John Palmer

Bread is supposed to hold a sandwich together, but in Pennsylvania the fish often refuses to follow that…

By John Palmer · Oct 2

Three slices of toast, held together by frilly toothpicks, can tell you a lot about a sandwich shop…

By John Palmer · Oct 2

A paper bag on the passenger seat, still warm from a strip-mall bakery case, ended up being the…

By John Palmer · Oct 1

A line of hungry people stretching into a parking lot at 11 on a Saturday morning is not…

By John Palmer · Oct 1

Cinnamon reached me before the car door even shut, drifting across a parking lot surrounded by quiet Pennsylvania…

By John Palmer · Sep 30

A long wooden paddle scraping the bottom of a copper kettle makes a sound you do not forget,…

By John Palmer · Sep 30

Warm cocoa hits you before the door even closes behind you, and suddenly a quick stop turns into…

By John Palmer · Sep 29

Faded paint and an old roadside sign almost convinced me to keep driving past this little Pennsylvania diner.…

By John Palmer · Sep 29

Custard running down your wrist before you even reach the car is a strange thing to call a…

By John Palmer · Sep 28

Salt crystals the size of tiny pebbles were the first clue that this was no ordinary snack stop.…

By John Palmer · Sep 28

Chili sauce, chopped onions, and a squiggle of tangy mustard on a grilled dog might not sound like…

By John Palmer · Sep 27

Ricotta was the last thing I expected to fall for at a plain little pizza counter, yet one…

By John Palmer · Sep 27

Smell reaches you first, a warm cloud of griddle butter and sizzling onions drifting out of a doorway…

By John Palmer · Sep 26

Sesame seeds on a steak roll should not be enough to make a driver change lanes, but in…

By John Palmer · Sep 26

Neon signs and a chrome counter were not what I expected to find on a quiet drive through…

By John Palmer · Sep 25

Mustard, chili, and onions all the way is the order I kept hearing about, so I finally went…

By John Palmer · Sep 25

Orange batter hitting a hot griddle has a smell that can stop a grown adult mid-sentence, and I…

By John Palmer · Sep 24

Onions melted right into the sauce was the first surprise, and it came from a square slice I…

By John Palmer · Sep 24

Cinnamon sugar on your fingers, a paper bag going see-through with warmth, and a farm stand you almost…

By John Palmer · Sep 23

A paper bag that turns see-through with butter before you even reach the car is the best kind…

By John Palmer · Sep 23

A cardboard box of cold, sauce-heavy squares should not be the best thing you eat all week, yet…

By John Palmer · Sep 22

Butter melting into a stack of blueberry pancakes was the first thing I smelled before I even found…

By John Palmer · Sep 22

A warm square of fried dough dusted with sugar, handed to you before it has a chance to…

By John Palmer · Sep 21

Amish cooks quietly turning out meatloaf and homemade rolls before the sun is fully up feels like something…

By John Palmer · Sep 21

My first bite of Pennsylvania Dutch chicken and waffles caught me completely off guard, because I was expecting…

By John Palmer · Sep 20

My stomach growled the moment the smell of oregano and cured meat drifted out a screen door on…

By John Palmer · Sep 20

Half a century of pizza-making happens inside a wood-paneled room where regulars have been showing up since they…

By John Palmer · Sep 19

My first bite of real wet-bottom shoofly pie happened by accident, at a counter in Pennsylvania where I…

By John Palmer · Sep 19

Scrapple has a way of dividing people until they taste it crisped right, and Pennsylvania kitchens have quietly…

By John Palmer · Sep 18

A converted gas station in western Pennsylvania might be the last spot you would expect to find some…

By John Palmer · Sep 18

Griddled bologna might sound like the humblest thing on any menu, but somewhere in Pennsylvania a slice of…

By John Palmer · Sep 17

The first time you spot a hand-lettered menu board advertising stuffed cabbage and mashed potatoes, something clicks in…

By John Palmer · Sep 17

Roast pork sandwiches quietly rule the sandwich scene across Pennsylvania, and most first-timers have no idea what they…

By John Palmer · Sep 16

Liver and onions gets a bad reputation until you taste a plate where the onions have been cooked…

By John Palmer · Sep 16

My fork sank through the mashed potatoes before I even spotted the beef underneath, and that was the…

By John Palmer · Sep 15

A spoonful of warm, cinnamon-dusted rice pudding after a hearty diner meal can turn an ordinary lunch stop…

By John Palmer · Sep 15

My stomach growled the first time I watched a counter cook fold a mountain of corned beef into…

By John Palmer · Sep 14

My fork broke through a crust still steaming from the oven, and a warm ribbon of sauce spilled…

By John Palmer · Sep 14

A plate of golden fried haddock, hot and crackling at the edges, can turn a random weekday drive…

By John Palmer · Sep 13