Cravings

Whether you know them as cafés, diners, hash houses, or greasy spoons, rural restaurants are the oases of the highway. Yes, they provide essential, good-mood-food for road trippers, but that’s not the only reason they’re beloved. The fact is that diners are a universal part of American culture. Everything from the white mugs to the laminated menus and breakfast counter chatter is welcomingly familiar no matter how far from home we are. So, as you make your way across the Silver State, keep these excellent options in mind: Your stomach and your spirit will thank you.

Sushi is something of a Nevada specialty. This might sound surprising, given that the nearest wharf is some 150 miles away, but it’s true. The Silver State is home to some of the best sushi around with daily offerings as fresh as you’d find in any oceanside community. Best of all, amazing sushi restaurants are found all across Nevada, not just in our metropolitan areas.   

America’s favorite food was born in the mid-1800s when vendors started serving “steak in the Hamburg style,” which meant lower-quality beef that was ground, spiced, cooked, and served between bread. First popular with immigrants and sailors, hamburgers soon swept the nation as a meal for the common folk that was cheap, tasty, and portable. Today, hamburgers are ubiquitous: a culinary staple nearly guaranteed on every restaurant menu in the country (and many abroad). Despite this proliferation, burger tourism is a rewarding venture because every region offers a unique spin on the classic. Such is the experience across Nevada, and while every community has at least one great burger option, we HIGHLY recommend these.

Nevada’s desert landscape is well known, so it may surprise some to learn that the state is also home to organic farming operations and a robust farm-to-fresh dining scene. Restaurants all over the state—and increasingly in rural areas—are offering locally grown foods with a focus on vegetarian and/or vegan-oriented menus. Here are a few tasty offerings you’ll find.  

Traveling along the Loneliest Road in America—aka U.S. Route 50 or Highway 50—visitors expect barren landscapes and long periods of solitude. That feeling of emptiness, of vast wide-open spaces, is what most adventurers along this road seek...except when it comes to their stomachs. There are few towns along Highway 50 which, while being part of the appeal, can also make it hard to find a really good meal. There is, however, a shining beacon for those who experience hunger pains as they are about halfway across the state: the Urban Cowboy Bar and Grill in Eureka.

There are a number of words I use sparingly in my writing, with unique landing very near the top of my list of over- and erroneously-used words. The very definition of unique after all, means something singular, the only one of its kind. For Basin and Range Cellars, however, I will bust out this word.  

Family dinners are something many of us have a memory of—a meal where everyone gathers around the table, all talking at once, sharing jokes and stories full of laughter and connection. It’s a meal that is equal parts delicious, engaging, and memorable. Now, take that meal and locate in an eccentric family member’s house, you know the one who has a crazy fun collection of memorabilia and whimsy lining the walls—with a story for most of it—and you’re getting close to the experience of dining at Pinocchio’s Bar & Grill.