Hugh Calloway

Fried chicken stacked in a steam pan, golden and steaming, sitting a few feet from a salad bar…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 1

Iowa takes its pork tenderloin sandwiches very seriously. Honestly, it should. A great one is crispy at the…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 31

I like farm cafes best when the season is changing and the menu seems to notice before I…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 31

I did not expect one of my most memorable seafood meals in Iowa to begin by staring into…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 30

I like Iowa lake towns best when summer starts loosening its grip. The docks are quieter, the sidewalks…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 30

For most of the year, this looks like working Iowa farmland. Then late summer arrives and suddenly whole…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 29

Iowa apple treats do not wait around for sweater weather. Before summer fully lets go, orchard bakeries are…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 29

The coffee usually hits the table before the plan fully wakes up. Pancakes steam, hash browns crackle at…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 28

Late-summer drives across Iowa have their own rhythm. Long stretches of corn, a water tower in the distance,…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 28

Late summer makes flower fields feel a little more urgent. The colors are still loud, the bees are…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 27

Labor Day weekend is your last big excuse to roll down the windows, point the car toward a…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 27

Weekend brunch in Des Moines, Iowa has a habit of starting with optimism and ending with your name…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 26

Iowa does not wait for sweater weather to start flirting with fall. Before the leaves fully change, the…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 26

Labor Day weekend is not really the time for delicate portions. It is the time for smoke in…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 25

A great Iowa deli can turn a road trip into a sandwich mission very quickly. One good counter,…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 25

I have eaten in plenty of historic buildings, but this Iowa stop made me forget about the menu…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 24

I have walked into a few Iowa buffets where the clock seems to slow down the moment you…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 24

I have a bad habit of walking into a used bookstore “just to look” and leaving with a…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 23

I have passed plenty of Iowa roads without wondering what was hiding a few miles beyond the turnoff.…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 23

Antique shopping gets dangerous the moment a building is big enough to have aisles you can actually get…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 22

Iowa is surprisingly good at giving families a full day out without turning the budget into a casualty.…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 22

The line moves slowly enough to make you study the pastry case twice. That is usually when the…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 21

An Iowa cafe inside an old bank already has a head start in the character department. Add coffee,…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 21

Rural Iowa has a funny way of making lunch feel like part of the drive rather than a…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 20

Some Iowa dinners are worth checking the calendar for before you even think about the drive. This is…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 20

The best clue is usually the parking lot. A place can look completely ordinary from the street, then…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 19

Some of the best meals I have ever eaten came at the end of long country roads, where…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 19

The first clue is the hash browns. They spread across the plate like the kitchen briefly forgot anyone…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 18

Iowa looks calm during the day, with rolling fields and friendly small towns, but a few of its…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 18

Good food is exactly what we all need after a long day at work. Even before the day…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 17

A good seafood meal can change completely when the setting adds something extra. In New Jersey, one coastal…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 17

Iowa has a way of holding onto the things worth keeping. A drive-in that has been feeding the…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 16

A jail built to rotate like a giant wheel sounds like something invented for a movie, yet that…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 16

A great plate of biscuits and gravy should be simple, filling, and done right every time. In Indiana,…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 15

Freshly sliced meats, homemade breads, and sandwiches so good travelers actually drive hours to try them. Michigan holds…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 15

Ready for a sweet little break in Michigan? Your camera deserves pretty views, your schedule deserves a pause,…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 14

You have been working hard, counting down the days, and dreaming about that moment when you finally feel…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 14

Iowa’s oldest restaurant has been serving the same corner of the state since 1852. People still drive over…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 13

Few dining experiences in Iowa feel as genuinely earned as a prime rib night at a proper supper…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 13