u, Moloka`i, Hawai`i
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...ai_Hawaii.html

Probably the best dinner I've had in Hawai`i.