Ah, bacon, a food that's so sinfully delicious, so versatile, and so incredibly trendy. Served across America with chocolate, piled high on burgers, and wrapped around everything from peaches to quail legs, the endlessly creative presentations are both eye-popping and mouthwatering. A little bacon never hurt anyone, and these restaurants really bring it home.
Dr. Field Goods
Santa Fe, New Mexico
The name pretty much says it all. But there are a few key details you'll want to know about this Santa Fe favorite. The sandwich features a 9-ounce ground bacon patty that's roasted in a wood-fired oven. The patty is served on house-made bread with mayonnaise, locally grown tomatoes, and lettuce. Dr. Field Goods also encourages adding a fried egg to this masterpiece, to complete the experience.
Zazu Kitchen + Farm
Sebastopol, California
A restaurant that specializes in all things pork related, you can have a variety of bacon delicacies at Zazu Kitchen + Farm. But one of the most highly recommended bacon options at this Sonoma County establishment is the Black Pig Bacon Caramel Popcorn. The crunchy, yet fluffy snack is coated with caramel toffee glaze and sprinkled with bits of the restaurant's signature applewood-smoked uncured bacon. The resulting combination is both salty and sweet.
Prime & Provisions
Chicago
Ordinary bacon dishes have a hard time measuring up to this dish served at the steakhouse Prime & Provisions in the Windy City. This meaty monstrosity involves a 7-ounce piece of bacon topped with Michigan maple syrup and dark chocolate. It's one of those dishes you have to personally sample to truly understand the sweet and savory juxtaposition.
The Patio Restaurant & Bar at the Hills
Yuma, Arizona
Medjool dates are a regional specialty item. So it only stands to reason that locals would combine them with bacon. And that's exactly what Chef Alex Trujillo has done at his restaurant The Patio. He serves the dates stuffed with crispy bacon and blue cheese and finishes the masterpiece with a chipotle sauce. As the restaurant likes to say about this dish — sharing is caring.
Therapy
Las Vegas
The names for these bacon dishes are as creative as the presentations. In Las Vegas, a place known for over-the-top everything, Therapy's Devils on Horseback appetizer goes all in with soft truffled goat cheese and almond-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon and served on Romesco sauce. Is your mouth watering yet?
Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House
New York, Dallas, and 14 other cities
While Del Frisco's is best known for hand-cut steaks, the restaurant also has a special touch when it comes to bacon. Their not-to-miss bacon offering involves coating applewood-smoked bacon in a bourbon molasses glaze and topping it with thinly sliced pickled Fresno chilies. Lucky for you, the restaurant has 16 locations across America.
Nose Dive Gastropub
Greenville, SC
Yes, bacon with a brownie. Now you've heard just about everything. Your bacon journey at Nose Dive involves warm, rich chocolate topped with the salty and sweet taste of caramel popcorn, a chocolate caramel sauce, and served with peanut butter ice cream.
Coolhaus
Dallas; Pasadena and Culver City, California
While on the topic of bacon related deserts — here's another intriguing use of the meat. Coolhaus begins with a base of brown butter ice cream and mixes in brown-sugar candied applewood bacon. If all of that isn't quite enough, the folks at Coolhaus suggest eating their ice cream creation with a chocolate chip cookie. Oh and FYI — they also do on-demand delivery — in case you need some like ... now.
BarBacon
New York
First, yes, this is a restaurant named after bacon. Let's just get that out of the way. The New York restaurant was designed to give bacon its long overdue heyday. With that said, one of the most highly recommended bacon options among on the BarBacon menu is the Bacon Loves Lobster Roll. This take on all things bacon mania involves mixing Maine lobster with bacon lardons and chive mayo on a brioche bun. But be aware, this item is available on Monday only.
Green Goddess Restaurant
New Orleans
Who would have realized there are so many ways to use a simple ingredient like bacon? The Green Goddess Restaurant has opted to use anything but ordinary ingredients in their sundaes. Instead, this dessert features Creole Creamery coffee pecan-brittle ice cream topped with a creamy bacon caramel sauce, Nueske's applewood bacon, and smoked whipped cream, with a cherry on top, of course. All the bacon you'll ever need, in one dessert.
The Pig
Washington, D.C.
Another dish to add to your bacon bucket list — a peach wrapped in bacon. At The Pig, an unabashedly pork-centric restaurant in the nation's capital, bacon aficionados will savor the layers of flavor and mixed textures in this dish that features peaches wrapped in bacon and coated in Calabrian chili maple syrup, topped with bleu cheese crumbles and watercress.
Deerfield Golf Club
Newark, Delaware
The tiny state of Delaware has a big thing for bacon, according to locals. And one of the tastiest ways it is served can be found at Deerfield Golf Club, where the brunch menu includes Millionaire's Bacon. With a name like that, it has to be special. The dish involves crisp bacon infused with chili powder, cayenne pepper, and brown sugar.
Fire Lake Grill House & Cocktail Bar
Bloomington, Minnesota
If you find yourself at the Mall of America Minnesota and would like to expand your bacon-tasting adventures, don't miss the Bacon-Wrapped Quail Legs at Fire Lake Grill House & Cocktail Bar. The appetizer also features duck sausage and sweet cherry chutney.
Flour Shoppe Café
Rockville Centre, New York
There are BLTs, and then there's the Le Grande BLT served at Flour Shoppe Café. What makes this sandwich so special is its thick-cut bacon, which is slathered with real maple syrup, before being baked in the oven. And just in case that's not enough bacon goodness, the sandwich also includes bacon jam.
Severin Bar
Indianapolis
Bacon kabobs, anyone? The Severin Bar at the Omni Severin hotel in downtown Indy is known for its signature, mouthwatering Bacon Picks dish. The simple but mouthwatering offering involves seasoning Indiana-produced bacon with one of four house-made signature sauces — Bourbon-Maple, Apple Butta BBQ, Garlic Parmesan, or Red Hot — and serving the juicy meat on skewers.
The Gastro Pig
Oakland, California
This item at the top of the brunch menu cannot possibly be overlooked. This sandwich's ingredients include a brioche roll, applewood-smoked bacon, an over-easy egg, cheddar cheese and smoky Aleppo oil. Breakfast (or is it lunch?) has never sounded quite so sinfully delicious thanks to the Gastro Pig.
Saint Marc Pub-Café, Bakery and Cheese Affinage
Huntington Beach, California
Garlic Parmesan bacon, apple pie bacon, habanero bacon ... the options are many at the bacon bar at Saint Marc's. The best part about this place (besides the sheer variety of bacon flavors) is its to-go bacon bar. That's right, customers walk up and order several different types of bacon by the slice. There are also bacon-covered jalapeños, dates, and artichokes.
Fig Tree Café
San Diego
Sushi is probably not first thing that comes to mind when pondering creative uses for bacon, but the name of this offering is deceiving. At San Diego's Fig Tree Café, the Breakfast Sushi involves three thick bacon rolls (baked with brown sugar and paprika), which are filled with rice, scrambled eggs, and scallions.
Burntzilla
Irvine, California
Now for an entirely new take on the all-American hot dog. At Burntzilla, the Dogzilla combines an all-beef mini frank topped with avocado, grilled onions, teriyaki sauce, Japanese mayo, Japanese furikake seasoning, and most importantly ... crispy bacon. Think of it as a little slice of heaven for meat lovers everywhere.
The Patterson House
Nashville, Tennessee
It seems only fitting to have at least one bacon cocktail on this list. The Patterson House is one of the most legendary cocktail bars in the country. And as it happens, the Bacon Old Fashioned is considered one of their signature drinks. Can't imagine bacon in a beverage? Read on. This drink includes maple syrup bacon-infused Four Roses bourbon topped with an orange rind garnish. For those who love both bacon and great cocktails, it's a bucket list drink.
The Butchery
Orange County, California
One more bacon creation to ponder, this one perhaps aimed at bacon beginners — children. The Butchery, with four locations in Orange County, serves gourmet sandwiches made to order, and one of the most popular selections is the PB&J, which features peanut butter, honey, pepper jam, and stacks of crispy smoked bacon. How that's for livening up the old, standard PB&J?
Peter Luger Steak House
Brooklyn, New York
Widely recognized as one of America’s greatest steakhouses, Peter Luger was established in 1887 and is best known for huge porterhouse steaks that serve two or four people. Also on the menu, however, is its by-the-slice sizzling bacon appetizer, which is extra-thick cut and hailed by diners as a “must.”
Fat Sal's
Los Angeles
Fat Sal's is a deli known for its giant bacon-filled sandwiches and over-the-top milkshakes. Its bacon cheeseburger fries are topped with chopped bacon and hamburger patties, two kinds of cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, and creamy fat sauce for a treat that provides loads of heart-stopping delight.
The Laundry
Fenton, Michigan
The Laundry does its best to emulate Paris in the middle of The Mitten. The pork 'n' porridge, breakfast pizza, and Applewood ham steaks may not be incredibly Parisian, but they're joined by a tempting menu of more than 110 cocktails. Their award-winning bacon and brie pancakes are a nod to European flavor and are slathered with praise by those who have ordered them.
Bacon
Boise, Idaho
Downtown Boise's Bacon offers five different varieties of bacon and claims to move 8 tons of it each year. Bacon serves up its namesake in omelets, lasagna, and meatballs. But its signature mac & cheese dish, The MAC, has been hailed as among the best in the U.S. by Food & Wine magazine. Their bacon shots and bacon bloody Marys (which come in regular, spicy, and “pissed-off” versions) also have a strong following.
The Nest
Bellflower, California
Located just southeast of downtown Los Angeles, The Nest serves up plenty of breakfast fare, from gravy-laden comfort food to healthier options. One menu standout is the Bacon Waffle, which is exactly what it sounds like — the batter has bacon crumbles mixed into it. But the exclamation point of this dish is the bacon whiskey syrup its served with. Not that hungry? You can get a small plate of the stuff, too.
Vandal's Kitchen
Fayatteville, West Virginia
Anybody can throw bacon between two pieces of bread and call it a breakfast sandwich, but Vandal's Kitchen serves theirs with sharp cheddar pimento cheese, thick-cut bacon slices, and a fried egg, and then tops all that with crisp arugula, tomato, and red onion — all sandwiched between a soft roll.
